Sep 03, 2020Presented here are recent news announcements regarding the following organizations: STMicroelectronics, Avnet, Sequans, TAGNOS, and Tektronix.
STMicroelectronics Adds 48-Pin Package Option for Its LoRa-Enabled SoC
STMicroelectronics has added its QFN48 package to its STM32WLE5 wireless system-on-chip (SoC) portfolio. This announcement is intended to provide feature integration, power efficiency and multi-modulation flexibility to a variety of industrial wireless applications, the company reports.
The STM32WLE5 combines ST's STM32L4 ultra-low-power microcontroller technology and Semtech's SX126x sub-GHz radio IP optimized to meet local radio equipment regulations. Its single-silicon-die integration is intended to save bill-of-materials costs and simplify the design of connected smart devices for applications in metering, city management, agriculture, retail, logistics, smart buildings and environmental management.
With low power consumption and a small footprint, ST reports, the STM32WLE5 allows energy-efficient, compact and lightweight products for Internet of Things (IoT) markets. According to the company, the 7-millimeter by 7-millimeter QFN48 package option makes it suited to a simplified two-layer board design. The LoRa-enabled SoC supports multiple RF modulation schemes, including LoRa spread-spectrum modulation and the (G)FSK, (G)MSK and BPSK used by various sub-GHz long-range protocols.
Users can apply a desired protocol stack, whether created in-house, sourced externally or chosen from off-the-shelf software, such as the LoRaWAN and wM-Bus stacks available from ST and its authorized partners. Features include dual low-power (14dBm) and high-power (22dBm) transmitter modes with linear performance ranging from 150 to 960 MHz, spanning the sub-1GHz unlicensed frequency range, in order to ensure technical compatibility with RF regulations in all world markets. Sensitivity down to -148dBm maximizes RF range, the company explains, while a single crystal can synchronize the high-speed external (HSE) clock and the radio.
The QFN48 package extends the STM32WLE5 portfolio, which also includes devices in 5-millimeter by 5-millimeter BGA73. Three Flash memory density options are available per package, offering a choice of 64, 128 or 256 KB, and all devices feature a high proportion of user-assignable GPIOs. All feature ST's microcontroller technologies, including dynamic voltage scaling and proprietary adaptive real-time ART Accelerator, which allows zero-wait execution from Flash. The STM32WLE5 SoCs, including the STM32WLE5J BGA73 and the STM32WLE5C QFN48 devices, are now in production, the company reports.
Avnet Intros LTE Dev Kit with Sequans Modem for IoT Solutions
Technology solutions provider Avnet has announced the release of its Monarch Go Pi HAT development kit, designed to help product engineers and network developers enable LTE connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Utilizing Sequans' Monarch Go LTE-M modem component, the solution is suitable for business-critical applications, the company reports, including asset tracking and remote monitoring. "HAT" stands for "hardware attached on top," a hardware specification for add-on modules compatible with all Raspberry Pi models from B+ onwards.
With capabilities beyond a traditional cellular module, Monarch Go includes the LTE antenna and is pre-certified for end-customer use on the Verizon network, allowing engineers to reduce lab testing and development time. Monarch Go is based on Sequans' Monarch GM01Q module, which supports LTE-M and NB-IoT and is certified by operators in North America, Europe and Asia, enabling worldwide deployment and roaming capability. The system combines Raspberry Pi HAT-capable single-board computers with Monarch Go.
"Connectivity is the crucial pillar that all IoT solutions are built on, yet it presents one of the biggest hurdles for implementation," said Jim Beneke, Avnet's VP of products and emerging technologies, in a prepared statement. "By connecting Raspberry Pi HAT-compatible devices with Monarch Go LTE modems, developers and engineers can create seamless connectivity, saving time and money. This new component is the latest addition to Avnet's end-to-end ecosystem of solutions and services to bring projects from idea to design, and design to production."
"The Monarch Go Pi HAT development board is a boon to developers wanting to add LTE connectivity to their IoT devices," added Nick Taluja, Sequans' VP of sales, in the prepared statement. "It makes it simple and easy to create and develop all kinds of IoT applications in a development environment that is widely used and understood, thus accelerating massive IoT deployment." The device can operate in two modes for added development flexibility, the company reports, either in conjunction with a single-board computer or in standalone mode, leveraging a micro-USB interface.
The system includes a shuttle-click expansion connector to enable 3.3-volt input-output I2C, SPI, UART and GPIO-based click modules from MikroElektronika. This expansion connector provides engineers with access to an array of click module offerings, which can be used to prototype such LTE-based applications as asset tracking, remote monitoring and embedded kiosks. The kit includes a Monarch Go LTE modem with a pre-installed ThingSpace IoT SIM, the MikroElektronika shuttle click site, a voltage I/O translator and micro-USB capability. Pi HAT supports both Monarch Go and Monarch Go-GPS modems.
TAGNOS Unveils Proximity-Monitoring Solution
TAGNOS, a developer of workflow-orchestration software for hospital operations, has announced its Proximity Monitoring Module, which is designed to support Zebra Technologies' MotionWorks devices line. "Adapting to the 'new normal' doesn't have to be challenging and can even become welcome routine when you use the right tools," said Sheila Minton, TAGNOS' president and COO, in a prepared statement. "With TAGNOS Proximity Monitoring, we make it easy for organizations to monitor and enforce social distancing, as well as to automate contract tracing. By helping to prevent contagion from spreading, we can help create a safe and secure environment for everybody."
Each individual equipped with a Zebra device becomes a signal sender and a signal receiver, TAGNOS explains. If 6-foot distancing is not respected and if contacts last for more than a few seconds, TAGNOS automatically detects violations, the time when they occurred and their duration, with all information reported to a dashboard in real time. TAGNOS establishes the network graph of interactions for traceback investigation, monitors the most frequent exceptions and repeat violations, and provides analytics by department, time of day and day of week. To protect the identity of employees and support privacy regulations, the system allows for the assignment of unique IDs and data anonymization.
"Creating this Proximity Monitoring Module was exciting," added Jag Padala, TAGNOS' chief technology officer, in the prepared statement. "Most of our modules orchestrate real-time operations between people or between people and assets or sensors. Here, we coordinate interactions between Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled devices and are able to leverage the power of our platform, i.e. its ability to process billions of contextualized events and represent them in a clear actionable manner."
"While COVID-19 is taking a huge toll on people and organizations," Minton said in the prepared statement, "it is also paving the way for the adoption of innovations that can automatically diagnose issues in real time and alert the right personnel so they can take immediate action."
Tektronix Offers IoT Dashboards for Data Streaming, Visualization
Tektronix has announced the availability of a native integration between Keithley's DAQ6510 and DMM6500 graphical instruments and Initial State's Internet of Things (loT) dashboard for data streaming and visualization for remote data access. Keithley and Initial State, both Tektronix companies, collaborated to integrate the data-streaming and visualization platform with the graphical instruments. This integration provides the DAQ6510 and DMM6500 systems with remote-monitoring capability, real-time interactive dashboards, triggering and the ability to share data, without the need for a PC or external software.
Designed for monitoring, testing and data-streaming applications, this software-as-a-service platform can securely turn data into real-time, customizable, interactive loT dashboards, according to Tektronix. The speed, remote access and usability provided make it possible to instantly interpret data without the need to utilize third-party software, the company reports. Users can monitor and analyze experiments remotely using any browser, including on mobile devices.
"Our DAQ customers are being challenged to run longer tests in labs in order to collect large amounts of data," said Chris Bohn, the VP and general manager at Keithley/Tektronix, in a prepared statement. "This data usually needs to be highly accessible and converted into usable information quickly. Two Tektronix companies, Keithley and Initial State, have collaborated to meet these demands head-on."
To meet testing needs, the dashboard can automate triggers and alerts based on incoming data, so the DAQ can proactively send an email or text message based on user-established rules. The dashboard can routinely share large data sets by embedding live data within a website. Information can be downloaded and stored for personal use and documentation, or it can be shared securely with colleagues or partners.
According to the company, the dashboard is compatible with the DMM6500 6½-Digit Graphical Touchscreen Digital Multimeter, a bench/production test DMM with measurement capability, including transient capture, data visualization and analysis. It is compatible with the DAQ6510 Data Acquisition and Logging Multimeter System, which comes with a touchscreen interface enabling faster setup time, real-time monitoring of test status and detailed data analysis on the instrument.
