Now you can quickly and easily design sensors into places where they never used to fit with the thinnest optical sensor solution for wearable health and fitness products: the MAXM86146 dual-photodetector optical sensor solution. The turnkey drop-in module from Maxim Integrated Products includes built-in algorithms for heart-rate and oxygen-saturation (SpO2) monitoring, as well as advanced…
STMicroelectronics using USB Power Delivery technology for faster battery charging
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor company serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is facilitating the modernization of battery-powered products to capture the advantages of the latest USB Power Delivery (USB PD) technology — including faster charging and easy reuse of USB-C chargers and cables. The universal fast-charging ecosystem is rapidly expanding as products like…
NI’s first integrated ECU test system reduces costs and improves efficiency
NI, the provider of a software-defined platform that helps accelerate the development and performance of automated test and automated measurement systems, announced its ECU Test System offering. The shift in vehicles from mechanical to electronic systems has amplified the number and complexity of electronic control units (ECUs) in modern consumer vehicles. Together, a network of…
CDS offers added protection for touchscreens
Crystal Display Systems (CDS) has launched another product to its CheckVue range. The new Anti-Bacterial Touchscreen Films provides an added layer of protection for touchscreens, killing 99.9% of all bacteria and pathogens with a silver nanoparticle coating. The enhanced antibacterial features serve as contamination precaution and provides touchscreen users added protection, which is particularly relevant…
STMicroelectronics launches online STM32 microcontroller training & support
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor provider, has launched a web-based ecosystem to help designers build digital-power solutions using STM32 microcontrollers (MCUs). Digital power supplies are an emerging class of devices able to optimize energy efficiency and capture rich data for diagnostics and safety. Digital control also lets designers increase power density to realize size and weight…
Microchip expands Adaptec SmartRAID portfolio with new entry-level adapter
Microchip Technology recently announced the Adaptec SmartRAID 3100E RAID adapters, which are designed to provide reliable hardware RAID protection for customer data in cost-sensitive end applications. The aim is to better support the cloud, enterprise, and workstation customers that require the reliability and performance of hardware RAID at an entry-level cost point. The SmartRAID 3100E provides…
Renesas offers new MPU series with real-time AI inference
Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has introduced the RZ/V series of microprocessors (MPUs), which feature Dynamically Reconfigurable Processor (DRP-AI). This is Renesas’ exclusive vision-optimized artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator. The first product in the series, the RZ/V2M is designed to deliver a combination of real-time AI inference and advanced power efficiency in…
Renesas’ neural network-trained firmware improves sensing performance
Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has expanded its popular ZMOD4410 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) sensor platform with the power of embedded artificial intelligence (e-AI), enabling smart odor sensing for ventilation systems, monitoring and controls, and air-quality monitors. The enhanced platform combines neural network-trained firmware on various microcontrollers (MCUs), such as the…
NXP offers enhanced security for contactless smart city services
NXP Semiconductors N.V. has launched a new MIFARE DESFire EV3 IC that provides advanced security and seamless integration of mobile services for connectivity in smart city services. As the third evolution of NXP’s proven contactless MIFARE DESFire portfolio, the latest IC is backwards compatible and offers enhanced performance with a greater operating distance and improved…
STMicroelectronics’ reference-design wearables enable contact tracing and remote capabilities
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor provider, recently announced the availability of a compact and cost-effective reference design, which is ideally suited for monitoring social distancing, assuring remote operation, and provisioning. It is also useful as warning, anti-tampering, and potentially providing contact tracing to protect human health in all environments, including in response to global or local…
A new way to deal with short-term memory loss in battery-less devices
An international team of researchers from the Delft University of Technology and Northwestern University has successfully developed a new system that helps battery-less devices memorize time during short power outages. This is a notable finding that will pave the way for mass commercialization of battery-less devices. Many small, battery-less devices that are part of the…
Giving EV batteries a second life
As the demand for electric vehicles (EV) increases and gains popularity, one challenge is becoming more prevalent: used batteries. Until now, batteries that have prematurely failed or surpassed their lifespan have had little use. However, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted a study to reveal that batteries from any…
Researchers build sensor with only 11 atoms
A team of TU Delft researchers has developed an 11-atom sensor: a minuscule device with an antenna, a reset button, a hard disk, a reading screen, and the ability to receive magnetic waves. The sensor was developed with the sole purpose of studying the behavior of magnetic waves to later use that information in green…
How blockbuster movies have advanced soft robotics
Blockbuster films and video games are now doing more than just entertaining. Thanks to collaborators from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Carnegie Mellon University, the sophisticated technology behind the screen of movies and games are being used to help control robots. This team adapted the tech typically used for high-end computer graphics…
The key to generating useable energy from static electricity
Static electricity is not fatal but it can carry a high voltage that goes up to tens of thousands of volts. Triboelectricity, an electric charge generated by friction, is produced when two solid surfaces come in contact with one another. However, scientists have noted that it is generated even when liquids come in contact with…
An implantable biosensor that operates without batteries
A team of researchers from the University of Surrey recently introduced a new biodegradable sensor that requires no batteries to operate. This new device marks a milestone in the direction of implanted nanotechnology, which can support athletes by monitoring health and tracking progress or caregivers who may need to monitor the health and movements of…
One step closer to faster, smaller computer processors
The world of connectivity is currently passing through a major transformation as photons are being replaced by electrons in intercontinental fibre-optics based communications. Already the standard for intercontinental communication through fibre-optics, photons are replacing electrons as the main carriers of information throughout optical networks to computers. Light is emerging as the primary vehicle for information…
IAR Systems enhances security compliance for embedded applications
IAR Systems, the future-proof supplier of software tools and services for embedded development, recently announced the addition of support for a number of MCU devices from NXP Semiconductors within its security development tool C-Trust. This enhanced device support helps embedded developers to implement security and meet new compliance standards from recent security legislations for IoT…
Microchip’s software development kit simplifies programming a neural network
With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the internet-of-things (IoT), applications are moving to the network edge where data is collected. This requires power-efficient solutions to deliver more computational performance in ever-smaller, thermally constrained form factors. Through its Smart Embedded Vision initiative, Microchip Technology is meeting the growing need for power-efficient…
Training deep neural networks with less energy
Early Bird is an energy-efficient method developed to train Deep Neural Network (DNNs), artificial intelligence that supports self-driving vehicles, facial recognition, and similar types of applications. It was developed by researchers from Texas A&M University and Rice University. A study by lead authors Haoran You and Chaojian Li of Rice’s Efficient and Intelligent Computing (EIC)…