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Embedded.com
This week’s embedded news features various announcements around system on modules (SOMs), as well as news from Arm and CEVA on their chip shipment successes, plus more from the industry.
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A selection of news from the world of embedded, this week featuring Advantest, Arm, CEVA Inc., Microchip Technology, Renesas, Real-Time Innovations (RTI), Rohde & Schwarz, Siemens Digital Industries Software, STMicroelectronics, and Variscite.
For developers looking to transition from a microcontroller (MCU) to a microprocessor (MPU), Microchip Technology has expanded its portfolio of microprocessor system-on-modules (SOMs) with the SAM9X60D1G-SOM ARM926EJ-S-based embedded MPU running up to 600 MHz. Software is available with bare metal or RTOS support through MPLAB Harmony3, or complete Linux mainlined distributions. The 28 mm × 28 mm hand-solderable module that includes the MPU and DDR in a single package, along with power supplies, clocks and memory storage, is Microchip’s first SOM equipped with 4 Gb SLC NAND Flash to maximize memory storage of data. It also includes an MCP16501 power management IC (PMIC) to simplify the power design effort to a single 5V voltage rail.
Renesas Electronics has launched its RZ/N2L microprocessor units (MPUs) for industrial Ethernet communication to enable addition of network functionality to industrial equipment. The MPUs support the time-sensitive networking (TSN) Ethernet standard for real-time communication. Equipped with an integrated TSN-compliant 3-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and an EtherCAT slave controller, the devices support all major industrial network communication protocols, such as EtherCAT, PROFINET RT, EtherNet/IP, and OPC UA, and the new PROFINET IRT. By using the RZ/N2L as a companion chip complementing the host CPU, customers can add industrial Ethernet functionality to their equipment without major changes to its internal configuration.
Real-Time Innovations (RTI) said it has collaborated with a group of European rail operators and industry companies on a railway safety initiative that includes having jointly developed a first version of the specification of a possible API between railway applications and the Safe Computing Platform, and published this in OCORA Release 2. RTI has written the reference implementation annex for the SCP messaging API based on the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS) specification to bring this data-centric approach to rail system communications. Collaborators for this work include RTI, DB Netz AG, duagon AG, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, SBB, Siemens Mobility GmbH, SNCF Voyageurs, SNCF Réseau, SYSGO GmbH, Thales and Wind River.
Siemens Digital Industries Software said it was selected to participate in the Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes (RAMP) Phase II initiative, a program established by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to develop secure design and prototyping capabilities to demonstrate how the DoD can securely leverage state-of-the-art microelectronics technologies without depending on a closed-security architecture fabrication process or facility. Siemens‘ contribution to RAMP Phase II will initially focus on physical or back-end integrated circuit (IC) design via Siemens‘ Calibre platform, as this part of design creation is particularly challenging due to tight coupling of design techniques with the specific wafer fabrication processes targeted.
STMicroelectronics has released version 4.20 of its TouchGFX user-interface design software for STM32 microcontrollers, now including support for ST’s new NeoChrom graphics accelerator, which is integrated in advanced MCUs such as the STM32U5 series. Developed from ST’s Chrom-ART Accelerator that manipulates pixels and shapes, NeoChrom allows full-screen rotation at any angle and supports texture mapping for smooth, fluid graphics and enhanced ease of use. Other new features for developers include support for importing and exporting custom widgets, in an environment comprising TouchGFXDesigner and X-CUBE-TOUCHGFX embedded software, fully integrated with the STM32Cube MCU-development ecosystem.
System on module (SoM) provider Variscite said it is gaining traction with medical device companies needing highly trusted hardware and software designed for longevity. Among the medical devices currently powered by Variscite modules are smart hospital nursing stations, PCR testing devices, life support devices, patient monitors, optic and otorhinolaryngology equipment, professional medical scales, cosmetic medicine, and patient beds. Variscite said with the long development and regulation procedures often characterizing medical devices, companies have had difficulty meeting demand, and the medical device industry have recognized the benefit of using SoMs for their product development.
Rohde & Schwarz said Advantest has selected its R&S RTP 16 GHz bandwidth model high-performance oscilloscope for mass production evaluation of high-speed SoC testers. Chosen for its signal integrity and high acquisition rate, R&S RTP features real-time processing with an in-house developed, high-performance, low-distortion A/D converter, an analog frontend and an exclusively developed, large-scale logic ASIC for the backend. The unit has a high-speed rise time of 33 psec and a highly stable jitter analysis function with the latest decomposition algorithm, which enables simpler and more accurate system measurements.
Arm this week reported record quarterly royalty revenue, exceeding $400 million for the first time, at $453 million for Q1 of FY 2022. It announced more record figures too, with a record Q1 total revenue of $719 million, and a record number of Q1 unit shipments, with its partners shipping 7.4 billion Arm-based chips in Q1. Arm said it has now achieved four quarters of more than 7 billion Arm-based chips shipped.
CEVA, Inc. announced that cumulative royalty-bearing chip shipments that include CEVA IP surpassed 15 billion units during the second quarter. The first 10 billion CEVA-powered shipments spanned more than 15 years, and the next 5 billion shipments took less than three and a half years. It has licensed its 5G, cellular IoT, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UWB platform IP to hundreds of semiconductors and OEMs. Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA, said, “The steep shipment ramp we have experienced over the past 3 years directly coincides with the explosion of IoT devices. Going forward, as devices become increasingly smarter, integrating more sensors and intelligence, our sensing technologies and edge AI platforms are primed to build on our wireless success.”
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