New-Tech Europe Magazine | Oct 2017 | Digital Edition

new products

With the challenging space constraints of many IoT applications – where, for example, connectivity is needed close to the sensor – ON Semiconductor’s 7 mm x 9 mm x 1 mm SiP transceiver has almost one- third the footprint and is one-tenth the overall size of a module-based solution; this gives engineers much greater design freedom. Building on the success of the AX-SFEU SoC family and thanks to the integration of all necessary functionality, theAX-SIP-SFEU positions ON Semiconductor with a market leading one-chip solution for Sigfox applications. Delivered with conformal shielding and pre-certified radio regulatory approvals, the ‘out of the box’ solution helps to simplify design, speed time to market, and reduce overall development cost by allowing customers to focus on their application and antenna design. Due to the need for long-life from a battery powered solution, a further concern for design engineers working on wireless communications applications is power consumption. Sigfox’s predictable and claimed lowest energy consumption ‘device-to-cloud’, is complemented by ON Semiconductor’s own ultra-low power design to give the new SiP standby, sleep and deep sleep mode currents of just 0.5 milliamps (mA), 1.3 microamps (µA) and 100 nanoamps (nA) respectively. The AX-SIP-SFEU connects to the customer product via a simple universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) interface. AT commands are used to send frames and configure radio parameters, with an Application Programming Interface (API) variant available for customers wishing to write their own software. The new device is part of an ON Semiconductor ecosystem which also comprises a development kit and an integrated IDE for software developers. “ON Semiconductor’s new SiP transceivers, of which the AX-SIP-SFEU is the first, provides all of the advantages, integration and convenience associated with a module, but with the form factor of an IC,” said Thomas Wolff, Vice President of Wireless & Connectivity Solutions at ON Semiconductor. “Sigfox certification and compliancy with local regulation means that engineers, working on exciting and innovative IoT solutions across many market sectors, can focus on other aspects of the design knowing that the connectivity and communications element is already taken care of.” “Sigfox is delighted to have partners like ON Semiconductor that provide our ecosystems with innovative products and leading technologies,” said Tony Francesca, VP of Global Ecosystem Partners at Sigfox. “The new SiP from ON Semiconductor is

opening a new generation of devices, demonstrating with its high level of integration that the IoT market is developing now and gaining in maturity.”

Enable CAN Flexible Data Rate (CAN FD) in new and existing designs using Microchip’s unique external CAN FD controller Microchip announces the availability of the industry’s first external CAN Flexible Data Rate (CAN FD) controller. The MCP2517FD provides designers with a simplified path to upgrade from CAN 2.0 to CAN FD and benefit from CAN FD protocol enhancements. CAN FD offers many benefits over traditional CAN 2.0 including faster data rates and data byte message expansion. The cutting-edge MCP2517FD CAN FD controller can be used with any microcontroller (MCU), enabling developers to easily implement this technology without a complete system redesign. Since the adoption and transition to CAN FD is in the beginning stages, there are a limited number of CAN FD MCUs available today. In addition, changing a system MCU can come with a significant cost, increased development time and risk. MCP2517FD allows system designers to enable CAN FD functionality by adding only one external component while continuing to utilise the majority of their design. The MCP2517FD also allows designers to easily integrate additional CAN FD channels, on top of those that may be available on an MCU. The MCP251XFD CAN FD Motherboard (Part #ADM00576), together with the MCP2517FD Click Board (Part #MIKROE-2379), provides a simple, low-cost evaluation board for implementing a CAN FD design. In addition, a firmware API written in C is available for rapid application development. The MCP2517FD-H/SL is available today in a 14-lead SOIC package for sampling and in volume production. The MCP2517FD-H/JHA is available today in a 14-lead VQFN package with wettable flanks for sampling and in volume production.

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