Have you heard that our C2000™ Piccolo F2807x MCU was named one of EDN’s “Hot 100” MCUs of 2014? To celebrate this great achievement, we’re offering a chance to win a 20-percent discount on the TMDXDOCK28075 experimenter’s kit to participants who fill out a short survey.

Read more details below or watch this video to learn more about our Piccolo F2807x MCUs and how this new series can help improve your next industrial control design.

Leave us a message and let us know—what is one thing that excites you about our Piccolo F2807x MCUs?

Close your eyes and imagine the future with us for a minute. What if Christmas lights could light up just from someone speaking? What if there was a sprinkler system that could sense the pH-level and dryness of soil to determine when watering is needed? What if there was a robot that could serve as a librarian, reading catalog numbers with vision technology and fetching books? What if there was an air shield that could deflect incoming objects, acting like an invisible umbrella?

Sound like futuristic technologies that would be cool to use one day, but aren’t available yet? Wrong. You can find all of these technologies and more in Dr. Li’s undergraduate class, EENG 3910 – Project V: Digital Signal Processing System Design, at the University of North Texas in Denton.

Junior Eric Nguyen and senior Tika Malla work with the LaunchPad to integrate a DC motor and an ultrasonic range sensor.

These student-built projects of the future are all based on and built with TI’s TM4C123GXL LaunchPad development kit. Unlike other popular prototyping platforms designed to shield the complexity of hardware in programming, the LaunchPad is programmable in the standard C Language, which allows students to use a set of well-structured driver libraries and take the creative process to the next level.

“The prototyping platforms like Arduino are great for generating general interest in engineering from a hobbyist standpoint, but they are too limited for students aspiring to become professional electrical engineers,” said EENG 3910 teacher Dr. Xinrong Li, associate professor in electrical engineering at UNT. “Those simplified prototyping platforms are designed to make embedded system design easier for those with very minimum engineering background, but they are not intended for production-grade developments.”

Dr. Li’s EENG 3910 class focuses on basic theory and application of digital signal processing (DSP), requiring students to implement DSP algorithms in embedded hardware platforms. TI’s TM4C123GXL LaunchPad helps teach students the basics in embedded system design and real-time signal processing. Ultimately, this results in a much smoother transition when developing simple to real-time embedded systems.

Juniors Chris Talbott and Houston Chapman develop a robot controlled by a transmitter and receiver, both of which are based on the TM4C123GXL LaunchPad. 

“Using the LaunchPad makes the course a lot easier to follow. Instead of just changing functions, you learn about the actual processor and code, getting a better foundation for what’s going on in the underlying architecture,” said Nick Tompkins, a graduate student in engineering who supervises the UNT electrical engineering lab.

Chris Talbot, a student currently enrolled in EENG 3910, agrees. “With the LaunchPad, you start with the code and decide what you want to do with it, writing a full-blown program.”

TI’s LaunchPad also can serve as a “mini laboratory,” acting as an interface to a computer to program different sensors, which can then be sampled and processed in a computer.

Use of the LaunchPad is becoming an integral part of UNT’s project-based engineering curriculum, which requires students to take eight hands-on design and project-based courses throughout the program (the last two for their senior design project). This LaunchPad is currently used in two courses, with plans to integrate it into others.

Thanks to the low cost of the TM4C123GXL LaunchPad, students enrolled in Dr. Li’s class are supplied their own LaunchPad, which is theirs to keep after the class is over. Owning the equipment allows students to come up with their own ideas, gravitating to applications they are personally interested in. Many are now using LaunchPad as part of their senior design project.

Learn more about TI’s LaunchPad development kit ecosystem at www.ti.com/launchpad.

Find out how you can integrate TI's LaunchPads and other TI products into your course curriculum here.

Researchers from Technical University Munich (TUM) in Munich, Germany recently presented Visio.M, an electronic vehicle they developed with industry experts. The goal: to build an affordable, stylish e-vehicle that offered safety, comfort as well as a reasonable reach. Texas Instruments contributed to the project with the so-called "Web-PC." This "Jacinto" based Linux-PC is used for the HMI, the usage of mobile service and also for the control of the cluster. 

Researchers from 14 TUM faculties collaborated with 17 industry project partners, some of which were TI, BMW, Daimler and TÜV Sued, to develop a minimal vehicle setting new standards in terms of efficiency and safety. The project, called Visio.M, was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

“We were pleased to participate in the Visio.M Project, because TI's innovative products perfectly fit to the vision of future urban mobility. The "Jacinto" family of processors provides superior integration and power/performance advantages which are  essential to address the challenges of future electrical vehicles.” said Walter Borghs, automotive field applications manager. Walter and members of his team have been actively involved in driving TI's involvement in the project.

The Visio.M vehicle provides enough space for two passengers plus luggage and weighs only 450 kg (less than 1,000 pounds). It offers a reach of up to 160 km and a maximum speed of 120 km/h. The car is powered by a Lithium ion battery with a capacity of 13.5 kWh, that can be charged in just three to four hours at a 230 V plug.

For more information on the project, click here.

When you think about diversity, what does it mean to you?

For me, diversity hits all aspects of my life. I’m a woman. I’m African-American. I’m over 40.  Shall I go on? But I’m more than what you see on the outside. I’ve been exposed to disability, caring for my terminally ill mother at one point. I’m a working mother, with four kids! I can relate to various age groups and the issues they face. My youngest child is nine, and my oldest child is a Millennial who just graduated from college and is working as a mechanical engineer with Chevron. These life experiences have shaped me into who I am today and enabled me to relate to many different aspects of the diversity spectrum.

Finding creative solutions to problems requires different perspectives. That’s why diversity is such an imperative to this company. We believe it fuels our innovation and makes us a better company. In my previous role as an HR manager, I worked with several different businesses over the past six years – from technicians to engineers to business professionals, and I’ve seen great strides in our diversity efforts.  I’ve also seen pockets where we can do better. Now, in my new role as the director of diversity and inclusion for the company, I can continue to champion this work. This role is exciting to me because it touches everyone, and I have the unique ability to impact how people view our company – both inside and out.

One mind finding solutions to the world’s problems is powerful, but a team of minds is limitless. Particularly when a team can see beyond the typical definitions of diversity and realize that each person brings a distinctive set of life experiences that allows him or her to contribute in special ways. We want our employees, no matter their backgrounds, work styles, geographic location, ideas or differences, to feel empowered to be who they are so they can do their best work, grow, and be fulfilled.

It is important to me that TIers understand that this is a place where every employee can succeed.

Over the years we have put in place diversity programs and initiatives to strengthen our commitment to creating an inclusive environment, I’d like to highlight a few key programs and efforts that I believe set us apart.

The TI Diversity Network (TIDN) is one example of how TI’s appreciation for diversity is firmly rooted in our culture. Through this network, more than 30 grassroots, employee-led diversity initiatives with thousands of members support employee engagement across our varied population.  This includes various cultural and ethnic initiatives, employees with disabilities and their families, LGBT, women, military, and religious initiatives - every initiative is open to our employees.

We certainly can’t neglect our prospective employees either. That’s why we participate in more than 400 university recruiting events and conferences each year, including Society of Women Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, Out for Work, EmployAbility, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and others.

Our ongoing efforts to attract and retain the best and brightest people is at the core of what we do. That said, it’s equally important that we keep our eye on the future and promote engineering as a great career for the next generation. Today, our pool of engineering talent is limited by a lack of diverse talent. According to the American Society for Engineering Education, of those students graduating with electrical engineering degrees from U.S. universities, less than 15 percent are women, less than 10 percent are Hispanic, and approximately five percent are African American. To help close the gap, Texas Instruments continues to invest money, time and resources in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, in areas and programs that focus on girls and underrepresented populations. I have more thoughts on how diversity at TI can further fuel our ongoing efforts to be even more innovative, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you soon.  But clearly, we still have work to do as an industry.

In the meantime, I want to continue the conversation and I am eager to hear from you. Feel free to answer my question that I posed at the beginning of this blog post with a comment below: When you think about diversity, what does it mean to you? Until next time!

Learn more about TI’s diversity and inclusion efforts at ti.com/diversity

Arguably the most important parameter that will determine the accuracy of your SAR ADC is settling error associated with the input and reference signals. “Well, what about the noise and linearity errors of the ADC?” you might ask. Good question, but if you’ve already picked a high-resolution ADC, then chances are these intrinsic ADC errors will be tiny compared to the settling errors associated with the ADC’s input and reference signal paths, if you’re not careful. In this post I will discuss how SAR ADC TINA models can be used to verify the settling characteristics of ADC input and reference drive circuits.

Perhaps the most important thing to realize about SAR ADCs is that their inputs are not high impedance ports. They contain switch-capacitor networks that draw load current from the input sources.

Many of us are familiar with low-power DC motors because we see them everywhere in our daily lives. What we may not see are all the larger AC industrial motors working behind the scenes to automate the assembly of our automobiles or to lift the elevators we ride every day. These high-power motors are driven by electronics with very different requirements and with much higher current. In part 1 of this blog, we will discuss the theory and requirements of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) used to control the high current of 3-phase AC motors. In part 2, we will discuss the isolation requirements and calculation of correct amount of IGBT drive power.

Three-phase inverters are used for variable-frequency drives that control the speed of AC motors and for high-power applications. IGBTs are used in half-bridge configuration for each phase of the three-phase inverters. The high-side and a low-side IGBT switch of the half-bridge are used to apply positive and negative high-voltage DC pulses, respectively, to the motor coils in an alternating mode. A single, isolated gate driver IC drives the gate of each IGBT and galvanically isolates the high-voltage output from the low-voltage control inputs. The collector of the top (high-side) IGBT is connected to a very high voltage DC bus. The emitter of that IGBT floats relative to earth ground to maintain the transistor’s V_CE within its specified limits. This in turn requires use of an isolated gate driver in order to isolate the low-voltage PWM inputs from the control circuit from the high voltages of the IGBT. Isolated gate-drivers are also used to control the bottom (low-side) IGBTs. The figure below shows typical configuration in an industrial motor drive.

An IGBT gate driver IC has to perform a multitude of functions simultaneously. During the IGBT turn-on, the gate capacitance is charged and, upon reaching the IGBT threshold voltage (V_{GE_on}), the reverse transfer capacitance (called Miller capacitance) is also charged. To turn off the IGBT, the gate capacitance has to be discharged and, once the threshold voltage (V_{GE_off}) is reached, the reverse transfer capacitance also needs to be discharged. Theoretically, the turn-on and turn-off voltages have to at least cross the threshold level, but practically, these values have to be replaced by other voltages more relevant to the application. Typically, IGBTs are turned on with a positive gate voltage of nominally 15V.

Normally 0V applied to the gate is enough to turn off the IGBT. However, to prevent voltage changes (dVCE/dt) across the Miller capacitance (due to the turning on of the opposite IGBT in the half bridge) from turning the gate of the OFF IGBT back on, a large negative voltage (-8V to -15V) is often applied to the V_EE of the gate driver IC. It is very important to select the control voltage correctly.

When a positive control voltage (higher than the threshold) is applied between gate and emitter, the IGBT turns on. Due to the IGBT trans-conductance, the collector current is a function of the gate-emitter voltage. There is also a dependency on the saturation voltage. In other words, the higher the gate-emitter voltage, the higher the possible collector current and the lower the resulting saturation voltage. To achieve the lowest possible conduction losses, which are determined by V_CEsat = f(I_C, V_GE), it is desirable to work with rather high positive control voltage. On the other hand, it should be noted that a high gate-emitter voltage may allow a high short circuit current should that fault occur. Therefore, a compromise needs to be found between the conduction losses during normal operation and the maximum short circuit current in case of a fault. The most common value for gate voltage is 15V, which is also shown in IGBT driver datasheet as a characteristic value. The absolute maximum value should not be exceeded; otherwise internal damage to the driver IC may occur as well as destructively high current may result during short circuit.

In case of switching off with 0V, parasitic turn-on can happen due to either of the following two reasons:

1. Due to the feedback effect of the Miller capacitance (The main cause of this is the voltage change between collector and emitter when the other IGBT in the half bridge is turned on or off)
2. Due to the feedback effect of the Emitter stray inductance. (The main cause of this is the change in load current di_L/dt)

By applying a negative control voltage, the IGBT is turned off and the gate voltage required to turn the IGBT back on is much higher than can be achieved by the Miller effect described earlier. Depending on the application, turn-off voltages in a range -5V to -10V is very common. The main reasons are:

1. Lower required driver power, which is directly proportional to the voltage lift from the negative to the positive gate voltage.
2. Availability of driver IC. Many driver ICs are developed on CMOS or BiCMOS technology, which only provides a limited blocking capability of maximum 30V between positive and negative supply voltage. Taking supply voltage tolerances into account and sufficient safety margin to the maximum voltage limits, the usual negative gate voltages proved by the V_EE power rail are in the range of -5V to -10V.

Check back for Part 2, where we will discuss the isolation and power requirements.

In the meantime, apply what you’ve learned using our Isolated IGBT Gate-Drive Push-Pull Power Supply with 4 Outputs TI Designs reference design.

When it comes to portable medical or healthtech applications, the most valuable and beneficial feature when picking a microcontroller is undoubtable low power. Making this your top design priority will ensure an extended battery life.

Apart from power efficiency, embedded high-performance analog peripherals within the MCU play a differentiating role in simplifying analog front end (AFE) design. Selecting an MCU with analog integration provides many cost and space benefits, such as reducing the bill of materials and product footprint.

TI’s low-power MSP430FG43xmicrocontrollers include these integrated features while meeting demanding power consumption requirements.

• Provide low-power consumption in both active and standby modes
• Integrated analog includes
  • 12-Bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
  • Dual 12-Bit digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with synchronization
  • Three configurable operational amplifiers (OpAmps)
  • On-chip comparator
  • Display technology includes an integrated 128-segment liquid crystal display (LCD) driver

To further assist with saving board space, the MSP430FG43x devices are now available in a new smaller package variant – the 113-Ball BGA (ZCA). This 7mm x 7mm package footprint gives designers the ability to save greater than three times more board space as compared to an 80-pin QFP package.

To jumpstart your designs, this device comes with a complete reference design for a Low Power Pulse Oximeter & EKG Reference Design consisting of schematics, BOM, CAD files, Technical documents.

Get started now!

The world's first inductance-to-digital converter (LDC) is disruptive, differentiated and defies convention.

And it was developed by TI.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the company recognized the game-changing analog technology by naming the LDC1000 converter for inductive sensing applications as the winner of the new Jack Kilby Award of Innovation.

Hundreds of employees and leaders from around the world celebrated the award during the company's first-ever Innovation Ceremony.

"When we innovate well, we do well. Today is about celebrating some of the key technologists who are driving innovation," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and CEO. "Thank you for driving continuous innovation at TI."

Brian Crutcher, TI's executive vice president of Business Operations, and Kevin Ritchie, senior vice president of the Technology & Manufacturing Group (TMG), introduced the seven newly elected and re-elected 2015 TI Tech Ladder Fellows– two from TMG and five from Business Operations. Brian also introduced the eight Jack Kilby Award of Innovation finalists, who were honored with applause during the program.

"Your vision, imagination and technical contributions are making a tremendous impact on the company and the world around us," Brian told the audience. "As we go into 2015, I ask that you continue to harness your energy, take it back into the businesses and where you are working, and challenge yourselves to come up with some of the greatest innovations we've seen and make an impact on Texas Instruments moving forward."

About the innovation award

Fifty-seven teams submitted projects for the Jack Kilby Award of Innovation, and TI's technical community then selected eight finalists, all from eight different organizations.

"This shows the diversity of innovation across the company," Brian said. "The finalists we are honoring today are enabling new products and opening up new market opportunities for TI."

LDC1000 core team members said they were thrilled and surprised to receive the award.

"Lots of people were involved in this effort," said George Reitsma, SMTS, analog designer and team lead based in Santa Clara, Calif. "Innovation is hard. It takes time to come up with the right product to meet our customers' needs."

George accepted an engraved Jack Kilby Award of Innovation trophy along with core team members Sumant Bapat and Rick Henderson.

About LDC1000

LDC1000 is the first generation of a new data converter category developed specifically to use inductors as sensors in an array of applications.  The Silicon Valley Analog (SVA) team developed the technology to make inductive sensing cost-efficient and simple, bringing its benefits to a large customer base.
   
LDC1000 has a large customer base today. Customers view inductive sensing as a disruptive alternative to entrenched sensing technologies in terms of flexibility, reliability and system cost.

"I am very proud of the LDC1000 team. I applaud their willingness to defy conventional approaches and develop a truly differentiated, game-changing device," said Dave Heacock, TI senior vice president over SVA. "Innovation is a top priority for all of us at TI, and I am excited this team was selected among the incredible group of finalists as an example of outstanding innovation."

Tech Ladder Fellows

TI leaders also honored seven newly elected or re-elected 2015 TI Tech Ladder Fellows during the Innovation Ceremony: Tom Bonifield (Analog Technology Development [ATD] in TMG), Luigi Colombo (ATD), Tim Anderson (Processors), Yevgen Barsukov (Power), Clive Bittlestone (Embedded Processing R&D Systems Lab), Mahesh Mehendale (MCU and Kilby Labs India) and Sandeep Oswal (Medical & High Reliability in High Performance Analog [HPA]).

TI's Fellow title represents one of the highest rungs on the TI Tech Ladder. It recognizes outstanding and consistent contributions by technical leaders who continuously drive highest levels of innovation and push new technical boundaries for the benefit of TI and its customers.

The election results for all TI Tech Ladder titles will be announced in February.

To see more photos from Tuesday's event, click here.

In less than three weeks, we’re headed to Las Vegas for an action-packed 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). From next-generation advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to innovations for the Internet of Things (IoT), smart homes and wearables, we will demonstrate semiconductor technology that enables the unexpected in consumer electronics.

Whether you’re able to make it to the show or not, you simply cannot miss our technology demonstrations in the TI Village. Here are just a few of our 100+ product demonstrations, many of which we’ll post as videos on our YouTube page:

• Digital cockpit integration enabled by our “Jacinto 6 Ex”is a fusion between traditional infotainment, cluster, heads-up display, and informational ADAS (surround view and front camera applications). A single “Jacinto 6 Ex” enhances driving experience with triple displays (center stack, digital cluster and heads-up display).
• A battery-free sensor network demonstrates the operation of a wireless sensor system that could support up to 30 nodes. Powered by ambient energy, the demo features a live network visualizer and shows direct node-to-hub communication. The display shows temperature measured by each node, color gradient and distance information from central hub, simulating a state-of-the-art home network.
• Our DLP® products 3-D printer employs the DLP Structured Light Software Development Kit to enable high accuracy and high-speed 3-D print objects. The system features the programmable DLP LightCrafter4500 evaluation module to precisely expose object layers and the ultra-low-power MSP430™ microcontroller to synchronize layer exposure with motor control for flexible 3-D builds.
• Our DLP^® Pico^™ projection technology is incorporated in Sprout by HP, animmersive computing platform that combines the power of an advanced, all-in-one desktop computer with a natural user interface to break down the barriers between the digital and physical worlds. This demo will showcase Sprout by HP’s projection system which allows a user to immediately interact and create.
• The Haptic Bluetooth® Kit includes our DRV2605 haptic driver with LRA and integrates haptics, power management and wireless connectivity. This demonstrates haptics’ ability to provide updates to users through non-visual means, instead relying on a sense of touch. A companion iOS app allows for easy prototyping, in order to add tactile feedback to nearly any application.

Experts to speak about self-driving cars:

Autonomous vehicles are also expected to generate a lot of buzz at CES this year. Fernando Mujica, director of TI’s autonomous vehicles lab, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt and Dr. Dirk Hoheisel from Bosch will present their take on the “Obstacles on the Road to Self-Driving Cars” on Wednesday, January 7, at 11:30 a.m. PST in Room N261 (North Hall). These experts will discuss regulations, legislation and privacy issues that need to be addressed before driverless cars become a reality.

If you’re able to attend the show, make sure you head over to the TI Village in the North Hall (N115 – N119) for a first-hand experience with more than 100 consumer electronics demonstrations covering all the exciting tech trends, including crystal-clear audio solutions, automotive innovations, DLP® technology, haptics, wireless connectivity and wireless power.

Stay connected with us during CES:

Stay tuned with us throughout the next month for the latest news, trends and products announcements from CES. Get real-time updates on the TI E2E™ Community blogs, including TI Live @, Behind the Wheel, ConnecTIng Wirelessly, Fully Charged and Think.Innovate.

We’ll also have regular CES updates on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram channels.

Let us know what you think the biggest trends will be this year!

Four years ago, Joe Mader’s routine commute to the office was suddenly interrupted. Traffic slowed to just a few miles per hour. Flashing lights could be seen up ahead. As Joe approached the scene of the car crash, he saw a grey vehicle on its side. First responders were trying to help those inside.

“That could be my wife or my three kids,” Joe thought .

For the rest of his drive, Joe thought about the people inside that car and wondered how long it had taken for someone to call 911. He wondered what kind of information − or misinformation − was relayed. By the time Joe got to the parking lot of his office building, he knew there was a better way to help people in car accidents – a way to possibly save lives.

Guardity, the start-up company created by Joe, his father Tom and Dr. Russell McKown, had spent the previous six months working on technology to help prevent distracted driving. Now, they would refine that technology to assist drivers and their passengers when they need it most.

“What if your loved ones are involved in an accident? Who are you counting on to take care of them? We developed AngelGuard to answer that question,” Tom said.

The team researched and found that on average, it takes 5-7 minutes for someone to call 911 after a collision. With AngelGuard, it takes only seconds. Powered by TI technology, AngelGuard can be installed under the dash of nearly any vehicle built since 1996.

Here’s how it works: When a vehicle is involved in a collision, AngelGuard immediately dials 911 reaching the nearest dispatcher. Based on information gleaned from the vehicle and the accident, AngelGuard transmits data to the 911 dispatcher’s terminal identifying the location of the vehicle, the make/model of the car, if the driver/passenger(s) need help, and even the seriousness of the crash. The module then connects the dispatcher directly to the people inside the vehicle via speakerphone.

“AngelGuard is intelligent.  It learns about the potential accident − including the impact and direction of the forces – to understand how serious the impact is. It then communicates critical information to the people who can help the most” Tom said.

AngelGuard contains nine TI parts:

• Sitara AM1806 ARM-based MPUs
• TPS65070RSLR PMIC solutions (five-channel  power management ICs)
• TPS63020DSJT high-efficiency buck-boost converter with 4A switch
• BQ27510DRZR-G2 battery management system-side impedance-track fuel gauge
• TPS3805H33DCKR supervisory circuits dual voltage detector
• LM317MDCYR linear voltage regulators, three-terminal adjustable  position
• TPA0211DGNR audio amplifiers mono class-AB w/mono headphone drive
• DAC121S101CIMK/NOPB digital-to-analog converters - DAC12B micro power, RRO DAC
• TPS7A7200RGTT LDO voltage regulators 2A signal output low- input LDO linear regulator

The team at Guardity came to TI more than three years ago with the goal of creating the AngelGuard system, but they were unsure if it could be done with existing technology. Our engineers worked with them, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to turn their ambitious dreams into reality.

“We had a number of technologists who said we were crazy – that this idea had too much complexity, and we were asking this device to do too much. And now it is on the market,” Tom said. “TI helped us bring this idea to life, an idea that has the very real potential to save lives.”

“It is always exciting to see our technology at the core of products that may have been unimaginable even just five years ago,” said Adrian Valenzuela, processor marketing director. “To go from an idea in a conference room to a real device in the hands of customers is one of the best parts of my job.”

AngelGuard is now available for just under $400, with no monthly fees or subscriptions.

“We wanted to do more than just creating some new application and making a lot of money,” Tom said. “My son seeing that car accident really was our motivation. We saw a disturbing statistic: Of an estimated 6 million auto accidents a year in the U.S., 2 million drivers and passengers end up with lifetime injuries and 40,000 will lose their lives. Many of those permanent injuries and deaths could have been prevented if people had gotten help in time. Now they can.”

At TI, we have more than 15 years of experience with low-power RF solutions. Over time, working hands-on with customers, we have learned what it takes to design RF IC’s that work well in industrial environments. The wireless communication needs to be robust and just plain work. To learn more about our 169 MHz, 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 470 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 920 MHz solutions, check out our Sub-1 GHz page.  

Recently we wanted to test our newest long range RF solution against a well-known competitor in the market. Both solutions have really great RF transmission range when tested in a quiet open space, such as in the countryside environment found in this video from our 25km range test video in South Africa. However, many industrial RF solutions are not deployed in the countryside but rather in urban areas, which is why we shot our latest range test video in downtown Oslo, Norway.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

In the video we set up 2 RF links (one with TI’s CC1120 long range narrowband high performance RF transceiver and one with a long range wideband competitor) to compare what happens to the RF link when we introduce an interferer i.e. an e-meter into the equation. We were really surprised by the results. The wideband solution basically ceased to function if the interferer was within ~200 meter range. This basically means that an e-meter in a neighboring building can block your wide-band RF link completely.

	Interferer (such as e-meter or walkie-talkie)
	Area where interferer prevents tested solution from functionning

So why is the wideband solution prevented from receiving data while the narrowband solution is just fine?

There are two main benefits with a narrowband solution. First, there are more RF channels available which enable more systems to coexist peacefully. Secondly, wideband solutions have wider RF receive filters which picks up more RF noise and interference than a narrowband solution. Hence, narrowband is the best choice for robust RF solutions in urban and industrial areas. For an in-depth discussion on this topic, please check out our Long-range RF communication: Why narrowband is the de facto standard whitepaper.

We are happy to have Joe Skazinski, CTO at Kozio, as a guest blogger today. Joe has been in the industry for over 20 years, innovating with embedded software for hardware verification and data storage hardware. Joe is co-founder of Kozio which has helped over 100 companies with their hardware verification challenges. Joe received his B.S. in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University and can be reached at joseph.skazinski@kozio.com.

Whether you have one new board design using DDR2, DDR3 or LPDDR memory, or have you a million devices being built, you always want to know that DDR memory is configured and working perfectly. The three most common challenges are:

• Finding stable DDR controller settings, and then finding optimal settings.
• Making sure those settings can take the heat, and the cold, and run for extended periods without intermittent memory failures.
• Making sure DDR memory on a newly manufactured device is working, completely working.

VTOS DDR™ is a low-cost software product that provides everything you need to configure, verify, and tune the DDR memory on your board design. Provided is pre-built firmware that runs out of on-chip memory, delivering a fast and stable platform for adjusting and tuning DDR and DDR PHY settings. Integrated with the firmware is a task-focused user interface, guiding the user through all steps needed to find optimal DDR settings specific to an SoC, board, and memory part. A proven and advanced set of memory tests allow you to verify new settings in seconds, or kick off long regression tests. When it is time to test a million devices, an API is provided for integration with your favorite test executive.

VTOS DDR comes with a long history of supporting ARM® and TI Sitara™ processors. Since VTOS DRR works with many Sitara references designs, such as the AM437X Evaluation Module and BeagleBone Black, users can reuse DDR configuration data and make minor adjustments tailored to their board design. VTOS DDR for the AM437x works with all board designs using that family of processors, no software development or compilation is required. Use VTOS DDR and gain peace of mind knowing you have comprehensively validated your DDR memory.

Learn more about this DDR tool at www.kozio.com/vtos-ddr.

Infrared (IR) transceivers can be seen in a number of wireless remote control applications including LED lighting, television, and air conditioning controllers.

IR wireless communication is low power, simple to design and cost effective. Infrared remote controls emit light using an LED that is controlled with a modulated signal from a controller. This modulation is what helps a receiver to recognize the expected signal. The two common forms of digital modulation in designs today are called Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), which represent data by shifting amplitude or frequency of the carrier signal respectively. These types of modulation have traditionally been implemented in software. To simplify this process, infrared modulation can be done in hardware as well. With the release of microcontrollers in the MSP430FR4x and MSP430FR2x MCU series with integrated IR Modulation Logic on-chip, several resources are now available to help you get started with full designs or rapid prototyping and evaluation!

The first of which is an Air Conditioning Remote Control TI Design (see image above). The MSP430FR4133 contains integration to minimize system size and cost with additional built-in features including the flexible and low-power LCD controller, a 10-bit ADC, and abundant capacitive-touch enabled input/output pins to control a keypad. This full reference design comes complete with schematics, a bill of materials, and software to implement an infrared controller for a system.

Now, what if you want to create the receiver for a system, like a thermostat for instance? There is a TI Design for that as well. The MSP430FR4133 ultra-low-power FRAM microcontroller is implemented in this reference design that has headers for stacking on the new Infrared BoosterPack (IR-BOOST). This BoosterPack gives you everything you need to either send, or in this case receive, IR signals. Then you can let the MSP430FR4133 microcontroller do the work of modulation for you!

If you have a project in mind that doesn't quite fit the mold of these TI Designs, don't worry! We have a bundle leveraging the MSP430FR4133 LaunchPad (MSP-EXP430FR4133) and the IR BoosterPack! Not only is this kit available for under $30, but it comes with free software to enable point-to-point communication or a learn mode for duplicating the functionality of another remote! This LaunchPad is also the only one to feature an on-board LCD for enabling a complete solution.

If you are interested in incorporating an IR transceiver in your microcontroller projects, get started with the TI Designs or LaunchPad/BoosterPack bundle today! Also, don't forget that if LCD is not required, the MSP430FR2033 microcontroller is available to provide the same great IR capabilities as the MSP430FR4133, but excluded the integrated controller. In fact the MSP430FR2x series, is the first in our FRAM line to start at a price point below $1.00! 

TI’s automotive team is gearing up for yet another CES! The Automotive Innovation Room, located within the TI Village in rooms N115-N119, will be showcasing the following innovative demos:

• TI DLP® automotive wide field of view head-up display Automotive Phone Infusion
• USB 2.0 Automotive Redriver
• HDMI Cable Extender
• USB Type C Connector
• e-Scooter (Two Wheeler EV) showcasing a lot of TI in IT - for motor control, NFC access control battery management system, dashboard and ECU
• Infotainment unit with third rear display
• Haptic Feedback for Automotive Infotainment Interfaces
• LED Dome Light with Touch Sensing and Haptic Feedback
• Automotive Wireless Connectivity with WiLink8Q™: WiFi®, Bluetooth® and GNSS single chip Q100 qualified solution
• TI's Automotive Audio: Smart Amp – Breakthrough technology that brings diagnostic to the next level, reduces total solution size/weight and improves audio experience.
• TI's Automotive Audio: Safe and Sound – TAS5421-Q1– First audio solution for eCall, telematics and instrument cluster in the market. TAS5421 increases efficiency, integrates diagnostic and load dump protection.
• TI’s Automotive Audio: Improve voice recognition with microphone beam forming solution implemented on TLV320AIC3254-Q1
• TDAx Scalability: TDA2x 3D Surround View with Front Camera Analytics and TDA3x Surround View
• TDA3x Front Camera Solution (Pedestrian Detection, Traffic Sign Recognition and Lane Departure Warning)
• Multi-Sensor Fusion Platform showcasing Stereo, Structure from Motion and Front Camera Algorithms
• TDA3x integrated ISP demo with OV10640 highlighting integrated ISP cost/size advantages
• Green Hills Software (GHS) Integrity demo running on TDA2x showcasing multi-camera Fusion support
• Partner solution on TDA2x showcasing ADAS application such as Front Camera and Surround View
• TI Power Solution Driving Automotive EPS, ADAS Surround View, Infotainment and Cluster
• Digital Cockpit Integration enabled by "Jacinto 6 Ex"
• BOM-optimized infotainment system driven by "Jacinto 6 Eco"
• Fully-integrated automotive Linux solution on "Jacinto 6"
• Android Lollipop powered by "Jacinto 6" with Android Auto Projected (AAP)
• Fully reconfigurable digital cluster solution running on "Jacinto 6"
• Biometric Steering Wheel
• Start-Stop Compliant Power for Infotainment and Cluster Applications
• TI Designs: I2S over Coax
• TI Designs: Automotive Door Control Switch
• TI Designs: Optimized Automotive 1M Pixel Camera Module Design or Uncompressed Digital Video over Coax
• TI Designs: Automotive TFT Display over Coax
• TI Designs: Ultrasonic Fluid Level/Quality Sensor
• TI Designs: Wireless External Mirror Control

Welcome back to the Get Connected blog series here on Analog Wire! In my previous Get Connected blog, we reviewed the benefits of implementing equalization in high-speed serial links that are prone to signal integrity problems. In this post, I will be discussing the concept of using a general-purpose SerDes to aggregate multiple data inputs from different sources for high-speed transmission in short-reach or long-haul applications.

Over time, the need for higher data throughput has grown exponentially, but from a system level the amount of throughput is limited by the physical medium used for data transmission and the high-speed ports that a design supports. For example, if you have to move N Gigabit Ethernet links from one location to another, you are bound by the maximum throughput of a GigE link (1.25Gbps) and the typical transmission distance of 100 meters that Ethernet cabling supports. There are many variants that can be implemented in a GigE design to work around the system-level limitations, but for argument’s sake let’s agree that the parameters above are representative of a typical system.

In order to get your payload from point A to point B, N cables need to be pulled to carry the payload, while point A and point B also need to be within some reasonable distance of each other to avoid data loss. What if you have to transmit your payload across a campus where the distance can exceed one or two kilometers? Solving this problem can be very costly, as cabling is expensive and repeaters may need to be implemented at several points along the bus to deal with signal integrity issues.

TI recently released two general-purpose aggregation devices that deal with such an issue head-on to help reduce overall system complexity and cost. The TLK10022 and the TLK10081 are multi-channel, high-speed SerDes devices that allow for 4 and 8 lanes of low-speed data, respectively, to be aggregated and de-aggregated in the same package to and from one high-speed serial link. The high-speed portion of the SerDes can be configured to support multiple output frequencies, with the maximum throughput being 10Gbps. The low-speed portion of the SerDes can also be configured to operate at many different frequencies and ultimately determines the high-speed output frequency. Figure 1 below depicts a system-level block diagram using the TLK10022:

Figure 1: System-level block diagram using the TLK10022

If we revisit our Gigabit Ethernet example from earlier, it is easy to see that the system complexity and overall system cost is reduced by implementing the TLK10022 aggregation solution. The system cost is reduced dramatically as N cables now become one electrical or optical link, and the system complexity is simplified as N cables are reduced and the need to implement repeaters disappears.

Why stop at Gigabit Ethernet, though? With these devices, the aggregation style in the system makes it possible to aggregate any type of data within the bandwidth limitations of the device. The first aggregation style would be applicable in Ethernet applications: byte interleave mode. In this mode, the aggregation device is looking for 8b10b encoded data on its low-speed inputs. The aggregation core takes the 10-bit words and multiplexing the signals out of the high-speed portion of the IC. The second option for aggregation is bit interleave mode. In this mode, the device works in a round-robin format, taking 1 bit at a time off of each of the low-speed lanes, while again multiplexing the signals out of the high-speed portion if the IC. There is no pre-processing of the data with the aggregation device, it simply multiplexes the incoming data out of the high-speed portion of the IC at an aggregate faster speed. The receiving de-aggregation device is configured in the same manner as the aggregation device, making the data transfer complete.

Recently, the TLK10022 was demonstrated at the electronica trade fair in Munich, Germany. In this demo, the TLK10022 was used to aggregate and de-aggregate four HD-SDI signals running at 1.485Gbps. The four signals were aggregated into a 5.94Gbps optical link, then de-aggregated and shown on four independent monitors. This demo showcased the power and versatility behind TI’s aggregation technology. Watch a video about the demo here. Figure 2 below also shows an image of this HD-SDI demo from electronica. 

Figure 2: Gigabit video aggregation

For more information on specific aggregation application solutions, please visit the High Speed Interface Forum in the TI E2E™ Community to check out existing posts from engineers already using TI interface products or create a new thread to address your specific application. If you are not connected, you can get connected with one of the broadest interface portfolios in the industry.

Please watch for my next post in the Get Connected series, where we will discuss using differential transceivers in unconventional applications. Leave your comments in the section below if you’d like to hear more about anything mentioned in this post or if there is an interface topic you'd like to see us tackle in the future!

And be sure to check out the full Get Connected series!

Segment liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are used across many applications from electronic shelf labels to medical equipment. TI's MSP430FR4133 MCUs with the industry's lowest power and unmatched pin flexibility provides an exciting offering. While they operate in a similar way, the integrated segment LCD driver options across our portfolio of ultra-low-power MSP430 MCUs have different features that should be considered to best fit the microcontroller project being considered.

To learn more about the various segment LCD controllers on-chip across the MSP430 MCU portfolio, check out our latest application note Designing with MSP430 Segment LCDs. To get started with our latest MCUs, buy a new MSP430FR4133 LaunchPad today!