Bench TalkBench Talk for Design Engineers | The Official Blog of Mouser Electronics Frights and Delights: Engineering Horror Stories, 31 Oct 2018 19:21:34 GMT<p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">I recently commented to a colleague that engineers either learn by &ldquo;letting the smoke out&rdquo; of something (breaking it) or they can learn vicariously through another&rsquo;s mistakes, if the mistake is catastrophic enough. I don&rsquo;t have a lot of these, but I have noticed that engineering horror stories are effective training tools and often funny.&nbsp; </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">When I was an applications engineer for automated building control systems, I heard a story about freezing cold water coils in a large air handling unit. Evidently, and this was one of those stories that travelled in whispers, the engineering manager had at one time had a system running all night long in a test procedure. Running water doesn&rsquo;t freeze. (Except in Russia when you throw it out your apartment window in sub-zero temps, but technically the water itself isn&rsquo;t moving, although gravity is moving it as a whole&hellip;.exploration of this is another blog.)&nbsp; </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">In a large building with an evaporative cooling system, a closed loop system passes water through a chiller, and the chiller in turn rejects heat via a heat exchanger that is connected to an open water system in a cooling tower (usually mounted on the roof.) On the other side of the chiller&rsquo;s heat exchanger is a closed chilled water loop that goes through a coiled portion of piping and sits inside a duct, called a &ldquo;coil.&rdquo; Air flows over coils filled with flowing chilled water and heat is exchanged from the air to the coil. The water flows back through the chiller in a closed pipe system via a pump to get chilled again. Some systems use chemical coolants, but larger systems tend to use treated water in a closed loop. The essential point is that there is a pump pushing water through this closed loop that hits the air duct system and returns back to the chiller to start all over again, in a flow. The type of electrical engineering required for a building automation system is macro&hellip;not the small components in embedded hardware that you find on PCBs, but made up of temperature sensors with averaging elements (longer than the installer was tall) that you would criss-cross across the duct. I used to wire all of these things up to controllers on a networked controller system, with large electromechanical devices like air temperature sensors, <a href="" target="_blank">limit switches</a> for sensing valve or damper operation, and <a href="" target="_blank">current sensing relays</a> for determining run status of a pump.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Our engineering manager had the system running in test mode with the outside air dampers fully open on a cold night. The temperature inside the duct at the chilled water coil was below 32 by a smidgen. For some reason he shut off the pump (maybe he wanted to test the operation of the current status relay.) The water circulation through the coils stopped, and the water inside a coil froze, expanded, and burst the coil inside the ducts. Water started flowing and freezing, but mostly flowing in large volumes, out of this no-longer-closed system. And it wasn&rsquo;t just one coil that froze: every coil in the system that was fed by that pump froze. I learned vicariously not to shut down water flow in a coil that&rsquo;s exposed to freezing temperatures. It&rsquo;s strange how these things stick in your mind.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Do you have an engineering horror story to share?</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/Picard-facepalm.jpg" /></span></p> <p>Join the Halloween fun and share your favorite engineering horror story in the Comments below. Setting up a Discus account is quick and easy!&nbsp;</p> 491Intel® Compute Card: Poised to (Re)Revolutionize Portable Computing, 29 Sep 2017 13:00:00 GMT<p>Back in 2016, <a href="">Intel</a><sup>&reg;</sup> introduced its Compute Stick, which is a device about the size of a pack of gum that can transform any HDMI display into a small computer. Intel&rsquo;s upcoming <a href="">Compute Card</a> is slated to take this concept even further and potentially revolutionize portable computing yet again (<strong>Figure 1</strong>). With a Compute Card and a docking station, you can take your computer&mdash;at least the most important bits&mdash;with you, as the Card comes complete with a processor, onboard storage, memory, wireless connectivity, and flexible I/O options.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><img alt="Intel Compute Card" src="/blog/Portals/11/mrb-reese-compute-card-f1.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 400px;" title="Intel Compute Card" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Figure 1</strong>: The Intel Compute Card is like a thick credit card at just 95mm &times; 55mm &times; 5mm. (Source: Intel)</span></p> <p>Intel is starting out with a family of four Compute Cards that use a <a href="">USB Type-C</a> port for physical connection and can be swapped in and out of a dock. Easy and convenient, not to mention potentially cost effective as well. Updates would be to the Card, not the whole computing platform (and all the trimmings) when you want to upgrade performance. Adding docking stations to infrastructure would be less expensive than incorporating entire computer stations. Security could be improved, too, as it&rsquo;s harder to hack an HDMI port than a full computer, and as it&rsquo;s easier to secure a Card in your wallet than a laptop in your briefcase.</p> <p>Imagine a world where Compute Card docking stations&mdash;with a monitor, keyboard, and requisite ports&mdash;are in libraries, hotel business centers, conference halls, coffee shops, airports, and Internet cafes. Docking stations are not widely available yet, but several companies are making docks that suit all kinds of end products. To jump-start development, Intel offers a reference design dock and a ready-made 19V dock with an <a href="">HDMI&reg; v1.4 port</a>, Mini DisplayPort&reg; 1.2, a LAN RJ-45 port with 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet controller, and three USB 3.0 ports. Intel has also made a reference design dock available to speed compatible docking products to market (and if anyone can make docking stations proliferate, it&rsquo;s Intel).</p> <div> <h2><strong>Less E-Waste</strong></h2> </div> <p>USB charging cables are everywhere now. Part of this can be traced to 2009, when Europeans decided to make the USB charger a common external power supply instead of having multiple chargers unique to each electronic device (including cell phones). The intention was partly to prevent landfills from receiving excess electronic waste, and it was a very good idea. The same is possible with Compute Cards. Those all-in-one workstations would be instantly upgradeable. And if everything that could were to go the route of cartridge-like performance updates, there would be less e-waste.</p> <div> <h2><strong>Widespread Applications</strong></h2> </div> <p>The Intel Compute Card has other applications beyond portable personal computing. Digital signage is everywhere these days. From restaraunt menus and billboads to placards in hotels and conference centers, digital signs are everywhere. A small, modular computing platform means easy upgrades without replacing the entire system because you could swap out an entire computing platform like a game cartridge. The display and chassis would remain, but how often do displays need updates, especially if the existing system includes a display with 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) or 8K highest Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) resolution? At some point, the human eye will not be able to discern much difference between 8K and whatever <a href="">display technology</a> comes next.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><img alt="Digital Signage in New York Time Square" src="/blog/Portals/11/mrb-reese-compute-card-f2.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 338px;" title="Digital Signage in New York Time Square" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Figure 2</strong>: Digital signage in New York Times Square. (Source: pixabay)</span></p> <p>Applications with cumbersome existing physical installations can use the Intel Compute Card. Updating the digital signs in New York Times Square would be easier; displays would stay, and a card would be changed out for one that can render more complex images. As software gets more complex, it requires resources that only a higher-performing computer can provide. That&rsquo;s one of the reasons why we tend to upgrade our smartphones so often; newer and more applications can bog down performance on a wimpy processor with inadequate working memory (RAM).</p> <div> <h2><strong>Product Scalability</strong></h2> </div> <p>Product scalability is another potential benefit. A whole range of products can be offered based on different Compute Cards while the surrounding platform stays the same, allowing users to start at the low end and buy up to higher performance later on without having to replace everything. If the Intel Compute Card gets wide enough acceptance, applications will be found in <a href="">the Internet of Things (IoT)</a>, smart TVs and other appliances, tablet-based systems, interactive whiteboards, mobile video production, intelligent vending machines, <a href="">robotics automation</a>, <a href="">security systems</a>, and point-of-sale systems, among other things.</p> <p>Swapping out a cartridge for an industrial robot would be much easier than connecting to the robot&rsquo;s USB port and bringing up some software to install. If the upgrade procedure is at all complicated, the robot&rsquo;s manufacturer would need to send out a field technician for upgrades. Imagine shipping a new Compute Card to the customer&rsquo;s factory, with instructions to power down, remove the cartridge, insert the new cartridge, and turn it on again. I think just about anybody could do that, and the technician doesn&rsquo;t need to fly out to the factory to do it. What about upgrading the menu displays&nbsp;at a hip burger joint? The decision is something of a no-brainer.&nbsp;Storage corrupted? Menu hacked? Mail a new Compute Card.</p> <div> <h2><strong>Conclusion</strong></h2> </div> <p>The <a href="">Intel</a>&nbsp;Compute Card builds on the capabilities of the Compute Stick introduced in 2016. At about the size of a thick credit card, the Compute Card could revolutionize portable computing yet again by enabling users to carry the most important bits of their computer along with them and use just a docking station to fire up their computer where they left off. Docking stations&mdash;which include a monitor, keyboard, and requisite ports&mdash;are currently under development by several companies, and Intel provides both a reference design and ready-made dock as well.</p> <p>Portable computing made even easier. Now why didn&rsquo;t I think of that?</p> 476USB 3.2 Doubles Type-C Cable Speed, Adds To Naming Confusion,All,PowerWed, 27 Sep 2017 14:45:20 GMT<p>Scheduled for release any time now, the anticipated USB 3.2 spec will double the number of lanes for data transfer. The USB 3.0 Promoter&rsquo;s Group, in a press release earlier this year to pre-announce USB 3.2, stated, &ldquo;USB Type-C cables were designed to support multi-lane operation to ensure a path for scalable performance. New USB 3.2 hosts and devices can now be designed as multi-lane solutions, allowing for up to two lanes of 5Gbps or two lanes of 10Gbps operation&hellip;a USB 3.2 host connected to a USB 3.2 storage device will now be capable of realizing over 2GBps data transfer performance over an existing USB Type-C&trade; cable that is certified for SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps.&rdquo;</p> <p>The new spec takes advantage of full-featured USB 3.1 Type-C cables, which have a total of 24 wires, of which eight are for supporting SuperSpeed; they also support Alternate Mode. Alternate Mode (Alt Mode) expands the versatility of USB Type-C cables to support DisplayPort, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 3 (with more to come in PCI-e and Ethernet). USB 3.2 usurps Alternate Mode to use the extra wires in the Type-C cable, and this is how the speed is doubled with USB 3.2-compliant products. Note that doubling the speed has little to do with the Type-C cable, which only needs to support SuperSpeed and Alternate Mode in order to complete the upgrade to double the USB speed.</p> <p>Note that &ldquo;full-featured&rdquo; means a USB cable that supports Alternate Mode. A USB Type-C cable that supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 (formerly USB 3.0) has a top speed of nearly 5 Gbps.&nbsp; If a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C cable also has enough wires to support alternate mode and connects two USB 3.2-compliant products, that cable will have a 10Gbps throughput. A full-featured USB Type-C cable that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 has a top speed of 10Gbps, but if that same cable connects two USB 3.2-compliant products, the cable can pass 20Gbps.</p> <p>One of the more confusing issues with the increasing complexity USB is the number of names and specifications concerning speed, cables, power delivery, and alternate technologies that USB Type-C cables support. It seems clear that Alternate Mode and USB 3.2 are mutually exclusive. There is almost a separate specification for each USB benefit, as outlined in <b>Table 1</b>.</p> <p><span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Table 1</strong>: The USB specifications that can be involved in the making of a USB Type-C cable.</span></p> <style type="text/css">.blogtable td{border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid lightgrey; padding: 5px;} .blogtable thead tr td{background-color: skyblue; text-align: center;} </style> <table class="blogtable"> <thead> <tr> <td style="width: 15%; text-align: center;"><strong>Specification</strong></td> <td style="width: 15%; text-align: center;"><strong>Also Known As</strong> <strong>(a.k.a)</strong></td> <td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Description</strong></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB Type-C</td> <td style="text-align: center;">USB-C</td> <td>Versatile cable specification. While a definite understatement, there&rsquo;s only so much one can put in a table.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB 2.0</td> <td> <p style="text-align: center;">High Speed</p> </td> <td>USB specification for up to 480Mbps. Requires only four wires. Works with both legacy and Type- C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB 3.1 (Gen 1)</td> <td style="text-align: center;">SuperSpeed,<br /> USB 3.0</td> <td>USB specification that includes speeds up to 5Gbps. Eight wires are needed to support USB 3.1 Gen 1/SuperSpeed. Works with both legacy and Type- C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB 3.1 (Gen 2)</td> <td style="text-align: center;">SuperSpeed +,<br /> SuperSpeed 10,<br /> USB 3.1</td> <td>USB specification that includes speed up to 10Gbps. Eight wires are needed to support SuperSpeed. Supported in Type-C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB-Power Delivery</td> <td style="text-align: center;">USB-PD</td> <td>USB specification for up to five levels of power delivery for up to 20V at 5A for 100W. Five profiles exist that deliver: 10W, 18W, 36W, 60W, and 100W. Supported only in Type-C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB-Alternate Mode</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td>Allows USB Type-C cables to be used for other technologies like DisplayPort, HDMI, MHL, and Thunderbolt, with potential for others in the future. May require USB-PD&rsquo;s initial negotiation capabilities. Supported only in Type-C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB 3.2</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td>Doubles speeds of USB 3.1 Gen 1 &amp; 2 Type-C cables by using multiple lanes that could alternatively be used for other modes. Supported only in Type-C cables.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;">USB Battery Charging 1.2</td> <td style="text-align: center;">USB-BC</td> <td>Legacy battery charging specification. Co-exists with USB-PD.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Type-C cables, now more universal than USB, lend themselves to multiple possibilities for confusion for consumers who might conclude that any USB Type-C cable &ldquo;does it all.&rdquo; A legitimate Type-C USB may support only USB 2.0 speeds, which means that it would only have 4 wires. At the other end of the spectrum, another USB Type-C cable can support up to 20Gbps (with USB 3.2-compliant products on both ends) can alternatively be used as an HDMI, DisplayPort, or Thunderbolt cable, or be used to communicate at 10Gbps while simultaneously powering (in either direction) up to 100W.</p> <p>What&rsquo;s more, USB packaging doesn&rsquo;t clearly identify the modes of power operation or USB specification. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has established different logos to help identify what maximum speed the cable provides. The logos are the high-speed trident, the SuperSpeed trident, and the SuperSpeed 10 trident (a.k.a. SuperSpeed+). As of this writing, I was not able to find a logo to identify power ratings. However, a logo for the Certified USB Charger 45W was posted in mid-2016 on the site (<strong>Figure 1</strong>).</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Certified USB Charger Logo" src="/blog/Portals/11/mrb-reese-usb3_2-f1.png" style="width: 428px; height: 273px;" title="Certified USB Charger Logo" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Figure 1</strong>: The Certified USB Charger 45W logo represents compliant USB products that have passed certification, identifying the charging capability of the (Type-C compliant) product in watts. (Source:</span></p> <p>According to an STMicroelectronics data sheet (<strong>Figure 2</strong>), six types of C-to-C cables can be gleaned from the USB Type-C specification: One that does USB 2.0 only, one that does USB 3.1 Gen 1, and one that does USB 3.1 Gen 2. In addition, each separate cable can also have one of two power ratings for 3A (a regular Type-C cable) or 5A (cable/device/host that support USB-PD). Suffice it to say, USB Type-C connectors are not all automatically operational at USB 3.1 speeds, nor at 5A.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="USB modes of operation" src="/blog/Portals/11/mrb-reese-usb3_2-f2.png" style="width: 599px; height: 172px;" title="USB modes of operation" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Figure 2</strong>: USB modes of operation for power delivery. A USB Type-C cable can deliver up to 3A. If USB-PD is employed, then the Type-C cable can deliver up to 5A, depending upon the highest USB-PD profile that is supported. (Source: STMicroelectronics)</span></p> <p>But again, this information isn&rsquo;t available on USB package labels. According to the USB Implementers Group Forum (USB-IF, the group behind USB technology) Type-C will be used by over 2 billion devices by 2019, compounding the potential for confusion even more. As quoted from the USB-IF Developer Days Hong Kong USB-PD presentation on Day 2, &ldquo;USB technology has evolved into highly complex and challenging designs.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s time for the USB-IF to host classes, online videos, or an course on how these cables work, what to expect, and what to look for. Not all compatible products are compliant, which makes a &ldquo;buyer beware&rdquo; situation for consumers. We want more from a single cable, but ironing out the wrinkles with the debut of the USB Type-C cable brings an awkward pause to the celebration of the most universal connector.</p> 475Will I3C Replace I&sup2;C?,SensorsWed, 23 Aug 2017 13:00:00 GMT<p>It&rsquo;s hard to believe, but the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I&sup2;C or I2C) bus is 35 years old. Often used when an MCU is low on I/O, I&sup2;C was first released in 1982 by Philips (now NXP), as a simple serial bus for MCUs to communicate to I/O. Theoretically, I&sup2;C can connect up to 127 devices using just two wires and ground, but in reality, most highly-populated I&sup2;C connections typically number in the teens. I&sup2;C is simple, flexible, and the go-to backup plan for reducing pin count.</p> <p>Thirty-five years on, I&sup2;C is still in broad use and is especially useful for communicating with sensors. Internet of Thing (IoT) devices collect data through sensors; therefore, it is reasonable to expect the market for sensors to grow as rapidly as is projected for IoT devices. The newest standard&mdash;I3C (pronounced &ldquo;Eye-three-See&rdquo;)&mdash;is in the early adoption phase, as measured by the fact that there have already been two Plugfests to test drive the new bus&rsquo; interoperability. A Plugfest is something like a working, interactive developers&rsquo; forum where companies prototyping products with new technology bring them to a meeting place and make their prototypes interact with each other according to each developer&rsquo;s interpretation of the nascent I3C standard. The interconnection of prototypes at a Plugfest results either in changing the prototypes or changing the specifications.</p> <p>I3C looks like it&rsquo;s being taken seriously. Both Intel and Synopsys have skin in the game, and test equipment and protocol analyzers were present at the first Plugfest, as Tektronix can testify. Tektronix&rsquo;s newest oscilloscopes were running the latest software that included I3C along with the level of coding and analysis that you would see if you were implementing well-established protocols like I&sup2;C or SPI. The first I3C Plugfest was in Barcelona in April 2017, followed by one in Atlanta, Georgia in June 2017. The next I3C Plugfest is planned for late October 2017 in Bangalore, India.</p> <p>I3C is especially tuned to attributes common to sensors, provides improved performance, and yet, maintains full backward compatibility to I&sup2;C and existing I&sup2;C ecosystems (see <strong>Figure 1</strong>). I3C fixes some of the annoying problems encountered with I&sup2;C, as well. For example, with I&sup2;C, a chip could hold the entire bus hostage in long connected sessions while the I&sup2;C master waited for the I&sup2;C line to be released. This won&rsquo;t happen with I3C, because it allows prioritized, in-band interrupts that notify the MCU using the still-only-two-wires communication bus. When a sensor with critical data needs to communicate with the master on I3C, the sensor is not forced to wait for a chip to release the bus because prioritization is possible in I3C without using an additional, dedicated input pin in the MCU.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="I3C application block diagram" src="/blog/Portals/11/MRB-will-i3c-replace-i2c.png" style="width: 600px; height: 761px;" title="I3C application block diagram" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;">Figure 1: I3C is a new standard hosted by the MIPI Alliance. It&#39;s especially promising for implementing sensors. (Source: MIPI)</span></p> <p>Another benefit for sensors is that power efficiency is greatly increased. Advanced power management features with I3C extend battery life, and high or low data rates can be set without changing the clock speed. I3C can run at clock speeds up to 12.5MHz, whereas I&sup2;C runs at 400kHz, 1MHz, or 5MHz (where 5MHz is unidirectional).</p> <p>Legacy I&sup2;C devices can coexist on the I3C bus with some minor limitations. I3C has multi-master capability, supports dynamic addressing, and supports static addressing of legacy I&sup2;C devices. I3C improves upon I&sup2;C in that it has a clearly defined master ownership and mechanism for handing over the bus. I3C also supports in-band interrupts and Hot-Join.</p> <p>I3C is purpose-built to maintain backwards compatibility with I&sup2;C while maintaining the ease-of-use that is inherent with simplicity (unlike the USB, for instance). Therefore, some disadvantages exist with I3C, as it cannot (and probably should not) be all things to all people. For example, I3C still supports the 7-bit addressing of I&sup2;C. However, 7-bit addressing isn&rsquo;t really a problem because addressing with I3C is now dynamic, so the old issues with addressing on I&sup2;C are moot. And although I3C theoretically supports 127 devices, as does I&sup2;C, in reality the limit is about 12 devices, as it is with I&sup2;C. Furthermore, the I3C standard doesn&rsquo;t incorporate security features. Security is big within IoT, but I&sup2;C also never had security features. I3C replaces I&sup2;C without adding unnecessary complexity, but it lacks other necessary provisions. The I3C standard is still in its infancy, but version 1.0 is anticipated for release in early 2018.</p> 467Containers: Similar To Virtual Machines For Embedded Development, 04 Aug 2017 14:41:10 GMT<p>You may or may not know what containers are. But chances are you&rsquo;ve heard of a <a href="">virtual machine</a>. Virtual Machines (VMs) are a &ldquo;soft computer&rdquo; hosted by a real computer that provide a means of testing or isolation without having to reformat and totally reinstall a computer Operating System (OS) every time you want to start a new test on a clean machine. VMs are also great for protecting a computer from viruses and hackers; though the VM perfoms and behaves like a real computer, it does not have hard access to the computer and can be erased or otherwise obliterated with little impact on its host computer (and OS).</p> <p>VMs are great, but like a real computer, they contain heavy software packages that must be unpacked. Sometimes you need a VM for isolation or perhaps you need to recreate an exact run time scenario so someone halfway across the world has your exact setup to help you troubleshoot, program, test, or tweak. A VM saves a huge amount of time by automating the re-creation of a machine&rsquo;s state for others or for posterity. Here, &ldquo;posterity&rdquo; can be a test or development set up for all the operating systems that your product is still backwards-compatible to, and every now and then you have to resurrect the VM imprint of the older OS and fix the drivers. VMs are great for that. But what if you don&rsquo;t really need an entire VM? There&rsquo;s a solution for that, and it&rsquo;s called a <em>container</em>.</p> <p>Containers are not VMs. They are small microcosms including&nbsp;just enough environmental&nbsp;variables&nbsp;to simulate specific applications. Containers are sort of like VMs in that they save time and provide isolation, but they do not create a virtual machine with all the trappings of a complete operating system. Containers are lightweight software packages. Linux developers began using containers to provide individual, isolated Linux environments running on a single host. VMs create their own virtual operating system, whereas containers share the same operating system but might have their own libraries or shared libraries. Containers are created for isolating application processes to keep them from interfering with each other, too.</p> <p>Docker is a type of container that utilizes an <a href="">open source</a> community of sharing where containers are made and reused. Standard containers are created by one group of developers who are experts in their product environment, and others using that environment might download that software container image and use it as a framework for establishing all the particulars surrounding their software program. &nbsp;The container is an image that gets &ldquo;packed&rdquo; by the subsequent user. The &ldquo;packing&rdquo; is the act of simply setting all the variables to be where they need to be for the end user, rather than sending a huge document with instructions on what settings to set. The container image is sent with specific software contents to another person, who only has to deal with the container image and not all the tidbits of settings information in order to have the software work as intended. Software is getting very complicated, and containers help us deal with that complexity immensely, with accuracy and expedience. If you receive a container and unpack it, the environment variables are all set for you on your particular OS.</p> <p>In the <a href="">embedded</a> world, this is a boon to setting up complex System Development Kits (SDKs). Embedded developers must work from a host in most cases, and that host may be running any one of several OSes such as Windows 10, Win 8, Linux, or some iteration of OS X for Macintosh. Instead of requiring a developer to find a Linux machine to work on, the makers of the SDK can create Docker containers for several potential host OSes.</p> <p>The lines between embedded applications, software appliances, servers, and what-have-you are beginning to blur. People are now referring to some types of embedded development as &ldquo;deeply embedded.&rdquo; The old days when the embedded playing field was flooded with 8-bit MCUs are getting elbowed out by very affordable 32-bit SoCs, some of which come with (nearly) turn-key reference designs. When you hear someone talking about an embedded application, you could be talking about a 300MB image or a 300kB image, both of which include operating systems. The Femto OS runs with 1K to 4K flash and &ldquo;somewhere around 2K[B] for the OS itself&hellip;.&rdquo; &nbsp;</p> <p>Containers help developers work efficiently and effectively with each other and can keep applications from interfering with each other. It&rsquo;s likely that the juggernaut open source tool that is Docker holds much promise to make a fundamental shift in how we work together, much like Linux has done. Both enable regular people to innovate without having to reinvent the wheel. However, whereas Linux had to create its own tools as it went along (e.g., open source, the community concept, and git), Docker is utilizing Linux tools and processes to an extent.</p> 4525G Moves Forward With Early Trials,WirelessWed, 24 May 2017 13:00:00 GMT<p>5G is the next-generation of mobile networks beyond the LTE/4G mobile networks of today. Although 5G is currently only in the planning stages, 5G will represent a quantum leap beyond 4G networks in terms of speed, efficiency, and total capacity. Do we really need 5G? After all, the current 4G networks work just fine for phone calls and streaming video to your phone or tablet when Wi-Fi isn&rsquo;t available.</p> <p>However, as <strong>Figure 1</strong> shows, faster speeds and more bandwidth are required for all the new wireless technology that is on the way, and a connected, seamless society. For example, 5G will be necessary for additional automation in cars and later on for driverless cars to successfully communicate with infrastructure and the Cloud, where the car can get traffic information, accident warnings, and reliable Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware updates. &nbsp;According to Cisco, &ldquo;Global Internet traffic in 2020 will be equivalent to 95 times the volume of the entire global Internet in 2005. Globally, Internet traffic will reach 21GB per capita by 2020, up from 7GB per capita in 2015. Every second, nearly a million minutes of video content will cross the network by&nbsp;2020.&rdquo; And by 2020, video traffic will be 82 percent of all consumer traffic.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="5G moves forward with early trials" src="/blog/Portals/11/MRB-5G-moves-forward.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 244px;" title="5G moves forward with early trials" /><br /> <span style="font-size:x-small;"><strong>Figure 1</strong>: 5G will enable new insights that will drive efficiencies as well as enable us to monetize data. (Source: Intel)</span></p> <p>Fifth generation <a href="" target="_blank">wireless</a> is supposed to be 10 times faster than 4G at 5Gbps, provide the needed to bandwidth for a rapidly growing number of connected devices, and be so pervasive that devices will remain connected as they transfer from point to point. With all of this traffic, 5G is meant to enable critical traffic sent to and from connected platforms such as automated functions in cars, infrastructure, and all the other things that will make up our &ldquo;smart cities.&rdquo; By 2020, the details of 5G may be worked out, but judging by the 4G roll-out, it will take at least ten years before the infrastructure to support 5G is fully implemented. However, 5G may be available in certain cities or areas within cities in the early 2020s.</p> <p>The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations agency that sets rules for radio spectrum usage and telecommunications interoperability, is working on standards to be released in 2020. Among the expectations for 5G are peak download speeds of up to 10Gbps and latency of about 1ms&nbsp;(promised values are more probable on networks with very low loading). The theoretical download speed of 4G is 1Gbps with about 50ms latency. In the real world, the ITU says that 100mbps download speeds and 50mbps upload speeds are more realistic for most users. The ITU also wants networks to be able to deliver a minimum level of service to one million connected devices per square kilometer (2.59 million per square mile). This requirement is intended to accommodate the explosion of IoT devices.</p> <p>It seems reasonable to have a worldwide standard for 5G, but other standards, like <a href="" target="_blank">USB</a>, organically spread across the globe. USB started out with the support of Microsoft and <a href="" target="_blank">Intel</a>&reg;, so it stands to reason that they had a couple of technology juggernauts behind it. The Internet of Things (IoT) and self-driving cars are two growing applications that are not yet in full bloom,&nbsp;however, many can see that both are within reach. Standards have always seemed to evolve from collaborations between companies, via open source model, or from known standards bodies like the IEEE. The UN is guiding 5G in general by releasing a worldwide set of requirements for a whole series of standards related to 5G, called the IMT-2020. The standardization process began back in 2012, with plans for 5G technology development, a vision, framework, and naming of the IMT-2020. The spectrum at 6GHz and below has been reviewed and the technical view to using spectrum greater than 6GHz, as well. The immediate future has various trials underway with sharing of studies for the efficacy of various methods to reaching 5G. In 2018 and forward, there will be consensus-building, more sharing of technical findings, with final work towards a worldwide standard that lays out the spectrum and radio interface specifications for 5G.</p> <p>You can understand why the UN is involved. Had the UN been involved when automobiles were first invented and proliferating, perhaps every car in the world would have a steering wheel on the same side. And all electrical plugs might look exactly alike. However, because 5G is so enormously complicated, it is taking quite some time just to develop general technical guidelines that will be presented as the IMT-2020. The whole effort is supported worldwide by several companies and industries that are forming work groups and supporting organizations. 5G is not just a technical standard; there are many spectrum regulations, legal issues, and jurisdictions to navigate worldwide.</p> <p>Companies are not waiting for ITU to release complete standards, however. Even though the picture is not yet complete, several are leading the charge by starting trials on 5G. For example, Verizon and Sprint have already held trials of 5G, and Intel and Qualcomm have released 5G modem chips to support those efforts. Verizon has plans for additional 5G trials in fixed wireless, and we may see some replacement of fiber optics using such technology before a 5G specification is set forth. The 5G standard will not be able to specify every detail,&nbsp;and it&rsquo;s important for companies to be involved early on and often, since de facto standards may emerge from companies that work the issues first and lay the ground-work for others.</p> <p>Verizon says that it will begin delivering 5G service to select users in 11 US cities in 2017. At the recent Mobile World Congress and partner programs, more than 2,300 companies participated. Verizon, Netflix, Twitter, Baidu, China Mobile, Ericsson, Intel, Qualcomm, Huawei, National Instruments, and others exhibited their efforts towards 5G networks. Mobile World Congress Americas was held in San Francisco over September 12-14, 2017, and highlighted &quot;innovation in areas such as 5G and next-generation networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the intersection of mobile with entertainment, content and media.&rdquo;</p> 411Don’t Forget to Register that Drone,RoboticsTue, 09 May 2017 14:27:31 GMT<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Drone used for Observation" src="/blog/Portals/11/MRB-register-drone.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 400px;" title="Drone used for Observation" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;">Before you fly a drone that weighs more than 8.8 ounces, you need to register it. And if you plan to use it for anything related to work or commercial ventures, you need to do more than register.</span></p> <p><strong>Update: 5/24/17</strong></p> <p>The US Court of Appeals in Washington has barred the FAA from requiring non-commercial drones to be registered with the FAA. The existing rules for commercial use, and where drones are permitted to fly, is still in force.</p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">View current FAA guidance on unmanned aircraft systems</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">---</p> <p>Last August, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set forth a new regulation regarding Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones. Drones may have been viewed by some, at least early on, as toys not unlike model aircraft. However, drones are definitely not used as toys by the military, and companies and U.S. bureaucracies like NOAA and The Department of the Interior are eager to use drones, especially instead of manned helicopters due to potential savings in fuel and labor. If your drone weighs less than .55 pounds, your drone is essentially a toy and is not required to be registered.&nbsp; If you fly for fun and it weighs more than .55 pounds, you have to register the UAV before you fly it, regardless of the purpose or whether the operator has a certificate. Flying for commercial reasons is regulated under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulation Part 107.</p> <p>The regulation governing drones for commercial use, also referred to as Part 107 (FAA&rsquo;s PDF <a href="">here</a>), states that UAVs must:</p> <ul style="list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 2em;"> <li>weigh less than 55 pounds, including attached systems, payload, and cargo</li> <li>be operated within a visual-line-of-sight only</li> <li>only operate in daylight</li> <li>not be flown over people who are not directly participating in the flight or under any covered structures</li> <li>not have a maximum ground speed of over 100 mph</li> <li>be restricted to 400 feet</li> <li>carry hazardous materials</li> <li>the pilot in command (PIC) must have a remote pilot airman certificate or under direct supervision of one who does hold a certificate</li> </ul> <p>Furthermore, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducts a security background check of applicants before a certificate is issued. Model aircraft already have criteria established by the FAA and are not affected by Part 107.</p> <p>The FAA action sets a precedent for considering drones with gravitas. Drones have great potential for cost savings and for accomplishing activities that are too hazardous for manned aircraft. Drones can be used to assist in putting out wildfires, automate extra package deliveries from the roof of a delivery vehicle in the area, assist in weather forecasting with data gathering, and investigate large areas of land for wildlife management, criminal investigation, and archaeological mapping and discoveries.</p> <p>Drones can do much more than shoot video. Lightweight, wireless electronics can be mounted for in-flight data gathering. For example, <a href="">TE Connectivity</a> has a small <em>Bluetooth</em>&reg;-enabled, weatherproof barometric pressure sensor that&rsquo;s Android&trade;, iOS, and Win 7 compatible (P/N <a href="">MS5637</a>.) TE Connectivity also has a &nbsp;<a href="">MEAS MS5837-02BA01 ultra-small pressure sensor</a> for altimeter and barometric measurements. The sensor uses a very precise 24-bit ADC that measures an altitude resolution (at sea level) of just 13cm of air.&nbsp;</p> <p>It&rsquo;s my hope that drones can inspire more creativity the DIY/ Maker community, to creatively accomplish tasks with drones using lightweight, wireless devices. The better, longer-running drones are more expensive than what most can afford, but even experimenting with an 8-ounce drone can engender the kind of skill set that a kid will need to become a PIC someday for commercial drone operation. (Yes, drones are already creating jobs.)</p> 406Batteries: Capacity, Cell Impedance, and Power Fading, 07 Mar 2017 22:46:43 GMT<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/batterytesting.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 284px;" title="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;">Figure 1: Testing with a Fluke 500 Series Battery Analyzer. (Credit: FLUKE)</span></p> <p>Demand for portable energy continues to grow. Rechargeable batteries are a focus of research and development because once energy is spent, the rechargeable battery can reverse the process; if energy is applied to the rechargeable battery, it becomes a self-contained chemical energy storage factory. At present, batteries are critical for electric cars, portable electronics devices that get daily use, and for storing energy obtained via renewable resources. A battery cell provides an electrochemical environment for the exchange of charge carriers at the electrodes of the battery; charge carriers are generated or discharged. The anode hosts an oxidation process where charge carriers (electrons) are let go and then flow through the electrical load, such as a portable headset. Recharging the battery forces electrons to flow in the opposite direction and create a chemical potential.</p> <p>There&rsquo;s a general expectation these days that a car, even an electric vehicle (EV) should operate for 10 to 30 years. <a href="" target="_blank">Rechargeable batteries are critical for electric vehicles</a>; therefore, it is ideal if the battery can experience numerous and repetitive charge and discharge cycles over years. However, long-term storage capacity is a challenging issue. Battery aging includes decay of total capacity, cell impedance, and capacity or power fading.</p> <p><strong>What is cell impedance?</strong></p> <p>Cell impedance, or battery impedance, gives you an idea of the available capacity of a battery. Battery impedance is internal resistance (IR) plus the reactance of the battery. The internal resistance, or total effective resistance, is a measurement of both the ionic resistance and the electrical resistance of the battery. The total effective resistance of a battery consists of ohmic resistance (a.k.a. electrical resistance) and ionic resistance. (It&rsquo;s important to note here that the term &ldquo;resistance&rdquo; and &ldquo;ohmic value&rdquo; refer to pure resistance without reactance.) Ohmic resistance is the opposition to flow in an electrical circuit, and is due to the battery&rsquo;s materials such as the battery jacket and terminals. Ionic resistance is due to the current flow inside the battery, and has to do with electrochemical factors such as the movement of ions, the conductivity of the electrolyte used, and the surface area of the electrode. The internal resistance of a battery is an indicator of the battery&rsquo;s lifespan, not its capacity. Near the end of the battery&rsquo;s life, the resistance will increase and the capacity will decrease, otherwise internal resistance stays flat. Measuring the battery&rsquo;s internal resistance when it&rsquo;s new will help when you think the battery might need to be replaced.</p> <p><strong>What is power fade?</strong></p> <p>As batteries go through repeated charge and discharge cycles, they start to deteriorate over time. Performance degradation begins to show in &ldquo;capacity fade&rdquo; as the battery can no longer store a charge. The battery also has increased internal resistance to transferring charge, and so battery voltage is reduced. Increased internal resistance is an indicator that end-of-life is near, however, it&rsquo;s important to have an initial measurement of internal resistance to compare it with. In very cold temperatures. the electrochemical reactions in batteries slow down due to reduced ion movement in the electrolyte.</p> <p><strong>Battery Failure</strong></p> <p>Heat is the main cause of battery failure. To maintain rechargeable battery life, excess heat should be avoided. Charging a battery in hot conditions is less preferable. For example, charging a car&rsquo;s batteries in a cool garage is preferable to charging a hot battery immediately after a long hot drive. Charge the battery in a cooler environment, if possible. Batteries live longer if a charge is maintained. Electric lawn mower batteries, for example, are going to last longer if they are periodically charged and topped off over the winter.&nbsp; Overcharging and under-charging can also be a factor in shortening a battery&rsquo;s life. Loose terminals will cause a battery to fail, but are easily remedied. Loose inter-cell connections can also cause a battery to fail, but are not as easy to fix. An old battery is another primary cause of failure.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> 375Never Forget Again: The Rise of Portable Data Storage, 22 Feb 2017 15:48:00 GMT<p>Depending on how you define it, portable data storage dates back to the dawn of human history. Back in the hunter-gatherer days, transmission of tribal history and lore, relied on oral transmission from teacher to student, with techniques developed to aid in listening, memorization, and recitation. One could regard a recipient of such knowledge as a portable storage device, albeit one subject to sudden catastrophic failure during time of war or following an unexpected encounter with a grizzly bear.</p> <p>The invention of written language changed all that: figure 1 illustrates an early device (from the 9<sup>th</sup> century BCE) used to store written data.</p> <p>Devices such as this, although portable (with the help of enough slaves or a team of oxen), had significant disadvantages compared to a modern <a href="" target="_blank">SD card</a> or <a href="" target="_blank">USB flash drive</a>.&nbsp; They were bulky with limited or no erase capability, had limited capacity, and write time far exceeded read time. On the plus side, though, they were durable, had excellent data retention capability, and are capable of being read to this day. &nbsp;</p> <p align="center"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LR_NFA_01.jpg" style="width: 399px; height: 650px;" title="" /></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><em>Figure 1: A Babylonian astronomical calendar: the stone tablet of Shamash the Sun-God. (source: British Museum)</em></span></p> <p>Change was painful, even in the Ancient World: skeptics expressed fears that the new storage medium would lead to a decline in human abilities, as described by the Greek philosopher Plato almost 2,500 years ago.</p> <p>In Plato&rsquo;s <a href="" target="_blank">dialogue with Phaedrus</a>, Socrates tells of the Egyptian god Theuth bragging to King Thamus that his invention of writing would improve people&rsquo;s memories. King Thamus replied that this was nonsense: &ldquo;For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are not part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant&hellip;since they are not wise, but only appear wise.&rdquo; <a href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title="">[i]</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LR_NFA_02.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 430px;" title="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><em>Figure 2: A 1TB USB flash drive, enough to store 310,000 photos, 1000 hours of video, or 40 copies of Wikipedia&rsquo;s English-language text. (source: </em><a href=";cm_ite=3096116&amp;cm_pla=NA-NA-KIN_DR&amp;cm_ven=acquirgy&amp;ef_id=V3Lx@wAABdJ2sWky:20160930222248:s&amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjwmri_BRCZpaHkuIH75_IBEiQAIG0rIXZY10nGTohzaYGDtqKrJDQlMkdD2nuzhZc-nXixKGAaAsul8P8HAQ&amp;s_kwcid=AL!4223!3!61836302419!!!g!18283950120!" target="_blank"><em>CDW</em></a><em>) </em></span></p> <p>Fast forward to the present day. Cloud-based hosting, <a href=";FS=True" target="_blank">SD cards</a>, and <a href=";FS=True" target="_blank">USB flash drives</a> are ushering in the age of practically free portable data storage. No need to remember anything, just look it up. Right?</p> <p>Not so fast. With technology now well integrated into everyday life, researchers have been investigating its impact on the way that we learn and remember information. Research from IT security company Kaspersky Lab&nbsp;<a href="" target="_blank">suggested that</a>&nbsp;our reliance on technology and the internet is leading to &ldquo;digital amnesia&rdquo;: the inability to remember information that you&rsquo;ve stored in a digital device.</p> <p>The study questioned 1,000 consumers aged 16 and over about their use of technology, and found that 91% depended on the internet and digital devices as a tool for remembering. The same study found that 71% of respondents in another survey could not remember their children&rsquo;s phone numbers and 57% could not remember their work phone number.</p> <p>The results suggest that relying on digital devices to remember information is impairing our own memory systems. Perhaps King Thamus was onto something.</p> <p>The increasing reliance on technology gives rise to another interesting question, prompted by seeing cashiers struggle to make the correct change when faced with, for example, $5.01 in payment for a $4.26 bill.</p> <p>Will computers eventually lead to the loss of human ability to calculate, at least among the general population? After all, calculators are now permissible on a portion of the SAT Math test, something that would have been unheard of in years past.</p> <p>In his short story, &ldquo;The Feeling Of Power&rdquo;, the great science fiction writer (and biochemistry Ph.D.) Isaac Asimov describes a future world utterly dependent on computers in which humans have forgotten the fundamentals of mathematics, including even the ability to count. Then a low-grade technician rediscovers the principles of pencil-and-paper arithmetic by reverse-engineering an archaic machine. Sadly, his innovation is soon put to use by the military establishment to develop new missiles - with economical human pilots instead of expensive computers.</p> <p>Let&rsquo;s hope that in this case at least, life never does imitate art.</p> <div>&nbsp; <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="edn1"> <p><a href="#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title="">[i]</a> <a href="" target="_blank"></a></p> </div> </div> 373Arduino 101: Pattern Matching on the Intel® Quark™ SE Microcontroller Tools,IoTTue, 15 Nov 2016 22:33:18 GMT<p><span class="apple-converted-space">Machines have never been as good as the human brain for sensing, perceiving, thinking about, or interpreting visual images. The human brain is also quite effective at &ldquo;filling in the blanks&rdquo; by making assumptions about the world around it. In some circumstances, the brain falls prey to a phenomenon referred to as an &ldquo;optical illusion&rdquo; in the common vernacular. </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">Patterns, within the context of computational imaging, can be defined as &ldquo;a more or less repeatable, discernible regularity in the spatial arrangement of a type of theme of more or less recurring objects, with possibly both radiometrical and geometrical features, sometimes referred to as elements of a collection of objects.&rdquo;</span><a href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;"> The term &ldquo;radiometrical features&rdquo; refers to what can be called &ldquo;tone.&rdquo; Machines discern this portion of machine &ldquo;sight&rdquo; by measuring how an object responds to electromagnetic radiation. A machine blasts an object with either ultraviolet, visible, or infrared light, or all three and uses the resulting radiation to recognize patterns and compare them against known patterns. </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">Pattern matching is the act of checking for pieces of what makes up a pattern. Pattern recognition is when the underlying pattern itself is detected. Patterns can be described using the features of an image in terms of determining the edges of an object, gradations in shading that form ridges or valleys, lines, curves, and regions with constant properties, to name a few. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_I101_01.png" style="width: 600px; height: 197px;" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 1: If you are having trouble recognizing vegetables, pattern matching via the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller is for you. ­­Source: NeuroMem Technology Guide by General Vision.</span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">Human vision is limited to working only within the visible light band (390 to 750nm wavelengths), assimilates vision at an equivalent of 20 frames per second, and departs from reality when the human brain &ldquo;fills in the blanks.&rdquo; It is no surprise that machine vision is the Holy Grail when it comes to rapid image processing and analysis if only computers could match or surpass the human brain in all aspects, but without physical limitations or faults. </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">Computers are steadily getting better at sensing, perceiving, thinking about, or interpreting visual images. Sensing is accomplished with cameras, perceiving is done with pattern matching or recognition, and processing for context and what to do with the information substitutes for thinking and interpreting.&nbsp; </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">One example of a microcontroller with pattern matching capability is the </span><a href="" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white;">Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> microcontroller</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">, which &ldquo;allows it to learn and differentiate.&rdquo;</span><a href="#_edn2" name="_ednref2"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">[ii]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;"> The Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller has an integrated sensor hub (sporting a 32-bit DSP) that supports several peripherals and wakes up the CPU based on programmable cues. The Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller has 32 bi-directional general-purpose I/O pins with integrated pull-up resistors, a 19-channel 12-bit ADC, a watchdog timer and hardware- and software-based security features. The pattern matching accelerator includes hardware pattern recognition capability with 128 programmable silicon &ldquo;neurons&rdquo; with 128 components (bytes) per neuron. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white;">Use of the term &ldquo;neuron&rdquo; is not a marketing gimmick. It refers to a different kind of computing called cognitive or neuromorphic computing</span><a href="#_edn3" name="_ednref3"><span style="background-color: white;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="background-color: white;">[iii]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white;">, where the architecture is based on neural networks that mimic the way the brain works, enabling learning and the ability to detect anomalies, identify similarities, and practice &ldquo;</span><span style="background-color: white;">associative memory<span class="apple-converted-space">.&rdquo; The neuromorphic branch of computing research has existed for decades but became a far less attractive prospect as rapid improvements in traditional architectures stretched the limits of Moore&rsquo;s Law. The fully parallel silicon neural network inside the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller is a chain of identical elements (neurons) that simultaneously store and process information. They are addressed in parallel and collaborate with each other through a bi-directional neural bus.</span><a href="#_edn4" name="_ednref4"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="background-color: white;">[iv]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> Each neuron has a processing unit that reacts to a pattern, but it is the response from all the neurons acting <em><span>en masse</span></em> that produces remarkable results.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #000000;" class="apple-converted-space"><br /> </span></p> <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #000000;" class="apple-converted-space"><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_I101_02.png" style="width: 600px; height: 305px;" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 2: Neuromorphic computing "architecture" is very different from traditional computing architectures. The above is a chain of identical neuron cells with no supervisor, low clock, and low power requirements. The Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller has 128 neurons and resides in the Intel&reg; Curie&trade; Module, the computing module on the Arduino 101. Source: General Vision.</span></p> <br /> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">Neuromorphic computing is inherent to the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller, which lives in the Curie Module, which in turn is the processor module on the very accessible </span><a href="" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white;">Intel<sup>&reg;</sup> Arduino 101.</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;"> The 128 neurons are &ldquo;very easy to use through the Curie Neurons library.&rdquo;</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> <a href="#_edn5" name="_ednref5"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">[v]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;"> &nbsp;The Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller&rsquo;s neural network learns from examples that you feed to it and does not require programming in the traditional sense. Training can be done off-line with an existing data set or on-the-fly. The neurons can build a knowledge base from the above and go on to recognize new patterns, report anomalies, and more. A new paradigm in computing is available with full access to neuron registers with a low cost purchase of the Curie Neurons Pro Library from General Vision. Applications featuring sensor fusion, contextual awareness, high-speed K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) classification and radial basis function (RBF) are possible with very low power consumption, a hallmark of neuromorphic computing. </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: black;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_I101_03.png" style="width: 600px; height: 399px;" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 3: Typical workflow for the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE technology neurons. Source: Curie Neurons Library Manual, V1.1</span></p> <div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <!--[endif]--> <div id="edn1"> <p><a href="#_ednref1" name="_edn1"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></a> <span>Pinoli, Jean-Charles. <em>Mathematical Foundations of Image Processing and Analysis</em>. Vol. 1, Wiley-ISTE, 2014. Print.</span></p> </div> <div id="edn2"> <p><a href="#_ednref2" name="_edn2"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[ii]<!--[endif]--></span></a> Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE microcontroller, by Intel.</p> </div> <div id="edn3"> <p><a href="#_ednref3" name="_edn3"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[iii]<!--[endif]--></span></a></p> </div> <div id="edn4"> <p><a href="#_ednref4" name="_edn4"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[iv]<!--[endif]--></span></a> NeuroMem technology Guide, rev 4.0.1, revised 5/6/2016. General Vison.</p> </div> <div id="edn5"> <p><a href="#_ednref5" name="_edn5"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[v]<!--[endif]--></span></a></p> </div> </div>78Autopilot vs. Autonomous, 19 Oct 2016 21:17:40 GMT<p>People have misperceptions about autonomy. Autopilots have been used in aircraft for decades. In newer planes and at properly equipped airports, the autopilot can also be used for landing, usually in dense fog with lots of radar equipment on the plane and on the ground, and the landing isn&rsquo;t gentle. (Pilots occasionally perform a &ldquo;greased in&rdquo; landing, which is when touch down is so gentle you don&rsquo;t even feel it. Be sure to congratulate your pilot if this ever happens.) </p> <p>Autopilot is usually activated shortly after takeoff and disengaged shortly before landing. The autopilot controls the trajectory of the aircraft without requiring the pilot to perform constant &ldquo;hands-on&rdquo; control.<span>&nbsp; </span>However, the autopilot does not replace the human pilot; it enables the pilot to focus on higher value tasks such as monitoring the weather, communicating with air traffic control, managing navigation, monitoring the aircraft&rsquo;s systems, making announcements and in the old days, perhaps flirting with flight attendants.</p> <p>The autopilot relies on sensors that report the aircraft&rsquo;s speed, altitude, and how turbulence is affecting the vehicle&rsquo;s orientation to maintain the flight path input by the pilot. The autopilot does not perform collision avoidance. In this way, it is analogous to cruise control in an automobile. In contrast, a critical capability of autonomous automobiles<em> is</em> collision avoidance. Over a decade ago, I heard a story from a first-officer pilot friend of mine that illustrates how autopilot can get the pilots in trouble. He was ex-military, and said that it&rsquo;s very hard to stay awake on a red-eye flight. The cabin is dark with only a few twinkling LEDs and stars, the temperature is cool, and there&rsquo;s a deep steady noise like a large fan would make that, combined, make the cockpit a perfect sleep-inducing workplace. The story was about a pilot and first officer on a red eye from New York to L.A. Somehow both had fallen asleep. They overshot the airport and were over the ocean by a good ways with a plane load of people when a low fuel alarm woke them up. Unplanned incidents require a report to the FAA that explains the situation. He said that they safely landed the plane at the airport, but both pilots were sacked. So autopilot is not the same thing as autonomous. </p> <p>Tesla vehicles are not fully autonomous. The company calls the Tesla&rsquo;s self-driving capabilities &ldquo;AutoPilot&ldquo; precisely because it is not capable of <em>autonomous </em>driving. For example, it currently cannot drive on roads where it cannot identify the lane unless it is following another vehicle, and it&rsquo;s the driver&rsquo;s responsibility to decide whether following that vehicle is a good idea or not. Teslas equipped with &ldquo;AutoPilot hardware&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Tech package&rdquo; have Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC), and are currently not able to detect whether it should enter an intersection; that responsibility falls solely on the driver. Per the Tesla Model S owner&rsquo;s manual<a href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></a>, &ldquo;Traffic-Aware Cruise Control is designed to slow down Model S if needed to maintain a selected time-based distance from the vehicle in front, up to the set speed. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control does not eliminate the need to watch the road in front of you and to apply the brakes if needed...Traffic-Aware Cruise Control is primarily intended for driving on dry, straight roads, such as highways and freeways. It should not be used on city streets.&rdquo; However, the software in the Tesla automatically gets wirelessly updated so it can strengthen or add new autopilot capabilities, bringing it slightly closer to becoming an <a href="" target="_blank">autonomous vehicle</a>(AV), which is technically feasible.</p> <p>A fully autonomous automobile is able to decide whether it can safely enter an intersection. It is able to decide how to maneuver around other vehicles, people, and other moving objects. Autonomous cars, such as the <a href="" target="_blank">Google Self-Driving Car</a><a target="_blank">,</a> rely on detailed information about the roads they are driving on before they enter those roads. The Google car generates a 3D map of the area with stationary objects, including the identification of traffic lights, which are combined with existing high-resolution maps of the area to create a data model by which it navigates. Understanding how other objects, including people and other cars, will behave and being able to successfully predict what they will do is critical to reaching a fully autonomous driving capability. It&rsquo;s fully reasonable to expect that technically we can get there, however, with an infinite number of possible scenarios while driving, an autonomous vehicle will never be flawless. <a href="" target="_blank">Google&rsquo;s first self-driving car accident where the car&rsquo;s AV mode was at fault</a> happened earlier this year, and the result was a low speed fender-bender. It&rsquo;s somewhat amusing and portends the seemingly over-cautious nature of AVs in that the Google car was driving at 2 m.p.h. when it collided with a bus travelling at 15 m.p.h. as it tried to re-enter traffic after realizing that it&rsquo;s path was blocked by sandbags. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_AvA_01.jpg" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 1: The Google car, in AV mode, was approximately at the position occupied by the white van in this Street View when it hit a bus while trying to get around some sand bags blocking its path in the right lane on El Camino Real in Mountain View, CA.</span></p> <p>Doubtless this will be/has been examined for detail on why the car didn&rsquo;t see the bus. So while autopilot can appear to be the same as autonomous, in each case there are significantly different responsibilities placed on the driver.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_AvA_02.jpg" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 2<span style="background-color: #fafaf8;">: This Lexus model Google Self-Driving car</span><span style="background-color: #fafaf8;"> had a fender-bender when it didn't see a bus. With over a million miles and a pristine record, it's forgiveable in my book, because it's still a better driving record than most humans I know, including me.</span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <!--[endif]--> <div id="edn1"> <p><a href="#_ednref1" name="_edn1"><span><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></a> PDF: <a href="" target="_blank">Tesla Model S owner&rsquo;s manual</a></p> </div> </div>82The Internet of Space: Intelligence for What You Least Expect, When You Least Expect It, 27 Sep 2016 17:30:00 GMT<p>On February 15, 2013, a large meteor shot into Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere over <span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fefefe; color: #000000;"><a href="https://" target="_blank">Chelyabinsk</a></span><span style="background: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><a href="https://" target="_blank">, Russia</a>,</span><span> </span>at a low angle, damaging more than 4,000 buildings and injuring about 1500 people. This was a &ldquo;small,&rdquo; undetected meteor that knocked out cell tower transmissions (but not the internet) as it disintegrated upon entry. Amazingly no one died, although the sonic boom alone broke every window for miles, there were injuries from the glass, and the sonic boom literally knocked people over.<span>&nbsp; </span></p> <p>What happened? The low angle means that this asteroid was akin to &ldquo;space-roadkill,&rdquo; in that Earth ran into it. No one saw it coming. We have tsunami warning systems, but no meteor warning systems. We could get a larger meteor impact <em>and never see it coming.</em><span>&nbsp; </span></p> <p>Even though astronomers monitor the night skies constantly, we can see only a tiny slice of dark sky above our blue planet at any given time. Only 1/4th of our planet is in darkness every 24 hours, and the vast majority of monitoring is from Earth&rsquo;s surface and must be done at night. We&rsquo;ve been hit in centuries past, when the earth was far less populated, and most meteorites hit the ocean, which covers 2/3 of the planet. On Aug 30, 2016, we nearly got hit by another asteroid, labelled &ldquo;<a href=";commit=Show&amp;utm_content=buffer5fb84&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;;utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">2016 QA2</a>.&rdquo; It came much closer to Earth than the moon; about 1/4<sup>th</sup> the distance to the moon, in fact. We didn&rsquo;t see it until it was here. Some people are concerned about asteroids. <a href="" target="_blank">Some people want to explore them</a>. Asteroids are called meteors once they enter the Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere, and if they are made mostly of metal, they will not disintegrate above the Earth&rsquo;s surface like the <span style="background: #fefefe;">Chelyabinsk meteor</span>. When they impact the surface, they can create an atomic bomb-like effect (without the radiation), creating huge craters, plumes of dust that block out the sun, tsunamis, and a bad year for life on Earth in general. </p> <p>If you are the fatalistic type, you will eschew any resemblance to Chicken Little, which is understandable. But we can also detect cosmic rays, asteroids, and possibly a stray alien ship if we deploy monitoring technology that covers the Earth: tiny computer-equipped devices, spaced evenly apart, that encircle all but the extreme poles of the earth at low orbit. Andy Filo, a Design Engineer at 4Special Projects, LLC, estimates that we would need only about 68 tiny satellites, called &ldquo;femtosats,&rdquo; to monitor for asteroids. His femtosats are about 35mm x 35mm x 2mm and connect literally on the fringe of the internet to form a networked mesh of sensors, to continuously monitor over Earth at low orbit with magnetometers and gyroscopes. Instead of the <a href="">Internet of Things</a>, you could call this &rdquo;The Internet of Space,&rdquo; or IoS, because these <a href="" target="_blank">Intel&reg; Quark&trade; D2000</a>-powered satellites would use the internet, starting with <a href="" target="_blank">RF communication</a> in <a href="">space</a>,&nbsp;<span class="s1" style="background-color: #fafaf8;">to get monitoring data back to scientists on earth. It&rsquo;s inspiring that the Intel</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: #fafaf8;"><sup>&reg;</sup></span><span class="s1" style="background-color: #fafaf8;"> Quark D2000 is accessible for anyone to purchase and develop projects like the Femtosat. The tools are free, a suite included with the platform called the <a target="_blank">Intel</a></span><a target="_blank"><span class="s2" style="background-color: #fafaf8;"><sup>&reg;</sup></span></a><span class="s1" style="background-color: #fafaf8;"><a target="_blank"> System Studio for Microcontrollers</a>.&nbsp;</span><span class="s1" style="background-color: #fafaf8;">These development tools were used by contestants in "America&rsquo;s Greatest Makers".</span></p> <p><a href="" style="background-color: #fafaf8;"></a></p> <p><strong><br /> </strong></p> <p><strong>What could we do with this information?</strong> Besides a warning in time to duck and cover, we can use femtosats to monitor solar activity. The study of <a href="" target="_blank">cosmic rays</a>, natural radiation from space, reveals to us that natural high-energy radiation from space (that often reach the surface of the earth) as well as the composition of our sun and <a href="" target="_blank">information about our galaxy</a>.</p> <p><span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8; color: #333333;"><br /> </span></p> <p><span style="text-align: center; background-color: #fafaf8; font-size: 13px; color: #333333;"></span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sprite: The First Spacecraft-On-A-Chip launch on Monday! <a href=""></a> <a href="">#KickSat</a> <a href=""></a></p> &mdash; my first satellite (@myfirstsatellit) <a href="">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8; color: #333333;">Figure </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8; color: #333333;">1</span><span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8; color: #333333;">: The Sprite rode on the first KickSat to space but never deployed due to a </span><a href="" style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8;">timing</a><span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center; font-size: x-small; background-color: #fafaf8; color: #333333;"> glitch. Another is under development.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Earth is pretty large. How do we get hundreds of these things into space to get enough coverage to monitor Earth? </strong>There&rsquo;s an open source spacecraft project going on called &ldquo;<a href="" target="_blank">KickSat</a>&rdquo; that offers an excellent model for deployment of many tiny satellites. KickSat is a larger holding satellite that once it gets into orbit, can spin out hundreds of femtosats in each space deployment of a single KickSat-type satellite. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_IoSIfWYLE_02.png" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Figure 2. Computer-generated image of how KickSat would deploy smaller satellites. Image by Ben Bishop VK2FBRB</span></p> <p>Hundreds of femtosatellites, called Sprites, were shipped into space on the first <a href="" target="_blank">KickSat</a>, which started as a KickStarter project to launch what amounts to personal satellites. Andy&rsquo;s vision of the femtosat includes an engine for his IoS vision driven by the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; D2000 microcontroller with an ultra-low-power core running at 32 MHz (and currently undergoing space qualification.) Sadly, the first KickSat, or &ldquo;KickSat1,&rdquo; experienced a fatal deployment error, and the original Sprites did not deploy before <a href="" target="_blank">KickSat re-entered Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere</a>. (A<a href="" target="_blank">nother KickSat</a> is underway.) Andy&rsquo;s femtosats will cost about $4K each to make and deploy; i.e., $4K is a turn-key figure. </p> <p><strong>But isn&rsquo;t NASA doing this already?</strong> There are many known Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and we are able to observe these bodies and interpolate an impact to Earth many years from now for some. One of NASA&rsquo;s jobs is to find NEOs and report them. So NASA has an official report-collection center for NEOs discovered worldwide. Since the inception of NASA&rsquo;s NEO program in 1998, there have been <a href="" target="_blank">over 10,000 NEOs reported</a>. With a blanket of just 68 femtosats armed with Quark&trade; D2000s, we could have a VNEO, or Very Near Earth Object warning system for a very low cost with enough resolution to see asteroids that are big enough to be a problem. Back in the 1980s it would have been a bigger commitment, since the equipment to accomplish the duties of just one femtosat would have been the size of a refrigerator and about $20M. Today, you can deploy one equally-capable femtosat for about $4K, using the KickSat concept. </p> <p><strong>Why bother?</strong> Indeed, the warning time from this IoS is just enough &ndash; about 30 seconds &ndash; to duck and cover from flying glass. Is a 30 second warning justifiable for deploying a network at great cost? Some cities pay for earthquake warnings with the same kind of time-frame to act: doors are rolled up at fire stations, diesel engines started, and firemen are already sliding down poles when the earthquake hits. And this IoS is not millions of dollars; technology has gotten much cheaper, because it would take only 68 femtosats at $4K each.</p> <p><strong>Solar activity is a very, very bad thing for electronics. </strong></p> <p>There are other good reasons to deploy an IoS. It can make the study of cosmic rays more data-rich and can be used to collect data on solar events<a href="" target="_blank">. The Carrington Event, were it to happen today</a>, would devastate our electronics on a very large scale. In 1859, the large solar flare of the Carrington Event was enough to cause sparking on telegraph equipment. Large solar flares have knocked out radio and GPS signals for planes at altitude in lesser events. Another such event could interrupt or destroy satellite communications used in every day transactions. It would be a really bad day for all of us, because power grids could also be affected. </p> <p>Improving our ability to predict solar flares is just another area of research to put to good practical use. So far, we have been blessed with fairly modest solar activity as technology has gained prominence in our lives. Perhaps a solar flare warning app, with information from the IoS, can warn us in time to duck and cover our $600 iPhones. Getting insurance for a major solar flare might seem like getting volcano insurance in Nebraska, but electronics are not immune to Murphy&rsquo;s Law. </p> <p><strong>The final &ldquo;What if?&rdquo; <span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></strong></p> <p>If you are still not convinced that this is worth it, even in the face of <a href="" target="_blank">NASA&rsquo;s 2016 $50M NEO budget (up from $4M in 2010)</a> the best reason for having a blanket of low-orbit monitoring femtosat is to keep fingers off The Red Button. (And at a bargain price!) That small meteor over Russia came in like a &ldquo;rocket-bomb.&rdquo; <span>&nbsp;</span>It might be urban legend, but rumor has it that one cool-headed individual in the Russian big-red-button-chain-of-command chose to wait a bit before jumping to conclusions. If we had the entry path recorded by an IoS, we could have a scientific basis on which to &ldquo;trust but verify.&rdquo; </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I&rsquo;m just glad the meteor chose the even-tempered Chelyabinsk, and not North Korea.&nbsp;</p> <div> <div id="edn1"> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div>81Open Source RTOS Comes to IoT Tools,IoTTue, 06 Sep 2016 21:48:36 GMT<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_OSRctIoT_01.jpg" style="text-align: center;" /></p> <p>A guy sitting next to me on the plane was studiously inspecting a map of US flight routes in the back of the flight magazine. After about 10 minutes of this, I asked him if he had a geography exam coming up. He smiled and said in a lovely Scottish accent that, no, he was looking at Kansas, where he had just completed a business trip and was returning back to Ecuador. His father had started and still ran a mill where they made yarn and knitwear. It turns out his mother is from Scotland. I bet that has a romantic back story, but we detoured into talking about technology. For one thing, he had never heard about the much-hyped<a href="" target="_blank"> Internet of Things (IoT)</a>, which is supposedly going to shower us with riches as soon as every atom in the world has its own IP-address.</p> <p>We got to talking about open source hardware (OSHW) and IoT. I explained it by asking him what information he would collect for analysis in his factory, if he could know anything he wanted, in order to increase productivity and improve operations and logistics. He said that they had a sensor that tells them when a spindle has stopped. They needed to know when the person manning the spindles stopped reloading them. I suppose you could mount a web cam in the corner, but that would be obvious. I didn&rsquo;t ask. I said that applying IoT could not only sense when the spindle had stopped, but for how long and it could send a message to his smartphone to tell him about it. And it could be done with OSHW and APIs from sites like <a href="" target="_blank">MIT&rsquo;s free Application Inventor</a> for less than $100, most likely. He was shocked at the price and that he could probably do it himself with tutorials online, free software, and low cost hardware. We exchanged emails and I sent him information on projects similar to what he wanted to do and so forth. </p> <p>The complexity of IoT extends beyond simple projects like this, however. If you were to take all the useful data and manipulate it, you could find patterns that point to changes that can increase productivity, reduce wait times, or point to trends that help improve processes or locate potential failures. Predictive maintenance (PdM) allows you to maintain equipment based on indications, such as motor vibration. Vibration data is collected by local sensors and analyzed either locally or stored and analyzed in a cloud. (A cloud computer is simply someone else&rsquo;s computer.) As data and what we do with that data gets more sophisticated, we find we need more than microcontrollers. An operating system, especially a real time operating system (RTOS), may be necessary to handle multiple threads, interrupts, and so forth. The more complex the task, the more complicated the device needs to be to handle multi-step, multi-threaded decision-making operations made in the field (by any device.) Devices meant for IoT typically have very low memory, and so a very small RTOS would be in order. Small RTOSes have been in use for years in the automotive industry. </p> <p>A while back, <a href="" target="_blank">Intel</a><span>&reg;</span> bought WindRiver, an embedded software and operating system developer. Recently, Intel released WindRiver&rsquo;s &ldquo;nano-kernel&rdquo; RTOS, formerly called &ldquo;Rocket,&rdquo; to The Linux Foundation (LF) and was renamed &ldquo;<a href="" target="_blank">Zephyr</a>.&rdquo; A royalty-free micro- or nano-kernel RTOS is a very big deal. Ostensibly, Zephyr is meant for IoT, but free to use, royalty-free RTOSes have been a very big deal in the embedded world for at least a couple of decades. So a professionally developed, for-profit RTOS was rolled off to The Linux Foundation to maintain and promote. It&rsquo;s free, it&rsquo;s maintained by the experts in open source operating systems, and it&rsquo;s going to change the way IoT unfolds as a technology; probably by accelerating adoption. Zephyr supports the x86 instruction set. This means that the Intel&reg; <a href="">Quark&trade; Microcontroller D2000</a>,<a href="" target="_blank">Intel&reg; Quark&trade; SE Microcontroller C1000</a>, <a href="" target="_blank">Arduino 101</a>, <a href="" target="_blank">Galileo</a>, and others can run the Zephyr OS. Zephyr also supports some ARM instruction sets. </p> <p>One way to think about this is to look at another use case for small footprint RTOSes: embedded automotive. For years, embedded automotive operating systems had customers in the automotive industry who paid for RTOSes that were developed as closed, proprietary, for-profit enterprises. </p> <p>The Linux Foundation, a non-profit consortium, has recently released <a href="" target="_blank">Automotive Grade Linux.</a> At present AGL has targeted<a href="" target="_blank"> infotainment</a>, but it has sights on <a href="" target="_blank">instrument clusters</a> and telematics. AGL&rsquo;s unified code base 2.0 was released in July 2016. Like all Linux, members can provide input directly to the open source developer community. Car makers are rapidly jumping on the AGL bandwagon, as embedded Linux has proven to be robust, secure, and offer significant cost savings in the long run.</p> <p>I can almost hear a sigh of relief. Open source is a model that, although not perfect, can have significant impact on automotive life. For instance, someday in-dash Navigation will operate similarly across all cars that use AGL, much like Android on smartphones. Each carrier has their own splash screens and added features, but settings and other fundamentals like navigation through menus is the same on every Android-based carrier phone, because the basic functions are handled by the OS: Android. Ever been in a rental car, frustrated at the navigation system and how to find what you need? Learning the navigation quirks of each car maker will be a thing of the past, because the way the navigation operates will be familiar and similar across cars that use royalty-free AGL. This does not extend to vehicles that use Apple Car Play, of course. </p> <p>Security in AGL is also a concern, and with both IoT&rsquo;s Zephyr and AGL managed by The Linux Foundation, one can hope is that the collaborative spirit will communicate security improvements from AGL to also be applied to IoT in Zephyr, and vice versa. </p> <p>The development platform you choose may also be influenced by available software and operating systems. The Zephyr RTOS runs on the <a href="">32-bit Intel&reg; Quark&trade; D2000 Microcontroller Developer Kit</a>, which is physically compatible with the existing ecosystem of 3.3v <a href="">Arduino UNO</a> Shields<em> and</em> with <a href="">Booster Packs</a> so developers can leverage ready-made peripherals. When I say <em>physically</em> compatible, I mean that the <em>software</em> compatibility of any Arduino shield is not guaranteed, and the user would need to produce the appropriate code (and hopefully share it with the rest of us.) </p> <p>Zephyr supports <a href="">Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE),</a> and 6LoWPAN (802.15.4), and of course other technologies and standards are to come. It has to be safer from an operating standpoint in that cars may someday share a similar OS for human machine interface in infotainment. It makes life easier when you can depend on knowing that the tips and tricks learned on your own car will also work in another one. The last thing you need is to try and figure out how to pull up &ldquo;settings&rdquo; when you&rsquo;re on a dark road in a foreign country trying to find the language settings so you can navigate safely. </p>79Selfie with a Shark, 18 Aug 2016 21:40:40 GMT<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_SwaS_001.jpg" /><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>A television commercial for the Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge encourages us to think our cell phones are indestructible. In the midst of a selfie, a young girl drops her phone into a shallow fountain. There is no damage: She picks the phone from the water, shakes it off, and goes back to composing her picture. Lest there be any doubt, a voiceover tells us the S7 carries an IP68 rating &mdash; good for 30 minutes in five feet of water.</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>For a good while now we&rsquo;ve thought of our phones as fairly drop proof (how many times have you dropped yours?), relying on the solder joints to keep the semiconductor components tightly mounted to their circuit cards. Before flash memory became widely available and cheap, (enabling smartphones enough storage space for personal data, music videos and pictures) cell phone manufacturers like Nokia wrestled with the possibility of using micro-miniature disk drives. Too fragile for smartphones or portable media players, smartphone makers concluded, too many moving parts, a strong possibility for damage if the phone were dropped, and an almost universal assumption that, many times during its life time, the phone <em>would</em> be dropped.</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>Thus, the smartphone makers assure us it is not just the builders of the Industrial </span><a href="" target="_blank"><span>Internet of Things (IIoT)</span></a><span> who are concerned with ruggedness and the ability to function well </span><a href="" target="_blank"><span>in harsh environments</span></a><span>. With the proliferation of remote sensor networks, designers routinely make judgments on the ability of the components to function under environmental stress. With smart city environments, as one example, smart traffic lights are supposed to regulate the speed of trucks, buses and passenger vehicles. They are expected to clear roadways for emergency vehicles or snow plows. Suspended on telephone poles and lamp posts, smart traffic sensors must exercise precision under elevated temperature and humidity and the same sort of precision must be available in blizzards and hurricanes. I personally believe that the truly &ldquo;smart&rdquo; traffic lights are the ones that wait until you are just about to enter the intersection to turn yellow and then quickly red so they can catch a departing image to boost traffic enforcement revenue. </span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>Consumer products may not be advertised to perform perfectly in blizzards or hurricanes. But they do need to be specified,&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.6em; background-color: #fafaf8;">and thus work, in the outdoor environments where people often use them. There are tablets and large-screen PDAs used on construction sites, for instance, in environments with a great deal of dust. Some smartphones are specifically sealed as to offer resistance to seawater, in case you plan to text your girlfriend while on the next Navy Seal rescue operation or want to take a selfie with a shark.</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>The MIL-STD-810G military specification specifies 19 categories under which electronic equipment &mdash; even consumer goods &mdash; can be specified for applications operating under harsh conditions, including expectations for water and moisture resistance, dust and particulate resistance, shock and vibration resistance, and durability. High temperature environments also apply. In case you are wondering, there are five categories specified for underwater resistance alone:</span></p> <p><!--[if !supportLists]--></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><!--[endif]--><span>Blowing rain</span></p> <p><!--[if !supportLists]--></p> <p><span>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><!--[endif]--><span>Immersion</span></p> <p><!--[if !supportLists]--></p> <p><span>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><!--[endif]--><span>Raindrops (as if blowing rain isn&rsquo;t bad enough)</span></p> <p><!--[if !supportLists]--></p> <p><span>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><!--[endif]--><span>Low-pressure atmospherics </span></p> <p><span>and</span></p> <p><!--[if !supportLists]--></p> <p><span>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><!--[endif]--><span>Durability in saltwater.</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>Shock resistance includes the ability of an electronic device to survive drops, shocks (abrupt slams and jerks), and prolonged vibrations. I know that two year olds are great for testing products in this very area. (Toys and military products probably differ mainly in color. Camo etch-and-sketch, anyone?)</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span>OK, let&rsquo;s get serious: these are not arcane specifications for equipment in paint factories or on welding robots. They apply to smartphones, smart watches, and other wearables. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is &ldquo;Ingress Protected&rdquo; IP68- rated, so it can survive being in more than 4 feet of water or up to 30 minutes in water and is dust resistant. This includes the USB charging port. You can&rsquo;t go swimming with this in your pocket, but if your phone is outside while you are and a huge rain storm hits, your phone will not die. That happened to me about a year ago. I set my phone down while helping with an outdoor installation (of a rain gauge) and suddenly a rain storm hit. We all ran into the utility shed and I realized I had left my phone on a post. I ran back and got it within 2 minutes or so, but it was too late. Those raindrops cost me about $600. How many people have dropped their phone in a toilet or in the pool? I won&rsquo;t ask for a show of hands, but we know that everyone of us has lost electronics to water in some form or another. Not anymore. I don&rsquo;t recommend a selfie with a shark, however. IP-68 doesn&rsquo;t say anything about sharks. </span></p>80Intel®'s Quark™ D2000 SBC & the Open Source nano-RTOS, 28 Jun 2016 20:30:40 GMT<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_IQ_D2000_01.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 442px;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">Intel</a>&reg; is doing it again: they are <em>almost </em>giving away stuff and <em>definitely </em>giving away other stuff. A new member of the Quark family is out, and <a href="" target="_blank">Intel&rsquo;s Quark&trade; D2000 Microcontroller Developer Kit</a> is offered at a very affordable price and has some exceptional tools thrown in for free. A distinctly IoT platform, the Quark D2000 is 32-bits wide and runs at 32MHz with a 2-channel DMA. There are 2 general use timers, a watch dog, 2 PWMs and a real time clock, too. The board is physically compatible with the existing ecosystem of 3.3v <a href="" target="_blank">Arduino UNO</a> shields<em> </em>so developers can leverage ready-made peripherals (code will need to be ported or otherwise developed in order to make them work, but someone is bound to do it and kindly share it with the rest of us.)</p> <p><span>Intel has provided a lot of downloadable documentation and free tools for the Quark D2000 kit. There&rsquo;s a free, downloadable software tool chain and IDE for the development platform: the Intel System Studio for Microcontrollers (ISSM) which is an </span><a href="" target="_blank">Eclipse-based integrated development environment</a><span> (IDE) for developing, optimizing and debugging applications using either </span><span style="color: #666666;">Linux or Windows host platforms</span><span>. Eclipse is an open source IDE that has gone a long way to standardizing the user experience for embedded developers.</span></p> <p>What software does the Quark D2000 support? The most complete answer is any software that can run on the same x86 as the x86 architecture of Quark D2000; which means the 586 as long as you don&rsquo;t expect to do floating point operations, and if it&rsquo;s small enough to fit on the Quark, which means you will not be running a desktop Windows environment on this unless you can whittle it down to less than 40KB or so. (And this is embedded stuff, not desktop stuff.) Or&hellip;.you could use the Zephyr&trade; RTOS. The word Zephyr means &ldquo;a gentle breeze,&rdquo; but it started out as a Rocket. Windriver&rsquo;s tiny Rocket RTOS, that is. </p> <p><span>And this is where things get interesting. Intel bought Windriver a good while back, and has graciously offered Rocket as <em>open source. </em>Zephyr is hosted by </span><a href="" target="_blank">The Linux Foundation</a><span> and will have </span>good community practices to form around it, like Linux: maintainers from multiple companies, roadmaps determined by technical merit, and a focus on quality and security best practices. Before you groan about yet another RTOS, hold on: we have a real gem, here. It&rsquo;s a nano-RTOS that started as a for-profit product. (Itty bitty for-profit RTOSes <span>should be very afraid.) </span>Zephyr is designed to go where Linux is too big and of course it&rsquo;s a completely different code base. It&rsquo;s targeted at processors with&nbsp;8K to 512K memories&hellip;.such as the Quark. If you are wondering, &ldquo;why the itty bitty memory?&rdquo; you need to look at why it&rsquo;s named Quark and what it&rsquo;s here to do. You are not on a farm. This is not <a href="" target="_blank">E-I-E-I-O</a>, it&rsquo;s: I-O-I-O-T. </p> <p>Support for<a href="" target="_blank"> IoT</a> on the Intel &reg;Quark&trade; D2000 means low overhead in the memory department, wireless access through physically compatible modules, ultra-<a href="" target="_blank">low power</a> consumption, I/O for data-gathering, potential wearability and what people usually forget: security. Yes, we have a secure IoT device in the D2000.</p> <p>The IoT of D2000 means:</p> <p>1.<span>&nbsp;</span>No large overhead of huge amounts of memory. The Quark D2000 has 32KB integrated Flash, 8 KB OTP memory, and 8 KB SRAM. &nbsp;Small memories usually mean real time action. Automotive applications run on these tiny RTOSes because it&rsquo;s faster not to have to page through reams of memory. Less overhead is better, and there are no endlessly turning hourglasses. Real-time means instantly available, not waiting for some other process to finish. And real-time is great for safety-related or other critical systems. Imagine running a Windows desktop OS on your car and the anti-lock brakes need to deploy right in the middle of an update. This brings new meaning to a &ldquo;system crash.&rdquo; </p> <p>2.<span>&nbsp;</span>Wireless access to storage: Clouds!&nbsp; Use the serial interface on the Quark D2000 (typically seen on wireless modules) to shuffle that data off to the cloud. </p> <p>3.<span>&nbsp;</span>Ultra low power so it can run on a CR232 coin cell battery.</p> <p>4.<span>&nbsp;</span>Data-gathering chops: 25 GPIO including an ADC and comparators that can wake-up from sleep state.</p> <p>5.<span>&nbsp;</span><span>Wearable-ready: Tiny physical size with integrated RTC, a single 2 &ndash; 3.3 volt supply and integrated pull-ups on the outputs which removes the need for unfashionable pull-up resistors. </span></p> <p>6.<span>&nbsp;</span><span>Security: software and hardware security features such as secure update, JTAG lock, isolated SRAM regions, 4KB of OTP flash with read control, and on-die NVM read/write access control. </span></p> <p><span>The free tools are pretty nice, too. I took the free ISSM out for a test drive and really liked it, and not just because Eclipse is so good. Intel&rsquo;s ISSM is pretty comprehensive. It includes Intel&rsquo;s Integrated Performance Primitives for Microcontrollers, the Board Support Package for the Intel&reg; Quark&trade; Microcontroller Software Interface (dubbed </span><span style="color: #666666;">&ldquo;QMSI BSP&rdquo;), </span><span>and many sample programs disguised as &ldquo;templates.&rdquo; ISSM has a GCC compiler for C/C++ only. (FORTRAN lovers, you&rsquo;ll have to wait.) According to </span><a href="" target="_blank">,</a><span> GCC, which stands for the GNU Compiler Collection, &ldquo;includes front ends for C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java, Ada, and Go.&rdquo; And ISSM includes options so you can tweak the compiler to your liking. (Now that is cool. Someone will be bolting on GCC Fortran in no time.)</span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p><span><br /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span><iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0"></iframe></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>85The Internet of Useful Things, or “The World’s Most Expensive Egg Timer”,All,IoTWed, 08 Jun 2016 21:30:00 GMT<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<img alt="" style="text-align: center;" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_TIoUT_01.jpg" /></p> <p>How did we get here? I could use several lifetimes up just in <a target="_blank" href="">projects</a>. The tools available to the masses seem to be fueled by <a target="_blank" href="">IoT</a>. We can all engineer a little IoT, apparently. </p> <p>I own the Amazon Echo, a.k.a. &ldquo;Alexa&rdquo;, which is a really cool as a voice-activated IoT-input tool. There&rsquo;s a site on Amazon dedicated to developers for using Alexa, and apparently a $100M investment &ldquo;to fuel voice technology innovation.&rdquo; At first, I found myself saying &ldquo;please&rdquo; and &ldquo;thank you&rdquo; after commands to set a timer directed at Alexa. There&rsquo;s a satisfaction to hear her immediately respond that she&rsquo;s setting a timer. No nagging required.</p> <p>I can also use Alexa with, an IoT cloud server. IFTTT (If This Then That) has servers that perform functions with commands over the internet. Think of IFTTT as a kind of Twitter for Things. Alexa sits on the kitchen counter, and besides being the world&rsquo;s most expensive egg timer, she can take voice commands to find my phone. With kids in the house and cordless landline telephones, you can&rsquo;t just pick up a phone and speed dial your cell phone. You have to find a cordless phone first, which is never on the base. Then I found out I could yell at Alexa to &ldquo;find my phone!&rdquo; as rudely as I liked. (You can be mean to IoT and robots and they don&rsquo;t flinch. Sometimes Alexa will make a dry remark like, &ldquo;I am glad to be of use to you,&rdquo; if you insult her, but mostly she doesn&rsquo;t care.)</p> <p>When I yell a command at Alexa to find my phone, she sends a message to, and then my phone rings with a phone number from California. (When I actually answer, it starts a robo-dialogue of how it will talk for 5 minutes to give me a fake emergency to allow a polite escape from boring people.) All I had to do is &ldquo;program&rdquo; her on to get it set up. &ldquo;Program&rdquo; is in quotes because it really was more like filling out a form with my phone number and what I planned to tell Alexa to get her to trigger IFTTT to call my cell phone. They refer to the programs as &ldquo;recipes,&rdquo; which I guess is meant to sound less intimidating. </p> <p>How else is IoT useful? I use Alexa for my kids&rsquo; second brain. Children regularly need their parent&rsquo;s brains to remember to do things, like to continue eating breakfast instead of staring off into space. Now Alexa does that. I ask Alexa to set a timer for 1, 2 and 3 minutes (to remind them to keep eating), for 15 minutes (to remind them to get book bags, coats, and lunches ready) and then another to remind them to go out the door. My kids just say &ldquo;Alexa, stop&rdquo; to stop the alarm tone. And then she dings again for the next reminder. I wish she could say specific things like, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t forget to take your dishes to the sink!&rdquo; in relation to specific timer-names, but maybe Alexa 2 will do that. I could use a nag-bot that attaches to a kid&rsquo;s lapel, never falls off, and never gets lost. A portable Alexa could fit in my ear like one of those invisible in-ear hearing aids and whisper reminders into my ear and bits of information (a.k.a. augment reality), although I don&rsquo;t know how such an IoT hearing aid would be able to do face-recognition (to remember names for me.) Nag-bot could tell me that a storm is coming and I should leave for home a little earlier that day, or automatically tell me which direction to walk in once I re-appear to GPS after emerging from a store into the parking lot. </p> <p>IoT is indeed making my life easier. You just have to find out which bits of IoT can help <em>you</em>. I find that IoT comes in handiest for forgetfulness, which is baked into kids. </p> <p>IFTTT comes in handy for more than just &ldquo;programming&rdquo; Alexa. There are almost 300 &ldquo;channels&rdquo; of IoT products and services that are registered at, as of this writing, including everything from smart GE appliances to WEMo and WINK home automation devices. And there&rsquo;s an entire section devoted to DIY Electronics that includes channels for working with Little Bits, Seeed (of <a target="_blank" href="">Seeed Studio</a>), and <a target="_blank" href="">Adafruit</a>. </p> <p>The BMW channel can make your BMW car text you if your car is speeding (for when you loan the BMW to your teenager) or it can text your kids when you are near school to pick them up. (Sorry, Apple people, this is an Android-only recipe.) IoT has the promise of making our busy lives a little more orderly. </p> <p>What else can you do with this? Adafruit has a recipe for notifying your smartphone if a door is opened. You could modify this to notify you of any switch action, as long as the switch&rsquo;s means of is within internet shouting distance (i.e., <a href="">WiFi</a> is enabled and nearby.) While fun once it&rsquo;s working, the number of accounts and passwords required to navigate IFTTT plus any channels you sign in to are a hassle. </p> <p>Which brings me to the conclusion that IoT will be bogged down by passwords in some way or another. I am still waiting for strangers to hack my Alexa and start talking to me in my own kitchen, which would mean they hacked into my IFTTT account. So they can make my phone ring. I&rsquo;ll just block it. Which means signing into another account. </p> <p>So IoT also means more accounts with more login IDs and passwords. How did we get here?</p>84Children and the F-word,Open SourceWed, 23 Dec 2015 14:47:21 GMT<p>One of our bloggers moved across the U.S. a while back, travelling in an RV. He has a wife, kids, and a dog. He seems a bit rattled, but who wouldn&rsquo;t be, hurtling through space at 60MPH in a metal box with kids and animals running about inside. </p> <p>It&rsquo;s times like that when I ask myself&hellip;.&rdquo;Now why did I have kids?&rdquo;<span>&nbsp; </span>The word &ldquo;cute&rdquo; comes to mind, but when I realize I could be drinking mojitos in the Caribbean with the extra time and money. A cross country move or camping means whining and crabbiness, dogs and kids that need a restroom stop every 2 hours, and (purposely?) lost toothbrushes&hellip;.being a parent comes with a sense of resignation at times. It does get balanced out by the good times, and it makes for some really funny memories. </p> <p>For those of you who don&rsquo;t have kids, kudos to you, the world is getting crowded anyway. But in solidarity with those of us who do have kids, let&rsquo;s talk about the good side of that venerable venture, because parenting is as old as man. (Neanderthals were parents, too.)</p> <p>Why it&rsquo;s fun to have kids</p> <p>You get to experiment on them. (Twins are especially interesting.) I told my kids when they were 6 (they kept asking) what the F word was&hellip;..I told them it was &ldquo;Farfenugen&rdquo; and remembered to say <span>&nbsp;</span>&ldquo;Farfenugen!&rdquo; every now and then in traffic. Recently, at age 10, they found out that &ldquo;Farfenugen&rdquo; is <em>not &ldquo;</em>the F word.&rdquo; For 4 years I heard them tell on each other, &ldquo;Mom, he said (whisper) <em>Farfenugen</em>.&rdquo; </p> <p>It was hard not to laugh. Then there was the time when I was driving and some road rage occurred 3 lanes to the right of us and my daughter asked me that guy was yelling, &ldquo;Vacuum! Vacuuuuum!&rdquo; I said maybe he was upset because he couldn&rsquo;t find the vacuum store. Obviously she mistook one word for another because if you read lips they look so similar. Lots of words are similar and can be mistaken for another. </p> <p>Do you know the difference between a <a href="">thermistor</a> and a <a href="">thyristor</a>? A thermistor has to do with sensing temperature. It&rsquo;s a type of resistor that reduces resistance in response to heat, but it&rsquo;s non-linear in places. If you only need temperature measured where the response is linear, you have a cost-effective sensing element.<img alt="" width="73" height="185" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/thyristor.png" style="float: right; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px;" /></p> <p>A <em>thyristor </em>is a transient overvoltage protector. According to <a href="">Bourns ACTP Series</a>&rsquo; datasheet, a thyristor &ldquo;is designed to be used in series with an overvoltage clamp device, such as an <a href=";FS=True">MOV</a>, to protect a power supply from damage due to an overvoltage condition on its ac input lines.&rdquo; </p> <p>As a parent, I can say I enjoy watching my kids get excited by technology and learning. Sometimes the learning isn&rsquo;t always academic, however. My son once told me he was not going to do the dishes that I had just asked him to do. He said, &ldquo;Why should I work for you for free?&rdquo; This almost made me laugh, considering all the sleepless (unpaid) nights I have spent with him, but I paused. Instead of yelling &ldquo;Vacuum,&rdquo; I knew this was a teachable moment. </p> <p>Up to my armpits in flour rolling out dough, I said, &ldquo;Well, I am working to make dinner and was going to share it with you, and if you don&rsquo;t want to help, you don&rsquo;t have to. But then I don&rsquo;t have to share my dinner with you. You can make yourself a peanut butter sandwich.&rdquo; The ghost of The Little Red Hen was never prouder. After a pause, he cautiously asked me what was for dinner. </p> <p>&ldquo;Pizza.&rdquo; </p> <p>Silence&hellip;&hellip; and then, &rdquo;OK, fine, I&rsquo;ll do the dishes.&rdquo; And he did. </p> <p>These are simple lessons, but you get to shape the moral conscience of another human being and watch them learn. Sometimes it&rsquo;s easy to forget how important your role is in their lives. And time slips by, and before you know it, you no can longer influence them--- they&rsquo;re done. That cake is baked. </p> <p>But this also brings to mind the incredible giving that goes on when makers spend hours and hours to photograph and document projects for people they will never meet. They respond to comments and help others find their way with no expectation of compensation. This, my friends, is the same human compassion and generosity that good parents and friends practice every day. And even if there are no comments, people are reading your projects and getting inspiration for their own designs. As a blogger I rarely see comments but sometimes get stopped by people who mention similar experiences that I have written about. So don&rsquo;t think that your effort as a parent, friend or maker are unappreciated. When you <a href="">share projects</a> and give to others, you are making joy, not just electronics. </p>107USB Type-C™ Explained,AllTue, 17 Nov 2015 21:28:28 GMT<p>I was intrigued to hear that Benson Leung, a Google engineer working on the Chromebook Pixel, had gone on a one-man crusade to help early adopters of USB Type-C technology (used in the Pixel) to review Type-C cables online to weed out the ones that were not USB Type-C spec compliant. Turns out that this amazing connector that will de-clutter our lives by channeling up to 10 Gbps data and 100W power <em>in one small cable </em>has many not-quite-right cables flooding the market. </p> <p><a target="_blank" href="">The USB-C standard</a> is somewhat new, and so cable markings or logos for USB Type-C certification are not clear yet for even the ones who are legitimately certified. This concerned me, so I checked with Qualtek&rsquo;s engineer R.J. Nuti, to see if <a target="_blank" href=";Ntt=128237351">Qualtek&rsquo;s USB Type-C cables</a> are certified, and how to tell. R.J. had heard about <a target="_blank" href="">Benson&rsquo;s crusade</a> and was very clear that Qualtek&rsquo;s cables are indeed certified. He also said that the Superspeed+ (10Gbps) cables should have a SS+ USB mark on them. </p> <p>Thanks Benson, for doing the right thing. And thanks for making me really curious about USB Type-C and why a Type-C cable can still be certified but unable to stream video to your 4K HD screen from your Type-C Chromebook. The hype on Type-C can be misleading, and there&rsquo;s more to it than, &ldquo;One cable to connect them all.&rdquo; If you want the very short explanation, here&rsquo;s my best advice: to avoid confusion, don&rsquo;t ever buy anything but a cable that is certified as a Type-C, USB 3.1, <em>and</em> USB PD compliant cable. Yep, all three. If you want to know why, read on. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>How USB became King of all Connectors </strong></p> <p>USB has gained wide international adoption for battery charging, especially for mobile electronic devices. Standardization on USB for charging devices has been primarily intended to reduce electronic waste by doing away with having a separate proprietary charger for every electronic gadget. </p> <p>Three new USB technology specifications provide for USB solutions that promise to reduce clutter, provide unprecedented inter-operability, simplify connecting USB devices with reversible and &ldquo;flippable&rdquo; plugs and cables, and provide much faster charging. These improvements are specified in the USB Type-C&trade; and USB Power Delivery (PD) specifications that are compatible with USB 2.0, 3.0, and the new USB 3.1 specifications, cables and connectors in various ways. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" style="width: 600px; height: 306px;" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_USBTCE_01.png" />&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>But there are several<em> independent </em>(i.e., &ldquo;mix-and-match&rdquo;) USB specs: </p> <p>1. 1. USB 3.0/3.1 (USB 3.0 =USB 3.1 Gen 1/SuperSpeed/5Gbps and USB 3.1= USB 3.1 Gen 2/SuperSpeed+/10Gbps) </p> <p>2. USB Type-C&trade; (USB-C&trade;)</p> <p>3. USB Power Delivery (USB PD)</p> <p>&hellip;and then there are the USB 2.0 and 1.1 specs.</p> <p>But don&rsquo;t confuse the specification <em>USB 1.1</em> with <em>USB Type-C 1.1</em>. </p> <p>Ultimately, when the current installed base of USB products are phased out, we will all use a single cable for everything, a cable that is: </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">1. Compliant with USB 3.1 SuperSpeed+<span>&nbsp; </span>at up to 10Gbps</p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">2. Uses the flippable, reversible Type-C connectors on both ends</p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">3. And provides <em>charging and data all</em> <em>in one cable </em>for everything from smartphones to laptops to monitors. (Cool, huh?) </p> <p>That indeed would be a single cable to connect nearly every gadget to power or another gadget. But we are not there yet. We still have many legacy USB products that will still be working 20 years from now, and no one is going to throw away a perfectly good Smartphone because its USB micro-B connector is annoying in the dark. You might have the Chromebook Pixel that only has Type-C connector receptacles (and is USB 3.1 Gen 1) and yet want to load images from our older USB 2.0 compliant digital camera, which has a USB micro-B plug. Therefore, until all these older USB products are phased out, you can have a Type-C-to-USB micro B connector/adapter/cable assembly that will never be able to implement the USB PD spec because the USB Type-B connectors were never designed to handle the voltage and current that a <em>Type-C</em>, USB PD compliant AC/DC charging cable (aka &ldquo;wall wart&rdquo;) would be able to provide to the Chromebook Pixel, for instance. Therefore, you will find chips, connectors, and cable assemblies that are both USB 2.0 and Type-C compliant, for example, and cannot charge higher than 1.5A or spew data faster than 480&nbsp;Mbit/s (High Speed). Even if a cable is Type-C compliant, you will never need 10Gbps for your Type-C keyboard. Thus, we have cables that are USB 2.0-compliant and USB Type-C compliant that look exactly like a USB-Type C USB 3.1 (10Gbps) cable. I asked R.J. if there was a way to tell if a Type-C-to-Type-C cable was based on USB 2.0 or USB 3.1 speeds. He said there should be an SS+ marking on the USB 3.1 cable, otherwise they are visually identical. Since USB 3.1 is limited to 1m in length, I surmise that any<em> </em>Type-C cables greater than 1m long are the USB 2.0-chipped cables that will work for slower devices (&lt;480Mbps, a.k.a. &ldquo;High Speed&rdquo;). </p> <p>Right now, only USB Type-C cables and connectors can carry the power capability of (and compliant with) the <a target="_blank" href="">USB PD (power delivery)</a> specification, and Type-C can even operate in &ldquo;alternate mode&rdquo; to be used with other communications technologies like <a target="_blank" href="">HDMI and DisplayPort</a>. <span>&nbsp;</span>(Scenario:<span>&nbsp; </span>A new USB-C Smartphone connects to an older TV via a Type-C-to-Type C cable with a DisplayPort-to-Type-C adapter on your older TV.) </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" style="width: 600px; height: 216px;" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_USBTCE_02.png" />&nbsp;</span></p> <span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">USB Type-C can do everything that all of these connectors do now, separately, and thus promises to seriously de-clutter consumer's lives. Image courtesy Cypress Semiconductor, AN95615</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The USB Type-C spec mainly addresses how vendors will implement a USB cable with a connector that&rsquo;s shaped something like a flat Chiclet. You can flip it over and the profile looks the same; no extra ridges to force you to get it just right. Type-C is tiny and robust. Type-C can deliver up to 100 Watts. But it comes at a cost: there&rsquo;s a chip the size of a pepper flake inside the Type-C connector. The chip is needed in order to figure out which side is up or down, and which end is the &ldquo;master&rdquo; (host/DFP) and which is the &ldquo;slave&rdquo; (peripheral/UFP). Thus, the Type-C is both &ldquo;flippable&rdquo; and &ldquo;reversible.&rdquo; Clumsy smartphone users rejoice! The Type-C connector also has to know what type of power is needed (there are 5 profiles of 10W, 18W, 36W, 60W, and 100W.) One Type-C USB cable will be able to fast-charge and communicate simultaneously to a laptop from a monitor that&rsquo;s plugged in to an AC adapter/&rdquo;wall wart.&rdquo; (That&rsquo;s both charging, operating power, and video at the same time.)<span>&nbsp; </span>The typical monitor may become a hub/docking station where everything is plugged in and inter-communicating while also charging. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">&nbsp;<img alt="" style="width: 600px; height: 330px;" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_USBTCE_03.png" /></span></p> <span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">USB PD standards create flexibility and concurrently deliver both power and data on a single cable. Image Courtesy Cypress Semiconductor, AN95615</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>For power, the Type-C cable must detect: </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">1. If the connected device will be providing or consuming power </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">2. How much power is needed (based on the power profiles.)</p> <p>Devices that consume power with Type-C connectors must also comply to the USB Type-C standard in that they can consume at a pre-established power profile (choose from<span>&nbsp; </span>5 profiles of 10W,18W,36W, 60W, and 100W at set voltages of 5V,12V, or 20V.) </p> <p>But for the time being, we still have a bunch of smartphones, netbooks, laptops, mice, keyboards, GPSes and handheld gaming devices created to various (and backward compatible) USB standards. The Type-C physical connector is not physically backwards compatible, so you can expect lots of adapters to hit the market that convert Type-C to USB-whatever. Macbook Retina has a USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) multiport adapter that will communicate with other standard-A-port USB devices at 5Gbps, if those other devices are also USB 3.1 (Gen 1 or 2) devices. But do not expect your Type-C cable assembly to do more than USB 2.0 in charging or speed if that USB-C to USB-C cable is conducting communications with a USB 1.1- or USB 2.0-compliant device. It&rsquo;s kind of confusing, and I think most people just want a cable they can trust, and having discussed all of this with R.J., you can trust the Qualtek <a target="_blank" href="" title="Click to view additional information on this product."><span style="background: whitesmoke none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">562-3023041-01M</span></a> or the <a target="_blank" href="" title="Click to view additional information on this product."><span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: #23527c;">562-3027001-005M</span></a> to work with that Chromebook Pixel or the Mackbook Pro. Note that these are USB-PD compliant to 60W. </p> <p><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><img alt="" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_USBTCE_04.png" />&nbsp;</span></p> <span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Qualtek 3027001-005M is rated at 10Gbps and up to 60W. Source: <a target="_blank" href="">Qualtek datasheet.</a></span></p> <p><a href=""><br /> </a></p> <p>Until all of your devices can use Type-C, buy adapters and take care to buy Type-C-to-Type-C compliant cables that comply with the USB Type-C specification. Better yet, make sure they are also USB PD and USB 3.1 compliant and you will not have to fuss with different cables for a good while. Without certification or logos that are earned by passing tests, you cannot be certain of Type-C cables or connectors from dubious sources. The form factor is just one facet of Type-C; Type-C connectors are smart connectors and will not work or may even damage devices if they are not fully Type-C compliant. (Drawing 100W over a non-compliant cable might burn up the non-compliant wires, etc.) Indeed, some Type-C chips (remember that pepper flake?) are Type-C compliant at USB 2.0 speeds. A human-device-interface (HID) class device will never need USB 3.1 speeds; no one can type that fast, therefore a keyboard may house a <em>USB 2.0-compliant</em> Type-C receptacle. (But a USB 3.1, USB PD and Type&mdash;C compliant cable will work just fine on that USB 2.0 Type-C keyboard, because USB 3.1 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0.) </p> <p>So don&rsquo;t confuse &ldquo;USB Type-C&rdquo; with a specific speed or power profile. Designers will need to confirm if a chip that supports Type-C also supports the USB PD and/or USB 3.1 if top-of-the line is needed in a Type-C compliant device or cable. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>To learn more, see this 2 minute video from Cypress Semiconductor:</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object width="480" height="270" id="flashObj" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase=",0,47,0"> <param name="movie" value=";isUI=1"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="flashVars" value="videoId=4040348282001&amp;playerID=1695546469001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAABioIZSdE~,wXLVZKRLZMVVv5G9ljXusqyW5TO3muNa&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true"> <param name="base" value=""> <param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="swLiveConnect" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src=";isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=4040348282001&amp;playerID=1695546469001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAABioIZSdE~,wXLVZKRLZMVVv5G9ljXusqyW5TO3muNa&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true" base="" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="" height="270" width="480"></object></p> <p>If you already understand USB standards and want a deeper dive, watch this excellent 38 minute video from Cypress Semiconductor: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object width="480" height="270" codebase=",0,47,0" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="flashObj"> <param name="movie" value=";isUI=1"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="flashVars" value="videoId=4170155116001&amp;playerID=1695546469001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAABioIZSdE~,wXLVZKRLZMVVv5G9ljXusqyW5TO3muNa&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true"> <param name="base" value=""> <param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="swLiveConnect" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src=";isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=4170155116001&amp;playerID=1695546469001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAABioIZSdE~,wXLVZKRLZMVVv5G9ljXusqyW5TO3muNa&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true" base="" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="" height="270" width="480"></object> </p>106The Assimilation of Self-driving Cars, One Feature at a Time, 20 Oct 2015 21:31:38 GMT<p>Just this week, Tesla provided a patch that allowed Model S and X owners to gain new features with an overnight download. (Tesla cars are able to receive wireless &ldquo;over-the-air&rdquo; updates that add software-enabled features.) The biggest change besides a new clock and other visual display changes on the 17&rdquo; <a target="_blank" href="">touchscreen</a> was that Teslas are one step closer to being <a target="_blank" href="">self-driving cars</a>. With an overnight update, the cars have a very much upgraded &ldquo;cruise control.&rdquo; They will now stay in a lane if you are driving at least 18 mph, even if you aren&rsquo;t paying attention. It&rsquo;s meant for highway driving and will not yet brake for stoplights, shoppers, or squirrels, but more is promised. All the driver needs to do is keep at least one finger on the wheel, or the car gets nervous and sends a message to get you to at least touch the wheel or it&rsquo;s going to glide to a stop and turn the hazard lights on.</p> <p>How many Tesla owners were on highways the next day, trying out their new Auto Lane Change feature? Flick the turn signal and the car will change lanes autonomously. The lane change feature takes advantage of the fact that lanes have line markings. Cameras are used to track the lines, and if the lines are missing or faint, it can confuse any good self-driving car, so you can count on highway lines to be as important as potholes in the future. The model S and X can now parallel park, too. </p> <p>Both Audi and Mercedes have similar features already, but Tesla implemented them overnight without any owners driving in to a dealership. It&rsquo;s no wonder Tesla has a huge fan base of non-Tesla owners. What will they do next?</p> <p>Tesla&rsquo;s goal is to be fully self-driving car in 2018. I expect sentience is not far off. Will cars make decisions on whether to take longer, non-toll routes when in &ldquo;economy mode&rdquo;? Or will my car, in &ldquo;eco-mode,&rdquo; calculate the tradeoff of carbon footprint versus time saved to take the faster route, after checking my calendar to see if I have any appointments? It&rsquo;s a bit creepy if my car makes decisions for me. Even if I previously selected eco-mode in a passing fit of virtuousness, it doesn&rsquo;t mean that I always want economy choices in reality; most people include wishful thinking in their quest for morality, and I am likely no exception.</p> <p>Or will my car be less responsible, and more influenced by interest-related advertising based on my prior actions? I can see it now; maybe my car, in &ldquo;luxury mode,&rdquo; will ask to be painted in the latest trendy color and pout when I firmly point out that a nice wax job is quite sufficient. After all, beauty comes from within. Didn&rsquo;t that nice Nissan Leaf allow us to merge in bumper-to-bumper traffic just last week? Those Nissans are so polite. <span>&nbsp;</span></p>108Bi-curious? Which Direction to Take when Dealing with a TVS ProtectionMon, 28 Sep 2015 17:00:00 GMT<p>Circuit protection is like car insurance. Some people feel like they don&rsquo;t need it if they are driving a very cheap car. I can understand that, as long as you don&rsquo;t hit a pedestrian or someone else&rsquo;s car. Car insurance is mandatory in many places for good reason. It&rsquo;s possible that nothing bad can happen, but if it does, a circuit can bring an entire system down if it doesn&rsquo;t have circuit protection.</p> <p>I was looking for circuit protection for a video device earlier today and decided on a Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS). A TVS is pretty quick at responding to protect a circuit, so delicate circuits that can experience a lightning strike could benefit from a TVS because it would act fast enough to avoid damage. Each scenario is unique, so apply what makes sense in your application.<span>&nbsp; </span>So I knew a TVS was a good choice for my application.</p> <p>But should my TVS be &ldquo;unidirectional&rdquo; or &ldquo;bidirectional&rdquo;?<span>&nbsp; </span>I had forgotten. Had someone asked me to guess, I would&rsquo;ve thought it meant that you should apply bidirectional TVS whenever you know the voltage will go above <em>and </em>below ground. This is sort of right, and definitely applies to protecting circuits that experience AC voltage. But &ldquo;sort of right&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t something I am willing to live with, so I checked it out.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" style="width: 600px; height: 233px;" src="/blog/Portals/11/LynnetteReesePhotos/LR_BCTVS_01.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><em>Figure 1: Unidirectional TVS from wonderful app note by On Semi: <a target="_blank" href=""></a></em></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Choosing a unidirectional or bidirectional TVS device depends on the circuit being protected. Yes, use a bidirectional TVS for AC power because it has bidirectional voltage swings. But this not <em>completely</em> right, because if I am throwing bidirectional TVS at everything &ldquo;just to be safe,&rdquo; I am missing something crucial: a bidirectional TVS assumes that going <em>below ground</em> is OK. &nbsp;This is not the case with a positive DC voltage circuit, where even though 0 to +5 volts might be ok, -5 volts could damage the circuit. This is when a <em>unidirectional </em>TVS is used, because a bi-directional 5V TVS will allow a range of -5 to +5 volts through to your circuit without regret. Choose a clamping voltage that you know will be OK for your circuit and anything downstream (as a good neighbor) to experience. The datasheets might not state what your components can withstand, and do not assume that the max voltage rating is OK. Max voltage rating on a datasheet is a tested value and may not apply perfectly to every single component every time. You need to either run a smoke test on your circuit, or assume the worst and go with the clamping voltages that you know will protect you but will not cramp the functioning of the circuit, either. If you test your circuit, keep in mind that TVS protects against transients and damage can occur that results in a delayed degradation, if not just plain failure. </span></p> <p>Thus:</p> <p>Bidirectional TVSes are used with AC circuits and with any DC circuit that is supposed to experience +/- DC Voltage. </p> <p>Unidirectional is for something that can&rsquo;t handle voltages in both directions. TVS for pretty much all ranges are available, so you can tailor it to your application. </p> <p>Choosing clamping voltages can be difficult, so being conservative isn&rsquo;t a bad idea. Place a TVS nearest to the input of where the transient is most likely to occur, such as the connector entry point on a PCB, keeping connective traces short to avoid parasitic capacitance. With high speed circuits, choose the lowest capacitance TVS you can find, because capacitance has a definite relationship with frequency and parasitic capacitance can be inadvertently generated. </p>110