Новини світу мікро- та наноелектроніки

Author : STMicroelectronics

Medical devices aren’t immune to the latest machine learning opportunities, but the existing components don’t always satisfy the new engineering needs, which is why the Page EEPROM series by ST is finding design wins in healthcare. Put simply, the new hybrid memory architecture combines an EEPROM’s robustness and power efficiency with the speed and capacity of flash memory. We currently offer modules with eight times more storage than EEPROM to reach up to 32 Mbits while keeping the write time at about 2 ms, which is about half that of an EEPROM. Let’s thus see what such a module can bring to a highly constrained product like a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid and more.

Constraints today The case of the hearing aid

A paper funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany and presented at the 48th European Solid-State Circuits Conference in 20221 looked at a modern take on the BTE hearing aid. The researchers used a Bluetooth SoC and a DSP to process audio. The purpose was to create something small enough to be usable in clinical settings over long periods while having the computational capabilities to try new algorithms. The fact that the authors specifically mention the exploration of neural networks as a reason behind their paper further emphasizes the need to bring machine learning to this industry.

Today’s memory limitations

However, the scientists hit a pretty important limitation common to many industries: memory capacity. The researchers used 2.5 MB of memory for data and 375 KB for instructions. The obvious issue is that even the smallest neural networks will need far more than that. However, the increase in capacity cannot result in a compromise in robustness or overall power consumption. In this instance, the area behind the ear is a major constraint, and direct contact with the patient’s skin prohibits any increase in heat dissipation. Consequently, a significant bump in memory capacity can’t just come from existing devices but requires a new memory architecture.

Greater capacity also opens the door to new levels of efficiency. In this instance, instead of having external and internal modules, engineers can create one memory pool that can satisfy all their needs. It’s an increasingly common practice in embedded systems because it offers a lot of benefits. Among others, it helps simplify designs, which reduces development times and the bill of materials. It also helps optimize memory access for greater performance. Finally, companies significantly lower the risk of shortages or shipping issues since they only need one module. As memory availability can suffer from high volatility, relying on one module simplifies the sourcing and qualification process.

Architectures tomorrow The need for memory pages

At its simplest, all digital information today takes the form of zeros and ones, and each value is stored in a bit, which represents the most basic unit of computing2. Due to historical reasons, memory structures today take 8 bits to form a byte. In a traditional EEPROM, the architecture provides byte-level precision, which gives unparalleled granularity. However, erasing and writing operations take longer. Additionally, the byte-level architecture of a standard EEPROM means a bigger die. Consequently, it limits the overall capacity possible in a small component, which explains why it is difficult to significantly increase the capacity of traditional EEPROM.

To remedy this, the industry has long since adopted the notion of words, which groups bytes, and pages, which bundle words together. Thanks to this system, a memory controller can erase more cells at once, thus accelerating the process at the cost of the byte-level flexibility. For instance, serial flash traditionally has a page size of 256 bytes. Additionally, the memory is organized in sectors, which is the standard block of memory that the controller can erase at once. In most serial flash of comparable sizes to our Page EEPROM, the sector size is 4 KB. Thanks to this structure, it is possible to create significantly smaller dies. However, engineers lose the flexibility of the byte-level EEPROM.

The need for a hybrid architecture

The Page EEPROM is unique because while it uses 16-byte words and 512-byte pages to improve performance and capacity, it also enables byte-level granularity thanks to a smart page management system. More precisely, the memory controller is capable of byte-level write operations to optimize certain processes like data logging while offering efficient erase and program operations for firmware updates. Consequently, it adopts a hybrid structure to keep the flexibility of a traditional EEPROM while featuring the capacity and speed of flash. The ST architecture also checks a 17-bit error-correcting code (ECC) signature after each word to improve the overall reliability, thus enabling the correction of 2 bits within 16-byte words.

Page EEPROM: Benefits now Low power consumption of 500 µA Page EEPROM in SO8N Package

As explained earlier, power consumption is a central issue for many wearables, like BTE hearing aids. In real-world operations, the Page EEPROM needs about 500 µA when reading data, which is about five times less than a serial flash, and its electrical current peak is less than 1 mA, which means fewer passive components. Additionally, ST’s Page EEPROM has a current peak control system to keep the consumption below 3 mA at all times. Comparatively, a serial flash often experiences high current peaks that lead to wide variations in power consumption. As for writing operations, the Page EEPROM needs fewer than 2 mA, which is even less than the 3 mA of some EEPROM.

Concretely, the levels of power consumption afforded by ST’s Page EEPROM mean that engineers can work with smaller batteries and smaller PCBs to fit more space-constrained applications. Indeed, 500 µA when reading data and less than 1 mA in current peak signify that, compared to a serial flash, a designer can either use a much smaller battery or use the same battery for much longer. Additionally, because the smaller current peak means fewer passive components, the PCB can shrink, which also means a bigger battery in the same case or a smaller design altogether. These are critical considerations for BTE hearing aids that were not possible until Page EEPROM.

High data rate of 320 Mbit/s

As explained, the page architecture of ST’s new memory boosts overall performance. Compared to the 20 Mbit/s of a vanilla EEPROM, the Page EEPROM clocks at 320 Mbit/s in read operations. Consequently, a microcontroller can download its firmware from the Page EEPROM in significantly less time. Additionally, our memory includes a Buffer Load feature that can program several pages at the same time, thus bypassing some of the bottlenecks inherent to the SPI protocol. In practical terms, it means that using the buffer load feature can drastically speed up the programming of hundreds of thousands of devices, thus lowering the overall manufacturing costs. The memory access time is also significantly faster for a wake-up time of 30 µs.

High endurance of 500,000 cycles

The Page EEPROM supports 500,000 read-write cycles per page over the full temperature range (from -40 ºC to +105 ºC), which is about five times better than a serial flash. A traditional EEPROM does have a higher endurance, but we’ve also found that current rates are more than acceptable for integrators since the Page EEPROM, just like the standard one, qualified for a cumulated 1 billion cycle over the entire memory capacity. Indeed, since the ST device has more capacity, developers can spread the wear over more cells, thus extending its life. In fact, many medical devices, like hearing aids, already use serial flash successfully. The endurance of our Page EEPROM thus represents an improvement, not a regression.

Next Steps

The best way to get started with a Page EEPROM is to grab our X-NUCLEO-PGEEZ1 expansion board and download the X-CUBE-EEPRMA1 package. The software bundle provides a demo application that uses the board as an external storage solution, thus showcasing how to read and write from it. It is a quick way to learn how to use a single, dual, or quad SPI interface to interact with the Page EEPROM to run a proof-of-concept or test the hybrid architecture. ST also provides technical documentation to understand the memory architecture better or be familiar with cycling endurance, among other things.

The post Page EEPROM in hearing aid or why smart medical devices need new memory architectures appeared first on ELE Times.

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Catalyzing the next-generation Electronics System Design

Tenstorrent Inc., a next-generation computing company building computers for AI has announced that it will be collaborating with C-DAC. This is in line with Digital India futureLABS in the area of RISC-V compute and design & innovation ecosystem. By extending their AI deep learning accelerator solution to the overall progress of the semiconductor Industry, Tenstorrent will be joining forces with the Government of India.

Keith Witek, Chief Operating Officer, Tenstorrent Inc. with Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti, Govt. of India

The vision and roadmap of implementation of the Digital India futureLABS is being unveiled by Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti, Govt. of India at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT Delhi), New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Keith Witek, Chief Operating Officer, Tenstorrent Inc. said, “India is witnessing immense growth. What India is going to do over the next five to ten years is going to set the tone for the future. Tenstorrents’ chiplet ecosystems, open hardware platforms, RISCV and artificial intelligence (AI) are a perfect match to reduce the cost of manufacturing at scale. And it is the right time for India to take advantage of the technology offerings from Tenstorrent and disrupt the status quo and incumbents as it catapults to the numero uno position. We are very happy to be part of this innovation and looking forward to the journey.”

Also, present at the moment for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) were Aniket Saha, Vice President of Product Management, Tenstorrent Inc and Kishore Amarnath, Director of Sales and Business Development Tenstorrent Inc.

Digital India futureLABS, is conceived to move up the value-chain & fortify domestic R&D by creating a collaborative ecosystem for development of IPs, Standards and catalyzing next-generation Electronics System Design ecosystem in the country by enabling co-development opportunities & partnerships amongst Government, Startups, R&D organizations and large enterprises. Digital India futureLABS will be coordinated by C-DAC to provide the dedicated thrust to following key growth areas- Automotive, Compute, Communication, Strategic Electronics and Industrial Electronics/ IoT.

It is a tremendous opportunity and Tenstorrent is pleased to be a part of innovation and development in India. India has all the necessary ingredients that are needed to be successful such as; scale, workforce – that’s easily educated and highly skilled, educational system that can create that workforce, access to capital – significantly improving, velocity of attention and business that’s going to propel and catch up to a lot of incumbents and eventually exceed over the course of the next decade.

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Finding dependable sources for electronic components is paramount in the present day world of electronics. It is because these electronic components have become a crucial part of our lives. Computers, smartphones, and even home appliances require electronic elements to function efficiently. These are the segments used in electronic devices to work at optimum efficiency. However, buying them can often be an intimidating task. Therefore, this article aims to provide worthwhile insights regarding where to buy reliable electronic components that ensure the smooth working of your gadgets.

Top Options to Consider While Electronic Components Procurement

Consider the following essential options to make electronic component procurement hassle-free.

Local Electronics Markets

Commence your search from local electronic stores. Although online shopping is convenient and easy, you can’t underestimate the potential of local electronic shops. It is because they often have a variety of basic electronic parts. These stores may incorporate both chain retailers and smaller specialized shops. It provides a convenient option for swift and in-person purchases. Moreover, their proficient staff can also guide you about the most suitable and dependable electronic component depending on your project. Thus, check your local manuals or online navigation map to locate nearby electronic stores.

Online Marketplaces

The digital empire offers an extensive geography for electronic component procurement. Platforms such as Amazon and eBay have become online marketplaces that possess a wide variety of components from reliable manufacturers around the globe. However, pay meticulous attention to product ratings and customer reviews regarding product quality and authenticity while navigating their website. Other than these general platforms, you must consider specialized online distributors, such as Digi-Key and Mouser. These platforms concentrate solely on electronic elements to provide precise specifications, quick shipping, and outstanding products.

Electronic Component Distributors

If you are in search of a more specialized and professional approach, you should turn to electronic component distributors. Organizations like Avnet, Arrow Electronics, and Future Electronics work as licensed and certified distributors for a comprehensive variety of manufacturers. Although these distributors may deal with big orders and businesses, they give access to high-quality and specific elements. Exploring their catalogs can indicate a variety of options, making them useful resources for sourcing electronic components for miscellaneous projects. Therefore, you can also lean on electronic distributors to buy electronic components.

Salvage and Surplus Stores

Do you have a limited budget for electronic component purchases? There is no need to fret now. It is because there are many salvage and surplus stores available in the local market. These are generally known as ‘junk shops’ or ‘recycling centers’. These firms specialize in vending used electronic tools at discounted prices. This pocket-friendly alternative offers an opportunity to acquire elements for various projects without breaking the bank, making it a feasible option for hobbyists and devotees. The only thing you should be aware of is the availability of components. You never know when an element becomes out of stock. Therefore, it is crucial to keep a hawk-eye on such platforms like Craigslist and Gumtree to avoid missing any opportunity.

Community and Online Forums

Community engagement plays a critical role in the world of electronics. Therefore, you must join local maker spaces, and electronics clubs, or engage yourself in online forums to get a wealth of collective understanding. Enthusiasts within these communities, like Reddit, and Stack Exchange, regularly share insights and suggestions regarding dependable sources for electronic components. This cooperative approach not only extends your knowledge but also allows you to discover new and trusted suppliers. This is how it promotes a sense of harmony within the electronic enthusiasts’ community.

Manufacturer Websites

For those desiring specific or proprietary components, manufacturer websites are the finest resources. They maintain their website in a user-friendly way and showcase their product records. Directly visiting the official websites of component manufacturers provides insights into direct sales options and lists of official distributors. It ensures the authenticity of the elements and provides access to proprietary or specialized elements suggested by the manufacturer. Moreover, you acquire a more in-depth knowledge of the components’ origins and specifications by examining the manufacturer’s websites. This is how it contributes to a more knowledgeable and strategic process for electronic component sourcing.

Local Electronic Markets

If you want to have a unique and fascinating shopping experience, venture into local electronic markets. These markets act as hubs for electronic lovers that have a diverse variety of components. Navigating through the bustling stalls and shops gives the possibility to locate not only common components but also unique or hard-to-find ones, enabling a rich and engaging exploration of the electronic world.

Final Thought!

The shopping of electronic components requires a blend of online and offline resources. By exploring local stores, online marketplaces, specialized distributors, and community recommendations, you can create a miscellaneous network of trustworthy sources for all your electronic component requirements. Remember to prioritize quality, authenticity, and customer reviews to ensure a prosperous and pleasurable shopping venture.

The post A Buyer’s Guide: Where to Shop for Electronic Components appeared first on Electronics Lovers ~ Technology We Love.

The trending movement and its campaign for worldwide sustainability have reached almost every industry in the past few years. In electronics, the pressure is even more intense as e-waste comprises 70% of the world’s total waste.

As the production processes such as PCB manufacturing tiptoe under a scope, companies do their best to transition to a more eco-friendly approach without sacrificing their integrity. 

Sustainable practices in PCB production are a nod towards greener electronics and a necessary step forward in aligning the electronics industry with global sustainability goals. We will discuss more about these changes in PCB production, in their aim to enter an era of greener electronics.

The Environmental Challenge of PCB Production

PCB manufacturing involves several processes that traditionally have negative environmental impacts. Some of them are etching and plating, which use hazardous chemicals. PCB processes also consume significant amounts of water and generate waste materials that are hard to recycle.

As electronic devices become ubiquitous, the environmental implications of these manufacturing practices have drawn increasing scrutiny.

Transitioning to Greener PCB Manufacturing

Here are the steps PCB brands take to become a green PCB company.

Adopting Lead-Free and Halogen-Free Materials

One of the earliest steps towards sustainable PCB production was the shift towards lead-free solder and halogen-free laminates. Their traditional counterparts pose serious environmental and health risks. Getting rid of these elements reduces the toxicity of PCB waste, making recycling easier and safer.

Utilizing Water-Based Processes

The PCB manufacturing process traditionally relies heavily on organic solvents, especially in the cleaning and etching stages. These solvents contribute to VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions. Water-based processes, which use water as a solvent, seriously reduce the use of harmful chemicals and emissions, contributing to a cleaner environment.

Implementing Waste Reduction Strategies

Waste reduction is a cornerstone of sustainable PCB production. This includes minimizing offcuts through efficient layout planning and recycling waste materials whenever possible. Manufacturers are increasingly adopting closed-loop systems, where they reuse and recycle in every applicable operation, minimizing overall waste output.

Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing

Energy consumption is another critical aspect of PCB production. Sustainable practices involve optimizing manufacturing processes for energy efficiency, such as using lower-temperature soldering processes and investing in energy-efficient machinery. Renewable energy sources are tapped to work with manufacturing facilities to reduce carbon footprints.

Advanced Manufacturing Techniques

Technological advancements have paved the way for more sustainable PCB manufacturing methods. Digital and additive manufacturing techniques, such as laser direct structuring and 3D printing of PCBs, reduce waste and chemical use. These methods allow for more precise material deposition, reducing the need for subtractive processes and their associated waste.

Sustainable Packaging and Logistics

Sustainable practices extend beyond the manufacturing process itself to include packaging and logistics. Biodegradable or recyclable packaging materials are increasingly used to reduce plastic waste. Additionally, optimizing logistics for lower emissions, such as consolidating shipments and choosing eco-friendly transportation options, contributes to the overall sustainability of PCB production.

The Role of Industry Standards and Certifications

Various industry standards and certifications support the push for sustainable PCB production. These include ISO 14001 for environmental management systems, which helps manufacturers identify and control their environmental impact, and the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, which regulates hazardous materials usage in electronic equipment. Compliance with these standards ensures a lower environmental impact and signals to consumers and partners a commitment to sustainability.

Challenges and Opportunities

While the transition to sustainable PCB production is underway, challenges remain. The initial cost of implementing greener technologies and processes can be high, and the availability of sustainable materials is not always consistent. However, these challenges also present opportunities for innovation and leadership in the electronics industry. Companies that invest in sustainable practices can differentiate themselves in the market, meet the growing demand for eco-friendly products, and contribute to a more sustainable future.

The post Sustainable Practices in PCB Production For Greener Electronics appeared first on Electronics Lovers ~ Technology We Love.

Learn how bifilar coils can be used to build Gustav Guanella’s classic RF balun.

The breakout board gets here in a week, but i was bored this weekend and wanted to try something. 0.65mm pitch x 28 pins, and it worked! submitted by /u/MadeForOnePost_ [link] [comments]

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Still testing and tinkering. By the way hello this my first post here. submitted by /u/SubSonic-uk [link] [comments]

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I just deployed 10 devices all over the city, to detect earthquakes. All devices will send data to server in real-time. When a device detect a shake it will look for other devices if they detect a shake too, when more than 5 detect a shake in the same time frame the server will send a msg to all my family members. So there is no false alarms if someone hit the device or a truck passed a building. This is my first detections for a real P-Wave happened today 300km away. submitted by /u/someone5133 [link] [comments]

A new metamaterial-based sensor harvests the vibration energy from sound waves to monitor buildings, earthquakes, or even medical devices—all without batteries.

In this roundup, we highlight recent automotive news: new labs for software-defined vehicles, driver modeling programs, and even Hall-effect latches.

I recently purchased a new oscilloscope for home use. It’s a 250 MHz scope, but I was curious what the actual -3dB frequency was as most scopes have a bit more upper end margin than their published rating. The signal generators I have either don’t go up to those frequencies or, the amplitudes at these frequencies are questionable. That meant I didn’t have a way to actually input a sine wave and sweep it up in frequency until the amplitude dropped down 3 dB to find the true bandwidth. So, I needed another way to find the bandwidth.

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

You may have seen the technique of using a fast rise time pulse to measure the scope’s bandwidth (you can read how this relation works here). The essence is that you send a pulse, with a fast rising and/or falling edge to the scope and measure the rise or fall time at the fastest sweep rate available. You can then calculate the scopes bandwidth with the Equation (1):

(Note: there is much discussion about the use of 0.35 in the formula. Some claim it should be 0.45, or even 0.40. It really comes down to the implementation of the anti-aliasing filter before the ADC in the scope. If it is a simple single pole filter the number should be 0.35. Newer, higher priced scopes may use a sharper filter and claim the number is 0.45. As my new scope is not one of the expensive laboratory level scopes, I am assuming a single pole filter implying 0.35 as the correct number to use.)

OK, now I needed to find a fast-edged square-wave pulse generator. If we assume my scope has a bandwidth of 300 MHz, then it’s capable of showing a rise time of around:

The rise time actually seen on the scope will be slower than its maximum because the viewed rise time is a combination of the scope’s maximum rise time and the pulse generator’s rise time. In fact, the relationship is based on a “root sum squared” formula shown in Equation (3):

Where:

• Rv is the rise time as viewed on the scope
• Rp is the rise time of the pulse generator
• Rm is the scope minimum, or shortest, rise time as limited by its bandwidth

If Rp is much less than Rm, then we may be able to ignore it as it would add very little to Rv. For example, the gold standard for this type of test is the Leo Bodnar Electronics 40 ps pulse generator. If we used this, the formula would show the expected rise time on the scope to be:

As you can see, in this case the pulse generator rise time contributes a negligible amount to the rise time viewed on the scope.

As nice as the Bondar generator is, I didn’t want to spend that much on a device I would only use a few times. What I needed was a simple pulse generator with a reasonable fast edge—something in the 500-ns-or-better range.

I checked the frequency generators available to me, but the fastest rise time was around 3 ns which would be much too large, so I decided to build a pulse generator. There are a few fast pulse generator designs floating around, some using discrete components and some using Schmitt trigger ICs, but these didn’t quite fit what I wanted. What I ended up designing is based on an Analog Devices LTC6509-80 IC. The spec sheet states it can output pulses with rise time of 500 ps—more on that later. But is 500 ps fast enough? Let’s explore this. What happens if we use a pulse with a rise time in the 500 ns range? Then:

Even if the final design could attain a 500 ps rise time, this would be too large to ignore as it could give an error in the 10% range. But if we assumed a value for Rp (or better yet pre-measured it) we could remove it after the fact.

As discussed earlier, the rise time that will be seen on the scope can be seen in Equation (1). Manipulating this, we can see that the maximum rise time is:

So, if we can establish the generator’s rise time, we can subtract it out. In this case “establishing” could be a close enough educated guess, an LTspice simulation, or measuring it on some other equipment. An educated guess is: Based on the LTC6905 data sheet, I should be able to get a ~500 ps rise time in a design. The LTspice path didn’t work out as I couldn’t get a reasonable number out of the simulation—probably operator error. I got lucky though and got some short access to a very high-end scope. I’ll share the results later in the article. But first, let’s look at the design. First, the schematic as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Schematic 1 with the LTC6905 IC to generate a square wave, a capacitor, resistor, and a BNC connector.

The first thing you may notice is that it is very simple: an IC, capacitor, resistor, and a BNC connector. The LTC6905 generates square waves of a fixed frequency and a fixed 50% duty cycle. The version of the IC that I used produces an 80, 40, or 20 MHz output depending on the state of pin 4 (DIV). In this design, this pin is grounded which selects a 20 MHz output. The 33 Ω resistor is in series with the 17 Ω internal impedance thereby producing 50 Ω to match the BNC connector impedance. Matching the impedance reduces any overshoot or ringing in the output. (Using the Tiny Pulser on a 50 Ω scope setting will result in an output 50 mA peak or ~25 mA average output current. It seemed like it might be high for the IC but the spec for the LTC6905 states that the output can be shorted indefinitely. I also checked the temperature of the IC with a thermal camera, and it was minimal.)

I also tried some designs using various resistor values and some with a combination of resistors and capacitors, in series, between pin 5 and the BNC. The idea here was to reduce the capacitance as seen by the IC output. The oscilloscope has an input impedance of around 15 pF (in parallel with 1 MΩ) and adding a capacitor in series could reduce this, as seen by the IC. These were indeed faster but with significant overshoot.

So, Figure 1 is the design I followed through on. The only thing to add to this is a BNC connector, an enclosure (with 4 screws), and a USB cable to power the unit. This simple design, and the fact that the IC is a tiny SOT-23 package, allows for a very small design as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2 The Tiny Pulser prototype with a 3D printable enclosure based on the schematic in Figure 1 that is roughly the size of a sugar cube.

The 3D printable enclosure is roughly the size of a sugar cube, so I named the device the “Tiny Pulser”. Figure 3 shows the PCB in the enclosure while Figure 4 displays the PCB assembly.

Figure 3 The PCB enclosure of the Tiny Pulser showing the BNC, IC, and passives used in Figure 1.

Figure 4 Tiny Pulser 6-pin SOT-23 PCB assembly with only a few components and jumper wires to solder to the PCB itself.

The PCB is a 6 pin SOT-23 adapter available from various sources (a full BOM is included in the download link provided at the end of the article). As you can see in Figure 4, there are only a few things to solder to the PCB including a jumper. Three wires are attached including the +5 V and ground from the USB cable. The other ground wire needs to be soldered to the BNC body. To do this, I had to break out the old Radio Shack 100 W soldering gun to get enough heat on the BNC base by the solder cup. Scratching up the surface also helped. The PCB is then attached to the BNC by soldering the output pad of the PCB (backside) to the BNC solder cup. (More pictures of this are included in the download.)

So how does it perform? The best performance is obtained when using a 50 Ω scope input and measuring the fall time which was a bit faster than the rise time. In Figure 5 we see the generated pulse train of 20 MHz while Figure 6 is a screenshot showing a fall time of 1.34 ns.

Figure 5 The generated pulse train of 20 MHz of the Tiny Pulser using a 50 Ω scope input.

Figure 6 Fall time measurement (1.34 ns) of the Tiny Pulser circuit made on a 50 Ω scope input.

You can see the pulse train is pretty clean with a bit of overshoot. Note that the 1.34 ns fall time is a combination of the scopes fall time and the Tiny Pulsers fall time. Now we need to figure out the actual fall time of the Tiny Pulser.

As I said I got a chance to use a high-powered scope (2.5 GHz, 20 GS/s) to measure the rise and fall times, Figure 7 shows the results (pardon the poor picture):

Figure 7 Picture of the high-end oscilloscope (2.5 GHz, 20 GS/s) display measuring the rise and fall times of the Tiny Pulser.

You can see that the Tiny Pulser delivers a very clean pulse with a rise time of 510 ps and a fall time of 395 ps. We now have all the information we need to make our bandwidth calculations. (The formulas we have developed are as applicable to fall time as they are to rise time, so we will not change the variable names.) Using the scopes measured fall time and the 395 ps Tiny Pulser fall time, we calculate the bandwidth of the scope, first by calculating the scopes maximum fall time [Equation (6)]:

And now use this to calculate the bandwidth [Equation (1)]:

A gut check tells me this is a reasonable number for an oscilloscope sold as a 250 MHz model.

I tested another scope I have that is rated as 200 MHz. It displayed a fall time of 1.51 ns which works out to be 240 MHz. This number agrees to within a few percent of other numbers I have found on the internet. It seems like the Tiny Pulser works well for measuring scope bandwidth!

Another use for a fast pulse

A better-known use for a fast rise time is probably in a time-domain reflectometer (TDR). A TDR is used to measure the length, distance to faults, or distance to an impedance change in a cable. To do this with the Tiny Pulser, add a BNC tee adapter to your scope and connect the cable (coax, twisted pair, zip cord, etc.), to be tested, to one side of the tee adapter (use a BNC to banana jack adapter if needed). Do not short the end of the wire. Next, connect the Tiny Pulser to the other side of the tee adapter as seen in the setup in Figure 8.

Figure 8 A TDR set up using the Tiny Pulser with a BNC tee adapter to connect the circuit as required (e.g., via coax, twisted pair, etc.).

Now power up the Tiny Pulser and adjust the sweep rate to around 10 ns/div so you see something like the upper part of the screen in Figure 9. I find that the high impedance setting on the scope works better than the 50 Ω setting for the wire I was testing. This may vary with the wire you are testing. You can see that the square wave is distorted which is due to the signal reflecting from the end of the wire. If your scope has a math function to display the derivative (or differential) of the trace you will be able to see what’s happening clearer. This can be seen in the lower trace in Figure 9 when I connected a 53 inch piece of 24 AWG solid twisted pair.

Figure 9 Using the high impedance setting on the scope to perform a TDR test on a 53” piece of 24 AWG wire. The math function displays the derivative of the trace to view results more clearly.

To find the timing of the reflection, measure from the start of the pulse rising (or falling) to the distorted part of the pulse where it is rising (or falling) again. Or, if using the math differential function, measure the time from the tall bump to the smaller bump—I find this much easier to see.

In Figure 9 the falling edge of the pulse is marked by cursor AX and the reflected pulse is marked with the cursor BX. On the right side we can see the time between these pulses is 13.2 ns.

The length of the cable or distance to an impedance change can now be calculated but we first need the speed of the wavefront in the wire. For that we need the velocity factor (VF) for the cable that is being tested. This is multiplied by the speed of light to obtain the speed of the wavefront. The velocity factor for some cables may be found here.

In the case of Figure 9, the velocity factor is 0.707. Multiplying this with the speed of light in inches gives us 8.34 inches/ns. So, multiplying 13.2 ns by 8.34 inches/ns yields 110 inches. But this is the time up and down the wire, so we divide this by 2 giving us 55 inches. There are a few inches of connector also, so the answer is very close to the 53 inches of wire.

Note that, because we have a pulse rate of 20 MHz, we are limited to identifying the reflections up to about 22 ns, after which reflection pulses will blend with the next edge generated pulse. This is about 90 inches of cable.

One last trick

An interesting use of the TDR setup is to discover a cable’s impedance. Do this by adding a potentiometer across the end of the cable and adjust the pot until the TDR reflections disappear and the square wave looks relatively restored. Then measure the pot’s resistance and this is the impedance of your cable.

More info

A link to the download for the 3D printable enclosure, BOM, and various notes and pictures to explain the assembly, can be found at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6398615.

I hope you find this useful in your lab/shop and if you have other uses for the Tiny Pulser, please share them in a comment below.

Damian Bonicatto is a consulting engineer with decades of experience in embedded hardware, firmware, and system design. He holds over 30 patents.

Phoenix Bonicatto is a freelance writer.

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The chiplet design movement representing multi-billion-dollar market potential is marching ahead with key building blocks falling in place while being taped out at advanced process nodes like TSMC’s 3 nm. These multi-die packaging devices can now mix and match pre-built or customized compute, memory, and I/O ingredients in different process nodes, paving the way for system-in-packages (SiPs) to become the system motherboard of the future.

Chiplets also promise considerable cost reduction and improved yields compared to traditional system-on-chip (SoC) designs. Transparency Market Research forecasts the chiplet market to reach more than $47 billion by 2031, becoming one of the fastest-growing segments of the semiconductor industry at more than 40% CAGR from 2021 to 2031.

Below are a few anecdotes demonstrating how chiplet-enabled silicon platforms are making strides in areas such as packaging, memory bandwidth, and application-optimized IP subsystems.

1. Chiplets in standard packaging

While chiplet designs are generally associated with advanced packaging technologies, a new PHY solution claims to have used standard packaging to create a multi-die platform. Eliyan’s NuLink PHY facilitates a bandwidth of 64 Gbps/bump on a 3-nm process while utilizing standard organic/laminate packaging with 8-2-8 stack-up.

An efficient combination of compute density and memory bandwidth in a practical package construction will substantially improve performance-per-dollar and performance-per-watt. Moreover, chiplet-based systems in standard organic packages enable the creation of larger SiP solutions, leading to higher performance per power at considerably lower cost and system-level power.

Figure 1 Chiplets in standard packages could encourage their use in inference and gaming applications. Source: Eliyan

Eliyan has announced the tape-out of this die-to-die connectivity PHY at a 3-nm node, and the first silicon is expected in the third quarter of 2024. The tape-out includes a die-to-die PHY coupled with an adaptor layer/link layer controller IP to facilitate a complete solution.

2. Sub $1 chiplets

Chiplets have mostly been synonymous with high performance computing (HPC) applications, where these multi-die devices cost tens to hundreds of dollars. YorChip has joined hands with Siloxit to develop a data acquisition chiplet at a sub $1 price target in volume.

The two companies will leverage low-cost die-to-die links, physically unclonable function (PUF) security technology, and delta-sigma analog-to-digital (ADC) IP to create a cost-optimized chiplet. That’s how this chiplet aims to develop a low-cost die-to-die footprint that achieves 75% size savings over the competition.

3. High bandwidth memory (HBM) chiplets

Memory bandwidth is a major consideration alongside compute density and high-speed I/Os in chiplet designs. That makes high bandwidth memory 3 (HBM3) PHY a key ingredient in chiplets for applications such as generative AI and cloud computing. This is especially the case in HPC systems where memory bandwidth per watt is a key performance indicator.

Figure 2 The HBM3 memory subsystem supports data rates up to 8.4 Gbps per data pin and features 16 independent channels, each containing 64 bits for a total data width of 1,024 bits. Source: Alphawave Semi

Alphawave Semi has made available an HBM3 PHY IP that targets high-performance memory interfaces up to 8.6 Gbps and 16 channels. This HBM subsystem integrates the HBM PHY with a JEDEC-compliant, highly configurable HBM controller. It has been taped out at TSMC’s 3-nm node and is tailored for hyperscaler and data infrastructure designs.

Related Content

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• Bringing Tiny Chiplets To Embedded SoCs
• Intel’s next-generation CPUs hide chiplets inside
• How the Worlds of Chiplets and Packaging Intertwine
• Off-the-Shelf Chiplets Open New Market Opportunities

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given a $300,000 grant to Xiaoqing Song, an assistant professor in the University of Arkansas‘ Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, to support his research project focused on advancing high-density and high-operation-temperature traction inverters. His project explores the integration of gallium oxide ( Ga2O3) packaged power modules to enhance the power density and temperature range of electric vehicles (EVs)...

I was gifted a box of old analog gauges that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. They look so classic and we're probably great back in their time. Are they worth anything? Does a museum want them? Should I just make a giant display of gauges? Brands include Weston, Ti, Simpson, Honeywell submitted by /u/iamnotatigwelder [link] [comments]

In its ‘Planet Navitas’ booth #1353 at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2024) in the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, Long Beach, CA, USA (26-29 February), gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA is highlighting how GaN and SiC technology is enabling the latest solutions for fully electrified housing, transportation and industry. Examples range from TV power to home-appliance motors and compressors, electric vehicle (EV) charging, solar/micro-grid installations, and data-center power systems. Each highlights end-user benefits, such as increased portability, longer range, faster charging, and grid-independence, plus a focus on how low-carbon-footprint GaN and SiC technology can save over 6Gtons/year CO2 by 2050...