Microelectronics world news

In order to further drive decarbonization, improving the energy efficiency of buildings is crucial, as they contribute significantly to global energy consumption and carbon emissions. Innovative solutions are needed to optimize energy consumption while ensuring a healthy indoor environment. Infineon Technologies AG is addressing this need with the introduction of the new XENSIV PAS CO2 5V sensor. It is based on the Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) technology and improves energy efficiency by adapting ventilation to actual occupancy, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of buildings. This makes the device suitable for applications such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems as well as room controller and thermostat units in commercial and residential buildings. It can also be used for IoT and consumer devices such as smart lighting, air purifiers, conferencing systems, and smart speakers, as well as emerging applications such as smart horticulture and smart refrigerators.

“Environmental sensing is an important pillar of Infineon’s sensor portfolio,” said Andreas Kopetz, VP Ambient Sensing at Infineon. “CO2 sensors play an increasingly important role in smart homes and buildings by continuously monitoring indoor air quality and adjusting ventilation systems accordingly. Our XENSIV PAS CO2 5V is a sensor solution that ensures a healthier living environment for occupants and enables significant energy savings for greater sustainability.”

The XENSIV PAS CO2 5V provides accurate air quality data in real time. Its miniaturized form factor of 14×13.8×7.5 mm³ is identical to the size of the XENSIV PAS CO2 12V sensor and allows seamless integration into a wide range of applications. This makes it easy to adopt dual designs or maintain the same design strategy for both product variants. Compared to the 12V sensor, the 5V version comes with a 5V power supply which further simplifies installation. Moreover, it offers a significantly faster response time of 55 seconds, down from 90 seconds (12 V). This improvement enhances efficiency across various applications, allowing for quicker data acquisition and more responsive performance in dynamic environments. The sensor’s design is dust-proof in accordance with ISO 20653:2013-02, which extends the lifetime of the device in dusty environments and minimizes maintenance requirements. In addition, the UART, I²C and PWM interfaces enable seamless integration with microcontrollers and other digital systems, simplifying the design and development process. Ultimately, with its robust performance, the sensor meets the performance criteria of the internationally recognized WELL Green Building Standard, enhancing both environmental sustainability and property value.

All major components of the XENSIV PAS CO2 5V sensor are developed in-house according to Infineon’s high-quality standards. Among others, this includes a dedicated microcontroller that runs advanced compensation algorithms to provide direct and reliable ppm readouts of real CO2 levels. The available configuration options make the sensor one of the most versatile plug-and-play CO2 sensors on the market. They include a dedicated ABOC (Automatic Baseline Offset Calibration), pressure compensation, signal alarm, sample rate and early measurement notification, which are especially useful for power consumption management. The SMD package, delivered in tape and reel, allows for easy assembly, even in high-speed, high-volume manufacturing.

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As the payment world moves towards digitalization, the need to protect digital identities and transactions has never been more important. In addition to standard contactless payment cards, biometric payment cards are a promising development in this area and are gaining in popularity. Against this backdrop, Infineon Technologies AG announced SECORA Pay Bio, an all-in-one biometric payment card solution that complies with Visa and Mastercard specifications. It integrates Infineon’s enhanced SLC39B system-on-chip (SoC) Secure Element and the FPC1323 sensor by Fingerprint Cards AB (Fingerprints) into the Infineon Biometric Coil on Module (BCoM) package, leveraging the key advantages of inductive coupling technology. The solution uses the fingerprint credentials securely stored on the card as a second authentication factor, enabling a convenient and trusted contactless payment experience.

“With this all-in-one solution for biometric payment cards, we are pushing the boundaries of payment cards further,” said Tolgahan Yildiz, Head of the Trusted Mobile Connectivity and Transactions Product Line at Infineon. “SECORA Pay Bio enables easy-to-implement and scalable production of robust and reliable biometric payment cards with high throughput and a smooth consumer experience.”

In an optimistic scenario, ABI Research expects the market for biometric cards to grow to

113.3 million units by 2028. This market trend is driven by further optimization of the price- performance ratio, including the producibility and cost of biometric payment cards, as well as by consumer demand for more convenient and secured biometric authentication in personal payment transactions. Furthermore, biometric payment cards could offer an additional barrier against lost-and-stolen fraud and PIN phishing fraud.

Biometric payment solution with excellent contactless performance

SECORA Pay Bio extends Infineon’s SECORA Pay solution family. The solution integrates Fingerprints’ sensor and Infineon’s SLC39B SoC Secure Element into a single dual- interface package, the innovative Infineon Biometric Coil on Module (BCoM). The SLC39B Secure Element with an integrated power source offers large memory size and various peripherals, as well as excellent contactless performance. Based on innovative inductive coupling technology without wire connection from the BCoM module to the card antenna, manufacturing complexity can be drastically reduced, and the card robustness and long- term reliability can be significantly improved. In addition, the biometric sensor card production can now be implemented on existing dual interface card manufacturing equipment with only minor operational changes. As the SECORA Pay Bio solution complies with both Mastercard and Visa specifications, the use of BCoM technology would not require additional performance testing, enabling a flexible and rapid rollout with outstanding performance and a frictionless onboarding process.

Two new innovative enrollment options are supported

SECORA Pay Bio supports a wide range of enrollment options, including sleeves, smartphone apps and in-field enrollment. The innovative SECORA Pay Bio enrollment sheet makes fingerprint enrolling via smartphone easier than ever before. In addition, SECORA Pay Bio is the first biometric payment solution to support in-field enrollment. This allows cardholders to use biometric payment cards without any additional effort or devices. Moreover, with these new biometric cards, the fingerprint template is trained with each payment transaction, improving the user experience even further.

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The new sensor leverages photoacoustic spectroscopy to precisely detect carbon dioxide levels in a compact package.

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Bigger batteries are getting a lot of attention these days, where “bigger” is defined in terms of capacity, density, charging times, lifetime cycles, and other desirable attributes.

However, all this “big-battery” attention tends to obscure the significant but literally neatly invisible activity at the other end of the physical and energy scale with ever-smaller batteries. These could be used to power the electronics associated with microsensors, tiny actuators, and even nano-robots. If the batteries were small and light enough yet offered adequate capacity, they could be power medical micro-implants or free those swarming robo-insects from tethers or the need for laser beams focused on their minuscule solar cells for transmitted power (interestingly, those configurations are known as “marionettes” because they are powered by an external source).

Creating such batteries is the project undertaken by an MIT-led multi-university research team. They have developed and fabricated a battery which is 0.1 millimeters long and 0.002 millimeters thick that can capture oxygen from air and use it to oxidize zinc, creating a current at a potential of up to 1 volt.

Their battery consists of a zinc electrode connected to a platinum electrode, embedded into a strip of a polymer called SU-8, a high-contrast, epoxy-based photoresist designed for micromachining and other microelectronic applications where a thick chemically and thermally stable image is desired. When these electrodes interact with oxygen molecules from the air, the zinc becomes oxidized and releases electrons that flow to the platinum electrode, creating a current.

To fabricate these batteries, they photolithographically patterned a microscale zinc/platinum/SU-8 system to generate the highest energy-density microbattery at the picoliter (10−12 liter) scale, Figure 1.

Figure 1 The fabrication and release of Zn/Pt/SU8 picoliter Zn-air batteries. (a) Side view schematic of a Zn-air picoliter battery placed in a droplet of electrolyte. (b) Height profile and (c) optical micrograph of an open-circuit Zn-air picoliter battery after fabrication. Scale bar: 40 μm. From a to c, the SU-8 base has a side length of 100 μm. d) Image of a Si wafer with a 100 × 100 array of picoliter batteries. (e)(f)(g) (h) Optical micrographs of picoliter batteries at different stages of the fabrication, as indicated by the annotation. (i) Optical micrograph of picoliter battery arrays patterned for Cu etching. Scale bar: 200 μm. (j) Schematics of batteries with loads (memristors in this case) released into solution. (k) Image of a bottle of dispersion containing 100 μm batteries. (l) Optical micrographs of open circuit and short-circuited Zn-air picoliter batteries, both are 100 μm. (m) Central image: optical micrographs of picoliter batteries deposited onto a glass slide. Scale bar: 200 μm. Side images: optical micrographs of individual batteries that were facing down (left), and up (right). Scale bar: 50 μm. (n) Optical micrographs of short-circuited batteries with various sizes. Scale bar: 50 μm. (o) Optical micrographs of 20 μm batteries after releasing and re-depositing onto a glass slide. (The dust in the leftmost image was residual from the sacrificial substrate.) The rightmost image showed a 20 μm battery that was facing downward.

The device scavenges ambient or solution-dissolved oxygen for a zinc oxidation reaction, achieving an energy density ranging from 760 to 1070 watt-hours per liter at scales below 100 micrometers in the lateral direction and 2 micrometers thickness in size. Similar to IC fabrication, the inherent “parallel” nature of photolithography processes allowed them to fabricate 10,000 devices per wafer.

Within a volume of only 2 picoliters each, these primary (non-rechargeable) microbatteries delivered open-circuit voltages of 1.05 ± 0.12 volts, with total energies ranging from 5.5 ± 0.3 to 7.7 ± 1.0 microjoules and a maximum power of nearly 2.7 nanowatts, Figure 2.

Figure 2 Performance summary and comparison. (a) Ragone plot of energy and power of individual batteries with 2 pL volume. The theoretical Gibbs free energy of the cell reaction is shown as the red dashed line. (b) Ragone plot of the average energy and power densities under 4 current densities. The error bars represent the standard deviation across multiple devices. The red squares are data of Li-MnO2 primary microbatteries from literature. (c) Master plot of the energy density versus cell volume for various microbatteries reported in the literature (electrolyte volume excluded for all entries). This work is shown in red asterisk.

While this doesn’t sound like much energy or power—and it isn’t, clearly—it’s enough for the diverse applications with which they tested it, such as powering a micrometer-sized memristor circuit for providing access to nonvolatile memory. They also cycled power to drive the reversible bending of microscale bimorph actuators at 0.05 hertz for mechanical functions of colloidal robots, powered two distinct nanosensor types, and supplied a clock circuit. In this study, the researchers used wires to connect their battery to the external powered device, but they plan to build robots in which the battery is incorporated into a device, analogous to an integrated circuit.

I could go into details of what they have done, how they did it, and their tests and results, but that would be duplicative to their paper “High energy density picoliter-scale zinc-air microbatteries for colloidal robotics” published in Science Robotics; while that paper is unfortunately behind a paywall, an identical preprint is fortunately posted here.

For their next phase, the researchers are working on increasing the voltage of the battery, which may enable additional applications. The research was funded by the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and a MathWorks Engineering Fellowship.

Will these microbatteries become meaningful in the real world? Do they provide adequate useful power with enough energy capacity for projects you might like to explore? Can you think of situations where you would use them? Could they lead to new types of powered devices that are so tiny that new applications become realistic? Or are they just another eye-catching, head-turning topic which is well-positioned to get more research grants?

Related content

• 3D microbatteries: A future option for ultralow-power applications?
• Hearing aids and batteries: a challenge beyond words and music
• Get ready for even smaller batteries
• Is this the smallest battery in widespread use?

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In yet another major endeavor for implementing and enhancing electric mobility in India, the Union Cabinet approved the implementation of the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme on 11 September, 2024. The implementing agency for this scheme is the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India.

This scheme has been approved with an outlay of ₹ 10, 900 crores. It will be implemented over a period of two years, starting from 2024.

It has been approved with the aim of replacing the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II) programme. It was in operation till March, 2024. The approved PM E-DRIVE scheme will fix the loopholes and shortcomings of the past FAME schemes. For instance, discrepancy in claiming subsidy for the imported electric vehicles.

The significance of the approved PM E-DRIVE scheme is that it aims to incorporate the phased manufacturing programme. This will encourage domestic manufacturing and supply chain of electric vehicle components in India.

The prime objective of the approved PM E-DRIVE scheme is that it will promote the manufacturing, purchase, and adoption of electric vehicles across all sectors in India. And hence, it will enhance electric mobility in India.

It intends to achieve this aim by undertaking a host of measures. Few of them are as enumerated below:

First, it will subsidize the manufacturing and purchase of electric vehicles. This will increase the sale of electric vehicles.

Second, it will provide demand incentive in order to increase the aggregate demand for all forms of electric vehicles- e-two-wheelers, e-three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks, and other emerging electric vehicles. The demand creation is expected to be to the tunes of 24.79 lakh e-two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh e-three-wheelers, 14,028 e-buses, and 88,500 charging sites.

Third, speaking specifically about the demand generation for 14,028 e-buses, it will be mainly focused in nine cities that have a population of more than 40 lakhs -Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad. The demand aggregation will be done by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL). It is a green energy focused venture of the Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of the four public-sector undertakings- NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, REC Limited, and the Powergrid Corporation of India Limited. The EESL functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power, Government of India.

Fourth, the implementing agency of the PM E-DRIVE scheme, i.e., the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India, will introduce e-vouchers for the buyers to avail discounts under this scheme. The buyers of electric vehicles will be issued an e-voucher under the scheme to avail demand incentives. These e-vouchers will be Aadhaar-authenticated and sent to the buyer’s registered mobile number after the purchase. Once these e-vouchers will be submitted by the manufacturers and buyers, they shall be redeemed by the Government of India. Hence, this initiative will incentivize the sale of electric vehicles.

Fifth, Rs 500 crore has been assigned to promote the deployment of e-trucks. This would end the pollution caused by the biggest contributor to air pollution, i.e., trucks that operate from the conventional sources of energy. Under this scheme, in order to be eligible to avail incentives, it is mandatory for the e-trucks to possess a scrapping certificate from an authorised Vehicle Scrapping Centres (RVSFs) of the MoRTH.

Sixth, fast charging ports shall be installed across the country for all forms of electric vehicles- 2,100 fast chargers for e-four wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses, and 48,400 fast chargers for e- two-wheelers and e-three-wheelers.

In order to achieve this aim, ₹ 10,900 crores have been approved under this scheme. Its break-up is as follows:

First, ₹ 3,679 crore has been allocated for the demand generation of 2-wheelers (e-2Ws), 3-wheelers (3Ws), e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging electric vehicles (EV).

Second, ₹ 500 crore has been allocated for creating demand for e-ambulances. This new initiative aims to provide comfortable and environmentally-friendly patient transport. The standards for performance and safety of these e-ambulances will be developed in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and other relevant stakeholders of the Government of India.

Third, ₹ 2,000 crore has been allocated for installing public charging stations along selected cities with high penetration of electric vehicles and also along selected highways for the purpose of charging e-vehicles. This would enable e-vehicles operable across a wide range of distances.

Fourth, ₹ 500 crore has been allocated for purchasing electric trucks.

Fifth, ₹ 780 crore has been allocated for the upgradation of testing agencies.

Sixth, ₹ 4,391 crore has been allocated for procuring e-buses. Under the allocated funds, 14,028 e-buses will be procured for different state public transport agencies.

The approved PM E-DRIVE scheme covers all forms of electric vehicles except electric cars and hybrid cars. It covers under its ambit, all other forms of electric vehicles- electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, electric ambulances, electric trucks, and other emerging electric vehicles.

This scheme intends to enhance the market share of electric two-wheelers to 10% and electric three-wheelers to 15% by March, 2026.

Under the approved scheme, till March, 2025, each electric two-wheeler will receive a subsidy of 10,000, whereas a subsidy of ₹ 50,000 will be provided to each electric three-wheeler.

Besides, in order to increase the penetration of electric mobility in India, the government has taken a host of measures. First, lowering of the GST on the electric cars to 5 % as compared to 28 % on hybrid and CNG vehicles, and 49 % on the internal combustion engine vehicles. Second, exemption of electric vehicles sold in a few states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, from paying road tax and registration charges. Third, the introduction of the schemes for the localisation of components and batteries. And fourth, sanctioning of the additional funds for the installation of the public charging stations in order to increase the range up to which the electric vehicles can travel in India.

Once this program will be successfully implemented, it would end India’s reliance on conventional fuels and conventional batteries. This biggest threat to this mayhem is that it would usher and augment implementation of lithium-ion batteries-based devices and energy storage systems.

This would enable the accomplishment of the much-cherished dream of the application of green sources of energy, restrict the emission of green-house gases to the levels committed under the Paris Conference (CoP 21), aid in achieving the ambitious target of 30 per cent penetration of electric vehicles in India by 2030, and hence achieve the most ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions that India has committed to achieve by 2070.

This is the era of application of green energy. No wonder the implementation of the PM E-DRIVE Scheme is a progress on the right trajectory! And the best days are yet to come.

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Learn how open source silicon can provide better security than traditional measures like obscurity, but only if employed correctly, managed well, and backed with appropriate resources.

ST’s STSAFE-TPM cryptographic modules for PCs, servers, and embedded systems are among the first to receive FIPS 140-3 certification. These Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs) protect sensitive data by securely managing cryptographic keys and operations, ensuring compliance with security and regulatory requirements for critical information systems.

FIPS 140-3 is the most recent Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for cryptographic modules, superseding FIPS 140-2. It defines four security levels to address various applications and environments, covering secure design, implementation, and operation. FIPS 140-2 certificates expire in September 2026.

The newly certified TPMs include the ST33KTPM2X, ST33KTPM2XSPI, ST33KTPM2XI2C, ST33KTPM2I, and ST33KTPM2A. The ST33KTPM2I is qualified for long lifetime industrial systems, while the ST33KTPM2A leverages an AEC-Q100 qualified hardware platform required for automotive integration.

STSAFE-TPM devices comply with multiple security standards, including Trusted Computing Group TPM 2.0, Common Criteria EAL4+ (AVA_VAN.5), and FIPS 140-3 level 1 with physical security level 3. They provide cryptographic services—including ECDSA, ECDH (up to 384 bits), RSA (up to 4096 bits), AES (up to 256 bits), and SHA1, SHA2, and SHA3—all standardized by TCG and compatible with FIPS 140-3-certified software stacks.

ST also offers provisioning services to load device keys and certificates, speeding time to market and ensuring supply chain security.

ST33KTPM product page

STMicroelectronics

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MathWorks’ MATLAB and SIMULINK Release 2024b simplifies development for wireless communication, control systems, and digital signal processing. This second of twice-yearly releases provides major updates to popular MATLAB and Simulink tools, as well as new features and bug fixes.

The major updates found in Release 2024b include:

• 5G Toolbox now supports 6G waveform generation and 5G signal quality assessments.
• DSP HDL Toolbox adds an interactive DSP HDL IP Designer app for configuring DSP algorithms and generating HDL code and verification components.
• Simulink Control Design offers the ability to design and implement nonlinear and data-driven control techniques, such as sliding mode and iterative learning control.
• System Composer allows users to edit subsetted views and define system behavior with activity and sequence diagrams.

In addition, a new hardware support package for Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU, embedded in Snapdragon processors, leverages Simulink and model-based design to deploy production-quality C code across various Snapdragon platforms for DSP applications.

To learn more about what’s new in MATLAB and SIMULINK Release 2024b, click here.

MathWorks

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Six 2300-V baseplate-less power modules from Wolfspeed boost energy efficiency in renewable energy, energy storage, and fast charging applications. These half-bridge modules, optimized for 1500-V DC bus systems, are built on advanced 200-mm SiC wafers.

The 2300-V power modules not only enhance system efficiency, but also reduce the need for passive components. According to the manufacturer, they provide 15% more voltage headroom than comparable SiC modules, improved dynamic performance with stable temperature characteristics, and a substantial reduction in EMI filter size. Wolfspeed also reports a 77% decrease in switching losses compared to IGBTs and a 2x to 3x reduction in switching losses for SiC devices used for 1500-V applications.

Modules support a two-level topology, simplifying design and reducing driver count compared to IGBT-based three-level systems. This building block approach enables scalable power from kilowatts to megawatts and reduces potential single points of failure in a two-level implementation.

Datasheets for the 2300-V SiC power modules are available here.

Wolfspeed

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Joining Semtech’s PON-X lineup are a combo chip and a burst-mode TIA, designed for 2.5G PON Fiber to the Room (FTTR) applications. FTTR is regarded as the next step in fixed broadband technology, gaining traction in both residential and business markets. As demand for higher speeds grows, Semtech’s FTTR chipset can be easily upgraded to 10G PON without recabling.

The GN25L81 integrates a 2.5-Gbps directly modulated laser (DML) driver and a dual-rate 2.5/1.25-Gbps burst-mode limiting amplifier into a single combo chip, suited for both FTTR and GPON optical line terminal (OLT) applications. The laser driver features dual-loop extinction ratio control and eye shaping.

Complementing the GL25L81, the GN25L42 is a single-channel, reset-less 2.5-Gbps burst-mode TIA that offers low-noise performance and sensitivity better than -30 dBm when used with a PIN photodiode. It also integrates a burst-mode received signal strength indicator (RSSI) output for cost-effective diagnostics of receiver input power.

The GN25L81 combo chip is in production and available in a QFN package. The GN25L42 burst-mode TIA is sampling now and supplied as bare die.

GN25L81 product page

GN25L42 product page

Semtech

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Swiss provider u-blox announced its first combined 3GPP-compliant terrestrial network (TN) and non-terrestrial network (NTN) IoT module. The SARA-S528NM10 module supports global coverage with accurate, low-power, and concurrent positioning.

Most satellite systems require proprietary hardware and software, locking users to a specific operator and forcing terminal replacement for switching. The u-blox device, based on global 3GPP standards, offers interoperability with multiple satellite providers, giving customers greater flexibility.

Powered by the UBX-S52 cellular/satellite chipset and M10 GNSS receiver, the module adheres to the 3GPP Release 17 NB-NTN specification. This standards-based approach ensures extended connectivity via LTE-M and NB-IoT on terrestrial cellular networks, as well as NB-IoT on GEO satellite constellations, with readiness for LEO satellites.

The SARA-S528NM10 module supports the two NTN bands introduced in 3GPP Release 17—n255 (L-band global) and n256 (S-band Europe)—as well as the n23 band (US). It is currently being certified by Skylo, a global NTN service provider, for its satellite network. This certification will ensure seamless connectivity with both cellular and Skylo satellite networks.

SARA-S528NM10 product page

u-blox

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Onsemi’s upgraded silicon and silicon carbide F5BP Power Modules offer more power density and efficiency.

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In the world of engineering, precision is paramount. Whether it’s performing quality assurance on cutting-edge electronics or debugging complex systems, the accuracy of measurements can make or break a project. This is where the concept of vertical accuracy in oscilloscopes becomes crucial, it refers to how closely the voltage readings match the actual voltage of the signal being measured. Achieving a high vertical accuracy depends on two factors: the number of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits and the noise floor of the oscilloscope.

The role of ADC bits

The horizontal axis of an oscilloscope represents the time base (seconds per division or s/div), while the vertical axis shows the voltage (volts per division or V/div). Vertical accuracy is about how accurately the oscilloscope displays the voltage of the signal, which is vital for visual representation and precise measurements. The closer the voltage reading on the oscilloscope screen is to the actual signal voltage, the higher the vertical accuracy.

To achieve the optimal reading, engineers need oscilloscopes with the highest number of ADC bits and the lowest noise floor. Higher ADC bits provide more vertical resolution, leading to more precise signal visualization, while a lower noise floor minimizes the oscilloscope’s impact on the signal. This combination ensures the oscilloscope provides the most accurate representation of the signal, minimizing any distortion or noise that could affect the measurements.

To look at this in more detail, an oscilloscope with an 8-bit ADC can encode an analog input into 256 unique levels of conversion (28 = 256). Each additional bit doubles the number of levels of conversion. Therefore, 9 bits provide 512 levels (29 = 512), 10 bits provide 1,024 levels (210 = 1,024), and so on.

Oscilloscopes with a 14-bit ADC can encode the analog input into 16,384 levels (214 = 16,384), which is 4x the resolution of an average 12-bit ADC oscilloscope and 64 times the resolution of an 8-bit ADC. This higher resolution allows the oscilloscope to capture finer details of the signal, providing a more accurate representation.

Now consider how this applies to an oscilloscope with a vertical setting of 100 mV per division and 8 vertical divisions. The oscilloscope’s full screen equals 800 mV (100 mV/div * 8 divisions). With an 8-bit ADC, the full screen (800 mV) is divided into 256 levels, resulting in a resolution of 3.125 mV per level. In comparison, a 14-bit ADC divides the same 800 mV into 16,384 levels, achieving a resolution of 48.8 µV per level. This significant increase in resolution allows engineers to detect and measure much smaller changes in the signal, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 As the number of ADC bits increases, so does the number of levels of conversion. This results in a higher vertical resolution that enables engineers to measure much smaller changes in the signal. Source: Keysight

The importance of a low noise floor

While a high number of ADC bits is essential for vertical accuracy, it is not the only factor. The noise floor of the oscilloscope also plays a critical role. This refers to the intrinsic noise generated by the oscilloscope itself, which can interfere with the signal being measured, leading to inaccurate readings.

All electronic devices, including oscilloscopes, generate some level of noise. However, the goal is to minimize this as much as possible. A lower noise floor means that the oscilloscope has less impact on the signal, resulting in more accurate measurements. Furthermore, you won’t be able to see signal detail smaller than the noise of the oscilloscope. This is especially important when measuring very small voltages, where even a small amount of noise can significantly distort the readings.

For example, Figure 2 shows an oscilloscope measuring a 53 mV signal. At 2 mV/div, this oscilloscope has a noise floor of less than 50 mVRMS. Using this oscilloscope, you can capture the very small 53 mV signal because the noise floor is low enough. This signal would be lost in the noise floor of other general-purpose oscilloscopes that tend to exceed 100 mVRMS.

Figure 2 An oscilloscope with a noise floor of <50 mVRMS captures a small 53 mV signal that is lost in the noise floor of other general-purpose oscilloscopes. Source: Keysight

Combining high ADC bits and low noise floor

The combination of a high number of ADC bits and a low noise floor results in the highest vertical accuracy. This ensures that the oscilloscope provides the most accurate representation of the signal, allowing engineers to make precise measurements and avoid costly errors.

For instance, an oscilloscope that could feature a 14-bit ADC and a noise floor of less than 50 µVRMS at 2 mV/div and a 1 GHz bandwidth on a 50-Ω input would provide exceptional vertical accuracy, enabling engineers to detect even the smallest changes in the signal. This difference can impact an engineer’s ability to gain insight, understand, debug and characterize designs. In addition, inaccurate results from an oscilloscope can increase risk in the development cycle times, production quality and potentially the components chosen. Engineers need to be able to rely on tools and technology that will give them the best possible insights and accuracy.

Achieving a high vertical accuracy

It’s critical to recognize that not all oscilloscopes are made equal. Engineers need to opt for the highest ADC bit, combined with a low noise floor, to achieve the highest vertical accuracy. This combination ensures the oscilloscope accurately represents the signal, minimizing any distortion or noise that could affect the measurements. High vertical accuracy is essential for precise measurements, reducing errors, and saving time and resources. By investing in oscilloscopes with high vertical accuracy, engineers can trust their measurements, leading to more efficient debugging.

Michelle Tate is currently a Product Marketing Manager at Keysight Technologies for InfiniiVision Oscilloscopes.  She previously worked in the semiconductor industry with Texas Instruments’ wireless connectivity and brushless-DC motor drivers and received her Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Related Content

• Maximize the accuracy of your oscilloscope measurements
• Understanding FFT vertical scaling
• How to make better measurements with your oscilloscope or digitizer
• Oscilloscope cursors complement other measurement tools
• FFTs and oscilloscopes: A practical guide

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NORD DRIVESYSTEMS is a reliable partner and system supplier for sustainable drive technology solutions for its customers. The focus in the first half of 2024 remained on continuity, technically suitable solutions and cross-industry trade fair presentations.

The first half of the year was characterised by special challenges. However, opportunities for growth have presented themselves to NORD. Therefore, it was particularly important for the drive expert from Bargteheide to ensure continuity, increase its delivery reliability and maintain exchange with its customers at international specialist trade fairs.

NORD at LogiMAT

At the international LogiMAT specialist trade fair for intralogistics solutions and process management in Stuttgart, NORD has been presenting logistics drive solutions for many years. This year, a particular focus was on the issues of reliability and efficiency. Emphasis was on the patented DuoDrive geared motor and the decentralised NORDAC ON/ON+ frequency inverter. The company also presented the NORD ECO service and its sustainability programme.

NORD at Anuga FoodTec

NORD has been an integral part of Anuga FoodTec, the leading trade fair for food and beverage production in Cologne, for many years. This year, the company presented drive solutions for high energy efficiency and low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). On show: controlled asynchronous motors for end-of-line packaging with the centralised NORDAC ON frequency inverter, the NORDAC PRO SK 500P control cabinet inverter with a power range of up to 22 kW and PROFIsafe module as well as drives for conveyor technology in the food area with IE5+ synchronous motors and DuoDrive.

NORD at Passenger Terminal Expo

The Passenger Terminal Expo in Frankfurt am Main has become an important meeting point for the airport logistics sector. In 2024, NORD presented its products from the LogiDrive solution space that has been specially optimised for applications such as tray, belt or roller conveyors. This includes the system solutions:

LogiDrive Basic, LogiDrive Advanced and LogiDrive Advanced with DuoDrive.

NORD at IFAT

At IFAT, the world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management in Munich, NORD was present with its efficient and powerful drive solutions for pumps, mixers and agitators. These solutions included MAXXDRIVE® industrial gear units, IE5+ synchronous motors, the patented DuoDrive, decentralised frequency inverters and drive components as explosion-protected ATEX versions. This trade fair clearly demonstrated the dynamism and emphasis on issues such as efficiency, recycling or energy production from biogas.

NORD at ACHEMA

ACHEMA in Frankfurt very rarely takes place in the same year as IFAT due to the different frequency. Nevertheless, NORD could record high demand at its trade fair stand with many good contacts. Many products from the NORD portfolio were shown, which were also presented in Munich at IFAT. Among others, ATEX-compliant drive concepts for the process industry and the heavy-duty MAXXDRIVE® industrial gear units were focal points. Further trade fair highlights were the decentralised NORDAC ON/ON+ frequency inverters, the DuoDrive, IE5+ synchronous motors and the NORDCON APP with NORDAC ACCESS BT.

Goals for the second half of the year

The company will maintain a focus on the issue of energy efficiency of drive solutions in the second half of 2024. NORD will also keep supporting its customers with its knowledge for drive solutions in various industries.

“With our competitive drive solutions, the high expertise of our employees, our high production depth, our global network and our sustainable management, we feel well equipped for future challenges”, says Gernot Zarp, Sales Manager.

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Data protocols are constantly evolving to enable interoperability and reliable transfer of increasing amounts of data at the highest speeds between more and more connected devices. To address this technological challenge, Fischer Connectors is expanding its platform capabilities to meet the most demanding connectivitiy requirements for high-speed data transfer using the USB 3.2 Gen 2 protocol up to 10 Gbit/s.

The Swiss-based company has developed new USB 3.2 connectors and cable assembly solutions in three of its flagship product lines to meet signal integrity and harsh environment requirements for medical, defense, industrial and instrumentation applications such as:

• Surgical equipment in the operating room, USB3 cameras in orthopedic surgery or endoscopic devices, and instrumentation applications such as assembly production lines and outdoor inspections in radiation and/or contaminated areas, with the versatile, highly customizable Fischer Core Brass Series – 9 pins in Ø 15.5 mm (‘size 1031’ plug), resistant to chemicals and sterilization processes.

• Applications where SWaP (size, weight and power) is critical, such as miniature body-worn computers and peripherals, high-performance lidars and high-speed intercom boxes, with the ultra-miniature, high-density Fischer MiniMax Series – 9 pins in Ø 12.9 mm (‘size 08’ plug) or 12 signal and power pins in Ø 14.9 mm (‘size 10’ plug), including high power up to 8A.
• Civil and military drones equipped with USB3 cameras, and a wide range of military specifications (MIL- SPEC) applications, with the rugged, compact, lightweight Fischer UltiMate Series – 9 pins in Ø 5 mm (‘size 11’ plug), 360° EMC shielding, resistance to shock, vibration and corrosion up to 1,000 hours of salt mist.

The Fischer MiniMax 9-pin connector is an example of connector designed specifically for high-speed data transfer using a single protocol (USB 3.2). (© Conextivity Group 2024)

Fischer Connectors’ three series offer IP68 sealing (IP69 and hermeticity with a resin-sealed contact block for Core and UltiMate), extreme operating temperatures (MiniMax from -40 °C to +135 °C, Core from -70 °C to +250 °C, UltiMate from -55 °C to +135 °C), high mating cycles (MiniMax up to 5,000, Core and UltiMate up to 10,000), and three locking mechanisms: push-pull and quick-release for the three series, plus screw for MiniMax. UltiMate also allows for blind mating with an extremely robust mechanical keying.

High-quality cable assembly to ensure signal integrity performance

Designing high-speed interconnect solutions requires expertise in cable assembly, high-performance connectors, and signal integrity simulation, testing and design.

During the design and characterization process, engineers must address a highly complex combination of parameters such as impedance matching, line delay, insertion/return loss, crosstalk and EMC shielding.

High-quality cable assembly is critical to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission, signal integrity and overall system function. “To achieve successful high-speed data transfer from a device’s transmitter to its receiver, connectors and cables must be cross-optimized and undergo a series of compliance tests at the system level,” explains Ameny Chaabani, Signal Integrity Engineer at Fischer Connectors. “USB 3.2 is a stringent protocol. Connector design, cable length, cable performance (loss), and the controlled and repeatable cable assembly and potting processes above 1 Gbit/s are some of the influencing parameters to consider. We must also study the full physical layer of a link as a whole, what we call system-level testing.”

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The demand for hand-held surgical power tools is at an all-time high due to significant surgical procedure backlogs and rising calls for elective and cosmetic surgeries. Where hospital administrators are under pressure to manage their costs, manufacturers are being challenged to produce tools that can be re-used, typically requiring them to withstand autoclave cleaning processes. This is where Portescap’s autoclavable brushless DC motors can prove advantageous.

Opportunities and Challenges in Surgical Hand Tool Design

Despite the obvious opportunity for OEM designers, there are pitfalls and challenges that must be considered when designing surgical hand tools. It is a market of swift innovation with a trend towards miniaturisation to improve convenience, ergonomics and overall performance. This trend naturally requires advanced microelectronics that will perform to the tough regulatory standards that are rightly demanded of medical tools. As a result, the devices are often associated with high costs, which may be seen as restrictive.

Keeping costs in mind, OEMs are faced with two choices. Reduce component quality with a view to producing ‘low cost’, disposable solutions; or develop solutions which can reliably be re-used, thus decreasing the ‘Total Cost of Ownership’. The second option is typically regarded as a more sustainable solution, both in terms of economic and environmental considerations.

For the subset of surgical hand-tools that are designed to be re-usable, their components must be engineered to endure multiple autoclaving cycles: in some case as many as 3,000 cycles over the course of their operating life. Autoclave (or steam sterilization) cycles are one of the most effective means of fast sterilization of medical instruments. During autoclaving, equipment is exposed to up to 100% humidity, 121°C minimum and variations between positive and negative pressures for up to 30 minutes; the process is designed to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores.

Autoclavable Brushless DC Motors

Historically the availability of miniature motors that were capable of reliably surviving autoclave cycles was scarce, and often expensive. As such various approaches were developed by manufacturers which protected the motor – or avoided the autoclave cycle completely – such as disposable tools, removable battery packs and ‘redundant seals’2. However, none of these solutions are compatible with the requirements for convenience as listed above. This is why more designers are looking to brushless DC motors to answer the three key challenges of cost, performance and reliability.

By replacing brushes and a commutator for an electronic drive, brushless DC motors deliver performance improvements over other motor technologies, such as quiet operation and longer operational life (twice that of comparable brushed motors). The brushless design can also deliver up to 30% more torque than traditional motors of the same size, while generating less heat and greater speed control for the operator.

Designers should also typically specify brushless slotted (rather than slotless) technology, which, by design, offers protection to the slotted motor winding when inserted into the slots of the lamination stack. From here additional coating or moulding protection can easily be added within impacting the motor performance.

It is crucial to partner with miniature motor manufacturers who have a proven track record of delivering high-quality autoclavable solutions, given that the reliability and performance of these motors are vital in ensuring the success and safety of the surgical power tools being designed. Selecting a manufacturer with extensive experience in producing autoclavable motors also ensures that the devices will withstand the rigorous sterilization processes required in medical environments. For example, Portescap offers exceptional customization capabilities for 3,000+ autoclaving cycles as well as a complete range of sterilizable slotted motors designed to withstand 1,000+ autoclave cycles, and sterilizable slotless motors designed to withstand 200+ autoclave cycles.

Conclusion

Exceptional global demand for hand-held surgical power tools is forecast to continue into the next decade. As such, the outlook is positive for companies that are on the forefront of development. However, they are operating in a competitive environment, where pressure to reach the market must be balanced with ergonomic performance, product reliability and cost effectiveness.

Where products are intended to be re-used as part of their life cycle, then OEMs must ensure the tools are engineered to endure autoclaving cycles. It stands to reason that designers must adopt the most suitable technology to maintain reliability without sacrificing overall performance.

In this case, autoclavable brushless DC motors currently offer the best opportunity to designers looking to push the boundaries of size, performance and reliability for these critical devices.

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