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CES

High-rez DLP chips target vehicle headlight apps

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DLP chipsTexas Instruments unveiled state-of-the-art DLP technology for high-resolution headlight systems at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The new DLP chips combine full programmability and the highest resolution — more than one million addressable pixels per headlight — exceeding the resolution of existing adaptive driving beam (ADB) technologies by more than 10,000 times.

Automakers and Tier-1 suppliers can use this new programmable ADB solution to design headlight systems that maximize brightness for drivers on the road while minimizing the glare to oncoming traffic or reflections from retroreflective traffic signs. This new DLP technology works with any light source, including LED and laser illumination, and gives engineers a way to more precisely control light distribution on the road with customizable beam patterns.

The flexibility of DLP technology enables automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to create headlight systems that pair with programmable software and smaller optics to increase performance without sacrificing style. System engineers also have the capability to partially or fully dim individual pixels using this solution, paving the way for the creation of headlight systems that allow drivers to keep their high beams on while operating their vehicle in all conditions without impacting other drivers.

DLP technology for high-resolution headlight systems also enables automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to transform headlight systems into a new communication channel by projecting relevant information on the road. On-road light projection can enhance communication between drivers, pedestrians and other vehicles and provide customers with a way to address future communication requirements needed for autonomous and self-driving vehicle systems.

Lead customers are now sampling and designing with the DLP5531-Q1chipset for high-resolution headlight systems. The DLP5531-Q1chipset will be more broadly available in 2H of 2018.

BLE SoC targets low-power earbuds, headsets

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BLE SoC At CES 2018, Qualcomm Incorporated announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., introduced the new Qualcomm Low Power Bluetooth SoC QCC5100 series that is designed to help manufacturers develop a new generation of compact, feature-rich, wireless earbuds, hearables, and headsets. To help meet consumer demand for superior audio quality as well as extended battery life and playback time in wireless audio devices, the breakthrough SoC series is engineered to reduce power consumption by up to 65 percent for both voice calls and music streaming, compared to previous single-chip Bluetooth audio solutions.

The SoC architecture supports low power performance and includes a Bluetooth 5 dual-mode radio, low power audio and application subsystems. Designed to serve various “on-the-go” consumer use cases requiring robust, high quality, truly wireless listening experiences, the platform supports advanced features including Qualcomm® TrueWireless™ Stereo, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD audio, Integrated Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and third-party voice assistant services.

“This breakthrough single-chip solution is designed to dramatically reduce power consumption and offers enhanced processing capabilities to help our customers build new life-enhancing, feature-rich devices. This will open new possibilities for extended-use hearable applications including virtual assistants, augmented hearing and enhanced listening,” said Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager, voice & music, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. “Without sacrificing our superior sound quality, we can now help to pack tremendous functionality into small, wireless hearable devices. Audio designers are looking for a platform solution that brings an ideal combination of power, size and functionality and user experience – and the QCC5100 series is designed to deliver exactly that.”

Low power, high-performance quad-core processing: The QCC5100 series is designed to offer OEMs the freedom and flexibility to innovate, with a dedicated application processor sub-system, dual DSP architecture and next generation ADK software with enhanced development tools. The device family is also designed to support multiple use cases with concurrent software operation, meaning users can transition smoothly between functions including; listening to music, making calls, running biometric sensors and using voice assistant services.

Superior quality wireless sound: The platform features integrated hybrid ANC to help reduce the complexity and cost of adding ANC to earbuds, hearables and other portable audio devices by eliminating the need for a separate ANC chip. This helps manufacturers reduce the development time for premium audio experiences in much smaller form factor designs. Support for aptX and aptX HD audio technologies also helps to bring consistent, high-quality audio streaming over Bluetooth.

Digital Assistant Ready with Support for Voice Assistant Services: The QCC5100 series can help reduce development time and cost of voice-activated products by combining local voice recognition algorithms running on the Bluetooth audio SoC with leading cloud services running on mobile applications.

Enhanced Qualcomm TrueWireless functionality: Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo technology is engineered to eliminate the need for wires entirely – not only between the media source and stereo headset, but also between left and right earbuds. The QCC5100 series is designed to deliver improved low power connectivity and enhanced user experiences for truly wireless in-ear applications.

Low-power MCUs include integrated BLE features

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Ambiq Micro announced the release of its Apollo Blue microcontroller family. This new product line integrates Bluetooth 5 low energy radio connectivity with Ambiq Micro’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) architecture.

low-power MCUsApollo Blue microcontrollers integrate an energy-efficient Bluetooth 5 low energy radio combined with improved communication features to enable always-connected, ultra-low power designs.  The Apollo Blue family of products includes a second core dedicated to running the Bluetooth stack.  This architecture allows the Ambiq Micro ARM Cortex-M4F main processor to focus on managing applications like voice control, keyword detection, and sensor processing with extreme power efficiency.

“Customers have been delighted to use Ambiq Micro’s Real-Time-Clock and Microcontroller products to drive new levels of power efficiency in their designs,” said Aaron Grassian, VP of Marketing and Business Development, Ambiq Micro. “We are excited to introduce the Apollo Blue family of products with integrated Bluetooth low energy to offer our customers even more choices to develop always-on, always-aware, and always-connected products without sacrificing battery life.”

The first product in the Blue family is Ambiq Micro’s Apollo2 Blue which is in full production and available now.  Ambiq will be demonstrating SPOT-enabled ultra-low power Apollo Blue products at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 (CES) on Tuesday, January 9, through Friday, January 12, at the Renaissance Hotel Las Vegas, Suite 532.

Audio reference platform works with Alexa Voice Service

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Alexa Voice ServiceQualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. today announced that the Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform has been qualified by Amazon for the Alexa Voice Service (AVS). This leading-edge reference platform incorporates the hardware and software building-blocks required to facilitate rapid commercialization of smart speaker and networked audio solutions, and it is the first announced fully end-to-end audio processing and system reference design for AVS from a single vendor.

Key features of the Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform include 6 microphone Far-Field Voice and always-ready wake-word detection for highly responsive and precise voice activation, integrated Hi-Fi audio playback and post-processing algorithms for premium sound quality, Qualcomm® AllPlay™ multi-room networking solution for whole-home synchronized audio streaming, and advanced application processing capabilities for a customizable and responsive user experience.

“Demand for voice control in the home, workplace and even automobiles is rapidly gaining traction, and the Amazon Alexa Voice Service has been instrumental in establishing this new category,” said Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager, voice and music, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. “We are pleased to be the first fully certified single vendor end-to-end AVS platform and to be able to combine our proven audio capabilities into a fully integrated smart speaker reference platform with AVS to meet the requirements of customers seeking to rapidly create innovative, voice-controlled smart speakers and networked audio products.”

“We have been delighted to work with Qualcomm to facilitate the integration of the Alexa experience onto their Smart Speaker platform,” said Priya Abani, Director, the Alexa Voice Service, Amazon. “This will enable device makers to more quickly and easily build voice-enabled products, bringing more delightful voice experiences to customers.”

Key features of the Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform include:

  • Quad-Core ARM A53 processor
  • Integrated Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Audio DSP
  • Dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi (1×1 and 2×2 options)
  • Bluetooth 4.2 + Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
    • Key profiles such as A2DP source/sink, AVRCP, SPP, HFP, PAN, NAP, AVCTP, AVDTP, PBAP, RSP / Wake on BLE
    • High-performance audio encode/decode with Qualcomm® aptX™ and aptX HD
  • Embedded Linux for an open development ecosystem
  • Qualcomm Voice UI suite Far-Field Voice 6-microphone technology
    • beamforming, echo cancellation, and noise suppression
    • configurable voice activation engine tuned to recognize “Alexa”
    • barge-in support and voice capture in high-noise environments
  • Support for the Amazon Alexa Voice Service
  • AllPlay networked audio solution (multi-room, multi-channel)
  • Audio playback from a wide range of industry audio codecs including MP3, AAC, OggVorbis, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, PCM, ALAC
  • High-performance Bluetooth/Wi-Fi coexistence for optimal audio performance

The Qualcomm Smart Audio development kit with support for the Amazon Alexa Voice Service is in production now. To view a live demo at CES 2018, please visit our booth at Central Hall #10948 or contact your Qualcomm Sales Representative to schedule an appointment.

801.11ax products maximize output power of in-home Wi-Fi signals efficiency, lower power consumption.

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801.11ax productsQorvo is enabling the expansion of distributed Wi-Fi solutions in the home through a portfolio of 802.11ax products that improves Wi-Fi coverage, enables smaller devices and reduces costs. These products include Wi-Fi front-end modules, Wi-Fi BAW 2.4GHz bandedge and LTE coexistence filters, and Wi-Fi integrated front end modules (iFEMs).

 “In the last year, we have seen a flood of new distributed Wi-Fi mesh network products released in the marketplace,” said Christian Kim, senior analyst, IoT and connectivity, for IHS Markit, a global business information provider. “With the addition of smart home devices and the increasing home use of streaming services, such as Netflix or Spotify, we expect to see continued introduction of new distributed Wi-Fi mesh systems in 2018.” 

Distributed Wi-Fi networks, also known as Wi-Fi mesh, use multiple routers to spread Wi-Fi signals throughout the home. Qorvo maximizes the output power of in-home Wi-Fi signals while simultaneously optimizing their efficiency and lowering power consumption. The company’s Wi-Fi modules enable consumers to fully utilize the frequency band, whereas competitive products with sub-par filters have trouble accessing the full spectrum.

 Cees Links, general manager of Qorvo’s Wireless Connectivity business unit, said, “The notion of ‘power’ can be confusing, but Qorvo’s innovation labs have figured out how to maximize the output power of Wi-Fi signals throughout the home, while optimizing efficiency to lower power consumption. With Qorvo’s advanced RF technology, equipment makers can create distributed Wi-Fi networks that use unobtrusive end devices throughout the home, eliminate dead spots, and scale to more applications and users. Qorvo eliminates Wi-Fi problems before they emerge.”

Qorvo’s distributed Wi-Fi mesh solutions are in production, and have secured multiple design wins, including several top equipment providers that connect millions of consumers around the world.

 Qorvo products that solve the IoT’s toughest RF challenges will be showcased during CES 2018 (#CES2018) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9-12, in booth #42531, Halls A-D of Sands Expo.

More information about the IoT is available by downloading the Qorvo free e-book series, “Internet of Things For Dummies.” The two-volume series is designed to help technical and nontechnical professionals understand the intricacies of the IoT. The e-books are available at: http://www.qorvo.com/iot-for-dummies. In addition, a video about Qorvo’s senior lifestyle system – can be accessed here.

CES 2016: the largest collection of insecure devices in the world

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By Alan Grau

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has just wrapped up.  With 160,000 attendees, 3,800 exhibitors and almost 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space, this is the largest electronics show in the world.  The array of new products and technologies has been featured on virtually every media outlet from Good Morning America to Conan. 

There is something for every interest on display, from self-driving cars and drones, to video games, virtual reality, and smart appliances.  I saw products for exercise, infant care, elder care, food preparation and smart trash cans and toilets.  It is really exciting to see the extremes of modern day technology.

However, two important themes caught my attention.

First, everything is being connected. And by everything I really mean everything, whether it really needs it or not.  Each of the products I mentioned provides connectivity, most of them using some type of wireless interface.

Second, everything is insecure.  In this case, when I say everything, I again mean everything. It is a hacker’s delight.

Some companies have started to build security into their products, and in the more security and safety critical areas, progress is being made.  Despite this, very few vendors have made security a priority.  What I find truly worrisome is that the majority of the new products have not adequately addressed even the most basic security requirements.  From drones to vehicles to smart home appliances, very few products have implemented strong security.  Many of these developers are in such a rush to get their products to market – and to connect them to the cloud or smartphones – that they simply ignore the need for security.

As a techie I enjoy CES.  It’s fun for me to check out all the new gadgets and devices.  I get excited about self-driving cars and intelligent baby monitors that can reduce the number of deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 

But as a security professional, I have very mixed feelings.  Many of the silicon vendors have begun to recognize this challenge and are now starting to add hardware security modules to their platforms.  These are the security building blocks that can be used to create new devices with much higher layers of security.  But the overwhelming number of devices that have not yet adopted these solutions is, well, the reason I consider CES to be the largest collection of insecure devices in the world.

Alan Grau is the President and cofounder of Icon Labs, which provides security software for IoT and embedded devices of security solutions for embedded devices. You can find more blogs at articles at www.iconlabs.com.

For video coverage of CES 2016, go to Design World’s CES videos.