New-Tech Europe Magazine | September 2018

September 2018

16 Unleashing the Benefits of Industrial Convergence 20 How Cellular Technology is Transforming Home Security and Alarm Panels 22 IoT platform for the process industry 26 Meeting the Challenges of Transforming the Digital Building from Concept to Reality

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September 2018

About New-Tech Magazines Group Read To Lead ‘New-Tech Magazines’ A world leader in publishing high-tech and electronics, producing top quality publications read by tens of thousands professionals from all over the world especially from Europe, innovative electronics, IoT, microwave, homeland security, aerospace, automotive and technological industries. Our specialized target audiences prefer New-Tech Europe because they know that our publications are a reliable source of the latest information in their respective fields. Our multidimensional editorials, news items, interviews and feature articles provide them with a full, well-rounded picture of the markets in which they operate - an essential asset for every technological leader striving to stay ahead, make the right decisions, and generate the next global innovation. Moreover, as an attractive platform for advertisers from around the world, New-Tech Europe has become a hub for bustling international commercial activity. Here, through ads and other promotional materials, Israeli readers obtain crucial information about developers and manufacturers worldwide, finding the tools, instruments, systems and components they need to facilitate their innovative endeavors. Targeting the needs of both the global and european industries and global advertisers, New-Tech Magazines Group constantly expands and upgrades its services. Over the years, the company has been able to formulate a remarkably effective, multi-medium mix of offerings, combining magazine publications with useful online activities, newsletters and special events and exhibitions.

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Contents

10 LATEST NEWS 16 Unleashing the Benefits of Industrial Convergence 20 How Cellular Technology is Transforming Home Security and Alarm Panels 22 IoT platform for the process industry 26 Meeting the Challenges of Transforming the Digital Building from Concept to Reality 30 New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than a year 32 More than Just a Phase: Understanding Phase Stability in RF Test Cables

16

20

36 OUT OF THE BOX 38 NEW PRODUCTS 46 INDEX

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New-Tech Magazine Europe l 9

Latest News

T-Mobile and Ericsson sign major $3.5 billion 5G agreement

Ericsson and T-Mobile announced a multi-year, $3.5 billion contract to support T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network deployment. Under the deal, Ericsson will provide T-Mobile with the latest 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software compliant with 3GPP standards. Bridging from a nationwide LTE Advanced network to 5G, T-Mobile will leverage Ericsson’s market- leading 5G portfolio to expand existing LTE capacity needs while future-proofing the network. The contract also encompasses Ericsson’s digital services solutions, including dynamic orchestration, business support systems (BSS) and Ericsson Cloud Core, enabling T-Mobile to rapidly launch innovative and groundbreaking 5G experiences to customers. Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile, says: “While the other guys just make promises, we’re putting our money where our mouth is. With this new Ericsson agreement we’re laying the groundwork for 5G – and with Sprint we can supercharge the 5G revolution.” Niklas Heuveldop, President and Head of Ericsson North America, TRACO POWER, leading power supply specialist, opens its new subsidiary in France. Michel Suissa will run the new branch. Having worked for 30 years in the power supply industry in strategic positions of engineering and sales positions, he aims to make TRACO POWER the undisputed leader of DC/DC and AC/ DC power conversion products in the region. A promising market. TRACO POWER Group decided to establish the new office in France (one of the 3 most important markets in Europe) in order to bring the best local support and to improve the quality of service brought to our french customers and to our distribution partners in place. An international company. With more than 35 years of experience in the electronic components industry, TRACO POWER is a true global leader in designing and making high-quality DC/DC and AC/ DC power supply products. The company is based in Switzerland | Baar (HQ), in Germany | Ismaning in the United States | San

Jose), Irland | Wexford) and most recently, in France | Paris. TRACO POWER’s products find their way to the customer via a well established global distribution network. High-Tech products. TRACO POWER has a high reputation for global compliance with applicable regulations and directives allowing easier implementation of the products in customer’s applications. Products are 100 percent tested prior to shipment to guarantee full compliance to the applicable published specifications. TRACO POWER’s global manufacturing facilities are certified to ISO 9001/14000 and the commitment to quality is supported by a full 3 year product warranty (5 years for medical products). TRACO POWER product range focuses on the following markets: Industrial & IT, Transportation & Railway, Medical & Healthcare, Automation & Control, Renewable Energy & Smart Grid. Within these market segments, TRACO POWER offers one of the most comprehensive programmes for Power products. says: “We have recently decided to increase our investments in the US to be closer to our leading customers and better support them with their accelerated 5G deployments; thereby bringing 5G to life for consumers and enterprises across the country. This agreement marks a major milestone for both companies. We are excited about our partnership with T-Mobile, supporting them to strengthen, expand and speed up the deployment of their nationwide 5G network.” 5G promises to deliver very high data speeds, extreme low latency, ultra-high reliability, energy efficiency and extreme device densities, which will be realized by the development of LTE in combination with new radio-access technologies. Under the terms of the new deal, Ericsson will supply hardware and software from its market-ready 5G Platform, which includes its strengthened Ericsson Radio System portfolio, across all spectrum bands available to T-Mobile. Additionally, T-Mobile’s already installed base of Ericsson Radio System radios will be able to run 5G NR technology with simple remote software installation.

TRACO POWER Group announces the opening of TRACO POWER France, its new subsidiary in Paris

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Latest News

Focus on modular IoT standards

enjoyed coordinating the project with Professor Khelil and the very dedicated coach of the Innovation Lab, Tobias Christian Piller, as well as supervising the group work. Next to developing a concrete component for SGET’s UIC standard, the goal was to explore the journey to get

congatec – a leading vendor of standardized and customized embedded computer boards and modules – announces its cooperation with the IoT Innovation Lab at the University of Applied Sciences (HAW) Landshut, which is supported by the Bavarian Center for Digitalization (Zentrum Digitalisierung.Bayern, ZD.B) and the State Ministry for Science and Art (StMWK). The purpose of the cooperation is to prepare students for the practical development

Top Image Prof. Dr. Abdelmajid Khelil (left), Tobias Christian Piller (right) and Carsten Rebmann (2nd from right) with the IoT Innovation Lab student development team

there by trying out solution ideas and creating proof-of-concepts with agile development methods such as Scrum. Thanks to the great commitment from

and use of IoT technologies while also promoting the development of vendor-independent standards. The first successful completed joint project is the implementation of a modular software component for the UIC interface standard released by the SGET e.V. (Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies). Further projects will follow. Prof. Dr. Abdelmajid Khelil emphasizes the importance of cooperating with industry partners such as congatec: “Students need practical industry challenges to enable them to develop digitization prototypes for real-world applications instead of working inside an academic ivory tower. Modular systems such as congatec’s embedded computer technology and SGET’s UIC standard, which defines a kind of universal modular IoT connector on the software side, are also excellent examples of scientifically recognized development methods. As a result, this cooperation brings theory and practice together in perfect harmony.” The UIC project, which saw several students working in groups to develop a solution for exchanging data between a computer and a cloud using agile software and system development methods, was mentored by Carsten Rebmann, R&D Director at congatec. Together with lab coach Tobias Christian Piller, he coordinated the project work with the HAW Landshut IoT Innovation Lab, defined the requirements for the software component prototype and monitored project milestone compliance. Rebmann is enthusiastic about the cooperation with the IoT Innovation Lab and students’ commitment: “I greatly

the university and students, this has worked out extremely well and we are looking forward to implementing further projects.” The results of the IoTproject, which counts as a specialization module and during which the “UIC Communication Engine for Amazon Web Services (AWS)” was developed, will be incorporated into the SGET standards and made publicly available under MIT license on the online software development platform GitHub. The MIT license makes it possible to distribute reviews and larger projects without releasing the source code. The results of the students’ open-source IoT project are accessible to the entire community and described in detail at https://github.com/ sgetuic/aws_ca. The spokesman for the student development team, Sebastian Niksch, confirms that despite the great challenges, the project was highly enjoyable: “Actively developing components for digital transformation and knowing that they will be included in standards and probably used worldwide gives us a sense of pride. At the same time, we have gained deeper insight in concrete IoT challenges faced by industry, and learned through practical experience how to approach them methodically. Also, we now understand the challenge of connecting the IoT with hundreds of clouds and even more field devices much better. Uniform standards like the SGET seem to make great sense under those circumstances.”

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Latest News

Leti And Vsora Demonstrate 3Gpp New Radio (5G Nr) On Multi-Core Digital Signal Processor

Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, and VSORA, which specializes in multi-core digital signal processor (DSP) design, today announced they have demonstrated the implementation of 5G New Radio (5G NR) Release 15 on a new DSP architecture that can dramatically reduce time to market of digital modems. Defined by the 3rd Generation

said VSORA CEO Khaled Maalej. “The same development flow lets algorithm engineers and software engineers share the same environment and source code, dramatically accelerating time-to-market for Release 15 architectures.” “VSORA’s innovations simplify the design flow, which eliminates the need to develop HDL-based

Partnership Project (3GPP), 5G NR is the air interface, or wireless communication link, for the next generation of cellular networks. It is expected to significantly improve connectivity experiences in 5G cellular networks. 3GPP Release 15 of the 5G system architecture, finalized in June 2018, provides the set of features and functionality needed for deploying a commercially operational 5G system. This first implementation of 5G NR Release 15 physical layer on VSORA’s multi-core DSP demonstrates that it can address timely and complex systems like 5G NR, while providing a highly flexible software-defined development flow. The demonstration has shown that VSORA’s development suite provided an optimized DSP architecture, able to support the concurrent reception of representative 5G quality-of-service regimes covering extreme broadband, narrowband Internet of Things and ultra-low latency systems. “This new DSP development flow allows signal-processing engineers to evaluate different implementations of their algorithms for cost, processing power, arithmetic precision and power consumption, well before the physical implementation,”

co-processors,” said Benoit Miscopein, head of Leti’s wireless broadband systems lab. “Our demonstration also shows their product can support a system as hungry in terms of computational resources as the 5G NR modem.” “VSORA’s added value is the very high flexibility that the company offers in terms of testing various implementation architectural trade-offs,” Miscopein added. “This speeds time-to-market by reducing the time required to converge towards a suitable DSP architecture. The approach proposed by VSORA is also flexible in the sense that the DSP can fulfill the requirements of the standard evolution, e.g. Releases 16 and 17, without redesigning a complete architecture.” “With the coming 5G mobile standard, traditional DSP technology will run out of steam on multiple levels,” added Maalej. “Our aim is to become the reference point for state-of- the-art DSP applications. VSORA’s technology has the potential to revolutionize DSP architectures, transform the design and implementation processes, and ultimately enhance go-to-market strategies.”

Autotalks Launches theWorld’s First Global V2X Solution Unifying DSRC and C-V2X on its Deployment-Ready Chipset

Autotalks, global leader in V2X, announced the launch of the first ever global V2X solution. Autotalks’ deployment-ready, 2nd generation V2X (Vehicle to Everything) chipset is the only available solution capable of supporting both DSRC and C-V2X direct communications (PC5 protocol) at the highest security level. The chipset supports DSRC based on 802.11p/ITS-G5 standards

and C-V2X based on 3GPP specifications. V2X communication is heading to mass-market adoption as the world’s largest OEMs announced intentions to equip their new car models with the technology. In recent years, V2X diverged into two different technologies, DSRC and C-V2X, with fundamentally different architectures, making it difficult to harmonize a

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Latest News

single global solution. Autotalks, a leader and innovator in V2X, addresses the need for a global solution by equipping its mass-market ready 2nd generation chipsets with C-V2X in addition to their native support of DSRC. Autotalks brings a decade of wireless expertise, which led to an industry leading radio performance. This solid foundation of modem and radio specifically built and optimized for V2X, coupled with the company’s deep knowledge of 3GPP standards and implementation, will result in superior C-V2X direct communications performance. While DSRC-based V2X is deployed in the US, Europe and Japan, C-V2X is gaining momentum in other regions. Autotalks chipsets were designed from the ground up to meet V2X market requirements and standards, which gives its C-V2X offering a head start to meet security, environmental, quality, thermal and other requirements. Delivering dual-mode (DSRC and C-V2X) functionality on existing automotive qualified AEC-Q100 grade 2 chipsets while leveraging production grade software and maintaining the present API, enables the shortest time to market for a global dual-mode V2X platform. Autotalks solution minimizes development, testing and certification efforts for a V2X system to be deployed anywhere, via a software-defined toggle between V2X technologies. Autotalks’ PC5 solution utilizes the globally defined 5.9 GHz ITS

spectrum for V2X and is cellular network agnostic (no cellular SIM or coverage required, works without or with any 3G/4G/5G cellular modem). Separating V2X from the cellular Network Access Device (NAD) improves the cost-effectiveness of Telematic Control Unit (TCU) deployments. The separation of V2X from in- vehicle infotainment ensures that the purpose of the V2X system, which is giving drivers alerts of on-road dangers, is not compromised. Furthermore, V2X isolation combined with Autotalks’ recognized cybersecurity leadership, leads to a truly secure platform; a fundamental V2X requirement and necessity. To learn more about the separation of PC5 from cellular NAD, please read this whitepaper. “Autotalks is proud to announce that its existing 2nd generation chipset can now support PC5,” said Hagai Zyss, CEO of Autotalks. “It is a revolutionary stride proving Autotalks’ market leadership. This demonstrates that a truly secure global V2X solution could have only been developed by a company that has multidisciplinary experience in creating Automotive safety communication solutions. We are committed to staying forward thinkers and bringing to mass-market a V2X solution that will save lives in all regions and protocols in the most cost-efficient manner.”

Memory ICs to Account for 53% of Total 2018 Semi Capex

IC Insights forecasts total semiconductor capital expenditures will rise to $102.0 billion this year, marking the first time that the industry has spent more than $100 billion on capital expenditures in one year. The $102.0 billion spending level represents a 9% increase over $93.3 billion spent in 2017, which was a 38% surge over 2016.

substantially in six years, nearly doubling from 27% ($14.7 billion) in 2013 to a forecast of 53% ($54.0 billion) of total industry capex in 2018, which amounts to a 2013-2018 CAGR of 30%. Of the major product categories shown, DRAM/SRAM is forecast to show the largest increase in spending, but flash memory is

expected to account for the largest share of capex spending this year (Figure 2). Capital spending for the DRAM/SRAM segment is forecast to show a 41% surge in 2018 after a strong 82% increase in 2017. Capital spending for flash memory is forecast to rise 13% in 2018 after a 91% increase in 2017. After two years of big increases in capital expenditures, a major question looming is whether high levels

Figure 1 shows that more than half of industry capital spending is forecast for memory production—primarily DRAM and flash memory—including upgrades to existing wafer fab lines and brand new manufacturing facilities. Collectively, memory is forecast to account for 53% of semiconductor capital expenditures this year. The share of capital spending for memory devices has increase

Figure 1

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Latest News

River Storage Technology all planning to significantly ramp up 3D NAND flash capacity over the next couple of years (and new Chinese memory startup companies entering the market), IC Insights believes that the future risk for overshooting 3D NAND flash market demand is high and growing.

of spending will lead to overcapacity and a softening of prices. Historical precedent in the memory market shows that too much spending usually leads to overcapacity and subsequent pricing weakness. With Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Toshiba/Western Digital/ SanDisk, and XMC/Yangtze

Figure 2

VTT’s robot car, Martti, now“speaks 5G” and takes another step towards full automation New 5G solutions catapult Finland to the 5G era

enables collection of data from multiple cars to cloud service”, says Tiia Ojanperä, leader of the 5G-Safe project. The new 5G services developed in the project relate to road weather services, road maintenance, automated driving and fast inter-vehicle transmission of 3D views.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Nokia have joined forces to hook the VTT’s robot car, Martti, up to a 5G network, which allows the car to detect objects with improved range and share its observations with other vehicles. This also takes Martti

a step closer to highly automated driving. The safety of road users also improves as new solutions and services based on 5G technology become more widely available. VTT is currently coordinating a project called 5G-Safe, which is aimed at piloting new solutions and finalising them on the basis of the experiences and results accumulated so far. The project also involves brainstorming new opportunities created by 5G technology and analysing any limitations. “One of the solutions being tested now in the project is a Nokia 5G connectivity in Martti, which allows the car to send its observations to a server for analysis across a low latency 5G link. The data can be used to adapt the car’s behaviour according to actual road weather conditions”, explains Matti Kutila from VTT’s RobotCar Crew team. “The new 5G link is an important step towards the future development and testing of vehicle services using 5G devices, which are expected to become commercially available during 2019. The main benefit is the broadband uplink which

VTT is using its new vehicle network solutions, the local road weather and road safety related services they enable to support drivers, road maintenance providers and the systems used to control autonomous vehicles. They require no inputs from motorists while driving, as data can be gathered and warnings sent to users automatically. The radio equipment is supplied by Nokia as part of the telecom operator’s long-standing 5G Test Network cooperation with VTT and other partners. The 5G Test Network allows businesses and other partners to develop increasingly sophisticated new solutions and services that enable a transition to the 5G era via series of improved LTE generations. VTT’s 5G research and product development services for businesses are well recognised in the world.

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Latest News Plessey and Jasper Display collaborate on tailored backplane for monolithic microLED displays

Plessey Semiconductors, a leading developer of award-winning optoelectronic technology solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Jasper Display Corp (JDC). Plessey is going to utilise JDC’s innovative silicon backplane to drive its own monolithic microLED displays manufactured on its proprietary GaN-on-Silicon (GaN-on-Si) wafers. Unveiled by JDC earlier this year at CES in Las Vegas, the eSP70 silicon backplane is tailored for the needs of microLED devices. The full colour capable active matrix backplane features a resolution of 1920×1080, a pixel pitch of 8µm and offers excellent current uniformity via a proprietary current source pixel as well as flexible addressing. Making displays brighter for today’s portable AR and VR battery- powered devices is increasingly challenging. Using existing technologies which require high power output is a serious design limitation as the compact devices have limited space to house on- board power sources. By utilising JDC’s eSP70 backplane, this will allow Plessey the flexibility to utilise its GaN-on-Si platform for microLEDs, delivering very high brightness with moderate power consumption or run with low power while maintaining daylight usable brightness levels. JDC’s VP Marketing and Product Management, T.I. Lin, said: “Plessey’s monolithic microLED array is a great match to JDC’s high density silicon backplane. Our JD27E series demonstrates our ability The continuing development of low-cost, high-performance microcontrollers (MCUs) specifically aimed at intelligent power solutions has created new design possibilities. Taking advantage of this progress, STMicroelectronics and Biricha Digital Power, a leading industrial training and consultancy company focused on switched power design and EMC, have developed a workshop to show power-supply engineers why – and how – to quickly move to a digital implementation. The workshop, aimed at analog PSU (Power Supply Unit) designers and embedded-system engineers who need to build high-performance, stable digital power supplies and Digital PFCs (Power Factor Corrections), will be based on a complementary portfolio of tailored hardware, software, tools, labs and detailed

to deliver what our valuable partner Plessey and the wider industry has been waiting for – silicon that has been designed with their microLED needs in mind. Our X-on-Silicon backplane technology for microLED can be customised on a per-project basis, allowing us to make specialised silicon suiting needs ranging from low-power AR headsets all the way to automotive headlights.” Dr Keith Strickland, Chief Technology Officer at Plessey, explained: “JDC’s microLED specific silicon backplane allows Plessey to rapidly bring to market our monolithic full colour microLED array at our entry level 8µm pixel size. At Plessey, we have overcome the significant challenges involved in accurately aligning and bonding the microLED array with the backplane. We are looking forward to partnering with JDC as we continue our development, reducing pixel and display size.” MicroLED technology is fast emerging as the only viable technology to provide high luminance in a very small form factor with minimal energy consumption, necessary for reducing costs and enabling lightweight battery-powered AR/ VR/ MR/ HUD applications. Challenging existing display technologies like LCD and OLED, Plessey’s monolithic microLED technology offers extremely low power, high brightness and very high pixel density combined to create the potential for disruption in many existing application areas and create entirely new ones. training documentation. This includes the STM32F334 product line (with its high resolution timer – 217ps), a member of ST’s industry-leading STM32 family of more than 800 MCUs covering the full spectrum from ultra-low power to high performance and supporting ecosystem, combined with Biricha’s Power Supply and PFC design software. Key sessions will demonstrate how to quickly design digital power supplies and power factor correction from scratch, and how to design stable digital control loops for both voltage and current mode DC/DC and PFC applications. Workshop participants will get a chance to design, code, implement, and test several digital power supplies.

STMicroelectronics and Biricha Digital Power Cooperate to Implement Digital Power Supplies on STM32 MCUs

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Unleashing the Benefits of Industrial Convergence

Jeff DeAngelis, Maxim Integrated

The cyber-physical system is best described in simple engineering terms as a classic closed-loop system where each piece of equipment is connected to one another by reacting to its surrounding environment through a nimble feedback loop. However, if you are a Star Wars fan like myself, then this unifying concept in many ways embodies another iconic image— that of Yoda, the Jedi Master, manipulating the Force by simple thought. This unifying concept, in turn, drives industrial convergence. The magic of industrial convergence comes when systems have the built- in intelligence and self-awareness to adjust and act according to their changing environment, without the need for manual intervention. Such an automated, smart factory is ultimate

poised for high productivity as well as high product quality levels. Consider, as an example, the robots produced by Boston Dynamics. Equipped with sophisticated sensors, complex algorithms, motors and actuators, these robots gather information, interpret this data, and dynamically adapt to the environment around them in their quest to complete their given tasks. This level of autonomy represents the promise of Industry 4.0, the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) in factories. Making industrial convergence possible requires underlying technologies such as sensors, actuators, and digital and analog IOs; in other words, the key functions required by industrial control systems inside

these automated factories. From a technology standpoint, however, supporting industrial convergence requires meeting criteria that weren’t really a concern in older factory environments. Robots at Work Today’s factories are a bustling blend of human and robotic activity as Industry 4.0 permeates the manufacturing landscape. Electronics assembly, testing, picking and packaging—these are among the tasks that robots can now handle in manufacturing facilities. Robots are pitching in to help make cars, computers, appliances, and a host of other goods. Indeed, the elements of Industry 4.0 can be found beyond factories. Inside Amazon’s warehouses, for example, you’ll find people working alongside

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robots, with the robots handling repetitive tasks and the people monitoring and troubleshooting them. Together, they ensure that items ordered online are packaged and shipped out promptly. Even products that you wouldn’t expect to be mass produced on a line can be created with the help of automation. Consider the artisan bakery Tartine in San Francisco, California. Now, the very definition of handcrafted artisan bread goes against the concept of mass production. Yet Tartine’s owner has discussed the benefits of placing coworking robots alongside the bakers, perhaps helping to load bread into ovens and perform other tasks that would make the process more efficient as the bakery expands its operations globally. In Japan, a company called Spread has created an automated indoor lettuce factory where robots plant the seeds, raise the vegetables, and carry lettuce heads to a packing line. These examples of creative collaboration are referred to as Industry 5.0. According to an article published on Recode, the market for industrial robots is projected to grow from $12.3 billion in 2016 up to $33.8 billion by 2025. Notes the article, “…a new generation of manufacturing robots is emerging that is more collaborative, smaller and more perceptive than traditional machinery.” Smaller, smarter robots call for electronic components that can deliver on both counts. Smarter and Smaller Industrial sensors, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other essential automated factory components are shrinking while, at

Image 1: Robotic welders on an automotive manufacturing line provide an example of a smart factory environment.

footprint, these controllers are being placed closer to the edge of the manufacturing floor, directing the flow of activity. Saving Power and Space In the industrial communications space, advanced industrial automation technologies must support a continued commitment toward footprint reduction, power savings, and flexibility. Key components for these systems include: Isolation ICs which provide complete galvanic isolation between two power domains. Maxim’s digital signal isolators, for example, provide up to 5kV of isolation and support data rates up to 150Mbps, while reducing power requirements and using less board space than, say, optocouplers. Digital I/O and analog I/O solutions that are small, efficient, and feature safe demagnetization.

the same time, providing increased functionality. They must be able to operate reliably over extended periodsof time inharshenvironments, where electrostatic discharge (ESD), electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), and high-amplitude transient pulses are prevalent. Also, these tiny devices must be powered efficiently with minimum heat and power dissipation. Sensors collect voluminous amounts of data from the factory environment, processing it in real time to enable the actions that support adaptive manufacturing. They must, however, fit inside narrow assemblies or be integrated into tiny valves and actuators. IO-Link technology is making sensors smarter by enabling factory personnel to change their settings remotely based on real- time feedback on the health and status of other sensors on the line. As for PLCs, with their shrinking

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Digital I/O solutions transmit and receive high-voltage binary signals between a central controller and an industrial sensor or actuator. Analog I/O solutions convert analog signals sent to and received from remote sensors and actuators into the digital domain so that the signals can be processed by the digital controller. IO-Link transceivers and binary drivers that are low power, come in small WLP packages, and feature on-board diagnostics. Maxim’s IO- Link transceivers, for instance, act as the PHY interface to a microcontroller running the data- link layer protocol while supporting up to 24V digital inputs and outputs. The company’s binary drivers, which support high-side, low-side, or push-pull configurations along with normally open or normally closed logic, integrate transient protection that meets IEC 60255-5 surges up to ±1.3kV and OTP programming options to set 3.3V or 5V outputs. Robust communications solutions that offer high data rates in compact sizes Over the years, Maxim has also created new pathways to Industry 4.0. Our demonstration platforms allow designers to quickly prototype and create industrial control solutions. Unveiled in 2014, our micro-PLC demonstration platform consisted of a first-generation industrial control chipset that reduced the PLC footprint by 10x while dissipating 50% less power. This platform supported the movement of decision-making and control closer to the edge of the manufacturing line. Two years later, our Pocket IO PLC demonstration platform highlighted the possibilities of adaptive manufacturing in a form

Image 2: In warehouses, robots are making repetitive tasks such as moving boxes more efficient.

factor of less than 10 cubic inches, while enabling factory control via an iPad. So, what’s coming up? I can simply say now that our next industrial IoT platform will continue the momentum of enabling designers to further advance the promise of industrial convergence. Hint to the reader: If you plan to attend electronica 2018 (Nov 13 – 16, 2018; Munich/ Germany), plan in a visit to Maxim’s booth in Hall C4, booth #440, to learn more!

Jeff DeAngelis, Managing Director, Industrial Communications, Maxim Integrated

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How Cellular Technology is Transforming Home Security and Alarm Panels

By Diego Grassi, u-blox

Home security is a burgeoning marketplace – particularly in terms of smart systems. But just what is it that differentiates a smart system from the traditional burglar alarm, and why are users adopting and installing these types of system? The answer lies in greatly increased control for the end user. Internet connection means that your home’s security can always be available to be viewed or monitored in near real time. It also means that security functionality can be extended considerably through integration with other aspects of control in the home. Numerous market research companies are predicting high growth in the smart home security sector. US-based ABI Research predicts that there will be more than 4 billion smart home sensors installed by 2022, which will “lay the foundation for the automated smart home experience" according to the company’s research director, Jonathan Collins. For its part, Ovum

predicts that sales of security devices, such as cameras, door locks and sensors will help drive the market for smart home devices annually to an installed base of more than 1.4 billion units by 2021, up from 224 million in 2016. The report’s authors predict that, worldwide, “15.5% of households will have adopted smart home security technology by 2021”, while commenting that “only 6.2% will be paying for a professional smart home security service”. Cellular support Increasingly, home security systems are being supported by cellular networks. While take up is obviously dependent on the country in which the system is installed, depending on cellular infrastructure availability – the US and China have particularly buoyant marketplaces – cellular technology offers greater protection from network failure or tampering than does the

standard phone network (public switched telephone network or PSTN). In common with most modern communications-based systems, data represents an increasingly important constituent part of home security systems. Cellular technology is able to support video transmission from devices in the home. It also supports text-based alerts, more commonly known as short message service (SMS) alerts and other instant messaging applications that can be easily installed in common smartphones. The Mobile Intelligence report issued by Dynmark in 2015 said that research shows that “90% of text messages are read within 3 seconds of being received” and have “a final read rate of 98%”. The majority of current security systems already rely on 2G and 3G cellular technology, both of which are widely available and offer reliable coverage. Increasingly, new systems are adopting Long Term Evolution-

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based 4G technology, more commonly referred to as LTE. LTE is a first- generation 4G technology that is being rolled out in different ‘flavours’ and at varying paces according to country. LTE Category 1 is already widely available at worldwide level and likely to form the backbone technology for smart home security systems, with its support for both voice and data. Slightly longer term, LTE Category M1 offers a good basis for enhanced security system support. This low- power version of LTE caters for battery-backed Internet of Things (IoT) devices that connect directly to a 4G network and thus eliminate the need to connect to an external radio network gateway. Other IoT sensors and actuators with an even lower data rate are catered for by the Narrowband NB-IoT specification. LTE Category M1 will also offer voice capability through VoLTE (Voice over LTE networks), enabling it to cater for applications such as security alarm panels, fire prevention and other safety systems that require a level of human interaction. NB-IoT does not have Voice capability and it is therefore more suitable for remote control of smart IoT connected devices such as HVAC systems, smoke detectors, thermostats, smart lockers and other IoT sensors where voice interaction is not strictly necessary. Protection mechanisms The latest generations of cellular system offer enhanced protection for the security system end user, for instance through the encryption and authentication of network signals. The lack of these features in earlier systems laid them open to possible interception of signals sent from home security systems to an external gateway. Modern cellular systems preserve the integrity of data by providing encryption of all communications. Without the requisite codes, data

Figure 1: ??????????

like human beings, is able to exhibit natural evolution. Diego Grassi Diego Grassi joined the Product Strategy team in the Product Center Cellular at u-blox AG in July 2014. He is responsible for the development of Industrial, Retail & Enterprise markets. Prior to joining u-blox, he held positions in product marketing, business development and strategic marketing in semiconductors companies such as Micron, Numonyx and STMicroelectronics. There, he managed multiple demand generation and ecosystem enabling programs at worldwide level in the segments of telecom, consumer and industrial electronics. Diego Grassi has a technical background in industrial electronics and holds a university degree with a focus on economics of the information.

remains inviolable. Further protection is provided by the use of authentication and identity verification technologies and digital signatures. Identification technologies include passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) as well as biometric mechanisms such as fingerprint recognition and voice, iris or face scanning. One disadvantage of radio-based technologies such as cellular is that they are potentially open to criminal strategies such as signal jamming. The most determined criminals are potentially able to identify the waveband being used and jam or block signals. Jamming detection mechanisms are available to avoid this problem. Cyber security is continually in the press. It’s vital that software and firmware is always updated, to prevent malicious attacks by criminals who can otherwise exploit vulnerabilities in code. Alarm systems based on cellular modules made it possible to have these updates made over the air, so-called Firmware Over the Air (FOTA), saving on time spent sending out engineers to update systems and enabling changes to be made in a timelier manner. By using cellular communication technology, surveillance systems are able to evolve resilience to newer cyber security attacks. Security Technology,

Diego Grassi, Senior Manager Market Development, u-blox

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IoT platform for the process industry

Jan Coppens, Maarten Weyn, IMEC

Antwerp start-up Aloxy, spin-off from imec and the University of Antwerp, delivers plug-and-play solutions for digitizing manual valves in the petrochemical industry and for asset management dur-ing maintenance and shutdowns. From winning the BEMAS Digital Innovation Award to con-quering the petrochemical industry. Jan Coppens and Maarten Weyn, founders of the Antwerp start-up Aloxy, reflect on the success of their technology and the business they have creat-ed. Petrochemicals – and the process industry in general – face an excit- ing challenge in the transition to the “Industry 4.0” age. This is a new industrial era in which automation, big data and collaboration

throughout the whole value chain are encouraging further optimiza- tion. At Aloxy we identified two major markets: digital monitoring of the way manual valves operate, and tracking individual parts and assets when a production process is halted temporarily for mainte-nance. The limitations of smart systems The average petrochemical site has anything from between a few hundred to as many as a thousand valves that have to be operated manually. These may involve stopcocks that rotate through more than 360 degrees or levers that move through 90 degrees. Typically, these valves are only used occasionally in processes, so

it doesn’t make good cost-related sense to automate them. Yet these valves may also have an enormous impact if they are not kept in good working condition. For instance, you need to be certain that a dis-charge valve is properly closed before you refill a tank with chemi-cals after a cleaning operation. But because manual operations, by definition, increase the chance of human error, we wanted to give these companies a little digital assistance. The biggest challenges here are cost and integration. As we have already said, full integration with existing process automation isn’t the answer because it’s too expensive. So you need to come up with a solution that’s both inexpensive and easy to use. You also want the

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new technology to add information to the existing systems, but not interfere with the precisely tuned manufacturing processes. The possibilities of a smart solution The solution created by Aloxy provides an answer to this delicate technical dilemma. We use our solution to attach an autonomous sensor to, say, the operating hand wheel of a manual stopcock or lever. These sensors contain gyroscopes, accelerometers and mag-netometers; technology based on a patent application by imec and the University of Antwerp. This enables us to know how the sensor moves, which in turn also immediately tells us what position the valve is in without having to adjust the installation itself. This infor-mation is then sent wirelessly to the control room. Our sensors can be retrofitted and are easy to install. The wireless communication is also compatible with current standards (Lora, Sig- Fox, Dash7, etc.). And the software is accessible as a cloud applica- tion or can be integrated with the customer’s software. The system gives the operator real-time information about the sta-tus of the manual valves. Using the software that we supply with it, the operator can then use that information in different ways. For example, it is possible to set certain valves to the closed position virtually and to program a warning signal to prevent unwanted op-erations. Or you can monitor a manual process flow digitally. This can be done by helping an engineer on the workfloor from the con-trol room to carry out a protocol correctly with a number of succes-sive actions.

Figure 1: The Aloxy sensor is fitted to the operating hand wheel of manual valves and so is easy to implement.

“The system gives the operator real-time information about the status of the manual valves.” An extra business case Another application for our solution is in maintenance and shut-downs. When that happens, certain parts and assets leave the site and it becomes virtually impossible to monitor whether everything is still on schedule. Yet that is precisely the kind of information that is vital for assessing whether production can resume on time. “But because we are able to

pinpoint the location of our sensors, we always know whether the parts are in the work-shop for repair or are elsewhere in transit.” We are currently working with the energy company Engie to see whether we can develop this use case further. The Aloxy business Aloxy was set up in 2017 using our own investment and support from the imec.istart program. The technology was transferred from two proof-of-concept projects

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