- SML Invests in Rielec for Supply Chain Management
- STMicroelectronics Unveils NFC Payment Readers
- NFC Forum Establishes Global Wayfinding Identifier
- Telit Offers Digital Transformation Apps, Templates
- Soracom, Sony Partner on IoT Microcontrollers
- Arm Signal Processor Targets IoT, Embedded Markets
Presented here are recent news announcements in the radio frequency identification and Internet of Things industries.
SML Invests in Rielec for Supply Chain Management
SML RFID has announced an investment in Rielec, a technology company experienced in logistics automation. Rielec designs, manufactures and implements RFID systems to enhance supply chain offerings for retail customers. According to the companies, the retail sector has been in a strong position to implement RFID solutions throughout the supply chain following the pandemic-related disruption of the last two years. SML says the partnership will enable it to better serve its retail and brand customers.
SML RFID has announced an investment in Rielec.
Headquartered in Spain, Rielec deploys projects for customers in various industries, including clothing, sporting goods, eyewear and pharmaceuticals. The firm offers systems built for accuracy, reliability and speed for the mass reading and encoding of RFID tags, and it also provides solutions for warehouse automation. Rielec will co-locate its North American office with SML RFID’s plant in Plano, Texas.
“We are thrilled to partner with SML and view this investment as a further commitment to help us both better serve our retail customers,” said Luis Rius, Rielec’s principal and CEO, in a prepared statement. “SML’s strength and global footprint will push forward Rielec’s RFID Clustag solutions worldwide. I have no doubt that our RFID solutions for supply chain will strengthen the leading RFID software platform in the market, SML’s Clarity, creating a strong, efficient and reliable global solution within the wider global retail market.”
Dean Frew, SML Group’s CTO and senior VP of RFID solutions, added in the statement: “Rielec has demonstrated the expertise and complimentary RFID-enabled material-handling systems that we have deemed best in class in the RFID industry. We believe a tighter collaboration between our companies will help us better serve the complete needs of retailers and brands that are going through the item-level RFID transformation. We have had the opportunity to work with Luis and his team on numerous retailer and brand owner projects, and are very excited about the joint innovation that this partnership will bring to the market.”
STMicroelectronics Unveils NFC Payment Readers
STMicroelectronics has announced its ST25R3916B-AQWT and ST25R3917B-AQWT NFC Forum reader devices, which the company says are designed to offer high output power and energy efficiency. Supporting NFC initiator, target, reader and card-emulation modes, the devices can be used for contactless payments, device pairing, wireless charging, brand protection, and other industrial and consumer applications, ST reports.
STMicroelectronics’ ST25R3916B-AQWT
The devices feature active wave shaping and enable users to adjust RF output to improve overshoot and undershoot. The setup can be accomplished by register settings supported by a graphical tool, and it can be validated via an oscilloscope. This, ST explains, eases certification according to the EMVCo 3.1a and NFC Forum CR13 specifications without the need for users to touch the matching of the antenna.
The ST25R3916B and the ST25R3917B provide up to 1.6 watts of RF output power, according to the company, and can drive antennas directly at high efficiency. Dynamic power-output adjustment enables designers to keep the radiated power between the upper and lower limits defined by EMVCo and the NFC Forum specs. Combining a noise-resistant input structure and ST’s proprietary noise-suppression receivers, the ST25R3916B/17B offers high immunity to interference from nearby equipment, such as power supplies and point-of-sale terminals. Both devices provide resistance to radiated noise and conducted noise.
The ST25R3916B/17B ICs features a power supply voltage range of 2.4 to 5.5 volts, with operating temperatures of -40 degrees to +105 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees to +302 degrees Fahrenheit). The peripheral I/O circuitry can operate from as little as 1.65 volts, the company reports. Free samples of the ST25R3916B-AQWT and ST25R3917B-AQWT are now at the ST eStore in a 32-lead VFQFPN package measuring 5 millimeters by 5 millimeters by 1 millimeter (0.2 inch by 0.2 inch by 0.04 inch) or as a 36-bump wafer-level chip-scale package.
NFC Forum Establishes Global Wayfinding Identifier
The NFC Forum, the global standards body for Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies, has unveiled its Wayfinding Mark, a global identifier that signifies a device or an object is NFC-enabled. The Wayfinding Mark, announced in December 2021 (see NFC Wayfinding Mark to Be a Universal ‘Tap Here’), visually communicates that a product or device includes NFC technology, while highlighting the location for users to tap a smartphone, NFC tag, smart card or other NFC device.
The NFC Forum’s Wayfinding Mark
The Wayfinding Mark is free to use and was adopted by 78 organizations during a pre-release period. It was created to allow consumers to visually recognize an object as having NFC technology, and to easily locate the NFC connecting point. The mark should be placed on the outside surface of the device, the NFC Forum explains, above the NFC antenna located inside the object. This placement allows users to locate the NFC connectivity point.
Three billion NFC-enabled phones are currently in use, the organization reports, with around 20 percent of the world’s population capable of using NFC technology daily. The rise of digital devices has caused a shift in the use of NFC technology beyond payment applications, the Forum notes, creating the need for a global identifier. New applications using the Wayfinding Mark come in a wide variety of form factors and can solve problems and improve convenience in consumer, business, industrial, identity and mobility areas.
“We are seeing a global trend of the expanding use of NFC,” said Mike McCamon, the NFC Forum’s executive director, in a prepared statement. “Connecting phones and smart devices to all the things around us has never been so easy. ‘Tap to pay’ is ubiquitous and more of our members are looking to leverage this success into phone-adjacent use cases like automotive, healthcare, IoT and access control, to name a few. This new global identifier will help to create the same positive user experience users have grown to love.”
Telit Offers Digital Transformation Apps, Templates
Internet of Things (IoT) company Telit has announced that its deviceWISE platform now includes digital-transformation applications and templates enabling out-of-the-box solutions for industrial companies. Preventative maintenance, the first release of the company’s SMART START’s applications, monitors the function of any industrial machine and sends alerts in advance for patterns that affect productivity and can create downtime. Telit will release new apps for overall equipment effectiveness, Andon displays, remote monitoring and smart agriculture.
Telit’s deviceWISE platform now includes digital-transformation applications and templates.
The SMART START app templates, part of deviceWISE VIEW, are customizable. The deviceWISE platform comes with hundreds of industrial drivers to allow data collection from any type of PLC, CNC, robot or torque tool, as well as barcodes, RFID, sensors and more. The platform collects data and provides edge intelligence for data analysis. According to the company, it includes integration for IT systems like ERP, CRM, MES, databases and cloud, among others.
The deviceWISE industrial IoT platform suite has three main product offerings. DeviceWISE EDGE is a unified, no-code industrial platform that reduces latency and increases factory operations throughput. DeviceWISE CLOUD is a cloud-based service that manages remote access, data collection, device and connectivity management from the edge to the cloud. And DeviceWISE VIEW is a full SCADA and HMI system with data visualization and an application layer for the SMART START packages.
“We are introducing preventive maintenance first because it is a common challenge that typically takes a long time for industrial companies to implement efficiently,” said Ricardo Buranello, Telit’s senior VP and head of IoT platforms. “According to McKinsey, maintenance is one of the most important optimization factors in the industry, representing a potential yearly economic impact of $577 billion across the industry. With deviceWISE SMART START, the solution is ready to be deployed in a day rather than weeks or months, allowing enterprises to start saving immediately.”
Soracom, Sony Partner on IoT Microcontrollers
IoT connectivity provider Soracom has announced that Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS) has joined its Soracom Partner Space ecosystem. SSS’s SPRESENSE 6-core microcontroller board is intended for professional IoT use cases, the company reports, with a streamlined form factor, ultra-low power consumption, multiple sensor inputs, internal GPS and edge AI support. According to Soracom, SPRESENSE is suitable for applications requiring sensor analysis, machine learning, image processing and data filtering.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions has joined the Soracom Partner Space ecosystem.
The SPRESENSE LTE extension board offers an on-board antenna for global LTE Cat-M1 connectivity. Combined with Soracom’s global IoT connectivity, SPRESENSE LTE enables users to connect from almost anywhere, as well as control connections through the Soracom console and API, and access a range of services supporting secure private networking, data and protocol management, and integration with cloud platforms.
“Collaboration with Soracom enables global connectivity to our IoT SPRESENSE solution, providing an out-of-the-box experience that ensures our customers can be dedicated to driving innovative IoT solutions, especially for edge AI applications,” said Kenichi Nakano, SSS’s general manager, in a prepared statement. The Soracom Partner Space enables partners to access live opportunities and technical collaborations to provide services to IoT companies worldwide. Customers, meanwhile, can find partners able to help them bring solutions to market, scale more quickly, create differentiators and simplify IoT deployments.
Soracom now offers the SPRESENSE LTE-M IoT Connectivity Kit at its online store. The package includes the official LTE Extension board for SPRESENSE, a Soracom IoT SIM card, and access to Soracom connectivity and platform services. “Soracom is committed to partnering with leaders in hardware, software and services to offer customers a robust global ecosystem that accelerates speed to market and success at scale,” added Kenta Yasukawa, Soracom’s cofounder and CTO, in the statement.
Arm Signal Processor Targets IoT, Embedded Markets
Arm reports that image signal processors (ISPs) are among the most important information-generating devices, supporting a range of IoT vision system applications including commercial, industrial or home smart cameras, and drones. With increased demand for image processing in devices, Arm has shared the latest results of its ISP technology roadmap, and the company has announced the launch of its Mali-C55 ISP.
Arm’s Mali-C55 ISP
For developers, Arm offers a software package for controlling the ISP, along with tuning and calibration tools to help partners achieve the desired image quality for their applications. Its latest roadmap includes a “Total Solutions for IoT” offering for vision, which will integrate the Mali-C55. The device provides upgraded image quality features, works under a range of lighting and weather conditions, and is designed to boost performance and capability in area- and power-constrained applications, Arm reports, making it suitable for smart camera and edge AI vision use cases.
The technology can be deployed in multiple markets, the company notes. Surveillance and security cameras will be able to detect more critical details, such as recognizing exact information on license plates traveling at up to 75 miles per hour, while home cameras and security systems will capture higher-resolution images inside and out, and smart home hubs will be able to offer secure visual unlock and other features.
With multi-camera capability for up to eight inputs, support for image resolutions up to 8K and a maximum image size up to 48 megapixels, the Mali-C55 is designed to provide high image quality, throughput, power consumption and silicon area. Features include tone mapping and spatial noise reduction, support for high dynamic range sensors, and integration with machine learning accelerators to leverage neural networks for de-noising. By combining multiple Mali-C55 ISPs, users can achieve larger image sizes for applications requiring greater than 48 MP capabilities, such as video conferencing. The system is also applicable for embedded and IoT vision.