The emerging technology of Wi-Fi sensing promises significant benefits for a variety of embedded and edge systems. Using only the radio signals already generated by Wi-Fi interfaces under normal operation, Wi-Fi sensing can theoretically enable an embedded device to detect the presence of humans, estimate their motion, approximate their location, and even sense gestures and subtle movements, such as breathing and heartbeats. Smart home, entertainment, security, and safety systems can all benefit from this ability. For example, a small sensor in a car could detect the presence of back-seat pas ..read more

FieldFox handheld RF analyzers from Keysight can now generate an array of pulse types at frequencies as high as 54 GHz. Outfitted with Option 357 pulse generator software, the FieldFox B- and C-Series analyzers give field engineers access to pulse generation capabilities that support analog modulations and user-defined pulse sequences. All that is needed to upgrade an existing analyzer is a software license key and firmware upgrade. The software option includes standard pulses, FM chirps, FM triangles, AM pulses, and user-definable pulse sequences. In addition, it can create continuous wave ..read more

Joining Empower’s family of E-CAP silicon capacitors for high-frequency decoupling is the EC1005P, a device with an equivalent series inductance (ESL) of just 1 picohenry (pH). The EC1005P offers a capacitance of 16.6 µF, along with low impedance up to 1 GHz. A very thin profile allows the capacitor to be embedded into the substrate or interposer of any SoC, especially those used in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. E-CAP high-density silicon capacitor technology fulfills the ‘last inch’ decoupling gap from the voltage regulators to the SoC suppl ..read more

A 10-Gbps automotive-grade crossbar switch from Diodes routes USB 3.2 and DisplayPort 2.1 signals through a USB Type-C connector. The PI3USB31532Q crossbar switch maintains high signal integrity when used in automotive smart cockpit and rear seat entertainment applications. For design flexibility, the PI3USB31532Q supports three USB-C compliant configuration modes switching at 10 Gbps. It can connect a single lane of USB 3.2 Gen 2; one lane of USB 3.2 Gen 2 and two channels of DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR10; or four channels of DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR10 to the USB-C connector. When configured for Displ ..read more

Infineon’s PSoC 4 HVPA 144k MCU serves as a programmable embedded system for monitoring and managing automotive 12-V lead-acid batteries. The ISO 26262-compliant part integrates precision analog and high-voltage subsystems on a single chip, enabling safe, intelligent battery sensing and management. Powered by an Arm Cortex-M0+ core operating at up to 48 MHz, the 32-bit microcontroller supplies up to 128 kbytes of code flash, 8 kbytes of data flash, and 8 kbytes of SRAM, all with ECC. Dual delta-sigma ADCs, together with four digital filtering channels, determine the battery’s state-of-charge ..read more

While an internal, rechargeable lithium battery is usually the best solution for portable kit nowadays, there are still times when using replaceable cells with an external power option, probably from a USB source, is more appropriate. This DI shows ways of optimizing this. Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas Submission Guide The usual way of combining power sources is to parallel them, with a series diode for each. That is fine if the voltages match and some loss of effective battery capacity, owing to a diode’s voltage drop, can be tolerated. Let’s assume the kit ..read more

Batteries are essential for powering many Internet of Things (IoT) devices, particularly wireless sensors, which are now deployed by billions. But batteries are often difficult to access and expensive to change because it’s a manual process. Anything that can be done to maximize the life of batteries and minimize or eliminate the need to change them during their operating life is a worthwhile endeavour and a significant step toward sustainability and efficiency. Taking the example of a wireless sensor, this is a five-step process: Select the components for your prototype device: sensor, MCU ..read more

By means of introduction to my coverage of Apple’s 2024-so-far notable news, I’d like to share the amusing title, along with spot-on excerpts from the body text, from a prescient piece I saw on Macworld yesterday. The title? “Get ready for another Apple meeting that could have been an email”. Now the excerpts: Apple started running virtual press events during the pandemic when in-person gatherings made little sense and at various times were frowned upon or literally illegal. But Apple has largely stuck with that format even as health concerns lessened and its own employees were herded back in ..read more

TSMC’s advanced packaging capacity is fully booked until 2025 due to hyper demand for large, powerful chips from cloud service giants like Amazon AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Meta. Nvidia and AMD are known to have secured TSMC’s chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) and system-on-integrated-chips (SoIC) capacity for advanced packaging. Nvidia’s H100 chips—built on TSMC’s 4-nm process—use CoWoS packaging. On the other hand, AMD’s MI300 series accelerators, manufactured on TSMC’s 5-nm and 6-nm nodes, employ SoIC technology for the CPU and GPU combo before using CoWoS for high-bandwidth memory (HBM ..read more

Integration of analog circuitry with digital logic often requires the addition of an extra supply rail or two. The excellent PSRR of precision op-amps (typically >>100 dB) makes them unfussy about power rail variations. This simplifies power supply circuitry and eases the task of designing it to be uncomplicated and inexpensive. Here’s a variation on the popular flying-capacitor charge-pump voltage converter motif that takes advantage of op-amp tolerance for less than perfect supply regulation. It first doubles and then inverts 5 V to generate nominally symmetrical positive and negative ..read more