Feed aggregator

All About Circuits met with the Tektronix engineers behind the 7 Series to uncover the myriad of design challenges that most people never hear about.

Українська монета сяє на світовій арені kpi чт, 09/18/2025 - 17:53

I recently came across a disturbing piece of news about a recall of Ryobi pressurized washers on FOX Business (Figure 1). I got some pictures from there and elsewhere, which, with a little rearrangement and supplementation, point out a very real danger.

Figure 1 Screenshot of the news article on the pressure washer recall. Source: Fox Business

The so-called overheating capacitors can apparently be identified as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 The overheating motor starting capacitor under question. Source: Amazon.com

This component provides 300 µF, which is a magnitude of capacitance that can only be obtained in aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Such capacitors cannot be allowed to experience reverse voltage, though, so to achieve the 250 VAC capability, a pair of capacitors must be used in series as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Capture of a schematic that combines two aluminum-electrolytic capacitors.

Each capacitor is paired with a diode that limits the reverse polarity that can appear across each capacitor to one forward diode voltage drop, call that 0.7 V. Supposedly, that voltage limit is still safe as reverse voltage across an aluminum electrolytic capacitor.

However!!!! If one diode fails as an open circuit, the reverse voltage that can be imposed on its associated capacitor can rise way above the diode limit, and that capacitor can fail.

Figure 4 A SPICE example of reverse voltage when one diode fails as an open circuit. Source: John Dunn

Such a failure can lead to a capacitor explosion.

When I was in college, I had a lab partner with whom I would perform each class experiment. One experiment involved a 22-µF 16-V electrolytic capacitor. It was a tiny little thing.

Unfortunately, my partner (It was NOT me!) put that capacitor in the circuit board backwards, and it was driven into reverse bias. It sat there for a while as the two of us were discussing the circuit under test when suddenly that capacitor exploded!!

That explosion was LOUD!! Everybody within fifty feet was looking in our direction. The aluminum shell of the capacitor had been torn open like a Tootsie Roll wrapper.

I suspect that the Ryobi capacitor issue was not from “overheating” as Figure 5 suggests, but that one of the diodes within the CD60 capacitor failed as an open circuit, which allowed excessive reverse bias to appear across its associated capacitor. (If a diode had failed as a short circuit, I doubt if the motor would start.)

Figure 5 An unwise reassurance that the capacitor may not blow when installed backwards. Source: LeftyMaker, YouTube

One would think that the CD60 capacitor would have a pressure release plug that would vent if internal pressure got too high. If there is such a mechanism, it seems that sometimes it is not working properly. The sheer physical size of the CD60 capacitor in the Ryobi product versus that little itty-bitty capacitor in my lab class makes me think of the CD60 capacitor as a potential hand grenade.

John Dunn is an electronics consultant and a graduate of The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BSEE) and of New York University (MSEE).

Related Content

• Would better electrolytic capacitors reduce e-waste?
• Capacitors–the old decoupling standbys
• Ensure long lifetimes from electrolytic capacitors: A case study in LED light bulbs
• Determining end-of-life, ESR, and lifetime calculations for electrolytic capacitors at higher temperatures
• Power Tips #50: Avoid these common aluminum electrolytic capacitor pitfalls

The post Pressure washer recall and aluminum electrolytic capacitors appeared first on EDN.

КПІ ім. Ігоря Сікорського бере участь у 69-й сесії Генеральної конференції МАГАТЕ kpi чт, 09/18/2025 - 14:17

Artificial Intelligence has come a long way, transforming what was once called a far-fetched notion into a makeover across industries. The conscious discourse has always been about computing accelerators such as CPUs, GPUs, or NPUs, while an invisible, but equally important, element is quietly shaping the future for AI: memory and storage. At Micron, this shift in perception has only served to deepen our commitment to innovation with a fresh standpoint whereby memory and storage became no longer just supporting elements but key drivers influencing AI in performance, scalability, and efficiency.

Breaking Through the Memory Wall

Scaling AI models into billions and even trillions of parameters makes the need for high-speed access to data shoot up exponentially. This really brings to the fore the age-old memory wall problem-the ever-widening gap between the fast processor and the comparatively slower memory bandwidth/latency. For AI workloads, in particular, large-scale training and inference, this can very well be a serious bottleneck.

Micron is attacking this challenge head-on through a full suite of products that ensure memory and storage become accelerators rather than impediments for AI performance.

Micron’s AI-Ready Portfolio

Near Memory: High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and GDDR reduce latency and ensure fast access to AI model parameters by closely integrating with CPUs.

Main memory that balances capacity, low latency, and power efficiency for workloads like training and inference includes DIMMs, MRDIMMs, and low-power DRAM.

Expansion Memory: By increasing scalable memory capacity, Compute Express Link (CXL) technology reduces total cost of ownership.

High-performance NVMe SSDs and scalable data-lake storage are two storage alternatives that can be used to meet the I/O needs of AI applications that depend significantly on data.

These innovations come together to form Micron’s AI data center pyramid, which increases throughput, scalability, and energy efficiency by addressing bottlenecks at every level.

Why AI Metrics Are Important

AI performance is assessed using common system-level KPIs across platforms, including mobile devices and hyperscale data centers:

Time to First Token (TTFT): The speed at which a system starts producing output.

A metric for inference throughput is tokens per second.

A measure of power efficiency is tokens per second per watt.

Memory and storage both have a significant impact on these parameters, guaranteeing that AI workloads are carried out quickly, reliably, and with the least amount of energy consumption.

Enhanced Central AI Memory and Storage Set Up

The very frontier that used to separate compute from memory is getting blurred. Given the blend of demand for energy-efficient yet high performing solution, LPDDR and other low-power memories that were being used in mobile are now gradually entering into the data center space. Micron’s portfolio of DDR, LPDDR, GDDR, and HBM memories is marketed to new levels of being optimized for every step of AI inference-from embedding to decoding, thus eliminating bottlenecks.

Conclusion:

AI is being viewed as the era for bigger models and faster processors; it is a point of rethinking compute, memory, and storage interoperability. Memory is indeed a performer in the guest list of AI scalability and efficiency, thanks to the DRAM and NAND memory innovations from Micron. Breaking memory wall and setting new system-level metrics will help make the next step for AI performance, thanks to Micron.

(This article has been adapted and modified from content on Micron.)

The post From Compute to Memory: Redefining AI Performance with Next-Gen Memory and Storage appeared first on ELE Times.

2025 Student Tech Challenge від Huawei Ukraine kpi чт, 09/18/2025 - 11:59

Іменні стипендії з нагоди Дня національного визволення Республіки Корея kpi чт, 09/18/2025 - 11:49

The surge in demand for large-scale AI training is straining today’s cloud infrastructure, pushing electrical packet switches (EPS) toward their performance and power limits. As GPUs scale into massive clusters to support ever-growing large language models, the need for faster, more efficient data transport is becoming critical. Optical Circuit Switches (OCS) are emerging as a powerful alternative, offering high bandwidth over long distances with far lower energy consumption.

Unlike EPS even those integrated with co-packaged optics OCS relies on all-optical connections to link GPUs through switched ports and optical transceivers. This enables GPU clusters to operate as a unified, high-performance computing fabric while delivering significant efficiency gains.

Applied Ventures recently co-led a Series A funding round for Salience Labs, a startup pioneering OCS solutions based on Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) technology. Their Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) are available in two configurations: a high-radix switch designed for HPC workloads and a lower-radix version optimized for AI data centers. This flexibility allows hyperscalers, GPU makers, and even financial trading firms to balance cost, performance, and scalability.

The urgency of these innovations is underscored by energy trends. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects data centers will consume 6.6% of U.S. electricity by 2028, more than double the share in 2024. Networking equipment switches, transceivers, and interconnects represents a growing portion of this footprint.

To address this, companies are rethinking chip and system design:

• Google’s TPU aims for a 10× cost-efficiency advantage over GPUs by tailoring silicon to specific AI tasks.
• Lumentum projects that without optical efficiency improvements, training GPT-5 could require 122 MW, nearly six times more than GPT-4. Energy-efficient optical interfaces combined with OCS could cut that by 79%, aligning power use with GPT-4 levels.
• Arista Networks estimates energy-efficient optical modules could save up to 20W per 1,600Gbps module.

By combining scalability with low-latency, long-reach connectivity, OCS technology could reshape how tens or hundreds of GPUs interconnect, enabling them to act as one massive supercomputer while containing the energy surge.

Conclusion:

Optical Circuit Switches are more than an incremental upgrade they represent a fundamental shift toward sustainable high-performance computing. With almost very high bandwidth, low latency, and massive energy savings, OCS will stand tall in next-generation AI data centers so that performance scaling is not done at the unsustainable power cost.

(This article has been adapted and modified from content on Applied Materials.)

The post Redefining Data Infrastructure: Optical Circuit Switches Could Transform AI Data Centers appeared first on ELE Times.

High-speed data acquisition is made simple with a 12-bit digitizer that offers up to 10 GSPS sampling rate and 2 Gbyte/s sustained data transfer to a host PC. Teledyne’s ADQ3-series digitizer provides high-performance data acquisition in a compact, standalone USB 3.2 form factor.

Digitizers—crucial in analytical and sensing systems such as automated test equipment (ATE), distributed fiber optic sensing platforms, LiDARs, mass spectrometers, and swept-source optical coherence tomography—are undergoing a transformation amid growing demand for faster data acquisition. It inevitably calls for higher resolution, faster imaging speeds, and more granular real-time analysis.

That’s because new use cases in sensing systems generate gigabytes of data per second, demanding efficient real-time processing and high-speed data transfer. Then there is the issue of preserving signal integrity in compact and noise-sensitive environments, which mandates compact form factors that can be placed close to the detector within the system enclosure.

ADQ3-USB, housed in a robust, fanless enclosure, allows engineers to place the digitizer close to the detector. This also minimizes cable length and reduces signal reflections, a crucial factor for optimizing analog performance in high-speed applications.

ADQ3-USB is compatible with a wide range of digitizer models within the ADQ3 series, including ADQ30, ADQ32, ADQ33, and ADQ35. Source: Teledyne SP Devices

ADQ3-USB features onboard FPGA capabilities for real-time signal processing. That enables it to support continuous data streaming at up to 2 Gbyte/s via USB 3.2. Moreover, even large volumes of raw data up to 20 Gbyte/s can be efficiently reduced and transferred without bottlenecks.

Next, it eliminates the need for PCIe slots, leading to fast and simple integration with mini-PCs and laptops. This also makes it suitable for mobile setups, embedded systems, and OEM applications.

ADQ3-USB’s open FPGA architecture also allows design engineers to implement application-specific algorithms directly on the 1/2 digitizer. That, in turn, reduces the need for post-processing and enables real-time decision-making.

Finally, this digitizer supports multiple firmware packages tailored to specific application needs. That includes FWDAQ for standard data acquisition, FWATD for waveform averaging, FWPD for pulse detection, and DEVDAQ for custom FPGA development.

Related Content

• Analysis of large data acquisitions
• Data acquisition systems and SoCs—A guide
• Trending into data-acquisition: a mini-study in contrasts
• Data Acquisition and Instrumentation: The DAS and Sensors
• Data Acquisition and Instrumentation: Data Processing and Calibration

The post High-speed digitizer boasts open FPGA architecture appeared first on EDN.

submitted by /u/Riverspoke [link] [comments]

Researchers uncover a chain of flaws in a widely used automotive Bluetooth stack, exposing infotainment systems to remote compromise

In July 2025, cybersecurity researchers disclosed PerfektBlue, a set of four vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-45431 to -45434) found in OpenSynergy’s BlueSDK, a Bluetooth stack widely integrated into modern infotainment systems. The flaws affect millions of vehicles across brands including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Skoda, enabling attackers to execute malicious code over Bluetooth Classic connections.

Attack Path and Impact

PerfektBlue can only be exploited at close range, requiring the attacker to be within 5-7 meters of a target vehicle and establish Bluetooth pairing. This limits the possibility of large-scale exploitation; however, a successful attack would open the IVI system to the hacker(s), leaking data such as:

• GPS data & Vehicle location
• Listening through in-car microphones
• Contact lists & communication logs

Safety-critical functions like braking and steering remain segmented. Yet, as past incidents (e.g., the 2015 Jeep Cherokee hack) have shown, weak network isolation could allow lateral movement if additional vulnerabilities exist.

Root Causes in Bluetooth Stack Design

PerfektBlue includes one memory corruption flaw and three logic-level vulnerabilities stemming from protocol mismanagement. Combined, they create a pathway to remote code execution once pairing succeeds.

The flaws illustrate ongoing issues in Bluetooth stack security:

• Multi-layer protocols such as L2CAP, RFCOMM, and AVRCP handle vast amounts of untrusted data.
• Implementations in C heighten memory safety risks.
• The wireless and real-time nature of Bluetooth complicates fuzz testing, letting subtle bugs persist across generations.

Delays in Fixing and Deployment

The vulnerabilities were first reported in May 2024, and a patch was issued by September 2024. Yet disclosure did not occur until July 2025, largely because automakers lagged in deploying updates.

Challenges included:

• Complex supply chains with limited visibility on software components.
• No software bills of materials (SBOMs)-thus OEMs were not aware that they even depended on BlueSDK.
• Highly manual service updates rather than OTA.

Wider Implications and Next Actions

As long as vehicle safety systems remain isolated, infotainment are not benign to breaches. Attackers could track drivers, eavesdrop on conversations, and steal sensitive data, or in poor circumstances, pivot to other systems if the segmentation is weak.

As a countermeasure, experts advised the automakers to:

• Consider Bluetooth stacks as high-value attack surfaces.
• Standardize the use of SBOMs so that the third-party software can be identified and tracked.
• Give priority to OTA update pipelines to reduce patch deployment delays.
• Integrate protocol fuzzing and binary analysis in the development lifecycles.

PerfektBlue is a reminder that connected vehicles remain vulnerable to wireless exploits. Without stronger defenses and adoption of patches faster, the automotive industry is repeating the same mistakes of past cybersecurity lapses.

(This article has been adapted and modified from content on Keysight Technologies.)

The post PerfektBlue: Bluetooth Vulnerabilities Put Millions of Vehicles at Risk appeared first on ELE Times.

Devices Offer Y1 Rating of 500 VAC and 1500 VDC, High Capacitance to 4.7 nF, and High Humidity Robustness

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new series of Automotive Grade AC line rated ceramic disc safety capacitors that are the industry’s first with a Y1 rating to be offered in a surface-mount casing. Combining their Y1 rating of 500 VAC and 1500 VDC with high capacitance to 4.7 nF, the Vishay BCcomponents SMDY1 Automotive Series devices are designed to provide EMI / RFI suppression and filtering in harsh, high humidity environments.

AEC-Q200 qualified with PPAP available, the capacitors released, will be used in on-board chargers (OBC), traction inverters, battery management systems (BMS), e-compressors, and AC/DC converters in electric (EV), hybrid electric (HEV), and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) vehicles. For these applications, the devices offer high humidity resistance with a Class IIB humidity grade (in accordance with IEC60384-14 annex I) and can withstand the 85 / 85 / 1000 h test.

Allowing for surface-mount assembly with a reflow soldering process, SMDY1 Automotive Series capacitors reduce production costs. Unlike leaded components, the devices offer a low, flat profile on the PCB to enable flat casings or backside PCB mounting without the clearance space required by through-hole capacitors.

RoHS-compliant and halogen-free, the components consist of a copper-plated ceramic disc and feature encapsulation made of flame-resistant epoxy resin in accordance with UL 94 V-0. The devices are available in two case sizes: the C case with a creepage distance of 10 mm and the D case with a creepage distance of 14.5 mm.

The post Vishay Intertechnology Launches Industry’s First Automotive Grade Ceramic Capacitors With Y1 Rating in SMD Casing appeared first on ELE Times.

Learn about "hidden" timing couplings in multicore systems that cause unexpected interference, significantly impacting Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) even for independent tasks.

Blown thyristors, hopefully that's all it is. Waiting for the modules before attempting any repair. Circuit board looks okay, so does the power supply and some thick gloves just in case. I will be plugging this in outside on an extension lead far away from me when turning on. submitted by /u/JustBe-Chillin [link] [comments]

Hey folks, I’ve been tinkering with an ESP32-based clone of the Motogadget M-Unit Blue and finally decided to throw it out into the wild as open source: 👉 GitHub repo It’s not a polished product (yet) — more like a prototype playground. If you’re into DIY electronics/motorcycles: Try to boot it up, Hack it, improve it, break it, Build a prototype, Let me know how it goes. Think of it as: “Motogadget is $$$, but what if… we open-source it?” 😅 Any feedback, PRs, or pics of your builds are super welcome. Let’s see where the community can take this! 🏍️⚡ submitted by /u/jaksatomovic [link] [comments]

Announced today, SiTime is expanding into a $4 billion resonator market with its Titan platform.

Precision-matched capacitor pairs are commercially available items, but only in a limited range of values, working voltage, and dielectrics.

Plus, sometimes an extra critical application with extra tight tolerances (or an extra tight budget) can dictate a little (or a lot) DIY. For example, see “Inherently DC accurate 16-bit PWM TBH DAC.”

Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas Submission Guide

Figure 1’s matchmaker circuit can help make the otherwise odious chore of searching through a batch of parts for accurately matching pairs quicker and a bit less taxing. Best of all, it does precision matchmaking (potentially to the ppm level) with no need for pricey precision reference components.

Here’s how it works.

Figure 1 Flip-flop U2b generates complementary excitation of the A and B capacitors under test.

Complementary (equal but opposite) excitation of the A and B capacitors under test implies that if Ca = Cb, then the charges passed will exactly cancel out, yielding a null at OUTPUT. If they differ, however, then an integrated output signal of 50 mV per % of mismatch will result if C3, C5, C4, and Cab (capacitors randomly selected from the trial batch) are equal in value, e.g., 0.68 µF. This signal is synchronously rectified by U1b, then integrated and buffered by the U1c and A1 feedback loop.

If Ca > Cb, the “A > B” output polarity will be positive relative to “B > A”. The reverse is also true: If Cb > Ca, the “A > B” output polarity will be negative relative to “B > A”.

Resolution of the match measurement will depend on the voltage resolution of the digital voltmeter (DVM). If that’s 1 mV, then matching to ±1/50th of 1%, or ±0.02%, will be possible. If it’s 100 µV (typical of a standard 3¾ digit multimeter with a 300 mV scale), then matching to ±0.002%, i.e., ±20ppm, is doable. And so on…

Measurement gain is inversely proportional to C4. So, if you need more resolution, simply decrease C4 to gain gain.

Figure 2 The U1aU2a multivibrator waveforms; the green waveform is the R3R4 junction, and the red waveform is U2 pin 6. The frequency is 0.1mHz/C3.

Note that the U1aU2a clock’s frequency precision and stability is somewhat dubious (even if we’re charitable). Happily, the accuracy of the ultimate Ca/Cb match doesn’t depend on a stable clock. Neither does match accuracy depend on the output impedances of D2b’s complementary outputs, not even on their symmetry!

Both insensitivities derive from the fact that it’s the transferred charge that forms the basis of matchmaking precision, and therefore neither current nor voltage matters very much.

However, due to the temperature sensitivity of some dielectrics, it’s probably a good idea to handle tested devices with thermally insulating gloves. This will save time and frustration waiting for them to equilibrate, not to mention possible outright erroneous results. Those are also known to cause frustration!

My thanks go to frequent contributor Christopher Paul for suggesting the utility of capacitor precision matching, and as always, to DI editor Aalyia Shaukat for this marvelously productive DI EE ecosystem we inhabit.

Stephen Woodward’s relationship with EDN’s DI column goes back quite a long way. Over 100 submissions have been accepted since his first contribution back in 1974.

 Related Content

• Matchmaker
• Circuits help get or verify matched resistors
• Inherently DC accurate 16-bit PWM TBH DAC

The post Capacitor matchmaker appeared first on EDN.

During the first five months of FY 2025–26, notwithstanding non-uniform global demand, India’s external trade sector continued to show resilience. Provisional data published by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry state that the cumulative exports both for merchandise and services aggregated to US$ 349.35 billion during April to August 2025, registering a 6.18% year-on-year growth when compared to US$ 329.03 billion during the same period in 2024.

The Ministry, however, went on to say that growth was led by electronics, engineering goods, gems & jewellery, petroleum products, and pharmaceuticals, where services continued to be another key anchor. More importantly, India’s overall trade deficit has narrowed, pointing to a better external balance.

Merchandise exports reached US$ 184.13 billion, a modest 2.52% rise from US$ 179.60 billion last year. Within this, non-petroleum exports showed stronger momentum, climbing to US$ 158.07 billion from US$ 147.25 billion, a 7.35% increase that reflects resilience in India’s core manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

During the same time period, imports were US$ 390.78 billion, up just 2.49% from US$ 381.30 billion the previous year. The country’s trading condition improved as seen by the trade deficit for April–August 2025, which decreased from US$52.27 billion in 2024 to US$41.42 billion.

August 2025:

August proved to be a very successful month for exports, with total shipments totaling US$69.16 billion, up 9.34% from the previous year. In contrast, imports dropped 7% to US$79.04 billion, which significantly decreased the monthly deficit.

• Merchandise exports: US$ 35.10 billion (vs. US$ 32.89 billion in Aug 2024)
• Merchandise imports: US$ 61.59 billion (vs. US$ 68.53 billion)
• Services exports: US$ 34.06 billion (vs. US$ 30.36 billion)
• Services imports: US$ 17.45 billion (vs. US$ 16.46 billion)
• Trade deficit: US$ 9.88 billion, significantly lower than US$ 21.73 billion in August 2024

Sector-Wise Export Drivers (August 2025):

• Electronics: +25.93%, reaching US$ 2.93 billion (vs. US$ 2.32 billion in 2024)
• Engineering goods: +4.91%, totaling US$ 9.90 billion (vs. US$ 9.44 billion)
• Gems & jewellery: +15.57%, valued at US$ 2.31 billion (vs. US$ 2.00 billion)
• Petroleum products: +6.54%, at US$ 4.48 billion (vs. US$ 4.20 billion)
• Pharmaceuticals: +6.94%, climbing to US$ 2.51 billion (vs. US$ 2.35 billion)

India’s export base is diverse, as evidenced by the double-digit rise in cereals, coal & minerals, tea, dairy, poultry, ceramic items, and rice, in addition to these main categories.

The services sector remained a bright spot in India’s external trade. Between April and August 2025:

• Services exports were estimated at US$ 165.22 billion, rising from US$ 149.43 billion last year.
• Services imports stood at US$ 84.25 billion.
• This led to an increase in the surplus from US$ 68.25 billion to US$ 80.97 billion.

This surplus illustrates the worldwide competitiveness of Indian IT services, digital solutions, consulting, and financial services and continues to serve as a crucial buffer against India’s merchandise trade deficit.

Exports in August expanded strongly across both traditional and new destinations:

• UAE: +23.42%
• USA: +7.15%
• Netherlands: +17.87%
• Hong Kong: +62.46%
• China: +22.38%

The sharp rise in shipments to Hong Kong from gems & jewellery and electronics and greater growth to China above all signify an emerging trade linkage of India with Asia, while UAE and USA have stood as reliable supporting engines for export demand.

Key Sources of Imports

On the import front, India saw larger inflows from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Iraq, and Qatar. While energy imports seemed to remain the largest from Russian and Middle Eastern suppliers, Ireland became an important source for specialized and high-value imports.

Conclusion:

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry emphasized that the narrowing of the trade deficit alongside the strong growth in the merchandise and services sector testifies to India’s ability to evolve with the shifting global trade dynamics. Electronics, pharmaceuticals, and engineering products are expected to continue to be the main pillars, while agricultural exports add further support.

The post India’s Export Growth Hits 6.18% in Early FY 2025–26, Driven by Electronics, Pharma, and Gems appeared first on ELE Times.

An expansion of TI’s comprehensive C2000 portfolio, the new MCUs transform the performance of household appliances and power tools

What’s new

Texas Instruments (TI) introduced its most affordable C2000 real-time microcontrollers (MCU), enabling engineers to design products with industry-leading performance at a lower cost. The F28E120SC and F28E120SB MCUs deliver 30% faster computing power compared to previous C2000 MCUs for single motor and power factor correction systems, helping transform the performance of home appliances, from washing machines and dishwashers to vacuum cleaners and power tools.

Powered by TI’s proprietary InstaSPIN field-oriented control (FOC) software and advanced algorithms, these new MCUs enable smoother, quieter and more efficient motor performance. Their advanced capabilities – including high-speed sensorless FOC, high-torque zero-speed startup and sophisticated vibration compensation – deliver highly precise, responsive motor control for everyday applications.

Why it matters

Today’s consumers demand appliances and power tools that operate as efficiently, smoothly and quietly as possible. Yet, historically, system designers have had to compromise by using MCUs with less computing performance and analog integration to meet cost targets.

The F28E12x series of MCUs helps solve this challenge by delivering the performance needed to enable premium motor-control features at a lower price than competing devices. These MCUs eliminate additional components by integrating TI’s C28x digital signal processor core and industry-leading analog peripherals, including a high-speed analog-to-digital converter and programmable gain amplifier, helping simplify designs and lowering costs.

“Since their introduction in the 1990s, TI C2000 MCUs have allowed designers to control both simple and complex motors with low latency and high reliability,” said Vivek Singhal, vice president and general manager, Application-Specific Microcontrollers at TI. “Adding fully featured, ultra-low-cost MCUs to the C2000 portfolio enables new markets to access the industry-leading real-time performance that TI is known for. Using this technology, appliance and power-tool manufacturers can deliver seamless, quiet motor operation, previously considered a luxury, at an affordable price point.”

Moreover, TI’s F28E12x series facilitates fast execution of the sensorless FOC algorithm, enabling motor speeds over 120,000rpm, or 2kHz electrical frequency. The ability to run a motor at high speeds reduces gear transition noise and improves reliability, enabling engineers to design products with smooth, quiet operation. The MCUs can also run a vibration compensation algorithm to achieve up to 60% speed ripple reduction, counteracting the acoustic noise and vibrations caused by an imbalanced load in applications such as washing machines.

The post TI unlocks premium motor control in everyday applications with ultra-low-cost real-time MCUs appeared first on ELE Times.

Given the rapid advances in quantum computing, it is urgent now to urge the application of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Every industry must armor its computing infrastructure against the increasing risk of quantum-enabled attacks. The lack of a singular all-encompassing standard for PQC creates the demand from the developer community for the proactive design of adaptable, future-proof security solutions.

Emerging Requirements for PQC and the Hardware-Software Co-Design

At a recent Security Seminar, the companies governing the evolving PQC requirements and co-design approach of hardware and software were accentuated to attain strong and flexible post-quantum security.

PQC Evolution

The emerging quantum landscape has necessitated guidelines for multiple aspects of PQC. One of the most cited guidelines is the U.S.-based Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0 (CNSA 2.0), recommending advanced PQC algorithms such as Kyber, Dilithium, LMS, and XMSS.

CNSA 2.0, while good enough as a baseline, is not exhaustive. Here lie its limitations:

Algorithmic diversity gaps: Popular algorithms such as Falcon or Hamming Quasi-Cyclic (HQC) encryption are not completely integrated. The use of multiple algorithms can reduce single points of failure when used strategically.

Regional divergence: PQC regulations are under development in different regions. The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) of the European Union, China’s proprietary research, and NIST-led standards all produce different compliance requirements. In their PQC strategies, multinational organizations need to consider these differences. Designing Agile PQC Infrastructure With PQC standards still changing, developers face the challenge of designing actual security without locking into obsolete algorithms. A PQC system that is future-ready must, therefore, provide for:

Crypto-Agility

Crypto-agility is a mechanism for developers to switch between cryptographic algorithms seamlessly with capable protocols in updating in the field. Supporting all algorithm types and hybrid models ensure that security systems flex as quantum threats and standards evolve.

Upgradability at Scale

This implies upgrading the infrastructure at scale. Dynamic hardware that can handle new software ensures systems remain secure and performant as algorithms and regulatory requirements change.

High-Quality Entropy

Reliable and unpredictable entropy is essential for the generation of encryption keys and random numbers. International standards are joining the chorus in requiring checks for high-quality entropy to guard against predictable key generation that a quantum computer might favor.

Hardware-Software Co-Design for PQC

Effective PQC cannot talk alone classically. A co-design approach agilely pairs hardware with flexible software towards future-proof systems. QRNGs use the behavior of subatomic particles to generate sequences that are truly unpredictable, so secure, and verifiable entropy at scale.

FPGA enhances the PQC infrastructure as Coprocessors performing complex algorithms efficiently. In their field-upgradable nature, they enable organizations to implement crypto-agility with regional or hybrid algorithmic models without compromising performance and trust.

Staying Prepared for Quantum Threats

PQC is no longer a future concern-it is here. Developers must now create crypto-agile, entropy-assured, and regionally adaptable systems. Leveraging QRNGs and FPGAs enables secure, upgradable cryptographic engines, ensuring resilience against the evolving quantum threat landscape.

(This article has been adapted and modified from content on Lattice Semiconductor.)

The post Establishing a Robust and Flexible Framework for Post-Quantum Security appeared first on ELE Times.