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` 100 NOVEMBER 2014
For You
Vol. 3 No. 7 ISSN 0013-516X
Pages: 142+8
UK £5; US $10
SOLDERING SOLDERING STATIONS, STATIONS, TOOLS TOOLS AND AND SOLDERING SOLDERING ACCESSORIES ACCESSORIES Great Great selection selection from from industry industry leading leading manufacturers. manufacturers. Shop Shop online online at at element14. element14.
Create an Electronics Product Using sPlan Piklab: An IDE for PIC Microcontroller Lochmaster 4.0: Developers’ Tool for Strip Board Projects
• LED Lighting
November 2014 | Electronics For You plus
I IV VII
• Programmable Power Source
Printed, published and owned by Ramesh Chopra. Printed at Nutech Photolithographers, B-38, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, New Delhi, on the first day of each month and published from D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, New Delhi 110020. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction of any material from this magazine in any manner without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility whatsoever is taken for any loss due to publishing errors. Articles that cannot be used are returned to the authors if accompanied by a self-addressed and sufficiently stamped envelope. But no responsibility is taken for any loss or delay in returning the material. EFY will not be responsible for any wrong claims made by an advertiser. Disputes, if any, will be settled in a New Delhi court only.
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First Look!
The Latest Home And Office Products
Motorola The Smart LG G3 Stylus Debuts Launches the in India Stylish Moto 360 The wait is finally over... A watch that tells time and much more
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oto 360 stays true to the timeless form of the classic wristwatch. A round design maximises the display area while ensuring a comfortable fit, so you can get the information you want conveniently on your wrist. The watch responds to your voice with voice control, which makes it easy to get things done, even when your hands are full. Just say ‘Ok Google’ and you can send texts, set a reminder, check the weather and even ask for directions. Moto 360 is a classically-designed, modern timepiece powered by Android Wear. Comfortable, familiar and crafted with the finest materials, Moto 360 keeps you upto-date without taking you away from the moment. Glance at your wrist to see updates or just speak to get the information you need. You can also keep track of your steps and know your heart rate using a built-in pedometer and heart rate monitor. For now, Moto 360 is exclusively available on Flipkart. Price: ` 17,999
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Stylus feels comfortable in any hand inally bringing the premium Stylus and complements the phone’s 14cm experience to Indian consumers, (5.5-inch) large IPS display. LG launched the muchJotting and sketching are awaited LG G3 Stylus easier and more precise smartphone in India. when paired with LG’s The Stylus version QuickMemo+ that lets of the G3 is a penusers take notes or draw enabled smartphone directly on images or that inherits the maps. The stylus is comcore DNA of the acpatible with a number of claimed LG G3. The third-party handwritLG G3 Stylus, with ing and drawing apps. its large display, styOptimised for varilus pen and LG’s ous 3G markets’ wireproprietary camera less networks, the G3 UX features, has a Stylus is offered in smartly priced packdual SIM with NFC age to go with it. capability in three The proprietary Rubcolours: black, white berdium stylus pen and gold. that slides inside the G3 Price: ` 21,500
Android Tablet from Lenovo Tablet with voice-calling feature
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enovo has released its A-series tablet called Lenovo A8-50. The new Lenovo A8-50 tablet brings in the voice-calling feature. It sports a 20.3cm (8-inch) HD screen that supports a 10-point multitouch feature. It is powered by 1.3GHz MediaTek processor, backed by1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage space, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It features a 5MP rear camera and 2MP
front camera. It packs 4200mAh Li-Po battery, which can deliver over 20 days of standby time and up to 11 hours of usage time. With respect to connectivity options, the tablet comes with 3G, Wi-Fi, micro-USB, GPS/A-GPS, GPRS/ EDGE, FM radio and Bluetooth 4.0 facilities. It is available in four colour variants, including midnight blue, white, flamenco red and canary yellow. It can be availed from the company’s online store and third party e-retailers. Price: ` 17,999
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First Look!
GizMo ByTes Woodland launches ‘Woodland–Explore More’ Woodland, the global outdoor and adventure gear brand, has launched the country’s first ever digital magazine ‘Woodland—Explore More’ with an intent to facilitate and grow the unexplored world of outdoor, adventure in the country. This magazine is developed on an interactive digital medium to reach outdoor adventurists and voyagers and give them an understanding of how to explore more. This magazine is available on iOS AppStore (for iPhones) as well as Google Play (for Android mobile handsets); all a reader has to do is download it, and he or she will have access to the exciting world of adventure with a bouquet of path-breaking informational content.
Ola enables cash-free cab booking, launches prepaid wallet Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for cab booking, today announced the launch of their in-app wallet feature, enabling cash-free rides for customers and a seamless payment experience. The wallet will allow customers to recharge their account through a credit/debit card or their online banking account right from the app. The available balance will be automatically deducted from the customer’s wallet against the final fare after ride completion and a receipt will be e-mailed, making it a fully cashless experience. The wallet will not only allow users to ride cashless, but also help them gift a ride or prepay for their loved ones.
Pustaka launches India’s first language eBook portal Pustaka Digital Media launched India’s first eBook selling and lending portal in vernacular languages—www.pustaka. co.in. Initially, www.pustaka.co.in will have 150-plus titles from eminent authors of Tamil, Kananda and Telugu languages. The company plans to launch a digitisation model for all Indian language books by the end of 2020, based on the response from both reader and author community.
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The Latest Home And Office Products
Bluetooth Speakers, Headphones from Bose Bose adds to its line of SoundLink mobile audio solutions
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he SoundLink Colour Bluetooth speaker is a completely new SoundLink design but is still every inch a SoundLink! It weighs just 0.5 kg, and is 12.7cm (5-inch) wide, 5.3cm (2.08-inch) deep and 13.4cm (5.27-inch) high. It fits easily into a handbag, knapsack or the palm of your hand. Bose combined exclusive dual-opposing passive radiators with two high-efficiency transducers for
Price: ` 11,138
full-range sound, including deep, low-note performance. The size and performance of this product makes it a small wonder, making listening undeniably portable, powerful and fun. It connects wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet or other Bluetooth-enabled devices and uses voice prompts, available in several languages, to simplify set-up, and identify which source is connected. Even when you turn it off, it remembers the last eight devices paired with it when powered back on. It, then, automatically connects to the two most recently used—iPhone, iPad, Android or any other Bluetoothenabled device. A 3.5mm stereo auxiliary input is integrated on the back of the enclosure. It outlasts parties and playlists with rugged durability. Using a lithium-ion battery, it can last for up to eight hours of unplugged play time and fully recharges with most USB power sources in as little as three hours. Its exhaustively tested housing is made of elastomer and plastic. It comes in black, white, blue, red and mint.
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he new SoundLink on-ear Bluetooth headphones deliver a new level of performance. They feature crisp, powerful sound, new features, and a design that’s lighter and more comfortable than conventional Bluetooth headphones. The SoundLink on-ear Bluetooth headphones deliver all the audio performance of a Bose wired headphone. Bose’s active equalisation and TriPort technology combine for smoother, more balanced sound. Midhigh frequencies are natural, and low-frequencies are detailed and full. Yet, there are no cords or cables, Price: ` 21,038 so you can take calls, or enjoy a video, movie or music freely. These headphones debut new functionality and are so intuitive, anyone can use them. They connect up to two devices at a time and let you switch between each, so you can watch a video from your tablet while staying connected to your smartphone. Simple voice prompts identify callers, battery status and source connection. With commands on the earcup, you are in control: turn it on and off, answer and end a call, adjust volume, play/pause, or control tracks, without using your phone. These headphones were precisely engineered for a busy life. They use rugged, impact-resistant materials, glass-filled nylon and non-corrosive stainless steel, yet weigh only 156gm. Designed to be worn comfortably for hours, they feature soft ear cushions and a headband pad made of fabric used in high-end automotive applications. They fold smoothly for compact storage in a matching case. The SoundLink Bluetooth headphones come in black or white. They charge easily with a USB cable (included with the headphones) for up to 15 hours of listening or up to two hours after a mere 15-minute charge.
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Buyers’ Guide
Headphones: The right one for you Shakespeare wrote, “If music be the food for love, play on.” Well, if you really want to enjoy music, you ought to have the right pair of headphones diksha gupta
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hether it is about commuting from home to office or spending some private moments, a good set of headphones has become a part of our lives. With various options available in the market, it is confusing to choose the right headphone. There are a host of headphones available from some of the finest brands. While a few of them are good to be used at home because of their size, most of them, which are more portable, add to the music experience while on the go. The four main types presently available in the market are: 1. Over-ear headphones. These large headphones cover the ears, almost completely. The cushioned pads on them make them comfortable enough to be worn for a longer period of time. These headphones offer good sound quality and are great for using at home. 2. On-ear headphones. These are sleeker, smaller and lighter than over-ear headphones. Designed to sit on the ear, these are padded with foam or leatherette. Many on-ear headphones come in a foldable design, making them easy to carry around. However, some have an open-back design and the base levels of these cannot match the levels set by
the closed-back ones, including over-ear headphones. So, you might have to compromise with the sound quality. 3. In-ear headphones. Also known as earphones, these can be inserted into the ear canal. The ear canal is almost sealed with the earphone’s rubber head, isolating the noise around. These are best suited for places where noise blockage is required. 4. Earbuds. An earbud sits at the entry of the ear canal, but does not actually go inside. It has a flat or a slightly curvy surface. Because these do not offer an air-tight seal, noise blockage doesn’t happen when you use them. The audio experience of earbuds is disappointing. Factors one should look for before buying a headphone: Value for money. Headphones are available in all price ranges. Expensive headphones are made up of better engineering and high-quality material and provide improved sound quality. Before making a purchase, check for the basic sound quality and durability levels of the headphones. Sound isolation factor. Whether you buy headphones for enhancing your music experience or enjoying gaming, sound isolation factor is of utmost importance. It means how well a pair of headphones blocks outside noise. In-
ear headphones, earbuds and DJ-style headphones serve you well in this area, as they seal the ear almost completely. Noise cancellation feature. Noise cancellation feature reduces unwanted ambient sound but it comes at a cost. This feature makes it possible to enjoy music without raising the volume excessively. In the aviation environment, noise-cancelling headphones increase the signal-to-noise ratio significantly more than passive noise attenuating headphones or no headphones, making hearing important information such as safety announcements easier. These headphones can improve listening, enough to completely offset the effect of a distracting concurrent activity. However, most experts suggest that this feature is not worth the investment. And if you really need to, you might consider earbuds with sponges that can fill the ear canal. Also, overear hearing protectors can be worn over earbuds to cancel ambient noise. Frequency range. The frequency range of headphones determines how much you can hear of your music. It is good to choose headphones with a wider frequency range. Frequency ranges between 10 Hz to 25,000 Hz are considered to be good as it covers the entire audible frequency range for human beings.
Headphones available in India Sony MDR-10RBT Bluetooth Headphones
Sony Headphone MDR-ZX310
Panasonic RP-TCM190 In-Ear Earphone
Skullcandy Inkd 2.0 Headphone With Mic
Philips Headphone SHS390-98
iBall iRocker Back Earphone
Price
` 14,990
` 1290
` 1299
` 1499
` 499
` 599
USP
Its liquid crystal polymer film diaphragm adds to the quality of the sound.
Its bass is appreciated. It has a cord slider for tanglefree storage.
Its supreme sound delivers attacking bass, natural vocals and precision highs. It has a flattened cable for style and durability.
Cheap, lightweight, decent looks.
It is a decent combination of comfort, style and sound quality, at its price.
This is a stylish and flexible back earphone with powerful bass and super sound quality.
The prices mentioned here are from various e-commerce portals and are subject to change.
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Buyers’ Guide Frequencies beyond this range, whether high or low, are felt rather than heard. Impedance. Simply, match the impedance of the headphones you are planning to buy with the audio equipment you wish to use. This impedance is measured in ohms. Headphones with low and high impedance should never be confused with each other. Low impedance headphones may vary from 75 to 150 ohms and can be plugged in the playback or recording equipments directly. Whereas, headsets with high impedance, which is typically around 600 ohms, are more apt for studio installations. The high impedance models are rugged and are made up of highresistance coils that have less fear of being burnt-out as compared to the low impedance ones. They require high-driving signals to achieve the same levels of output as that of headphones with low impedance. Headphones with higher impedance do not guarantee great output all the time—for a device like a portable music player, a headset with maximum impedance of 64 ohms is enough. Wireless feature. Wireless headsets allow users to enjoy music without being connected to the audio source with wire. These can be used in places like gyms, where trailing cables can get in the way. These come with either of the following three technologies—radio, Bluetooth or infra-red. Headsets with infra-red technology allow users to move in a range of about seven metres and require a clear line of sight between the audio source and the headset. You cannot move around freely even in your house with these headsets on. These are best used for activities inside a room. Bluetooth technology uses shortrange digital radio signals for transmitting sound from the audio source to the headset. Bluetooth headsets offer almost a similar range of coverage as that of infra-red ones but do not require a straight line of sight. You can move around freely from one room to the other. Some headsets also use radio technology. These headsets use an FM radio signal and offer two or more frequencies www.efymag.com
that help in avoiding any kind of interference from other devices. Since wireless headsets are expensive, make an informed choice before buying them. Headphones with mic. The headphones are available with or without a mic. If you use headphones mostly with smartphones or calling tablets, headphone with mic are a good option for you. Test them before you buy them. All headphones need to pass an ear test! Before buying headphones, try them on to check for sound quality and comfort. Do not forget to check the build quality to ensure they will last long and are truly worth the price.
Some unique headsets Let us take a look at some quirky headsets ever made. Zipper headphones. Designed by Ji Woong, these earphones address the
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TM
Peripherals for Industrial Automation
ANALOG TIMERS ON Delay/ Interval
ON Delay Star Delta True Power OFF Delay Cyclic Forward Reverse
Time Ranges Output Contact Contact Rating Supply Voltage
issue of tangled wires. You need to simply unzip them to use them and zip them back for storage once you are done. Ripple headsets. Also known as ‘more humane audio headset,’ this one can be simply clipped onto the earlobe instead of being suspended over the ear. It adds to the style, along with adding to the experience. It also has the talk function—just flip down the talk function and start talking. DEOS diamond earphones. DEOS (defining expression of sound) diamond earphones are encrusted with coloured diamonds, and may cost anywhere between $4500 and $60,000 for a pair! Solar-powered headsets. Solar power can be a reliable source of energy for headsets. One hour of sunlight is good enough to power the headsets for over two-and-a-half hours of running time. The author is a senior assistant editor at EFY
SMPS (Din Rail Mount) Relay Interface Modules SSR Interface Modules FRC/ D-SUB connector Opto Interface Modules Diode/ Resistor Modules Power Distribution Modules Redundancy Modules Analog Signal Converters Dedicated Controller Hooters Products For Special Applications
technology nEWS Most happening, fact-filled current affairs from around the world
3D printers for astronauts
Astronauts need 3D printers, despite their not-so-luxurious lifestyles. You must be wondering about the need of a 3D printer in an astronaut’s life. Well, there is a relevant answer too. Stuff breaks in space and replacement of the same is not an easy task while someone is in the space. So, to help those folks, Made in Space has designed a 3D printer that sidesteps Earth’s gravity, when it is used in the orbit. The 3D printer, known as the Zero-G printer, is not made of molten filament but its surface tension holds a widget. There are plans to make a gizmo that would allow astronauts to melt tools. Made in Space has focused on cost-effective measures. The team is also planning 3Dprinting robots, which will be sent to Mars or the Moon. Several tests have been performed on parabolic plane flights by Made in Space that says 15 to 20 minutes are required for complete parts to be printed. The printer has been designed to be operated from the ground, most of the time.
Underwater robot to ensure ships’ security Sampriti Bhattacharyya, Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student in mechanical engineering, along with Professor Harry Asada, has developed an underwater robot, which looks like a football. It is aimed to inspect ships’ bottom for illegal goods through an ultrasound scan.
Underwater robot
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Astronauts at Made in Space
The robot was initially targeted to inspect cracks in nuclear reactors and water tanks and now it has been modified to inspect ships for smuggling activities. The working prototype of the robot was presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems and a group of such robots is able to stay hidden in water to conduct the inspection of ships, which arrive at ports. The robot is oval-shaped and a little smaller than a football with a flattened panel on one side. Because of the robot’s unusual design, the team used 3D printers for the structural components of the robot. Its flattened panel is waterproof so that the electrical components are protected. The other half is a spongy one, which has the propulsion system of the robot. It comprises six pumps that expel water through rubber tubes. In the prototype, rechargeable lithium batteries have been used which last about 40 minutes. The next prototype, according to Bhattacharya, will feature wireless rechargeable batteries and some modifications will take place in the propulsion system too.
The research was funded by National Science Foundation.
Google working on a shape-shifting TV Google has been reportedly working on a new modular concept of a TV screen that will allow the user to rearrange the screen into different shapes and sizes, as per The Wall Street Journal. Now our TV screen options would not remain confined to the flat or the curved screens, we now might have something more refined to opt for. The report has further elaborated that Google is working to develop a display comprising smaller screens, which will thereafter merge together like Legos to develop a single screen. The small pieces would facilitate the user to change the size and shape of the screen as per the requirement. The display sizes are purportedly considered as ‘giant’ enough to cover the wall of a living room. The project is right now only at the planning stage, wherein Google is still trying to figure out how it would allow the picture to appear flawless after the modular parts will come together. They are trying hard to remove the borders amidst each module to have www.efymag.com
technology nEWS a continuous image. Not only this, the company is also working on its modular smartphones, popularly known as ‘Project Ara,’ which would allow you to take apart and put back together the smartphone blocks.
A gaming mouse that puts every major action in the palm of your hand Roccat Studios once again leads the way in gaming peripheral design and execution with the release of the highly touted and much anticipated Tyon All Action Gaming Mouse, arriving in the United States, Europe and Australia. The Tyon is a wholly unique gaming mouse that puts every major action in the palm of the player’s hand. The Tyon’s X-Celerator, a two-way analogue stick, handles throttling, sprinting, rotating tank turrets and more with tried and tested ease of use. With 16 assignable buttons,
Tyon’s X-Celerator gaming mouse
31 distinct possible functions and a near limitless level of customisation, thanks to Roccat’s dedicated Easy-Shift[+] Button, the Tyon is a game-changer. Land, sea, air, space— mastery of each layer in the FPS gaming sphere is imperative for competitive gamers. Its designers and developers have worked in close collaboration with gaming experts, logging hundreds of hours of testing and fine-tuning to ensure Tyon’s abilities elevate play, meeting these challenges head-on. The Tyon’s Dorsal Fin Switch, a two-click button set behind the mouse wheel, allows for a comfortable mid-finger action, eliminates the need for major hand adjustments, 576kB of onboard memory ensures vast storage of settings and macros, an 8200 DPI Pro-Aim laser sensor provides precision, quickness and accuracy, vivid RGBY two-part illumination for both the lower rim and wheel of the mouse gives the Tyon incredible range of personal style, and with a sleek black or white colour choice for the mouse itself, the Tyon truly is a marvel of form and function.
First wearable camera drone that captures your ‘you’ moment Stanford post-doctoral researcher, Christoph Kohstall, has developed Nixie in order to capture a moment instantly just for yourself, without even thinking how to capture it. The electronics market, all over the world, is over-flooded with wearables these days. Now it is time for a wearable drone—Nixie. 20
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technology nEWS Nixie is the first wearable camera drone in the world that can take off and capture a perfect picture or video. While you are travelling on the most beautiful road in this world with some breathtaking scenery around you, your drone is clicking and shooting for you. Nixie can be folded and attached to a wristlet to carry it easily wherever you go. The project manager of Nixie, Jelena Jovanovic, said that this camera is aimed to capture any ‘you’ moment without any photographer and videographer around you. It is able to understand your position, adjust itself in a way to capture an image and return automatically to you (its owner) after its job is done.
A 3D-printed outfit to monitor fitness levels When fashion and technology gets blended, they both lead to some innovative wearables in this world, and Anouk Wipprecht’s new creation echoes just the same. Wipprecht has integrated Intel’s Edison chip to one of her creations and designed a wearable technology—a 3D printed outfit. The lady has combined the chip with sensors of different varieties to create the 3D printed Synapse dress and the material used in it is quite flexible—thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The project is in collaboration with designers, Niccolo Casas and Materialise, and it has embedded LEDs throughout the body of the outfit. The outfit uses electroencepha-
3D-printed Synapse dress
lography (EEG) and electrocardiography (EKG) to monitor brain activities and heart rate. There is also a camera embedded in the wearable to take a picture, whenever the wearer feels tensed or relaxed. Synapse has a proximity sensor too to measure other people’s proximity.
Unlock using your lips Fingerprint scanner in mobile phones gained immense popularity ever since Apple implemented it in iPhone 5S. Some smartphone manufacturers are coming up with products with fingerprint scanners inbuilt in them. The invention of the fingerprint scanner for authentication has created a big impact in security technology. Recently, software has been created that uses lip movements for authentication. Ahmad www.efymag.com
Electronics For You | November 2014
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technology nEWS Hassanat from Mu’tah University in Jordan is the creator of this technology. The software reads the movements of lips to authenticate access to the user. The efficiency of the system is as high as 80 per cent. The user has to speak out the words to get verified. The system contains two stages. The user can set a visual password and verify himself or herself. The system is equipped with a VSR system that recognises words and extracts the sequence of feature vectors. When the user tries to log-in, these features are digitally compared with the visual password, after which the system grants access to him or her. Hassanat tested the system with video database from over 20 people. The error rate in the workability of the system is just 7.63 to 20.51 per cent. Hassanat claims that this technology has the potential to become the most secure security system as even actors cannot mimic the lip movements of other people.
Nano-structure technology that replicates human brain A unique nano-structure is being created using a thin film of oxide material by a team of researchers led by Dr Sriram from RMIT University. The material that they are using to develop this nano-structure is 10,000 times thinner than human hair. Researchers are further working on the development of hard drive technology using this nanostructure. This could be the new leap in the field of memory storage devices. New devices made using this nano-structure can be faster as well as reliable. The thin film is capable of creating a memristive effect. The device can log the history of events using the memristive effect. This effect can be used to train the computer to behave like human brain. It is very similar to synaptic interfaces in the human brain. Researchers are testing the structure with various electronic devices. The current structure has a datastorage size of 60 nanometres. They are also experimenting with implementation response time of the human neural network. 22
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Innovative bionic ear that can switch on or off AT&S, a leader in advanced packaging solutions, Soundchip SA, a Swiss-based innovator in wearable sound technology and STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, have collaborated for crafting a bionic hearing module that, when installed into a personal audio device, delivers an amazing wearable sound experience controlled at the ear by the wearer and software intelligence. Personal audio devices, like an MP3 player or smartphone, equipped with the bionic hearing module, provide wearers with the ability to electronically ‘open’ and ‘close’ their ears to ambient sound conditions, or even to augment ambient sound with programmed audio from a connected smart device. This capability can fully protect wearers from noise in situations where the ambient sound is too loud, or to open the ear for natural conversation with others, without having to remove the audio device, suffer from the discomfort of occlusion, or worse, the pain of loud noise. The bionic hearing module integrates a broad spectrum of advanced electronics to further enhance the on-the-go audio experience, including head-tracking and other sensing, to enable exciting new features, including augmented-audio guidance and biometric monitoring. The multi-mode audio capabilities of the bionic hearing module are enabled through the use of HD-PA technology developed by Soundchip. Their implementation in a compact form factor is made possible through the use of patented Soundstrate technology, which enables the efficient combination of electronic, acoustic and transmission means within a single, compact mechanical structure. The semiconductor components in the bionic hearing module comprise the latest motion and audio MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) components from STMicroelectronics, an HD-PAcompliant audio engine for zero-latency Check efytimes.com for more news, daily
sound processing, and an ultra-low-power STM32 MCU from ST’s industry-leading portfolio of more than 500 32bit ARM Cortex-M-core microcontrollers. The bionic hearing module’s packaging employs the latest in embedded component packaging and 2.5D PCB technology from AT&S, which is capable of integrating acoustic, electro-acoustic, passive and active electronic components with unmatched efficiency, providing module dimensions ideally suited to the comfort and size constraints of in-ear operation, and is compatible with most existing inear-type personal audio devices.
Wearable skin to monitor the heart and skin A new device has been developed by scientists that is just like our skin. When put on, it works as a fitness-monitoring device, by keeping a check on our heart and skin. Researchers from Northwestern University and University of Illinois described the tool as a medical device which is enabled to raise an alert whenever any cardiovascular trouble occurs or skin gets dry and requires moisturising. This wearable, wireless skin-like device can function 24 hours a day. The device is 5cm, which has around 3600 liquid crystals on a thin, soft and flexible substrate that can be placed directly on the skin. According to Yonggang Huang, who led the theory, design and modelling aspect of the research, the device is ‘mechanically invisible.’ He also called it first-of-its-kind. Transient temperature change happens at the skin’s surface, which is used by the technology in the device. This temperature change determines blood-flow rate which is connected to cardiovascular health and skin hydration levels. Huang also said that whenever temperature is felt by a crystal, its colour changes. Its dense array provides a snapshot of the distribution of temperature across that particular area of the device. The temperature data is changed into an accurate health report by an algorithm within 30 seconds. A wireless heating system is also a part of the device which gets powered by electromagnetic waves in the air and it determines thermal properties of the skin. www.efymag.com
Event
Electronics Rocks 2014
A Conference That Truly Rocked!
For those of you who missed this year’s show, we bring to you a post-show report on all that happened at Electronics Rocks 2014–the design engineers’ conference and expo that witnessed 4000+ registrations ABHISHEK A. MUTHA
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ith 70 talks, 12 workshops and a whopping turnout, this electronics extravaganza was a grand success, thanks to all the speakers, sponsors, community partners, delegates and every single attendee. Here are select pictures from the third edition of eRocks, highlighting various keynote addresses, star speakers, workshops, expo exhibitors, innovation demos and a lot more.
The audience Comprising a footfall of 2500+ people (rest 1500 could not attend) passionate about electronics engineering, the audience that attended the talks and workshops at eRocks conference was a mix of design engineers, industry experts, academicians, engineering students and entrepreneurs.
Sessions
Great Indian Jugaad At every edition of Electronics Rocks, entrepreneurs and start-ups are given a chance to showcase their products, and this year, too, the conference saw some fascinating products. There were about 11 start-ups that were given booths free of charge to display their latest innovations. Some of the products displayed included: 1. An imaging drone that can be used for unmanned surveillance 2. An indigenous alternative to Google Glass 3. Remote labs—a laboratory controlled over the Internet 4. An electric bike completely designed and built in India 5. Gesture-controlled bionic arm 6. IoT switch—an electrical switch for next-generation smart homes 7. Indian 3D scanners and printers heralding a new revolution
Advisory panel
The sessions were spread across various verticals like the Internet of Things (IoT), rapid prototyping, aerospace and defence, automotive and medical, open design and Great Indian Jugaad (where speakers demonstrated their latest products and talked about how they were able to successfully get their products to the market). Some key sessions were: 1. A Look at Current Opportunities for ESDM Industry to Leverage by M. N. Vidyashankar, president, IESA 2. The Future of the Connected Car: Wireless of Wheels by Dr Jim Lansford, fellow in Global Standards Group, CSR 3. 3D Printing will Change How the World Leans by Vishal Jariwala, chairman, J Group Robotics 4. Air Surveillance Systems: Challenges Ahead by SLV Santhosh David, deputy manager, HAL 5. Open Source for Automation and Robotics in Industrial Sector by Rajarajan Elango, CTO, Bluetronics 6. The Electrical Switch for Next-generation Smart Homes by Syam Mandanapalli, iRam Technologies 7. Vedic Mathematics in Microcontrollers by P. Chow Reddy, managing director, Interleaved Technologies 24
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Event
01 1. It was just 9:00 AM and the crowd had already started to pour in
2. Ramesh Chopra, founder and editor, EFY, inaugurating the event
3. M. N. Vidyashankar, president,
IESA, sharing his thoughts on ’Current Opportunities for the ESDM Industry to Leverage’
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4. Ganesh Guruswamy, VP, India Design Centre, Sandisk India, talking about the Internet of Things and the road ahead for India 5. Dr Jim Lansford, fellow in Global
Standards Group, CSR, keeping the audience glued to their seats with his talk on ’The Future of the Connected Car: Wireless on Wheels’
6. Hosea Lukas Busse, application
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engineer, Boundary Scan, GOEPEL Electronic GmbH, sharing his insights on ’Embedded System Access (ESA): An Introduction to a New Test Technology’
7. Ravi Ramaswamy, senior director
and head, Healthcare, Philips Innovation Campus, talking about how informatics and mobility support telehealth
8. Sirish Bachu, head, Infotronics
Technology and Advance Electronics, Mahindra, highlighting the potential and challenges of connected vehicles
9. Prasad Pillai, co-founder,
Raksha SafeDrive, giving his talk on ’Connected Car and Internet of Things for Road Safety and Emergency Management’
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10. Vishal Jariwala, chairman, J
Group Robotics, enlightening the audience on ’3D Printing will Change How the World Leans’
11. Rajesh Motta, DGM, Bharat
Electronics Ltd, opening the ’Aerospace and Defence’ track with his talk on ’How to Select the Right HVPS for Radar Transmitters’
12. Akshay Agarwal, general manager, Operations, Mediatek, Bengaluru, talks on ’Getting Started with IoT: Developing an Ecosystem in India’
13. Geet Modi, manager, Applications 11 www.efymag.com
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Engineering, Internet of Things, Texas Instruments, presents his talk on ’Realising IoT with Texas Instruments SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3200’
Electronics For You | November 2014
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Event
14. Jean-Philippe Cunniet,
founder, Waykup, engaging the crowd with his talk on ’Key to Success: Getting your IoT Products into the European Market’
15. Kavitha Santhana Lakshmi,
program director, TIP Mobile M2M Engineering, SAP Labs India, talks about IoT enablement with the support of an industry case study
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16. SLV Santhosh David, deputy
manager, HAL, talks about the challenges ahead in air surveillance systems
17. Hampanna K, field application engineer, Atmel, in action with his workshop on ’Getting Started with Atmel Pico Power Technology’ 18. Sahil Khan, consultant, Upheave
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Systems, helping enthusiasts ’Getting Started with PCB Design Using Design Spark’
19. Ashwin Mechri from COMSOL explaining ’Multiphysics for Design of Electronic Devices’ at the workshop area 20. A houseful crowd keenly
listening to the keynote session
21. Exhibitors showcasing their
latest innovations and drawing the visitors to get a closer look
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22. Attendees checking out the
’Shadow Bionic Arm,’ which can be used for space exploration, remote surgery, bomb disposal and as a prosthetic arm
23. A spokesperson from EDALL Systems explains their drone to a visitor
24. Exhibitors showcasing their
flexible, open design creator Bot 3D printer, which weighs about 4.5kg
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25. Team JustRobotics attracting
visitors with the latest innovation – Electric Bike
26. EFY thanks the partners who hade shared our enthusiasm in reaching out to the delegates and visitors
The author is a senior technical correspondent at EFY
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viewpoint
Building a Strong Manufacturing Sector in India Prabhu S. Deodhar, chairman of APLAB group of companies, is president of India China Economic & Cultural Council in New Delhi since 2003. In 2008, he published a report titled ‘Rapid Growth of SME Sector in China’ after 18 months of study in seven cities of China. He also published a report on China’s industry-friendly taxation policy P.S. DEODHAR
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overnment policies have great influence on developmental trajectories of specific industrial sectors of a country. Infant Industry Theory has dominated as the basis of our industrial policies so far. But the approach to protect and foster our immature industries has not worked. After-effects of protecting our traderowned industries is reflected in shoddy product-quality and total lack of customer care almost till the end of eighties. In 1991, the central government took a U-turn and removed this protection under international pressure. But it has not given up its bureaucratic control over the industry till now through inspector raj and complex multi-level taxation and its corruption-ridden recovery. Manufacturing efforts in India have slowly become a scary nightmare and many entrepreneurs have just given up. Today, industrial estates barely function and are unable to compete with low-cost and low-quality imports. Big trader-owned ‘industries’ have given up manufacturing and are selling imported products under their own labels, claiming that as Indian manufacturing output! Only exceptions are pharmaceuticals (thanks to growing ill-health due to malnutrition at one end and greedy over-eating at the other) and the automobile industry. Technical entrepreneurs are struggling and talents get no support from the corrupt bureaucratic apparatus of the government. Nothing is done on time and whatever gets done is shoddy 28
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and problematic. Slowly, work culture in India has degraded. Engineering education turns out sales executives without any hands-on engineering knowledge or skills, or even an aptitude to be hands-on. IT is limited to services with no IT product to our credit. In 2013, the UPA govern-
ment proposed a new industrial policy for the electronics sector. Alas, again we are going to the old regime of protecting and fostering our immature industries. The government is taking the role of a boss with a promise of subsidising industries using government funds. One knows that such policies can become a breeding ground for corruption and misuse. It needs to be abandoned.
Success from 1983 to 1990 Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was my friend since 1976, till we lost him in 1991. During his non-political years as a pilot, I convinced him that electron-
ics and communication technologies could be used as nation-building tools by India by integrating the nation through easy information movement. Later, when he joined politics, I convinced Mrs India Gandhi in 1982 to de-licence at least the consumer electronics sector and put thrust on software. New policy came into being in August 1983. As a result domestic manufacturing grew from mere 12 billion (1200 crore) rupees in 198384 to 94 billion rupees in 1989-90, when I left; that is, 40 per cent annual growth in manufacturing. Later I introduced Material, Technology Brand Name (MTB) plan for SMEs to market high-quality B&W and CTVs at extremely competitive prices. In 1988-89, I did the same for India-made personal computers (PCs) by supporting our private medium-scale industry with technology and selling these at ` 10,000, when Wipro and HCL were selling PCs at double the price. Soon both dropped their prices to similar levels. After I left, bureaucrats managed to kill those initiatives one after the other. But Rajiv’s loss ended my ‘Capital punishment’ and I returned to Mumbai for good.
How to rebuild manufacturing sector We have a model right across the Himalayas that we should learn from but not ape. In a short span of 25 to 30 www.efymag.com
viewpoint years, by doing the right things at the right time, China has moved from nothing to become a ‘factory for the world.’ I told Rajiv in 1988, that nine out of ten of China’s politburo members were all hands-on engineers, unlike his streetsmart cabinet colleagues. Clever Chinese also managed to have all the modern technology from the world without paying a penny for it. I paid regular visits to China in 2008 and 2009 to study the development of their SME sector as well as taxation policy. Several copies of this report are lying in related ministries of the former government. Except for a smile and a cup of tea for me, nothing was done to study it. Strangely, I think now is the right time for India for three reasons: 1. China is growing too big, causing discomfort to the western nations. They do not want to keep feeding the dragon and are looking for other places in Asia. 2. China’s costs are rising alarmingly; skilled workers are today being paid as much as those in the US or South America. 3. Multi-national world is today looking for a country with a large domestic market having low-cost labour in abundance, like India, to produce intelligent products outside China due to IP issues. We can benefit from the prevailing sentiment. My thoughts are: 1. India should gear up to attract foreign companies by eliminating bureaucratic control over Indian industry and labour-laws relaxation as China did. 2. The foreign companies will train our manpower at all levels for appropriate work culture and work practices. Our engineers will get to learn material technology and hands-on hardware engineering geared to produce products for the world market and get a grip over engineering processes and practices. (China’s private industrial entrepreneurs largely come out of multinational manufacturing plants in that country.) India should create economic and industrial environment and focus on developing infrastructure conducive to enhance industrial efficiency and attracting domestic and foreign direct investments. 30
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3. China has cleverly used its taxation policy to strengthen its SME sector. Subsidy is given very meaningfully to help SMEs to compete. This includes low-cost rental premises for SMEs (as low as ` 20/sq m in Guangdong), reduced power rates for two-three years (in many provinces, free power for two years) and clever way to recover VAT on industrial inputs (66 per cent VAT offset on assumption that material input is 66 per cent) to offer low-cost products. 4. There is a lot to learn about public sector industrial re-organisation and reforms like dilution of ownership to benefit inside stakeholders in its successes. Some rewarding taxation policy suggestions are stated below.
MTB plan for SMEs (cluster approach) We are a huge nation, each state being as big as a nation elsewhere. SMEs normally serve markets in their own states or regions. All of them struggle to give high quality at low price. We can help them very innovatively through the MTB Plan. Problem of SMEs is three-fold: technology (access to good-quality, reliable and durable product design), material (inability to buy in bulk and therefore high material cost) and brand name (inability to benefit from a renowned brand name). I used ET&T Corporation owned by the government’s Department of Electronics to act as a cluster enterprise of 140 SMEs making colour and B&W TVs and gave them threeprong support: 1. Technology. We developed a 35.6cm (14-inch) B&W TV and a 50.8cm (20-inch) colour TV, shared that design with all these SMEs and trained their engineers to produce them in their own factories. 2. Material. ET&T bought all the materials that were needed for the TVs in bulk for 100,000 sets at a time. This reduced the material cost by over 40 per cent while ensuring high-quality sourcing. 3. Brand name. Had a central quality approval group and allowed these www.efymag.com
viewpoint companies to use the brand name of ET&T, charging 7 per cent of kit cost for brand promotion. Member companies produced the TVs and sold them in their areas. ET&T brand of B&W sets shared 40 per cent of the national market. Colour TVs had 20 per cent share. We can replicate this model by creating clusters of independent SMEs manufacturing and selling the same product line in various states and regions in the country. Any consumer product is suitable for such a cluster approach. This is quite different from franchise model.
Control misuse of low-cost loans/funds Whenever such efforts are made, all representative bodies of industries seek low interest rates and subsidies on capital equipment. Often these measures are misused and become open-ended cash assistance by the government without meeting the desired objective. Simple easily-auditable measures could prevent misuse of such loans and advances.
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Enterprises that receive such loans and advances be banned to give loans to any other individual or company, or invest in stock markets, or use it anywhere else than as working capital for the core activity. They should not use the funds to give advances to anyone except short-term advances to suppliers for not exceeding three months. The companies must get their accounts audited from independent chartered accountants with special attention to such loan and subsidy utilisation.
Income tax concession for employment Consider two profitable small or medium enterprises with annual sales of, say, 500 million (50 crore) rupees each, one (Unit A) manufacturing products from raw materials and the other (Unit B) marketing branded goods. Unit A will need, say, 150-200 employees for the business while Unit B doing trading business will probably manage with 10 to 50 employees. Both A and B today pay the same
income tax on their earnings. Which company out of the two the government wants to encourage? Obviously: Unit A. So why not give, say, 50% tax exemption to Unit A since that creates more employment? Beneficial aspects are: 1. This way we encourage only profitable enterprises and not the inefficient loss-making ones. 2. A simple audit of the number of full-time employees working for the company for a continuous period of, say, nine months needs to be considered while scoring level of employment per ` 10 million sale. There are more ways to support the industry where beneficiary industry or related bureaucrats can’t loot the nation. The author was chairman of the Electronics Commission, government of India and advisor (electronics) to PM Rajiv Gandhi from 1983 to 1990. In 1992, P.M. Narasimha Rao appointed him as chairman of the committee that set guidelines for the electronic media privatisation. In 2003, Mrs Sushma Swaraj appointed him as chairman of Media Research Committee of the I&B Ministry. The views expressed here are his personal
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Manufacture
How SMEs Leverage Outsourcing for Growth The success of China's export industry is attributed to its small and medium electronics manufacturing companies for integrating outsourcing into their business model. This enabled them to create a cost-effective product by leveraging the capabilities of partners through outsourcing S.A. Srinivasa Moorthy
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utsourcing allowed the Chinese companies to compete globally by optimising their capital investment and developing cost-effective products, propelling them into a leadership position. In India, outsourcing is seen as an expensive approach, especially in the electronics industry. Most companies outsource only capital-intensive or low-end jobs. industries where capital investment and manual content are high, outsourcing is a way of life. However, most electronics companies in India try to do everything in-house. While this may be cost-effective for large OEMs, it may not be the case for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Globalisation makes it important for SMEs to adapt to the changing world. Primary reasons for hesitation in embracing outsourcing are: 1. Lack of understanding of the product life cycle (PLC) 2. Wrong notion that outsourcing is expensive 3. Inability to track the velocity of the technological change and adapt to it
Understanding the product life cycle Due to changes in technology in the electronics industry, products undergo rapid changes. a product is no longer a standalone entity—selling it is like selling a service, and customers expect product support as part of the package for as long as they use the product. For example, an SME can provide a voltage stabiliser along with the refrigerator or integrate 34
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New and Old Product
SUSTAIN SUPPORT CONCEPT
DESIGN
ENGINEERING
MANUFACTURE
Matured Product First Release
New Product Fig. 1: Typical life cycle of a product
its functions inside the refrigerator itself. Today, with an increase in focus on a safe environment, assisting customers in the safe-disposal or recycling of a product has increased the need for understanding the complete PLC. This helps original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in three ways: 1. Creating a long-lasting product 2. Satisfied and loyal customers 3. Sustained and predictable profits A PLC includes interconnected phases of a product from its creation to disposal (Fig. 1). This model can be applied to any product and is divided into two phases. First phase consists of four sub-phases, starting from conception to manufacturing. Once a product reaches the market, the second phase kicks in and this consists of two subphases—support and sustain. When a product is under production and needs support to continue manufacturing, it falls under the support phase. The sustain phase is when active production is either stopped or reduced in volume, but the end users may still be using the products and might need support. This is where capital equipment are involved. Typically, capital
equipment have a long life and need support till the time they are withdrawn from service. Table I provides the different activities of each phase and a brief description of each activity. It is clear from the table that each phase of a PLC includes multiple activities. When an OEM starts outsourcing, each step becomes mandatory. Since a PLC incorporates these activities distinctively, migrating to outsourcing becomes smoother, as and when required. A PLC helps OEMs’ current businesses as well.
Paradigm shift in electronics industry In the last decade, the biggest change in the electronics industry has been in the way products are developed, manufactured, distributed and supported. Conventionally, OEMs performed every step of the PLC at their end. Rapidly changing technology has forced companies to look at outsourcing seriously—they now have lesser time to get their product to the market. This has encouraged them to focus only on their core activities and outsource the rest. This means that a company will design and develop a product that would be manufactured by another party, and www.efymag.com
Manufacture sold and serviced by a third-party. each company involved in the chain specialises in its area of work and is able to provide the best possible product at an optimal cost. Fig. 2 shows the evolution of outsourcing (activities marked in blue are generally outsourced). This shows that every activity, except IP issues, can be outsourced. Companies may make an exception if their IPs are well protected (e.g., Apple Inc.). The main reasons for this shift to outsourcing are: Time to market pressure. To get products into the market in the shortest time possible in order to establish a lead and capture the market. Specialised expertise and capitalintensive nature of manufacturing. With the usage of surface mount and other small footprint technologies, need for specialised technologies for manufacturing has become mandatory. This technology is capital intensive and needs process, experience and knowledge. Compliance to regulatory needs. Increased environmental awareness is driving the product-development-andmanufacturing process to be environment friendly. This calls for specialised processes, which are forcing the shift to outsourcing because the equipment to comply to green laws are expensive and doing it in-house is not cost-effective. Changing ecosystem and the need to be agile and lean. Extremely-short component life cycles and a highly-volatile market make it difficult to predict prices. a rugged supply chain and component engineering practice ensures that shortage or obsolescence of components does not impact production. This issue leads to fluctuating bill of material (BoM) prices, and many times they switch to untested, unreliable equivalents, which ultimately leads to failures in the field. Also, using components produced with surface mount technology (SMT) almost guarantees a reliable product. Markets going global. designing products for Indian markets only is not smart as a lot of those products have a ready market in the rest of the world. Also, country-specific laws are sometimes imposed as invisible trade barriers 36
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Different Activities of Each Phase of a Life Cycle and a Brief Description of Each Activity Phase
Activity
Brief description
Concept
PoC
Proof of concept (functional prototype)
IP
Intellectual property (patents)
Improvement
Improving an existing product
Refresh
No physical changes but redesigning to save cost
Redesign
New shape and other changes with reduced cost
New design
Absolutely new product to market
DFA
Design for assembly
DFM
Design for manufacturing
OFT
Design for test
DFC
Design for cost
DFR
Design for reliability
DFE
Design for environment
PCB assembly
Components soldered to PCB
Subsystem build
PCB assembly, and testing of PCB and additional elements but not the full product
Box build
Delivering a fully-tested product
Fulfilment
Delivering product to end user directly
Manufacture support
Providing support during manufacture of product
Field failure analysis
Failure analysis of components, parts and systems returned from field
Test and repair
Testing and repair of post warranty product for OEM
Homologation
Changing products based on country-specific requirements
Cost reduction/value engineering
Continuous process to reduce cost of product
Recycle or disposal
Disassembly, recycling and disposal of product at the end of its life
Bug Fix
Fixing software or hardware bugs
Enhancements
Enhancing the features with minimal changes
Life extension
Supporting product throughout its life, even after discontiuation
Design
Engineering
Manufacturing
Support
Sustain
(ITBs) to restrict imports. similar products from competitors outside India meet global standards, which increase the competition in today's brand-conscious market. Customer expectations and experience. The rising expectation level of users has redefined the need for a product as a service—any shortfall reflects badly on the product. These are some of the trends that have changed the way business is carried out. For an SME to handle all these changes in-house can be challenging as these need expertise, special skills and investment in machinery. It also requires investment in human resources and
upgradation of the skills of employees. So, in order to meet challenges, outsourcing in full or in part is unavoidable. Most SMEs today are cost centric and averse to the idea of outsourcing, which affects the image of the product and the OEM goes down as a whole. This invisible damage and the impact is felt by the OEM only when the end customer switches to another vendor’s product. Today, OEMs have outsourced the support function to specialised partners.
Challenges SMEs face A changing environment brings with it a host of challenges. Some critical chalwww.efymag.com
Manufacture many SMEs skip the PCBA testing. So, any Full SUPPORT Product problem in the board CONCEPT DESIGN ENGINEERING MANUFACTURE assembly is likely to be caught only in the SUSTAIN next stage of testing. Partial SUPPORT Product They fail to underCONCEPT DESIGN ENGINEERING MANUFACTURE stand that when a product is tested as a SUSTAIN whole, access to probe In house SUPPORT the parts is restricted Product CONCEPT DESIGN ENGINEERING MANUFACTURE and adequate testing Fig. 2: Evolution of outsourcing cannot be carried out. For example, if there is a fault in the PCBA in one section, lenges that impact an SME, and how which is not detected while testing the outsourcing solves those are: final product, a defective product is Limited R&D. inadequate R&D fails sent into the market, leading to unpreto address the rapidly-changing technolodictable after-effects. This leaves SMEs gy and customer preferences. Most SMEs with two choices—to either continue tend to use their R&D teams for engineerwith limited testing and risk failure in ing support. Since these teams are invarithe market, or identify a test method ably busy solving issues with the current (during the design phase) and impleproducts, they do not have time to look at ment a test strategy that is not volume emerging trends. At times, many compadependent but ensures the PCB is nies believe that the final product, when tested fully. The second approach is produced in volume, requires the same easy to implement when the product amount of R&D as a working prototype. has a microcontroller or microprocesThey also don’t include the cost of supsor, making DFT the key. port in the cost of production. This leads Using nonstandard manufacturing to problems in the field. processes. Whether the board assemSupply chain focused on cost and bly is done in-house or outsourced, not on quality and availability. Most proper care is never given to the SMEs view the supply chain as a simple manufacturing process. Another area purchase activity and do not have a roof ignorance which leads to product bust supply chain strategy. Mostly it is reliability problems is where cables cost driven, and designers, while choosand harnesses are used—products using parts, do not take into consideration ing leaded (plated through hole) parts aspects that impact the manufacturing are soldered manually. The SMT forces process. This creates problems at the the assembly process to be automated end of the product manufacturing and precise. It has enabled the solderprocess. Sometimes, due to short lead ing process to be lead-free (RoHS—Retimes, they use substandard quality striction of Hazardous Substance) and products. The SMT demands selection the need for control and precision has of the right parts and product packages increased. With the lead-free soldering as these impact assembly. process, SMT parts have become very Inadequate focus on product testtemperature sensitive as a lead-free ing. One of the weakest areas, product part (RoHS) solders at a higher temtesting has three critical elements that perature, exposing components to the require focus. risk of over-heating during soldering. 1. PCBA (printed circuit board asAn uncontrolled process is detrimental sembly) testing; also known as in-circuit to component life. SMEs cannot just testing handover the PCB and other compo2. System testing (full product testing) nents to the assembler, who solders 3. System calibration these and gives it back. This affects the Due to volume or cost constraints, SUSTAIN
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quality of the PCBA, as well as reliability of the components. Compliance to environmental standards. In the last decade, the focus on environment has been observed—reduction of e-waste and use of hazardous materials in the product manufacturing process through global standards like WEEE (Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment directive), RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance), REACH (Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), etc. These standards ensure that products that come into the market do not adversely impact the environment. While these standards do not mandate conformance for existing products, they are mandatory for the new products. The biggest challenge in complying with these standards is meeting the call for changes to be incorporated in the design phase itself (i.e., if the product needs to have recyclable plastic and if the old design has metal bosses for mounting, the design has to be redone to either have an all-plastic design or the metal’s bosses have to be designed as removable so that the plastic part can be recycled). This calls for focussed R&D and knowledge to handle complex designs. Another important aspect is the harmonisation of Indian standards with global standards. Until recently, Indian standards were slack, especially in implementing standards like FCC, CE, FDA, etc. With the awareness about global standards and the associated advantage that users get from it, Indian government is forced to match up to global standards. This is making SMEs upgrade their products even in the domestic market. Building skills of this scale is not feasible and need to be outsourced. Managing complete product engineering life cycle. Most SMEs view product engineering life cycle management as an activity-based tool. Product life cycle management (PLM) tools mainly help manage, archive and transfer product-related data in a structured manner. For example, when field-failure data is captured, it invariably brings about change and is typically carried out using a process called ECM (Engineering Change Management). www.efymag.com
Manufacture These processes generally have two steps—engineering change request (ECR) and engineering change order (ECO). Most PLM tools have these captured and allow the work to flow smoothly. However, it is important to track data pertaining to failure, such as how often these failures happen or which component is the main cause. These are typically not captured or managed in a structural fashion (tools do provide options for capturing), leading to product failure. This management of end-to-end transaction is known as PLM, which is the assimilation of data from various departments like sales, manufacturing, marketing and field support to get an overall view of the product’s performance. Many times, the assimilation helps in redesigning a product for extending its life in the market. These are some issues that an SME might face. However, these are faced by established manufacturers too. In most cases, solutions to these challenges call for experts, who are good in their specialised area. in future, outsourcing will become an integral part of design, engineering and manufacturing—the level and depth of integration will depend on the specific product or business. China is a very good example of such an approach and success, and it is similar to what India achieved in the case of software.
Outsourcing options that help growth and success To cope with the challenges, SMEs may outsource certain activities. They can review their current processes in accordance with the product engineering life cycle to help them identify the problem areas. However, most solutions effectively point to one message—any specialised job that needs special skills has to be done by the experts and with the relevant tools; compromise will lead to product failures. for outsourcing to be successful, the process has to be understood by both the parties involved—an SME has to be prepared for a certain level of readiness and willingness to handhold the outsourcing partner, and the outsourcing partner needs to understand that it has to add 40
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value to the product and will not be spoon fed. Some activities that can be outsourced to get maximum benefit are: Supply chain management and component engineering. This refers to how components that make up a product are selected, procured and managed. Most big EMS vendors have dedicated departments for manning different classes of components, handling component engineering (both commodity and custom parts) and OEM procurements (like power supplies). Sometimes, established EMS vendors have special rates and delivery options with specific chip vendors. So the design team works with them directly and saves around seven to nine per cent of the cost. Component engineering is a process using which the optimal design for a product can be selected. This process offers end-to-end data for the parts, right from the type of package and foot-print to use, expected life of the product, road map for future versions, etc. Most established EMS vendors have this as part of their business, and they help in controlling the component-related aspects impacting the product. Many component distributors have also started offering inventory management, which gives the benefits without having an in-house supply chain management team. Printed circuit board layout. it is important to gauge the layout of a PCB from the design and manufacturing perspective. A PCB layout impacts cost, performance, manufacturing process, compliance to standards and reliability of a product. Most big OEMs are experienced and have their own design standards covering very controlled library management processes (PCB CAD tools use libraries to make the PCB layout). PCB layout was not an issue when leaded parts were used and the design was fairly straightforward. However, with the SMT, PCB layout and manufacturing processes have become interconnected. with the current-generation high-speed devices, PCB layout also contributes to EMC/EMI compliance issues. In order to get a perfect score in the assembly
line, PCB has to be laid out to suit the manufacturing process. To help clients, EMS vendors have a guideline document called DFx Guidelines, which is the intellectual property of the respective EMS vendor. the third-party PCBlayout house needs to understand and implement this document. There are generic standards from IPC (Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronics) like IPC 2221A and IPC-7531. However, requirements change based on the type of manufacturing machinery used and internal knowledge gained over a period, which is fed back into the respective DFx guidelines. Many times third-party design houses do not have these custom standards that impact the manufacturing process. Another issue most PCB layout houses do not understand is the current-day component characteristics (very fast rise time), and unless the PCB is laid out properly with care, the boards can fail due to fast rise time issues, as well as power integrity issues, as these high-speed devices lead to an unstable design. Most EMI/ EMC problems are due to badly laid out PCBs. Cable and harness supplies and management. Often designers think cable design does not require any special attention. Using bad cables leads to problems in the power supply section and communication ports in an otherwise well-designed product. For example, while designing a high-end camera, a team that was supposed to use miniature flex cables and connectors in the design, found out a problem with the connectors after the assembly and testing was done and the cables were ready for integration into the final product. With a little bit of research, the team found out that because of their small size, the connectors have an operational life of only 30 mating cycles, and by the time the assembly and test processes were complete, the connectors had exhausted the 30 mating cycles, leading to failure. Unless due care is given to the design and manufacture of the cable and harness, it is bound to have problems. The cable-harness fabrication needs special equipment and processes www.efymag.com
Manufacture to fabricate assembly. Most of the time companies do not use the right tools to save cost and end up in trouble later. Power supply. This is one area where if SMEs compromise, the product will suffer in the field. There are two reasons for this to happen. First, they try to build the power supply in-house. This needs experience and skill, which can only be gained over a period of time and with practice. Second, they buy it from a vendor who is cheaper. A lot of times, lowcost power supplies are copy-cat designs (especially the low-cost imported ones). In any power supply, the magnetic design is the key, and if that is not mated properly with the power components, the power supply fails. Electronics packaging or enclosure design and supply. Electronics packaging or electronics product enclosure design are the least understood and focussed areas in product design. These are always treated as boxes made out of steel or aluminium with holes for keys and connectors, and no holistic effort is ever made to address these as separate products. Electronics packaging design impacts all phases of a PLC. In addition to this, the biggest drawback in India is the lack of quality manufacturing—for electronics packaging with special materials like stainless steel and special aluminium alloys. And for manufacturing processes like stainless steel welding, aluminium welding, brazing and simple pollutionfree powder coating process, established vendors are a rarity. This is one area SMEs suffer for no fault of their own and look to China, where they have perfected the art of manufacturing on a large scale at low cost. Coupled with this, the ability to design thermal solution for the products has become another issue. Product shipment packaging. A product’s success or failure is dependent on the way it is packed and sent for shipment. Any mishandling during transportation can damage the product—there have been cases of dead on arrival (DOA) due to poor packaging. Product packaging needs a holistic approach and depends on volumes of products being shipped, the size of the batch, etc. this aspect needs to be taken 42
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care of (outsourced) from the beginning as there is little value addition in doing it in-house. Logistics partner selection. Many times the end customer receives a product in a completely damaged state because it was not handled properly during transportation. In fact, product shipment, packaging and transportation go hand-in-hand. The most common mistake SMEs make is to confuse bulk shipment packaging with individual unit shipment packaging. This is true especially when the product is exported. When a shipment is handled in bulk through containers, products need to be packaged well. Sometimes, when individual units are shipped to end users, most SMEs use the same carton that is used for bulk shipment, which leads to damages. A multinational OEM has a very established process for testing the product in its shipment packaging, and only when it is cleared, the packaging is deemed ready for transportation. The product is dropped on all sides from a height of about 1.5 metres and is cleared only when it is not damaged. Technical support. With an increased focus on globalisation, end customers demand that they be provided support over phone and internet during installation and usage of a product. They expect: 1. An interactive web-portal where he or she can get all the data about a product or service 2. Ability to communicate with the OEM through phone or email Many SMEs think that displaying the product specification sheet on the web portal is sufficient to inform the customer. This forces the customer to reach out to the OEM either through email or phone. this may lead to perception problems, and the product’s and OEM’s credibility and brand value may take a dent. Test and repair facility. The final challenge is to decide how to support a product that has failed in the field after prolonged use or during the warranty period. The easiest thing to do is to replace the failed product with a new one, but it is believed that if a product
fails during warranty and is replaced with a new one, it is equal to a loss of profit equivalent to five new units. in the eventuality of failure, repairing the failed product and sending it back to customer is the priority. We need to understand that when a customer pays for a product and if it fails during warranty, he expects the failed product to be replaced. If it is replaced with an old one, most probably the customer would not return. Sometimes, OEMs simply replace the external enclosure of a product to make it look like new, giving the customer a false sense of satisfaction. These OEMs think that this customer is happy and will stay. However, a repair process is time-bound and customers expect a level of service. Almost all SMEs never factor this in their planning. Today, options are available where third-party vendors undertake these repair jobs. But, proper planning is needed if this has to be outsourced, where an OEM can transfer the service level agreements to the test-and-repair partner and ensure the service quality.
Conclusion It is a well-known fact that SMEs, though nimble, will face challenges in areas that are becoming critical and may not have in-house expertise or cannot afford expensive resources. The only choice left for them is to outsource to a capable partner. However, outsourcing needs working together and building relationships and confidence. Evaluating the outsourcing partner for cost alone will not produce desired results. The key to success in outsourcing are: 1. Having a long-term vision for the product—understanding the product’s life from the eyes of the user 2. Identifying areas that need support 3. Identifying capable partners, who have skills and resources 4. Clearly documenting deliverables from both sides 5. Constantly reviewing the progress 6. Investing in long-term relationships and helping each other grow. The author is director, D4X Technologies Private Limited, Chennai www.efymag.com
buyers’ guide
EDA Tools For Circuit Design Using EDA tools to design is one of the best ways to ensure reliable circuits or systems in later stages of the design cycle. But are you confused by the numerous EDA software tools that you get for free in EFY Plus DVD? This article might help you to select the best ones for your use
KiCad EDA software suite
Anagha P.
C
reation of a device or instrument involves many stages, right from inception of the idea to getting the final product in hand. Many of these devices have been made simpler by using the free or licensed electronics design and automation (EDA) tools available. Let us take a look at the different processes involved in an electronics design and the software used to automate these processes. Normally, the steps that need to be taken for designing an electronic product are: 1. Capturing of product idea as schematic 2. Synchronising with printed circuit board (PCB) layout tool 3. Performing the layout (placement and routing) 44
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4. Creating the manufacturing outputs
Circuit design and schematic entry The process of designing standard circuit diagrams with related symbols and parameters is known as schematic capture or schematic entry. This is achieved with the help of an EDA software known as schematic editor. Present-day schematic editors also have some or all of the following features: 1. Extensive component libraries 2. Options to create and define your own components 3. Capabilities for hierarchical designing 4. Automatic detection of unfeasible connections and other errors 5. Documentation of circuit details and calculation of bill of materials
6. Creation of netlists and other commom formats for storing and transferring data related to the circuits Creating a layout and printing it on board used to be a fully manual procedure but, thanks to the numerous PCB layout tools available these days, most of the steps in PCB layout creation and editing are automatic now. For instance, the tools for signal integrity (SI) measure a set of parameters to check the quality of a PCB. Issues like transmission losses, crosstalk, impedance mismatch, thermal stress and strain etc are identified and steps taken to solve these before sending the product for manufacture. This reduces the failure rate of PCBs, thereby reducing time, effort, material and cost. There are several design rules for minimum spacing between pads and traces, acute angle, minimum annular ring, drill-to-drill clearance etc, which determine whether a product can actually be manufactured properly. The computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) validation ensures that the design created is compatible with all these criteria and lets you create an optimised model. A netlist is generated from this software and sent to a manufacturer for PCB validation.
The right tool for you So now you have an idea of the different steps of software-enabled circuit designing. The next question is how to select the right tool for your application? What all parameters are to be considered before going to the vendors? www.efymag.com
buyers’ guide Design complexity. The first and foremost parameter to consider is the kind of boards/products you want to design. If all the designs you expect to create are of less to medium complexity, you can go for relatively simpler, low-performance tools/suites like OrCAD, PADS or Proteus. What your target customers use. It is necessary to understand the EDA products used by the service providers to whom you are delivering the design. If the customer uses one tool and you give them a design that cannot be compatible with that tool, you may lose the customer. Of course, there are other tools available online that can convert the output design file to a different format. But that requires more effort and time. So it is best to use the tools that are compatible with those used by your customers. Product design. Some of the products put more emphasis on the electronics and electrical part; the physical form of the product is less important.
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Major contributors to this report Kanai L. Ghosh, owner, EDAUtils Rizwan Hirani, technical leader, eInfochips Robert Huxel, technical marketing manager – EMEA, Altium Some other products have a prominent mechanical form and the electronics part is limited to a PCB and a couple of wires. Tools like Altium Designer and CR-8000 provide better integration or co-design of electronic CAD (ECAD) and mechanical CAD (MCAD) elements for designing the final product. Cost. Price of the software tool(s) can be a constraint for start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and academia. If the design complexity is less, one can always go for free and open source tools. Generally, paid-for tools offer more and better features besides the support required for complex designs. Tools like Allegro can be very expensive but price of CADSTAR is a bit on the lower side. The cost of Altium Designer is in between these two.
Some EDA firms offer flexible purchasing schemes. The customer can buy licence for only certain modules of the suite instead of buying the entire package. More tools from the package can be purchased later, when required. There is also a feature called floating licence which allows the use of the same licence on multiple machines so that the user does not have to buy separate licences for multiple systems. Almost all vendors provide the evaluation version of their software for usually one month. Support from the vendors. Many of the EDA tool vendors work closely with the customers and help them throughout the designing process, and provide online and on-site technical support. The support available from
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buyers’ guide Collection of EDA Tools for Circuit/Embedded Designing Schematic BSch3V schematic capture package by Sugiyodo Online editor & Cider simulator ExpressSch by ExpressPCB FidoCadJ by Davide Bucci KtechLab Logic Gate Simulator by South Puget Sound Community College Logicly by Joshua Tynjala Ngspice Qucs (Quite Universal Circuit Simulator) Simulide Spice sPlan TinyCAD Signal Allegro PCB SI by Cadence integrity HyperLynx SI by Mentor Graphics Quantum SI by SiSoft Signal Integrity Studio by Teledyne LeCroy Sigrity Power SI by Cadence Zeni SI by Zeni EDA Schematic 5Spice by Richard Andresen editor and CircuitLab by CircuitLab, Inc. (online) simulator DoCircuits by Sparsha Learning Technologies Pvt Ltd (online and offline) LTSpice IV by Mike Engelhardt, Linear Technology Corporation Logisim by Dr Carl Burch, Hendrix College NI MultiSIM by National Instruments OpenSce SmartSim by Ashley Newson (available for Raspberry Pi also) Sprint-Layout Webench Schematic Editor by Texas Instruments (online) PCB design ExpressPCB by ExpressPCB and layout FreePCB PCB–Printed Circuit Board Editor ZenitPCB by Stortini Mirko Bruno Design AutoTRAX Design Express (DEX) by DEX 2020 (AutoTRAX Software) Suite CADSTAR, CR-5000 and CR-8000 by Zuken CADSTAR Express by Zuken CST STUDIO SUITE by CST DesignSpark PCB by RS Components and Allied Electronics DipTrace by Novarm EAGLE PCB Software by CadSoft Fritzing (particularly for Processing and Arduino communities) gEDA KiCad EDA Software Suite NI Ultiboard by National Instruments OrCAD by Cadence Oscad Osmond PCB by J.C. Chavez (for Mac) PADS by Mentor Graphics Proteus Design Suite by Lab Center Electronics Pulsonix by Westdev Ltd SIMBEOR by Simberian Inc. TARGET 3001 by Ing.-Buero FRIEDRICH Xpedition Enterprise by Mentor Graphics ZenitPCB by Stortini Mirko Bruno Altium Designer by Altium 46
some of the vendors is better in certain regions than in the others. So it is better to go for a vendor that has good reputation and history, introduces occasional updates and bug fixes, provides training courses and offers support in your region. Integration. Flexibility or integration with other tools is an important factor to be considered. Make sure the software you select has functions to import and export files from and to formats supported by your target customers. Interface. OrCAD, Eagle PCB and most open source software have easyto-understand graphical user interface (GUI), which makes it easier for beginners and intermediates in the designing field. Some tools like XPedition use command-line interface, which can be a bit difficult for first-timers.
Free and open source tools There are several free tools available online, individual software as well as design suites, that serve the purpose of circuit and embedded designing at different stages. Though these are quite popular among academia and hobbyists in electronics, the industry penetration of these software is very less; perhaps less that 5%. One of the main reasons for the lesser popularity of free tools among professional designers is the limitation they provide in the number of pins, components, layers, multiple boards and so on. Hence these can be used only for low-end and mid-range schematic and PCB designing. According to Rizwan Hirani of eInfoChips, compatibility with other layout tools is lesser for the free open source tools. The time taken for designing is usually more for such free tools. Performance, precision, training, support and documentation offered by licensed tools are also generally better than that available with the free tools. But in case of open source tools the users usually form a community to support and learn from each other. The author is a technical correspondent at EFY www.efymag.com
Career
VLSI Industry Offers Mostly Verification Based Jobs Today, VLSI devices are found everywhere around us. We find advanced VLSI chips in our cars, cell phones, household appliances, cameras, medical devices and many other places. This rapidly evolving sector offers exciting opportunities for those with strong fundamentals in electronic circuit design and hardware description languages, interest in VLSI design and verification and, more importantly, the skill to put know-how of VLSI concepts to practice Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Sasken, Conexant, Wipro and TCS, to name a few. He says, “A career in one of these companies is highly sought after and developing VLSI skills is a good way to make this dream a reality.”
It is not easy to get into design
Abhishek A. Mutha
W
ith the advances being made in technologies like process geometries, feature and product innovations on a daily basis, there is a constant need to design, develop and re-engineer integrated circuits (ICs). Since products like mobile phones are being released with new features in increasingly shorter cycles, there is a healthy demand for qualified very large scale integration (VLSI) engineers to work on these products. Therefore there is good scope for a career in the VLSI industry. The VLSI field offers exciting growth opportunities for engineers who are strong in electronic design fundamentals, have an interest in VLSI design and verification and 48
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know how to apply VLSI concepts to practice. Harish Mysore, director, India operations, Global IEEE Institute for Engineers Private Limited, informs, “In the VLSI chip design and verification alone, 20,000 to 30,000 engineers are currently employed with over 200,000 engineers working in the broader semiconductor industry, including embedded systems development and board-level hardware design.” According to Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com, VLSI professionals are always in high demand in the fast-changing chip designing industry. There are over 150 companies catering to this industry, including big names like Texas Instruments, Infineon, Freescale Semiconductor, Cadence, HCL, Intel, Lucent, Motorola, Philips
On the flip side, scope for a career in the design side of VLSI industry is currently somewhat limited as compared to other areas, feels Subhajit Sen, associate professor, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, for three particular reasons. One, VLSI or chip design requires a deeper level of knowledge and skills than other electronics related fields. Two, VLSI chip design is expensive and requires access to highcost, specialised electronic design
The expectations in terms of the know-how of analogue complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) designs/issues are very high, which makes it difficult to get into analogue based VLSI companies. Most companies prefer to take only M.Techs from reputed institutes such as NITs/IITs www.efymag.com
Career automation (EDA) tools. Last, VLSI fabrication/prototyping is expensive and there is no commercial VLSI semiconductor manufacturing facility (foundry) in India. K. Srinivasa Raju, CEO, Unistring Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd, informs that there are very few openings for jobs in analogue designing in the VLSI industry. He says, “The expectations in terms of the know-how of analogue complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) designs/issues are very high, which makes it difficult to get into analogue based VLSI companies. Most of the companies prefer to take M.Techs from only reputed institutes such as NITs/IITs.” However, Sen believes, as India expands its electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) capabilities, the number of job opportunities is expected to grow in the VLSI design area.
Mostly verification based jobs in India Jobs in this industry are broadly distributed in four areas: FPGA based embedded system design, embedded based small FPGA application development, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) based designs and VLSI verification for FPGAs/ASICs/embedded based designs. “Most of the jobs in the VLSI industry in India are verification based, particularly for ASIC designs,” informs Raju. To get into such companies, one must be good in SystemVerilog and unified verification methodology (UVM) or open verification methodology (OVM).” He adds, “Most of these verification based companies prefer M.Tech graduates specialised in VLSI design.”
Good opportunities for fresh graduates There are many career opportunities in the VLSI industry today, especially at the entry-level roles targeted at fresh engineering graduates. “One needs to understand that VLSI, as seen from textbooks, is not www.efymag.com
Why students from IITs/NITs are preferred for design Most of the companies, including multinational corporations (MNCs), turn to IITs/NITs for recruitment of graduates for VLSI design mainly because these institutes have the latest and sophisticated computer aided design (CAD) VLSI tools and FPGA (field programmable gate array) boards with experienced professors. Also, their training methodology and lab exercises on FPGA implementation in VHDL [VHSIC (very high speed integrated circuit) hardware description language]/Verilog HDL are not limited to their academic course syllabus. Raju notes, “These students are trained on latest emerging trends in the VLSI domain. Professors extract a lot from students by giving real-time problems and assignments. Most of the training is hands-on and more practical, which is not the usual practice in the regular engineering colleges.”
Skills required at a glance Strong fundamentals in digital electronics (also referred to as digital logic design/
switching theory and logic design) and digital system design.
Fundamental knowledge of digital circuit design with exposure to design using
hardware description languages (such as VHDL and Verilog), functional simulation and logic synthesis. For VLSI verification, knowledge of SystemVerilog and verification methodology is a must. Basic understanding of functional verification and proficiency in scripting using Perl/ tool command language (TCL). Career prospects can be improved by building skills in digital CMOS IC design, physical verification flow, analogue circuit modelling and layout analysis. Knowledge of VLSI design flows and proficiency in industry standard EDA tools for design of ASICs, FPGAs and system on chip (SoC) are also highly valuable. Strong fundamentals in discrete op-amp based analogue circuit design and analysis, digital logic design and analysis, and microprocessors/microcontrollers programming. just limited to that. Skills such as digital domain and VHDL/Verilog HDL languages can be acquired that are used in FPGA based embedded system industry and also in ASIC companies,” says Raju. Excellent fundamentals in digital electronics, topped with knowledge in either VHDL or Verilog HDL, can easily get an engineer a job in FPGA based companies. Especially for an M.Tech graduate in VLSI, at entry level it is highly possible to get an opportunity to work at the design level in the VLSI industry. Embedded system design companies that develop FPGA based embedded applications also have openings for fresh graduates. Raju notes, “At the entry level, as fresh undergraduates (B.Tech/B.E.), it is comparatively easier to get into FPGA based embedded system companies than ASIC-VHDL/Verilog HDL based companies.” This field offers fresh engineering graduates opportunities in several stages of the VLSI chip design pro-
At the entry level, as fresh undergraduates (B.Tech/ B.E.), it is comparatively easier to get into FPGA based embedded system companies than ASIC VHDL/Verilog HDL based companies cess too. “The biggest opportunities continue to be in the front-end register transfer level (RTL) design and verification with growing opportunities in logic synthesis and timing analysis, design for testability, physical design and verification, analogue and mixed signal CMOS IC design, CAD tools development, and hardware verification and validation,” according to Mysore. Fresh graduates also have opportunities in field application engineering, technical support, and marketing and sales. Electronics For You | November 2014
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Career Although VLSI companies typically hire at M.Tech levels for VLSI design positions, candidates with good fundamentals in electronics, electrical or computer science engineering can find positions in areas such as testing and debugging of VLSI chips, informs Sen. He says, “Embedded software, which involves writing code for microcontrollers/processors embedded within VLSI chips, is also an active area of recruitment.” “At our company, we recruit fresher graduates for working in the VLSI domain, provided they are good at the fundamentals of digital logic design (also referred to as digital electronics/switching theory and logic design), digital system design and have done their project implementation in either VHDL/Verilog HDL. We also give internships to M.Tech (in VLSI) students for their second year project work. For internships, we conduct written exams, technical and HR interviews,” shares Raju. He adds, “Currently, our team comprises more than ten engineers working in the field of VLSI. We are planning to recruit ten more for this year. Our recruitment procedure is always in internship mode.”
Pay package and demand areas “During internship, we pay a stipend of anywhere between ` 4000 and ` 8000 per month, depending on the performance in the internship recruitment procedure. After completion of the internship/project-work, we offer the candidate a job in our company. The salary emolument is typically around ` 144,000 to ` 300,000 annually, depending on individual capabilities in technology,” informs Raju. Although, he maintains, MNCs pay double the amount of what they offer at Unistring. As a skill, chip designers form the cornerstone for electrical and computer engineering domains, and graduates from good institutes can command handsome starting salaries. As per figures provided by TimesJobs.com, 55 per cent of the engineers (basically 50
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Expert advice “To get into FPGA based embedded or digital design companies, one must have strong fundamentals in digital logic design, digital system design and must be capable of writing proper VHDL/Verilog HDL code that correctly works on FPGA.” — K. Srinivasa Raju, CEO, Unistring Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd “Students interested in pursuing a career in the VLSI industry must build a foundation in digital design and various VLSI design flows by gaining practical skills during their undergraduate studies.” — Harish Mysore, director, India operations, Global IEEE Institute for Engineers Pvt Ltd “Take up this career only if you are ready for the long haul. Be patient. Try to become inter-disciplinary and acquire new skills. Small start-up companies pay those engineers well who have multiple skills.” — Subhajit Sen, associate professor, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore “My main advice to people would be to work hard and focus on the basics. Once you lay a strong foundation for yourself, it is very easy to build on top of it. Look at the quality of the work and stay focused on it in the initial years, as this will help you become a very strong engineer later in your career.” — Uday Ramachandran, vice president, Bangalore operations, Interra Systems India Pvt Ltd
Main contributors to this article
Uday Harish Mysore, K. Srinivasa Raju, Subhajit Sen, Vivek Madhukar, director-India CEO, Unistring Tech associate professor, Ramachandran, COO, TimesJobs.com vice president, operations, Global IEEE Solutions Pvt Ltd International Institute Bangalore operations, Institute for Engineers of Information Pvt Ltd Technology, Bangalore Interra Systems India Pvt Ltd
feeshers) working in the VLSI domain are paid anywhere between ` 120,000 and ` 300,000 per annum. Twenty three per cent engineers draw anywhere between ` 400,000 and ` 700,000 per annum and 13 per cent of the (senior) engineers in this industry are paid nearly ` 1 million and above. “The silicon valley of India, Bengaluru, accounts for a majority of the jobs, as most companies have their core technology centres based there, with Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai and Pune accounting for other opportunities in the VLSI sector,” informs Madhukar.
In the near future The VLSI industry is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years due to further reduction in geometry,
reduced power requirements and very large-scale application-specific integrated circuits. As a result, continuous investments will be made by integrated device manufacturers in the semiconductor industry, in addition to the various steps taken by the Indian government to boost indigenous production of electronics in India to address rapid growth in the local demand for electronics. “Further, as a result of the increasing use of electronics in telecom, healthcare, automotive, industrial and office automation, and consumer goods, the need for advanced chip design and verification engineers in the semiconductor industry will further increase,” notes Mysore. The author is a senior technical correspondent at EFY www.efymag.com
Technology Focus
Wireless Communication: Shattering Barriers Wireless communication is perhaps most valuable in places where traditional means are cumbersome, too expensive or infeasible — under water, deep within the Earth, high above the tallest peaks, or even beyond the skies, in outer space. Can radio waves conquer these terrains? If not, what can?
Electrical engineering graduate students Hovannes Kulhandjian and Zahed Hossain in the lab (boat) of Tommaso Melodia’s WINES Lab Research on Lake Erie, near Buffalo; Photographer: Douglas Levere (Courtesy: University at Buffalo)
Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram
E
verybody is talking about wireless communications, these days. Even schoolgoing kids are eagerly awaiting the arrival of 5G in their cities. To find a restaurant, to check the least-traffic route or to let our friends know our whereabouts, we rely on wireless networks for one too many things. Indeed, we do take it so much for granted. However, how many of us realise that there are places where service providers shudder to go, where cellular towers are only a distant dream… the deepest jungles, the empty Arctic, the highest altitudes, the barren desserts, the stuffiest mines and the oh-sofantastic outer space that we all dream 52
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about? On the other hand, these are the areas where wireless communication is imperative for success, for survival. As a result, the concerned organisations try untiringly to find all possible means to connect such terrains. With much difficulty some locations have been connected to base stations, while some still remain out of reach. Most success stories too have been possible, not with common commercial networks, but with cutting-edge technologies, radical disruptions and smart changes to existing technologies. In this story, we look at some such tough terrains, and technologies to connect those.
Deep sea dialogues Radio waves, so commonly used on
land, are severely crippled under water due to limited range and instability. For some time now, organisations such as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been using acoustic waves or sound waves to communicate with tsunami sensors and other such underwater paraphernalia. The problem with this, however, is that such a special non-standard soundbased network cannot directly connect to widespread public networks, making it impossible for messages to be quickly sent to the public or other concerned organisations. This is similar to the problem faced by wireless sensor networks some years ago, till IPv6 over low-power wireless personal area networks (6LoWPAN) became a standardised Internet protocol. Realising a similar need to connect the underwater world to the Internet, a team from the University at Buffalo, New York, has developed and proposed a new Internet protocol (IP) compatible protocol stack for undersea modems. In a technical paper on the new technology, the authors propose an adaptation layer located between the data link layer and the network layer, such that the original transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) network and transport layers are preserved unaltered to the maximum extent. The adaptation layer performs header compression and data fragmentation to guarantee energy efficiency. Furthermore, the proposed architecture includes mechanisms for auto-configuration based on router proxies that can avoid human-in-the-loop and save energy when broadcast is needed. The proposed architectural framewww.efymag.com
Technology Focus work was implemented as a Linux device driver for a commercial underwater network modem SM-75 by Teledyne Benthos. It was tested by dropping two 18.1kg (40-pound) sensors into Lake Erie, near Buffalo, and communicating with them wirelessly using a conventional laptop. This test is a precursor, showing the possibility of implementing the technology in deep waters too. Sensors and other devices connected using this technology, which they hope to develop into a standard, would be able to readily communicate with other commercial, terrestrial wireless networks—relevant information will be available to any authorised person with a smartphone or computer connected to the Internet! So, if a sensor network detects a tsunami, warnings can be directly issued to all concerned officials or even the public. Sea animals can be monitored. Sly submarines and drug trafficking can be easily prevented. A lot more can be done, basically because the proposed undersea wireless network would be able to connect to the Internet!
Outer space Internet When we see something new, we want to say lots about it! That is human tendency. Imagine how much an astronaut would want to communicate about the totally unexplored frontiers he beholds. Radio-based communications, of course, is possible from outer space, but NASA felt that it was not efficient enough to transmit heavy videos and data loads from spacecrafts, and so they set about exploring laser-based optical communications. Around a year ago, NASA set about testing a high data-rate laser communication system aboard its lunar spacecraft, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). The tests were phenomenally successful, opening the possibility of replacing radio systems with laser systems for faster satellite communications and deep space communications with human or robotic exploration teams. During the tests, NASA observed that a laser beam sent from an Earth station to LADEE could relay data at the rate of 20Mbps. The downlink, from the www.efymag.com
More deep sea talks Quantum key distribution makes top-secret communications possible, and for a long time now naval officers have been interested in knowing if it is possible to implement it underwater to communicate with submarines. Recently, a team at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao calculated how far photons could travel in clear ocean water without damaging the information in them. It concluded that quantum-secured content can be sent at a rate of around 215 kilobits per second to distances within 125 metres under water. Dr Christian Schlegel of Dalhousie University recently received more than ` 140 million ($2.3 million) funding for his research into new algorithms that support high-speed underwater communications networks. Acoustics is the main medium for underwater communications today, but it has to contend with the high noise levels in subsea channels. Dr Schlegel and his team aim to develop industry-usable computational algorithms that deal with this specific problem. Thinking beyond sound and radio waves, Professor Zhaowei Liu with others at the University of California, San Diego, is working towards developing an underwater optical communication system using fast-blinking LED systems. At the heart of the proposed system is a new artificial meta-material that can increase the light intensity and blink speed of a fluorescent light-emitting dye molecule.
spacecraft to the Earth station, could relay data at the rate of 622Mbps. The concerned team noted that six-timesfaster communication from the moon was possible with laser instruments that were just half the mass, half the weight and used 25 per cent lesser power compared to radio equipment. Implementing this system in future spacecrafts would make it possible to explore Mercury, Mars and much more of outer space by relaying HD videos captured there, or even telepresence that allows scientists to virtually be there! Close on the heels of this phenomenal success, NASA is expected to launch the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD; http://esc. gsfc.nasa.gov/267/LCRD.html) sometime in 2017, which will test the success of this communication system over a multi-year trial period.
Scaling great heights Humans seem to be finding some means to communicate with each other from the nooks and corners of the Earth. While at one point of time, mountaineers were totally cut off from base after a certain altitude, today they can communicate even from the middle of nowhere with satellite phones and satellite constellations like Iridium. In 2012, 46-year old Simone Moro, master of over 50 mountaineering expeditions, set his mind on conquering Nanga Parbat, known in trekking circles as the ‘Killer Mountain’ under harsh Himalayan winter conditions. Till then, this peak had been impossible to reach
in the winters because the difference in height between its summit and the nearest base camp is the largest in the world, and it is notorious for its unpredictable snow storms. What made Moro think he could do it? Since 12 years before that, he had been using the Thuraya mobile satellite communications equipment with support from Intermatica, and with its help he became the first alpinist to conquer Mount Everest with a satellite phone. He was confident he could reach up Nanga too, with the help of a similar communication system. His hunch worked. On the journey to Nanga, Moro records having escaped a killer storm. When he contacted the weather forecast centre in Austria with his satellite phone, he was alerted of the incoming storm, which helped him and his partner to outsmart the invincible downpour of snow, and ultimately reach the summit of Nanga Parbat. For a long time now, satellite phones have been used by defence organisations for coordinating with personnel posted in remote areas. In India too, satellite communication is used mainly by the defence forces. In fact, there is such a great demand on this front that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been pushing the need for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to set up a new gateway for satellite phone services, which will address the rising requirement from security forces. It is also interesting to note that in September this year, the media reported about the Indian government’s intent to Electronics For You | November 2014
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Technology Focus modify policies, allowing tourists to use satellite phones in the Himalayas and other regions of India, including parts of Arunachal Pradesh, where conventional network connectivity is not good. This will provide a further boost for satellite communications in the country. On the device front too, satellite phones are now much better than they were a few years ago. Modern instruments can withstand extreme temperatures, harsh downpours and even terrible falls. Their communication capability is also much higher. The complaints people usually have against satellite phones are that they are a bit chunky and also do not offer many value-added services and apps. However, satellite service provider Globalstar has recently offered an interesting service called Sat-Fi, which creates a satellite hotspot for any Wi-Fi enabled device. This can essentially turn any smartphone, tablet or computer into a satellite phone! So, you can enjoy all the conveniences of a smartphone at normal times and resort to satellite-based voice and data connectivity when cellular service is not available in the vicinity.
The coldest corners too Just as the denseness of the Amazons deters service providers, so does the emptiness of the Arctic, making explorers—and defence organisations—to seek alternate means of communications. As one of the effects of global warming, a lot of sea lanes are getting opened up in the summer, which offers not only more opportunity to explore but security risks as well. In such a situation, better communication is highly essential not just to keep in touch and coordinate with others but also to use/ develop maps and such applications. This
Google’s Balloons Reading about communications in godforsaken lands and unexplored frontiers might make some wonder how much better it would be if some of those efforts were pumped into providing connectivity to the remote villages of India, where sometimes people have to climb a tree or walk for kilometres to get a signal on their mobile phone. Well, that is the trouble Google’s Project Loon aims to shoo away. Balloons fitted with communication infrastructure, floating in the stratosphere at around 18.29km (60,000 feet) above the ground, are being used by a team at Google to provide high-speed Internet to schools and others in remote regions of the world. In order to connect a location to Project The Loon infrastructure is launched 18.29km (60,000 feet) above the ground because the stratosphere, which Loon, Google installs another small balloon with has no clouds to block the sun, is the perfect place for a special antenna on the building, which enables solar-powered equipment (Courtesy: Google) them to connect to the high-flying balloon network, providing high-speed Internet access. The project has been successfully tested in remote parts of New Zealand, California and Brazil. Why not try and bring them to your region too? Read more about Google’s Project Loon, the Balloon Powered Internet for Everyone, at http://www.google.co.in/loon/.
has made the US Navy and the Coast Guard to explore means to improve the communications architecture there. Like in the mountains and other unreachable areas, satellite communication is the best option here too—and has been used since many years. However, the legacy satellite infrastructure, the UHF Follow-On, was found to be unreliable in latitudes higher than 65 degrees north. As these satellites are in geosynchronous orbits above the Equator, their beams cover most of the Earth, but fade in the polar regions. In the near future, the Navy is betting on its mobile user objective system (MUOS) and the commercial satellite system Iridium, which is set to launch its next-generation fleet of spacecraft in 2015. Two of the MUOS satellites are already in orbit, and two will be up soon. These MUOS satellites will have more beams, more power and a waveform based on 3G-wideband-spread spectrum. Therefore these will be capable of bending around the curvature
Satellites to the rescue Satellite communication can come to the rescue not just in harsh terrains but also in disaster-struck regions. Recently, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation developed the world’s first helicopter satellite communication system (HSA40) for use by Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA). The system has been deployed to gather information from disaster-struck areas, so that relief measures can be rapidly deployed. Earlier, the FDMA used a helicopter fitted with a Heli-TV system, which transmitted TV signals from a helicopter to a relay station on the ground. This system, however, was prone to transmission disruptions by mountains and buildings and was unusable in the absence of a relay station on the ground. HSA40, on the other hand, uses satellite communication. It transmits video and voice data from the helicopter to a satellite, enabling real-time information such as aerial video to be transmitted reliably to base stations anywhere in Japan. This system does not require any relay stations for transmission and also enables bi-directional communication. It is very lightweight, ideal for being airborne.
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of the Earth. The reach of the current satellites has been tested well above 80 degrees now. They provide 24-hour coverage of the entire Northwest Passage. Although the communication used is narrow-band, they were able to send decently large data files of around 289MB. Once the remaining satellites are also ready, there will be a seamless handover from one spacecraft to another as one satellite rises in orbit and the other falls. When their new satellite system is up, Iridium is expected to be of great help, supplementing the coverage of the MUOS satellites and extending connectivity to explorers and civilians too. Iridium’s 66 satellites will operate in low-Earth orbit, ensuring that every point on the planet is covered by at least one satellite. That means you and I will be crossed by their beams too, wherever we are. Well, magical beams, invisible signals, bright balloons, unheard acoustics, all these wonderful communication technologies ensure we are always within reach of help. Should we be in danger, we can be in touch with anybody from anywhere and access any information whenever and wherever we want. The world is in our hands—literally—whether we are deep within the bellies of the Earth or high up in space. What was once the dream of kindergarten kids later became the realm of scientists and the play field of industrialists, only to become reality today! The author is a technically-qualified freelance writer, editor and hands-on mom based in Chennai www.efymag.com
Technology Focus
Wireless Communication: Evolving to Meet Ever-Changing Needs Wireless communication is a constantly-evolving space. Thus, it is important for the designers to be aware of the changes to the existing and new/upcoming standards so that they can incorporate the best-suited technology in the best possible way
E
Sneha Ambastha
‘
volution is the key to success.’ This saying is also true in terms of wireless communication. There is a lot of competition between the different technologies associated with communication but the technology that is continuously evolving, providing a high rate of data exchange on a more secure network, is the one that can be considered to be the best. From old standards to new, wireless communication has improved a lot over time, making communication more flexible with added reliability and a high rate of data transfer. Almost every year we see at least one new standard coming up to enhance the features associated with the older one or a new technology based on the same standard with added functionality.
Networking at 1.3Gbps Networking technologies have been improving since the introduction of Wi-Fi standards. However, there has been a major breakthrough with the introduction of IEEE 802.11ac standard. This is an upgrade to the IEEE 802.11n standard that delivered data at 600 megabits per second (Mbps). 802.11ac incorporates wide bands, multiple antennae, beam-forming and runs at 5GHz, delivering data at the rate of 1.3Gbps. The standard also supports better penetration through walls along with longer ranges, which makes it popular amongst chip-set companies. From application point of view, the technology would allow consumers to synchronise data instantly or transfer 56
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Comparison between 802.11n and 802.11ac Technical specification
802.11n
802.11ac
Frequency
2.4, 4.9, 5GHz
5GHz
Modulation scheme
OFDM
OFDM
Channel bandwidth
20, 40MHz
20, 40, 80MHz (160MHz optional)
Nominal data rate, single stream
Up to 150Mbps (1x1, 40MHz)
Up to 433Mbps (1x1, 80MHz) Up to 867Mbps (1x1, 160MHz)
Aggregate nominal data rate, multiple streams
Up to 600Mbps (4x4, 40MHz)
Up to 1.73Gbps (4x4, 80MHz) Up to 3.47Gbps (4x4, 160MHz)
Time to stream 1.5hr HD
~ 30 min (4x4, 40MHz)
~ 15min (4x4, 80MHz)
Spectral efficiency per Gbps
400bps/Hz (4x4, 40MHz)
200bps/Hz (4x4, 80MHz)
EIRP
22-36dBm
22-29dBm
Range
12-70m indoor
12-35m indoor
Through walls
Y
Y
Non-line-of-sight
Y
Y
Worldwide availability
Y
Y; Limited in China
files quickly from one device to the other. The 802.11ac provides a more reliable network as compared to the networks with previous standards. This makes 802.11ac ideal for media streaming. When it comes to wireless communication, apart from this, security is the major concern with the upcoming standards. The IEEE 802.11ac router 802.11ac solves this issue by enahigh rate of 1.3Gbps, which is only posbling high-encoding density per packet. sible at laboratory conditions. However, It also works on multi-user, multiple inthere is no information on the actual put multiple output (MIMO), decreasing rate of data transfer that should be exinterference with an efficient spectrum pected. Again, 802.11ac supports eight usage and a great AP/client capacity. data streams, whereas the client devices Although 802.11ac is fast and support single stream and so such highenables easy streaming, it has certain speed working is not possible unless the associated shortcomings that would not devices are designed to support multionly affect the designing aspect but also ple streams. The designers need to take the working ability of the devices. For care of the fact that 802.11ac only supexample, it claims to transfer data at a www.efymag.com
Technology Focus ports 5GHz range and cannot be made to work at other lower ranges. Unlike other Wi-Fi technologies, 802.11ac is not omni-directional and throws a single beam of signal from the access point (AP) to the device, and vice-versa. Even though this seems to be a positive feature that would allow fast streaming, signal tracking might be a challenge for devices in a large area or devices that have a weak signal detection strength.
Low-energy wireless communication Last few years gave us the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) called Bluetooth Smart. Bluetooth Smart is not backward compatible with previous versions of Bluetooth protocol (classic), but Bluetooth 4.0 specification permits devices to either implement the BLE or the classic or both. Bluetooth 4.0 has supported Bluetooth Smart since over two years now, facilitating us with Bluetooth Smart Ready (compatible with both, classic and BLE) and Bluetooth Smart (BLE only) devices. A new addition to this is the Bluetooth 4.1 specification that adds to the features of Bluetooth 4.0 by allowing the devices to support multiple roles at the same time. It allows Bluetooth Smart Ready products to act both as a peripheral and a hub at the same time. You would also be amazed to know that Bluetooth 4.1 can coexist with other wireless technologies at the same band (for example, the Wi-Fiat 2.4GHz band) without much interference. Nitin Gupta, lead engineer-µEnergy Applications, CSR, says that Bluetooth has been in use by mobile users since a long time now, so switching over to Bluetooth Smart is not a concern. Pointing out its essential features, Gupta says, “BLE has both a defined profile and an ability to define its profile, which is not ideally the case with other wireless technologies.” Just to add to this, BLE has the ability to co-exist with other mobile wireless technologies on the same band with least interference, so there will be least chance of data loss. Further, it has limited discovery time due to which the www.efymag.com
it comes to hardware implementation, but has Runs on gigabytes speed which is three times greater than 802.11n. a widely-adopted oper Few dead spots due to better range. ating system (OS).” Wide channels with high data rates of up to 1.3Gbps per radio. More bandwidth on mobile devices. The implementation Backward compatible with 802.11a and n at 5GHz band. of BLE requires efficient radio with the right antenna, as they all work Where do you need 802.11ac? 802.11n already meets about 80 to 90 per cent of the bandwidth on the same frequency demands but 802.11ac still finds its presence important. domain, that is, 2.4GHz. In selective applications like telepresence and voice. If the right antenna is In areas with continuous support with less expenditure. not used, there will be How to deploy it? a lot of interference Replace 802.11n with dual-radio/dual-mode 802.11ac. between the networks. Overlay 802.11ac only solution on an existing 802.11n network.
Other features of 802.11ac
Deploy hotspots with very high throughput (VHT) at places where client density is required or at places where localised higher data rates are required.
Bi-directional communication
The ZigBee standard operates on IEEE 802.15.4 (physical radio) spec Has both Dual Mode and Link Layer topology to support multiple ification, in the unliroles and to detect and diagnose the signal efficiently. censed bands (868MHz, Allows updates of audio architecture for the wide-band speech. Generalised interlaced scanning and train nudging to ensure the 900MHz and 2.4GHz). operation in specific bands for successful device discovery and However, there is a reconnectivity. cent enhancement to Future communication through (logical link control and adaptation this standard with the protocol) L2CAP dedicated channels is possible. Supports 802.11n media access control/physical layer (MAC/ ZigBee Remote ConPHY) through the protocol adaptation layer update and enhances trol 2.0 that works on Bluetooth high-speed technology. Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics Other features of ZigBee Remote (RF4CE) specification. Control 2.0 The RF4CE provides Replaces the IR technology with RF, providing new features like a simple networking enhanced user interface (UI). layer and standard ap Reduces problems related to technology, further reducing the plication layer to create service calls. Enables faster implementation, reducing the overall product a multiple-vendor operdevelopment time. able solution to be used No range limit for use. Range extends in different rooms. within a home. networks can be detected in less time. The ZigBee Remote With all the associated key features, Control 2.0 uses faster and more reliBluetooth 4.1 also has certain challenges able radio frequency (RF) technology as when it comes to its application. The compared to infra-red (IR) for operation pairing of Bluetooth Smart devices from greater distances. It consumes less (enabled with 4.1 specifications) with the power than IR and provides a fast and long-distance feature allows eavesdropreliable bi-directional communication ping on transactions, gives opportunities network, with an over-the-air update. to track individuals, allows behaviour Hence, it does not require to be conmonitoring and enables spoofing of nected with any external hardware for beacons. The other challenge is the cost updates. and time invested to upgrade the infraThe ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 structure during the integration of the standard provides a new feature called new Bluetooth technology. Gupta says, ‘Find My Remote’ that allows other de“Bluetooth Smart too has some design vices to detect and connect to the ZigBee challenges when compared to other techmodule in smart homes. Since the new nologies. It has a lower footprint when specification allows ZigBee to operate at
Other features of BLE based on Bluetooth 4.1
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Technology Focus Alliances associated Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi is associated with Wi-Fi Alliance that certifies it in both 5GHz and 2.4GHz range for high performance and better data-transfer rates. After bringing in the IEEE 802.11ac standard, Wi-Fi Alliance is further planning to introduce two new specifications very soon. One will be called WiGig that will run at 60GHz and will be capable to transfer data at tremendous speeds. But, it will have a low range and will not be able to penetrate walls. Whereas, the other one will be called IEEE 802.11ah that will run at 900MHz and cover long ranges at very low speeds. Bluetooth Smart: Bluetooth SIG. Not connected to any particular alliance, Bluetooth Smart is a technology adopted by Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) has already integrated Bluetooth Smart with A4WP standards for smart wireless charging stations, allowing quick charging with improved power control features. Although SIG has considered to improve speed and wireless range for future specifications, there is no information on the new specification. Do you think it would be called Bluetooth4.2? ZigBee: ZigBee Alliance. It is an open association that provides low power, green and global standards for wireless networking. Teams are working on improving and extending ZigBee standards. Although the Alliance does not intend to come up with a new ZigBee specification, they are working on adding new functionality using RF4CE specification. WiMax: WiMax Forum. Although not an Alliance, WiMax Forum created WiMax. Currently, it takes care of expanding this technology worldwide, enhancing its features by overcoming challenges and bringing up new standards. In 2009, an Open Patent Alliance was associated with this standard. However, it is not as active as the WiMax Forum. The Forum has not yet disclosed the new standards that will be associated with the technology but is working continuously on effective deployment of WiMax Advance.
Other features of WiMax Advanced Minimises architectural complexity and avoids excessive system complexity. Supports low-cost devices and minimises the total ownership cost. Provides a high degree of assurance for maintaining sufficient connectivity as compared to previous standards. Provides specifications to develop wireless access systems for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR). Promotes the commercialisation of broadband wireless access systems amongst manufacturers.
Some useful links To know more about the wireless communication technology, please refer to the following articles published at http://electronicsforu.com http://tinyurl.com/kftvdb3 – Wireless Technologies with their alternatives http://tinyurl.com/osdc9jh - Wireless Products http://tinyurl.com/q2fxcy2 - Plasma Antenna http://tinyurl.com/nygkxff - Li-Fi
Increasing challenges for the designers Over time, all these technologies have evolved to such an extent that designers find it difficult to make suitable design decisions. Pranav Vishwanathan, business manager, TETCOS explains, “Consider the design and fabrication of a new wireless technology. During the design phase, the designer is presented with a myriad of decisions and it would be very costly to actually fabricate all of the potential designs as a means of evaluating their respective performance.” In reality, the requirement is to: Investigate the relative superiority of each design. Determine the correctness and efficiency of a design before the system is actually constructed. Investigate the effects of specific design decisions during the design phase rather than the construction phase. Study a problem at several different levels of abstraction Understand the behaviours and interactions of all the high-level components within the system
2.4GHz band over three channels, it gets the power-saving mechanism incorporated. It utilises the industry standard AES-128 security scheme that makes the technology more secure. The RF4CE specification with Remote Control 2.0 standard allows ZigBee modules to control a wide range of products, starting from the home entertainment system to the key-less entry system. Replacing IR with RF in ZigBee 58
November 2014 | Electronics For You
initiates some design challenges when it comes to hardware and standards. Satyam Raj, design engineer, Toradex says, “Systems break with regards to RF circuits because of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and the hardware needs to follow certain compliances too.” A designer also needs to find out the intent of use of the hardware with RF standards when it comes to RF based wireless networks. Raj explains,
Speaker USB port Microphone Confirm/ Answer
Power/ Home Back/ Hang up Volume
Advanced use of Bluetooth
“If the hardware is to be implanted within a human body, it should have stacked data for easy communication.”
Less-complex, multicast communication Previously working with IEEE 802.16m and IEEE 802.16.1 standards, Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WiMax) has moved on to high-reliability networks with 802.16n and 802.16.1a standards. Where 802.16n focuses on minimising the complexity and architecture of the systems, 802.16.1a aims to promote commercialisation of broadband wireless access systems. WiMax gained importance amongst consumers with the advent of WiMax Advance. WiMax Advanced had certain host challenges and the future of WiMax technology was uncertain, so the WiMax Forum came up with the WiMax 2.1 initiative. This initiative provides a clear technical roadmap for WiMax Advanced and its implementation with Time Domain Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE). Also, the Forum identified the need for multiple broadband wireless access technologies within the WiMax Advanced network. The implementation of WiMax Advanced with TD-LTE was done for the interoperability of products. Such standards, when associated with WiMax, take it to a new level, providing minimum architectural complexity and avoiding any excessive system complexity. The interoperability of the IEEE 802.16n standard allows you to access multiple networks. It also provides multicast communication with multicast key management (MKM) protocols to avoid any eavesdropping and enable a reliable network. The interface involving the devices between high reliability (HR) stations www.efymag.com
Technology Focus Some latest wireless technology applications Technology
Features
Advantages
BeamCaster
A local wireless network, BeamCaster is the latest Li-Fi technology that transfers information to electronic devices with the help of light. BeamCaster has a router at its core that is capable of transmitting signal to a range of about 7-8 metres with the help of a light beam. It is about four times faster in speed than Wi-Fi standards and can transmit signals to around eight devices at a time.
hhHas eight receivers for multiple connections. hhDifficulty in positioning the receivers. hhData transfer speed is 1.25Gbps, guaranteed to hhInconvenience in working with mobile each working unit. devices. hhSignal transmission range of 7 to 8 metres. hhHigh implementation cost relative to hhConverts data into digital binary code during other wireless networks. transfer through a light beam, so it is impossible to either intercept it or to eavesdrop on it.
Twisted radio beams
A new way of wireless communication through hhSends data at a rate of 32Gbps. radio waves is through twisted radio beams. Sev- hhCan attain high data rate through OAM muleral polarised radio beams are twisted together tiplexing. OAM allows data to be transferred into a spiralled beam that allows data to be sent through multiple channels at a single frequency. at a speed of 32Gbps across 2.5 metres in open hhHigh data capacity due to increased surface air. Twisting the beams is basically a form of area that results due to twisting of beams. orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing.
iPCF-MC
Industrial Point Coordination FunctionManagement Channel (iPCF-MC) is an industry-specific enhancement to wireless local area network technology (WLAN). It is optimised for applications with freely movable wireless network nodes, like Simatic Mobile Panel and guided vehicle system, and focuses on optimising the roaming process to redirect the freely-movable wireless network nodes.
Security has been an important factor when it comes to vehicles. Its not only the security inside the vehicle but also the security outside it. The dedicated short range communications (DSRC) technology is helping this security to go to the next level. It is part of the cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS). It is a two-way short-to-mediumrange wireless communication capability that permits very high data transmission critical in communications based active safety applications. Honda is enabling DSRC in its vehicles to enable advanced vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) and vehicle-to-motorcycle (V2M) technologies to support on-road wireless communication. It is using DSRC wireless technology, along with the pedestrian’s smartphone GPS and its dynamic sensing capability in the 5.9GHz band, to establish a communication channel between the pedestrian’s smartphone and nearby vehicles to determine if the pedestrian is in danger of being struck by an oncoming car. The V2P system is effective even when the pedestrian is not easily detectable by the driver, like in conditions when stepping off a curb from behind a parked vehicle or some other traffic obstruction. Whereas, V2M detects the presence of a motorcycle even when it is obstructed from the view of nearby automobile drivers. On the other hand, Railways is implementing this technology to provide three levels of warning and avoid any kind of accidents. The first of these warning is to inform that there is a crossing ahead, the second is to inform that there is a train in the vicinity and the final one is to inform about a collision and requirement of an emergency action. DSRC is for data-only systems and operates on radio frequencies in the 5725MHz to 5875MHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band. DSRC systems consist of road side units and the on-board units with transceivers and transponders. The DSRC standards specify the operational frequencies and system bandwidths, but also allow for optional frequencies that are covered (within Europe) by national regulations. Although this technology has been there for quiet some time, it has been only a few years since its real implementation started.
Major contributors to this report Nitin Gupta, lead engineer-µEnergy Applications, CSR Pranav Vishwanathan, business manager, TETCOS Satyam Raj, design engineer, Toradex
November 2014 | Electronics For You
hhMaintains NFC at low frequency. For an efficient OAM based communication, near field communication will have to be maintained at low frequencies to force the antennae to rapidly grow in size as the distance grows. This would reduce interference to a larger extent.
hhProvides dual access points to broadcast ad- hhNo dual IWALN dual client feature. ministrative frames. hhTwo processes go on at the same time—first, data exchange between client module and access point; second, radio interface of each access point transmits on the same radio channel, allowing simultaneous exchange of data. hhSingle failure point that is the client module. hhSelective transmission results in increased range, transmitting high power.
Vehicles communication enhanced from Honda to Railways
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Disadvantages
and non-HR stations are out of the scope of IEEE 802.16n and are compatible only with IEEE 802.16-2009/802.16j or IEEE 802.16m. The other
challenge with this 802.16n standard is that, although it provides multicast communication with MKM, it does not support the re-keying of multicast authentication key. While going through the new standards, you would have come across the advancements to the technologies as well as the various challenges. Despite these challenges, you will realise that Bluetooth 4.1 with Bluetooth Smart is the most popular technology in the industry today because of the wide acceptability of Bluetooth amongst mobile users and its less-interference feature. Bluetooth has evolved a lot over a period of time, from a high-energy, simple Bluetooth network for limited applications to a low-energy Bluetooth Smart for a large number of applications. However, the next challenge in this era of new wireless technologies is Wi-Fi with gigabytes-speed of communication. Whereas, technologies like RF based ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 or the multicast key management with IEEE 802.16n are getting more and more reliable to outcast themselves in the competition. The author is a technical journalist at EFY www.efymag.com
telecom Technology
SDH: An All-Purpose Digital Transport System SDH is a high-speed, high-capacity, synchronous digital transport system aimed at providing a simpler, flexible and an economic telecommunications network infrastructure that facilitates technical means to transfer large quantities of data between network nodes Dr Rajiv Kumar Singh
T
he phrase ‘necessity is the mother of all invention’ equally applies when we talk about telecom signal transmission. Limitations of older transmission technologies, enhanced quality of service requirements, need for tightly synchronised networks and many more similar requirements are the drawing forces for the evolution of a new kind of digital transport system—the SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy). Basically, SDH is a new kind of synchronous digital hierarchy—standardised by ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union for the telecommunication standardisation sector)—for a high-capacity telecom transmission network for transporting large amounts of voice and data traffic over a common transmission media. As the name suggests, synchronous implies the use of a master clock with which all network elements are tightly synchronised; digital implies the information in binary form and hierarchy implies a set of bit rates in a hierarchical order.
SDH frame structure SDH was essentially developed to replace legacy PDH (plesiochronous digital hierarchy) systems. Its frame structure is designed in such a way that it can encapsulate earlier digital transmission standards, such as the E1, PDH or ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) networking, making SDH an all-purpose transport system. The basic unit of framing in SDH is STM-1 (synchronous transport module-level one), which consists of a matrix of nine rows and 270 columns (Fig. 1). Each cell car62
Different Telecom Hierarchies European Digital Hierarchy
North American Digital Telephone System
Japanese PDH
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
E1 - 2.048
DS1 - 1.544
JT1 - 1.544
STM1 - 155.52
E2 - 8.448
DS2 - 6.312
JT2 - 6.312
STM4 - 622.08
E3 - 34.368
DS3 - 44.736
JT3 - 32.064
STM16 - 2488.32
E4 - 139.264
DS4 - 274.176
JT4 - 95.728
STM64 - 9953.28
(All figures in Mbps)
ries one byte. Transmission is carried out row by row, starting with the byte in the upper-left corner and ending with the byte in the lower-right corner. After transmission of the last byte in the frame (the byte located in row 9, column 270) is complete, the whole sequence repeats. The frame repetition rate is 125 microseconds; therefore there are 8000 frames per second. Each byte in the payload represents a 64-kbit/s channel. So, the total number of bits that can be transported by STM-1 frames is 9×270×8×8000. Thus, the basic STM-1 frame bit rate equals to 155.52Mbits/s. SDH is a transport hierarchy based on multiples of 155.52Mbps in which each rate is an exact multiple of the lower rate; therefore the hierarchy is synchronous. Different SDH rates
STM256 - 39813.12
are STM-1 = 155.52Mbps, STM-4 = 622.08Mbps, STM-16 = 2588.32Mbps, STM-64 = 9953.28Mbps and STM-256 = 39813.12Mbps. As indicated in Fig. 1, SDH frame is made up of a container and a section overhead—section overhead being further divided into regenerator section overhead (RSOH), administrative unit pointer (AU) and multiplexer section overhead (MSOH). The container carries customer traffic (voice, data, video, etc) and can accommodate different kinds of signal data like Ethernet, PDH signals and ATM signals. The container, together with path overhead (POH), makes a virtual container (VC). POH is used for end-to-end signaling and error measurement. www.efymag.com
telecom Technology The section overhead provides facilities that are required to support and maintain the transportation of customer traffic safely across the network. RSOH occupies 27 octets, containing information about the frame structure required by the terminal equipment. MSOH occupies 45 octets, containing information about error correction and automatic protection switching (APS) messages (such as alarms and maintenance messages) as may be required within the network. AU pointer points to the location of the J1 byte in the payload—the first byte in the virtual container.
SIGNAL
CONTAINER
Fig. 2: Illustration for container
P T R
P O H
P O H
CONTAINER
Fig. 3: Formation of virtual container
CONTAINER
Fig. 4: Formation of tributary/administrative unit
S O H
P T R
P O H
CONTAINER-4
Reduced mux structure
Fig. 5: Formation of STM-1 from C-4
The heterogeneous nature of modern network structures has made it necessary that all type of signals like PDH and ATM signals are transported over the SDH network. Some of the telecom hierarchies adopted around the different parts of the world are tabulated (see table on previous page). The process of matching the signals to the network is called mapping, and these tributary sig-
nals are mapped with an SDH system in a defined fashion. The container is the basic package unit for tributary channels. The STM-1 frame structure allocates 260×9 = 2340 octets for a container with signal carrying capacity of 260×9×8×8000 (149.76Mbps). This carrying capacity is sufficient for transporting a 139.264Mbps tributary
www.efymag.com
signal (E4–European digital hierarchy). Practically, a special container (C-n) is provided for each PDH tributary signal (Fig. 2). These containers are always much larger than the payload to be transported, and the remaining capacity is used partly for justification (stuffing) in order to equalise out-timing inaccuracies in the PDH signals. Where synchronous tributaries are mapped, fixed fill bytes are inserted instead of justification bytes. A virtual container (VC-n) is made up from the container, thus formed together with the path overhead (POH) (Fig. 3). The virtual container carried in an STM-1 frame is referred to as a virtual container level four, or VC-4, and is transported unchanged over a path through the network. The channel capacity of VC-4 is 261 x 9 x 8 x 8000 = 150.34Mbps. The VC-4 signal’s carrying capacity can also be subdivided to permit the transport of multiple lower-level PDH signals. The next step towards the formation of a complete STM-N signal is the
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telecom Technology addition of a pointer indicating the start of the POH. A pointer is an indicator whose value defines the frame offset of a VC with respect to the frame reference of the transport entity on which it is supported. The unit formed by the pointer and the virtual container is called a tributary unit (TU-n) or an administrative unit (AU-n), and provides adaptation between lower- and higherorder path layers for TU or between higher-order path layer and section layer for AU (Fig. 4). The administrative unit is shaped if a pointer is allocated to the VC formed at the end. Tributary unit structures are classified as TU-11, TU-12, TU-2 and TU-3. All these TUs have different carrying capacities. For example, TU-11 is made up of three columns of nine bytes, resulting in an informa-
S O H
P T R
P O H
TUG-3
P T R
TUG-3
P O H
tion carrying capacity of 3x9x8x8000 = 1.728Mbps. TU-12 is structured as four columns of nine bytes, yielding in-transport capacity of 4x9x8x8000 = 2.304Mbps. TU-2 frame is made up of 12 columns of nine bytes and can carry 12x9x8x8000 = 6.912Mbps. Similarly, TU-3 is made up of 86 columns of nine bytes that leads to a transport capacity of 86x9x8x8000 = 49.54Mbps. Several TUs taken together form a tributary unit group (TUG-n), which are in turn collected together into a VC. The TUG combines several TUs for a new VC. One or more AUs form an administrative unit group (AUG). Finally, the AUG plus the section overhead (SOH) forms the STM-N. Figs 5 through 7 clearly illustrate the formation of STM-1 from C-4, C-3 and C-1, respectively.
SDH multiplexing hierarchy
TUG-3
A summary of the mappings that are currently possible according to ITU-T recommendation, G.707, and the ATM mapping recommendations are shown in Fig. 8. The hierarchy illustrates all possible multiplex levels, like ATM, European and North American PDH multiplex levels. Other tributary signals can also be accommodated at various multiplex levels, depending on the required capacity. The SDH multiplexing approach is very flexible and allows several paths to build the various signal structures,
CONTAINER-3
Fig. 6: Formation of STM-1 from C-3
S O H
P T R
P O H
TUG-3
TUG-3
TUG-3
TUG-2 TUG-2 TUG-2TUG-2 TUG-2 TUG-2 TUG-2
TU-1
P T R
TU-1
P O H
TU-1
CONTAINER-1
Fig. 7: Formation of STM-1 from C-1
STM-1 (155.52 Mbps)
AUG x4
STM-4 (622.08 Mbps)
AUG
x1 x3
x1 AU-4 AU-3
VC-3
AUG
x1 x7
TUG-3 x7
x1
TUG-2
x3
AUG
Fig. 8: Formation of STM-N frame
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139.264 Mbps (E4)/ 149.76 Mbps (ATM)
x3
x4 STM-64 (9953.28 Mbps)
C-4 x1
STM-0 (51.84 Mbps)
x4 STM-16 (2488.32 Mbps)
VC-4
November 2014 | Electronics For You
x4
TU-3
VC-3
C-3
44.736 Mbps (DS3)/ 34.368 Mbps (E3)
TU-2
VC-2
C-2
6.312 Mbps (DS2)/ 6.874 Mbps (ATM)
TU-12
VC-12
C-12
2.048 Mbps (E1)/ 2.144 Mbps (ATM)
TU-11
VC-11
C-11
1.544 Mbps (DS1)/ 1.60 Mbps (ATM)
like STM-1, STM-4, STM-16, STM-64 and STM-256. Of interest in this context is the so-called sub-STM or STM-0 signal. The STM-0 bit rate is 51.84Mbps. This interface is used in SDH/SONET (synchronous optical network) links, radio links and satellite connections. For generating an STM-1 signal, multiplex paths to be followed are: 1. Each E1 signal is mapped into a VC-12, which is then added with a pointer to form a TU-12. 2. Each group of three TU-12 is combined to obtain a TUG-2 (each TUG-2 carrying three E1). 3. Seven TUG-2 are combined to obtain one TUG-3 (each TUG-3 carrying 21 E1). 4. Three VC-3 are grouped to make one VC-4 (each VC-4 carrying 63 E1). The STM-1 signal carries one VC-4. In order to generate an STM-N signal, several AUG are combined. In order to meet the continually increasing bandwidth requirement, methods have been developed for transmitting the payload in a multiple (n) C-4 (virtual or contiguous concatenation). As an example, a quadruple C-4 can be transmitted in a STM-4.
Conclusion SDH is a promising transmission technology that can offer very high bandwidth capabilities with the use of synchronous multiplexing techniques. It has proven to be the solution for various high-bandwidth demanding services like video-on-demand, online gaming, video conferencing, etc. It can handle even earlier digital transmission standards, such as E1, PDH or ATM networking, making SDH an all-purpose transport system. With scope for further improvement in the current SDH by incorporating link capacity adjustment scheme, resilient packet ring, virtual concatenation, next generation SDH, it is expected that SDH technology will continue to grow at a tremendous rate well into the next decade and beyond. The author holds a PhD in electronics engineering from IIT, Varanasi. His current research interests include wired and wireless technologies for highspeed Internet access www.efymag.com
defence electronics
Part 3 of 3
Smart Shells: The Electronics Behind Big Guns The first two parts of this article explained what big guns actually do and how, the crew protection systems and various fire control systems. This part talks about smart shells and anti-tank missiles B. KAMALANATH
E
ven though the big guns are expected to fire ‘intelligently,’ shells fly through the air. Turbulences, humidity and sudden gusts of air can alter the trajectory of the shells. They might have been aimed and fired perfectly, but because of these environmental factors they may fail to hit the target. The only way out is to make the shells ‘intelligent’ too. When shells are fired from the guns, the pressure developed inside the barrels exceeds several bars. The electronic and electromechanical systems in the shells must withstand this extreme physical condition and work effectively. This challenge of fabricating highendurance electronic components and integrating them with the shells has recently been met with success. This has resulted in various types of smart shells for both tanks and SPGs.
Smart shells for tanks The distance of engagement is shorter in tanks, and it occurs generally in the line of sight. Also, the speed of shells is very fast. Therefore there is not much need for smart shells. Yet, there can be situations where a tank is used to spot another tank (using shells) outside its range of engagement. Since battles are full of ‘now or never’ moments, to engage such targets way beyond the engagement range, gun-launched anti-tank missiles are used. These are launched through the gun of the tank itself.
Gun-fired anti-tank missiles These missiles are generally laser-guid66
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ed, and the laser illumination is carried out by the tank commander—using his sight (a traversing periscope) that contains an integrated laser designator. If the commander spots an enemy tank situated outside his tank’s engagement
Semi-active laser-guided shells
These shells use a semi-active laserguidance system, which is not entirely autonomous and needs human assistance. The lines of operation of these shells are similar to the laser-guided missiles explained earlier. Such shells typically have a range of around 20 kilometres. Each shell has a laser seeker and a high performance microprocessorcentric guidance system. A set of movable wings and Fig.15: 9K112 Kobra ATGM Anti-tank guided missile round fins are present in a folded (Photograph courtesy: George Shuklin, through Wikipedia) position and get deployed after the shell reaches the maximum range, he orders an anti-tank missile height. Until then the shell is ballistic in to be fired. While it is fired, he keeps flight. These wings and fins move in acthat target tank in the crosshairs of cordance to the commands provided by his sight. Some famous gun-launched the guidance system to alter the trajeclaser-guided missiles are the USSR/ tory of a shell. The artillery troops emRussian ‘9M119 Svir’ and ‘9M119M bedded with the front-line troops have Reflek’, and the Israeli ‘Lahat’. to flash an infrared laser beam on targets Smart shells for SPG with their laser designator. The shell has a nose-mounted laser seeker with an If a war is fought in an urban terrain, enormous footprint. When the shell is enemy forces are likely to be alongside at the maximum height of its parabolic the civilian population. Thus, if the artrajectory, it can lock on a target even tillery support is called in, it may lead from several kilometres. Once the target to very high civilian casualties. Simiis visible, the guidance system guides larly, even if the shells are fired in the the shell towards the target by correMRSI mode, due to heavy crosswinds, spondingly actuating its fins and wings. all shells may land at the same time Though considered to be smart, but not on the target. However, the these shells are not entirely smart. The entry of smart shells has revolutionsuccess of the hit entirely depends on ised the scenario. Today, with smart the troops’ laser-illuminating the target. shells, artillery guns have become an Cloud cover can also hinder the perforeconomical long-range precision strike mance of these shells. Russian ‘Krasweapon system. www.efymag.com
defence electronics nopol’ and American ‘Copperhead’ are well-known examples, and the former is in service with the Indian Army.
GPS-guided shells Typically, these shells have a maximum range of 35 kilometres. The shell’s guidance system is centred on a mission computer that continuously derives the GPS coordinates from a shell-embedded GPS receiver. As in the laser-guided shells, fins are present in this shell also. Before firing a shell, the target’s GPS coordinates are loaded into the shell’s mission computer by a trooper known as ‘fuse setter.’ When the shell is fired, the embedded GPS receiver constantly feeds current GPS coordinates to the mission computer, which compares them with the pre-loaded coordinates. It, then, calculates the required trajectory and guides the shell in that trajectory. The advantage of this is that, even if the shell is shot off-target, it automatically glides toward the target. When fired in MRSI mode, these shells can raze a single building to the ground without any damage to neighbouring buildings. The American ‘Excalibur (M982),’ a product of Raytheon Missile Systems, and ‘Bofors’ of BAE Systems, are the only known examples. Typically, the estimated cost of a single shell is around US$ 50,000!
Sensor-fused tank killer shells Meant to take out enemy tanks, these shells act as carriers and deploy smaller, standalone, smart anti-tank munitions that take out tanks. Each smart submunition contains a flight computer, radar and an explosive detonating mechanism. When the shell reaches the target area, submunition are ejected out and slowly descend through a parachute and spin. While spinning, the submunition’s radar is activated. The radar maintains a spiral-scanning pattern during descent. When the flight computer recognises the radar echoes of a tank, the computer simply jettisons the parachute. This allows the submunition to fall over the target. An explosive detonating mechanism detonates the explosive. The result is an explosively-formed penetrator (EFP), a molten-copper jet travelling at hyper68
November 2014 | Electronics For You
Command and control systems Each combat leader in the echelon gets his orders from his superior based on ground situation, delegates a task to his subordinate units and reports back the result to his superior. This Fig. 16: Russian krasnapol laser-guided artillery shell (Photograph process is called command courtesy: ‘Mike1979 Russia’ through Wikipedia) and control (C2) and is based on robust communication systems. The C2 is to be maintained from the top to the bottom level forces—be it a 4-6 member team or 40,000-50,000 strong strike corps. The performance of a fighting force is directly influenced by the efficacy of C2. Tanks and SPGs, crucial to a battle, are highly communication-intensive systems. Fig. 17: Excalibur GPS guided round (Photograph courtesy: US Army, through Wikipedia)
Communication systems for tanks
sonic speeds. This jet penetrates the tank’s weakest place—its top. In case the submunition is not able to find any tank, it automatically explodes and destructs itself. The American ‘SADARM M898,’ German ‘Suchzünder Munition für die Artillerie 155’ (meaning ‘sensorfused munition for 155mm artillery’) and ‘BONUS’ of BAE systems are the presently operational shells. An entire armoured offensive of the enemy could be blunted by batteries of howitzers firing such sensorfused shells.
With improvements in communication technology, a better C2 has become possible, from intra-tank communication to inter-tank communication. Due to the immense noise associated with the tanks, direct voice communication is not even possible between the tank crew seated next to each other. Helmet-mounted headphone intercoms are used for intra-tank voice communication. These are plugged into a wired two-way communication system. With the inter-tank communication mode selected, the tank commander can communicate with other tank commanders in the formation or his superiors using a wireless radio transceiver. The warning from the active protection system (APS) is coupled with the intercom system. The commander hears a warning tone if his tank is targeted—an eventual sign of an impending missile attack. A specially-designated tank with a better communication facility, called command tank, is also used. This tank hosts the formation commander, who commands the tank commanders of the formation. He or she also communicates with the higher echelons. Due to the changing geopolitics, combined infantry-armour operations are required inside the cities. This requires the infantry to move in close proximity with the tanks. To facilitate better infantry vs tank communication,
Jammer shells These shells are of a different genre. They consist of a high-powered radio frequency (RF) jammer that jettisons through a parachute and lands in the target area. After impacting the ground, it starts emitting high-power noise in a particular RF band. This turns all communication systems that use that particular band in the target area ‘deaf and dumb.’ Less than a dozen of these rounds, jamming various bands, can completely choke all communication systems for a definite period. The military application of this system is vast and spreads over various doctrines. So far, such shells are said to be available with the Russian forces in limited scale.
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defence electronics telephones are being progressively installed in the rear of the tanks. The associated commander can directly communicate with the tank’s commander through these phones. With the development of communication technology, tanks are better able to share information. In modern tanks, the commander has a touch-screen interactive display that shows the map of the terrain he is operating in. This is frequently updated by satellites, which helps the tank commander to view the graphical disposition of his own and known enemy troops in the battlefield. He also gets on-field intelligence through unmanned aerial vehicles that transmit live video or image feeds to the tanks. The tank forces—the main strike forces—are slowly switching towards network-enabled capabilities. Through this they share information, designate targets and neutralise them very effectively in close cohesion.
Communication systems for SPG When front-line troops encounter strong
(BCC). Firing commands from the FDC are issued to the appropriate BCC. The FO, FDC and the SPGs are all situated far away from each other. In a typical mission, the FO generates the request Horizontal swiveling for an artillery strike to mount the FDC. He intimates his precise location on the map and the target’s location with respect to his location. Fig. 18: M1 Tank with Crows RWS using A M-240 machine gun The FDC determines which (Photograph credit: US Army, through Wikipedia. Open domain battery would be able to image modified for use) engage the target most effectively and communicates the same resistance from the enemy, they call for to the BCC. It also determines which an artillery strike. A trooper, known as shell type has to be used, the required the forward observer (FO), is present numbers, the elevation and orientation among the front line troops. The FO of the gun, etc. In the BCC, guns are generates that request through a radirected accordingly to load, align and dio to the fire direction centre (FDC), fire. As the firing is initiated, the FO the overall command centre for SPGs actively reports to the FDC information, throughout the battlefield. Six to like impact of the shell, side to which eight guns are grouped to form what the target shell landed and its distance. is known as a battery, which is comFrom these reports, the FDC deduces manded by a battery command centre Camera section of weapon sight
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defence electronics the coordinates and communicates the updates to the BCC. Trained FOs can direct the artillery fire even on specific targets, like stationary tanks. In an artillery barrage, they move the shell’s point of impact progressively. This is known as walking the fire to the target or a rolling barrage. The process of receiving artilleryfire-support requests from various units operating at various sectors in the battlefield, categorising and prioritising them, allocating targets to the BCC, getting targets bombarded, collecting feedback through FOs, and giving correction orders, is called artillery C2. In the past, this was based on wireless radios and all calculations were done manually using slides and maps. these are carried out through rigorous training. The FDC and BCC are slated to get closely integrated through computerised C2 systems. The FCS of the SPGs requires specific alignment to be entered, so it gets the SPG aligned easily. The FDC typically has a huge computer screen on which a detailed map of the battlefield is displayed. It is marked with positions of known enemy and friendly units, target sizes and locations, safety regions, available ammunitions at various batteries, etc. The FOs provided with imagers can send live videos by hooking their imagers to the radio. Through this, the FDC can see the result of the bombardment for themselves. Some of the functions the FDC can execute in a go are: 1. Taking account of the available munitions at the BCC 2. Identifying the required number of guns for a mission 3. Selecting the mode of bombardment and the required shell impact distribution, according to the type of target 4. Synchronising the firings 5. Simultaneously controlling several fire missions, where certain number of guns in a battery are used for bombarding targets of a different mission The BCC for these SPGs are also mobile vehicles that follow these guns. All FCSs of the individual SPGs are connected with a radio data link to the BCC, which sends the target’s coordinates, re70
November 2014 | Electronics For You
Fig-19: US Combat Naval Vessel ‘USS Forest Sherman’ fires its gun (Photograph courtesy: US Navy, through Wikipedia)
quired shell type and numbers through the radiolink to the FCS of the SPG. These parameters are displayed separately. The gunner enters these values into the FCS, which in turn aligns the gun. On receiving the fire command through the radio, these SPGs fire. This method of C2 is being tested and is expected to be deployed soon.
Some more systems Automatic fire extinguishing system. A tank or an SPG contains live ammunition inside it. If it catches fire either due to enemy firing or by accident, the result can be catastrophic. The resulting explosion can destroy a turret weighing around 20 metric tonnes! The automatic fire suppression system has sensors in the ammunition and engine compartments. These sensors detect fumes that rise before a fire and trigger a gas canister that contains halon (halogenated hydrocarbon) gas. This fire-retardant gas is released in milliseconds. The crew has to escape from the vehicle in a few seconds to save themselves. This system is effective only against accidental fires or meagre hits from enemy fire. Close-range protection system. A tank or an SPG is a deadly monster, but only when the enemy is away from these machines—the striking range of these machines has a minimum distance below which they cannot engage the enemy. For shorter distances, machine guns are fitted in these systems. During a battle, these guns can be fired from under the protection of armour. But, to load these guns, operators have to come out of the armour.
To tackle this, remote-controlled weapon stations (RWSs) are being introduced. These are situated on the top of the turret and have a high-power machine gun. The way a target is engaged is similar to the target engagement through the main gun since inside these RWS there is a mini FCS similar to that of a tank’s. A joystick is used to control the movement of the machine gun. There is a camera and display for aiming and monitoring. With these RWSs, close-range infantry threats can also be dealt with, without exposing the shooter to the enemy.
Naval guns In the past, guns were the primary armament of combat naval. These guns could even determine the size of the ships. These were used to fire at enemy vessels and on-shore installations, that too in both direct and indirect fire modes. Anti-ship cruise missiles that were introduced in the early sixties defanged these big guns and took their place. Due to this, today these guns have diminished in both size and power. The modern-day shipboard gun’s FCS uses a radar to derive the coordinates of the enemy vessel. These guns are autoloaded. For direct firing modes, the FCS functions like a tank’s. But, for indirect firing support, it works like the FCS of an SPG. A naval gun’s FCS has to also take care of the wave factor because while firing there is a strong possibility of the wave heaving the ship upwards, and shifting the point where the shells will land. So, the FCS incorporates the gun stabilisation feature too for the indirect firing mode, unlike their land-based SPGs. These guns can shoot shells even faster than the tanks or SPGs.
The future In the future, high-powered laser beam firing weapon platforms will replace big guns. Until then, these big guns driven by electronic systems will rule the battlefield. The author is working in BrahMos Aerospace and is pursuing a doctorate in military technology. He has contributed various articles in the past www.efymag.com
EFY Plus DVD
This Month’s DVD Contents
This month’s DVD brings to you design and compilation software from EDAUtils and ABACOM, along with a Tizen SDK to help develop Tizen web and native applications. Also enjoy the Arcade shooting through MissionX Sneha Ambastha
Popular resources
DesignPlayer by EDAUtils
7Zip. Compress and decompress your files using the 9.20 version of 7zip. JRE. Upgrade to the latest update for JRE version 7 for Windows 64-bit and MAC operating system in order to improve the security of your system. Portable VLC. The portable version of VLC sports the exact same functionality as the standalone edition. It also supports HTTP, RTP, MMS and RTSP stream playback. Opera. Install the latest version of the Opera web browser, version 24.0.1558.53_S on your Ubuntu system to search, navigate and browse with style. Portable Free Download Manager. As the name suggests, it is a portable app that cuts down the time required to complete a download. Thunderbird. 31.1.0 version of Thunderbird is the latest version of a free email application that allows an easy set up and customisation with great features. Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla Firefox version 32.0.3 is the latest version of a light and tidy open source web browser with simple and effective UI, fast speed and strong security capabilities. Apache Open Office. The latest version of Apache Open Office version 4.1.1 allows word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. ClamWin. ClamWin is a free antivirus program for Microsoft Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/Me/2000/98 and Windows Server 2012, 2008 and 2003. It has a high detection rate for viruses and comes with a scanning scheduler.
This is a unified platform that encapsulates the IP-XACT solutions, IP assembly tool and a bunch of utilities around VHDL and Verilog. On one hand, where IP-XACT helps in creation and maintenance, the IP assembly tool supports component definitions in IP-XACT.
LochMaster LochMaster version 4.0 is a developer’s tool, meant for designing, documenting and testing project boards. It has functions like auto-generation of component lists, a connection test, an editable library with a large number of symbols and components, and a lot more.
sPlan 7.0 sPlan is the least complicated schematic editor available for developing circuit schematics. Its functions like the extensive component library, the usage of free definable background form sheets and automatic component numbering make it a great choice for even entrylevel circuit designers.
Piklab Piklab is an integrated development environment (IDE) for PIC microcontroller (MCU). Specifically built for applications devised on Microchip PIC and digital signal processor IC (dsPIC) MCU, Piklab has limited technical support for some of these MCUs as it is still under development. It can work with a variety of compilers, assemblers and programmers with an open source community support available for all.
8051 cross compiler The 8051 cross assembler takes an assembly language source file that has been created with a text editor and 72
November 2014 | Electronics For You
translates it into a machine language object file. This translation process is done in two passes over the source file, during which the cross assembler first builds a symbol table from the symbols and labels used in the source file and then actually translates the source file into the machine language object file.
RealView
Sprint-Layout
ProfiLab
This is a simple yet powerful tool that creates layouts for both single-sided and double-sided PCBs. Along with the functions necessary for board design, it has a few professional features like export of Gerber files (for manufacturing) or HPGL (for isolation-milling with CNC machines).
Profilab is used to develop your own digital control or the analogue measuring technology for any project. It has a graphical user interface that works in the same manner as creating a wire diagram.
FreeScada This is an open source SCADA system for MS Windows (2000/XP/Vista) that provides flexible tools for visualisation and interactive control of any industrial process.
Linkindoy Likindoy is a framework for industrial software development, system administrators and everyone who is interested in graphs and statistics about almost any kind of data.
RealView is a measurement application that is used to record and plot the measured values from analogue hardware devices in real time. It can plot measurements into a single diagram and can arrange several diagrams on one or more pages.
AudioWave AudioWave produces noise signals from 1Hz to 20kHz in the form of sine and modulated signals. It helps the soundcard operate like an LF-signal-generator.
Tizen SDK This is a comprehensive set of tools for developing Tizen web and native applications. It consists of IDE, emulator, tool chain, sample code and documentation. Tizen applications may be developed without relying on an official Tizen IDE, as long as the application complies with Tizen packaging rules. The author is a technical journalist at EFY www.efymag.com
EFY Plus DVD
Create an Electronics Product Using sPlan sPlan Windows based electronic design automation tool (EDA) is one of the least-complicated software available for developing circuit schematics, and thus a great choice for getting started with circuit design Anagha P.
s
Plan is a complex EDA tool with a straightforward user interface (UI) that lets you design schematics for electronics and electrical circuits. The user can design entry-level to complex schematics with the neatness, precision and accuracy comparable with professional designs.
Why use sPlan This software is free from several unwanted and complicated functions, thereby giving it a user-friendly and simple (though a little old-fashioned) structure. Features like drag-and-drop of components into the user-definable grid and exact fitting of these components on the grid make it suitable even for newcomers and people with no solid background in the field of electronics designs. Well-defined, easy and intuitive to handle are the main characteristics that make sPlan better than other similar schematic editor tools. An extensive, well-sorted library of electronic components comes with the package and is found on the left panel of the home screen. There are two default libraries—standard and user. The standard library contains a variety of components like resistors, inductors, capacitors, diodes, connectors, meters, grounds, transistors, batteries, microphones and power supplies. You can drag-and-drop the required symbol/component into the workspace and it will be positioned exactly on the grid. Apart from this, the user www.efymag.com
Fig. 1: Home
can copy components, create new components, delete new or existing Software tools components, and reorganise exist- Licence type Shareware (demo version) ing libraries or create new libraries Developer Lothar Feldmann and according to the requirement. Matthias Prüssel, ABACOM With sPlan, the user can not Latest version 7.0 only create professional-grade cir- File size 4.8MB cuit schematics but also preview Experience level Beginners, intermediates and adjust the print layouts, and and hobbyists get high-quality prints of these is either available in its installation dischematics. You can print a single rectory or can be downloaded directly page, selected range of pages or all from the ABACOM website. the pages in a project. There is also a banner-printing function in the latest Some sPlan features release, which lets you print schematics spread over multiple pages. For There are several features of sPlan that example, an A3-size schematic can make it fast, flexible and simple. be printed on two A4-size sheets. The Pages. Large circuit diagrams often company also provides a freeware need to be divided into sub-circuits or called sPlan 7.0—a viewer that lets modules so that the project becomes you open, view and print files creless complicated. sPlan allows the ated using sPlan in best quality. On creation of as many pages as you want installation of sPlan, the viewer tool in each project so you can create each Electronics For You Plus | November 2014
I
EFY Plus DVD
Fig. 2: Dimmer
System requirement Operating system: Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows Vista Windows XP Windows 2000 Linux (using Wine)
How to install? Double-click on the executable file splan70(demo).exe (or right-click on the file and select Run as administrator for Windows Vista users) to run the installation. The installation wizard window that opens will help you set up the program on your computer. NB: The demo version of sPlan 7.0 has saving, exporting and printing disabled. sub-circuit or module on a separate page. These pages are saved as individual files to enable sharing between different projects. You can also copy, delete, sort, rename and change properties of individual pages in one project itself. Swapping between pages is also made possible easily by clicking on the required page name from the ones displayed under the workspace. Grid. Grid distance can be defined by the user. Moreover, the components (dragged-and-dropped) and connections are automatically inclined and positioned in the grid. One can also move, shear, rotate and scale individuII
al components or group of components in the grids. Import/export. One can open, modify or design, and create files with the extension *.spl using sPlan. Multiple pages in a single project can be saved individually, making it possible to exchange individual pages between multiple projects. It is also possible to export schematics to other common formats like JPG, GIF, BMP, EMF and SVG. Components list. Another important features of sPlan is that it automatically creates and updates a components list for each page, selected pages or a whole project. This list can be opened, edited, sorted (both alphabetically and quantitatively), copied, printed, saved (in *.rtf) and exported or imported (to and from Excel file). Numbering. Automatic renumbering of components is yet another feature of sPlan. In case one of the components have to be deleted, by using the renumbering function all the components can be indexed automatically and logically, depending on the pattern you want—row-wise or column-wise. Zoom. The zoom function lets you get a bird’s eyeview of the circuit or each part or component. This is achieved by either clicking the zoom icon or rolling the mouse wheel. It is possible to zoom in/out the page, its elements or any specific element in the diagram. Magnetic line. This is just a circuit
November 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
construction aid that helps identify correct positions when objects are moved. When elements are moved near magnetic lines, they are automatically aligned to them. Form. This is a layer that lies under the original circuit diagram that displays the properties of each page. New forms can be added and existing ones can be edited by the user. Form layers can be saved individually in *.sbk format and called into any page according to need. Help. sPlan has a built-in simple and extensive help section, which makes it easier for first-time users to understand the software functions. Others. Features like automatic component numbering, component search, and external and internal linking functions further reduce the complexity and increase the speed of this software. Schematic files created with older versions of sPlan are compatible with the new sPlan 7.0.
Support Free help and support for the software can be obtained from ABACOM by sending an email to [email protected]. All the latest updates and bug fixes are published on their website— www.abacom-online.de/uk/. The site also provides free download of additional libraries created by other users and lets you submit a library of components created by you that could be useful to others. The company also sells other tools like Sprint-Layout 6.0 (PCB layout software), LochMaster 4.0 (for designing, developing and testing strip board projects), FrontDesigner 3.0 (designing front panels for electronics products), ProfiLab 4.0 (designing digital control for analogue measuring technology), RealView 3.0 (recording and plotting measurements in real time) and AudioWave 2.0 (a low-frequency signal generator software.) Apart from these software products, the firm also sells hardware and bundles related to the software tools. The author is a technical correspondent at EFY www.efymag.com
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Piklab: An IDE for PIC Microcontroller Through this article we explore the features of Piklab over its competitors and its ability to link with several toolchains. Piklab is available for Linux and Windows operating systems on the DVD accompanying this month’s issue of EFY Plus Sneha Ambastha
P
iklab is an open source integrated development environment (IDE) for applications devised on Microchip PIC and digital signal processor IC (dsPIC) microcontroller (MCU) that can be compiled only with Qt on Linux and Windows. Qt, being a cross platform framework, allows Piklab to develop non-graphical user interface (non-GUI) programs. Based on general public licence version 2 (GNU GPL v2), Piklab is a complete development environment, providing access to different toolchains. Piklab, although compatible with all versions of Windows and Linux, is only compatible with K-Desktop Environment 3 (KDE3) and KDE4 from version 0.16.0.
Why use Piklab Every tool has some specific features that make it essential enough to be used over its competitors. The features that Piklab can be related to are as follows: 1. Provides tools for the complete development process that includes editing and compilation of the source, programming the device and debugging. 2. Integrates with several types of compilers, assembler toolchains and gpsim simulators. 3. Supports most common programmers, ICD2 debugger and several types of bootloaders. It also supports some direct programmers for most IV
Fig. 1: Debugger
of the devices with PIC18F MCUs and PIC24C EEPROMs.
GNU PIC utilities and small device C compiler (sdcc) PICC compilers (PICC-Lite, PICC and PICC-18) MPLAB C18 compiler JAL and JALV2 compiler BoostC, BoostC++ and BoostBasic compilers CCS compiler MPC compiler CC5X compiler MPLAB C30 toolchain
Apart from the key essentials, Piklab has certain other advantages that may be present in other IDEs as well. Command-line tool. Piklab is a command-line tool that provides a console for user interface, i.e., it allows the users to issue successive lines of text. Checks validity of hex files. This tool checks the validity of a hex file to confirm if it complies with the INHEXStandard defined by Intel Corporation,
November 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
returns the information to the console, cleans the file and fixes the errors. It also compares two hex files. Supports gputils. It is a collection of tools from Microchip PIC MCUs that includes gplink, gpasm and gplib. It allows a direct conversion of Aswww.efymag.com
EFY Plus DVD Some popular competitors
Fig. 2: Device selector
MPlab Arriba IDE for PIC32 MCUs Ktechlab PIC Simulator IDE
sembly language into hex files for the programmer using gpasm. Erases selected memory. Piklab performs multiple functions. It can read, program, verify and erase the whole device or only the selected memory ranges. Easy debugging and simulation. Piklab allows an easy and faster simulation of PIC MCUs and also enables an easy debugging with three control options: graphical user interface (GUI), remote processor and command line interface (CLI) using the gpsim simulation tool.
Make yourself familiar
Fig. 3: Hex file editor
Key requirements Qt Library (>=v.3.3 or v.4.x) KDE Libraries (>=v.3.3 or v.4.x)—required for graphical interface libusb (>=v.0.1.8)—required for USB support Raw HID device support—required in Linux kernel for USB support Parallel port support and support for user-space parallel port device drivers in Linux kernel Apart from the above mentioned compulsory tools, there are certain optional tools for some advanced work using Piklab: libreadline—for more advanced command-line interactive mode Pikloops—utility to compute timing loops Wine—for using external Win32 programs (e.g., the C18 compiler)
www.efymag.com
Working with any tool becomes easy if we know its different parts and their functions, before actually starting a project. Read on to know more. 1. Project window. The main window of Piklab gives information about all the files in the project being worked on, allowing one to open all the project files and change the processor type. 2. Editor window. The upper section of the main window contains an editor window that allows one to read and change the source code and hex files. 3. New project. The new project window (in the project window) allows one to make the basic settings to start a new project. It further allows one to either create a new source file by writing the codes in the assembler or to add an existing source file. In case one is not familiar with coding in assembler, he/she can download them from the Internet, which can then be added to the new project. 4. Compile button. Pressing the compile button at the top of the editor window allows one to compile the project. The messages such as compiling and linking can be seen in a small area called compile log, which is present at the lower quarter of the computer Electronics For You Plus | November 2014
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EFY Plus DVD screen. Once the compilation is complete, one should be able to see the message ‘successful’ as the last line in the compile log. 5. Connect button. The connect button above the editor window allows one to virtually connect to the gpsim simulator so as to start the simulation of the program. This button is to be pressed only after the compilation is successful. 6. Run. Once the simulation is over, press the run button available at the top to see the output of the simulation.
What do the users have to say Although we can see some benefits of using Piklab, the actual users have mixed reviews about it. The communities such as edaboard.com, Bit Bang Theory and ReviewStream have the following users’ perspective: 1. “I have personally used Piklab to program 16f628a and 16f88 devices, writing the code in ASM and programming them with a JDM serial programmer and haven’t faced any problem ever. I find Piklab very easy to use and it is really a very powerful tool. It does not support MPLAB’s directives so, if you have previously written any code on MPLAB using directives, you need to remove them and change them for standard mpasm code to be able to
Fig. 4: Register view
Quick steps to build a project using Piklab 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
compile that code on Piklab.” 2. “That’s the best IDE available for programming microcontroller. It can be used to write code, compile it,
Fig. 5: Source code editor
VI
Start a project Add sourcefile(s) to this project Select the toolchain, processor and programmer Press on the Build Project button. A hex file will be created Connect the programmer by pressing on the Connect button Insert a PIC microcontroller into your programmer Press on buttons: Erase, Blank Check and Program Press on the Verify button to check, if the hex file was written without errors into the PIC
November 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
test it using simulation and debugging tools and even programming the actual microcontroller.” 3. “Piklab does not always work with the Tiny Bootloader. I had it working when I used Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal and some version of Piklab that I cannot remember now. But since I upgraded to Oneiric Ocelot and a new version of Piklab, the Tiny Bootloader programming interface stopped working. However, there is another easy way to use Tiny Bootloader with Piklab, which involves installing Tinybldlin, the Linux interface for the Tiny PIC bootloader.” 4. “I love Piklab! It is the best solution to program and debug PIC microcontroller under Linux, but it still has some road to go before it can reach Microchip’s MPLAB IDE.” The author is a technical journalist at EFY. The article is based on the Piklab document available at Sourceforge.net www.efymag.com
EFY Plus DVD
Lochmaster 4.0: Developers’ Tool for Strip Board Projects Young engineering minds always have a lot of innovative design ideas. Unfortunately, they might not always be able to materialise those in a PCB design because they take more time, consume more money and they cannot always reuse and redesign the board. As an ideal developer’s tool for freshers in electronics design, the Lochmaster helps in design, documentation and testing of project boards Jai Sachith Paul
T
he world of electronics is so fascinating that once you begin designing something on your own, you will no longer be satisfied with the breadboards. You need your designs to last forever. The obvious choice of most of the designers is to go for PCBs. Unfortunately, in many cases going for PCBs is not the best option. It can drain your savings, time and ultimately, by the time the PCB reaches your hand, you might lose interest in the project itself. Strip board is a good option but it becomes difficult when it comes to complex circuits. Use of a softwareaided strip board design will be the best option to reduce the overall complexity. as a beginner, you do not want your software to be too complex. Lochmaster v4.0 software from Abacoma is an exceptionally simple and easy-to-use developer’s tool for strip board projects.
Features of LochMaster 4.0 Let us take a look at the features of LochMaster 4.0 that we found to be interesting. Easy-to-use design environment. LochMaster 4.0 can help us in designing, documenting and testing project boards. In order to increase the overall www.efymag.com
Realistic component library. The component library in LochMaster4.0 is very large and realistic. Apart from having the standard components like resistors, diodes and capacitors, the library also has a lot of mechanical elements like screws, nuts and spacers that makes it more Fig. 1: Interconnections of components in a Lochmaster display realistic. The new, extended library looks simplicity of the tool, functions like almost like real components. Besides auto-generation of components lists, this, there is a whole new set of practia connection test, an editable library cal features like parallel usage of mm with a large number of symbols and and hole grids. Altogether, you can components are incorporated in the have a display similar to that of a real tool. board. This feature is not only good to The developers’ tool also has visualise but also helps us have clarity the provision of an integrated board in our design. editor. In case our desired board is We also have the provision for not predefined, we can use the intedesigning our own components and grated board editor to create our own symbols using this developers’ tool. boards. Another major advantage with We can extend the library as we like. LochMaster 4.0 is its backward comLochMaster 4.0 provides us with an patibility. We can load and edit any easy-to-create standard components or project we have already designed with often-needed contours with the help of LochMaster. Electronics For You Plus | November 2014
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EFY Plus DVD
Fig. 2: Window showing components list
the new object assistant. Test mode to help in tracing signals. LochMaster has a very special feature—the test mode. We can easily figure out the way in which a signal flows and sort out the wanted and unwanted connections with the help of the test mode. If we click at any point in the circuit, the program automatically determines all areas of the board that are connected directly to that point. The program determines all the wires, connections and pins. The areas that are connected will be marked.
Installation The size of LochMaster is less than 10MB and it can be run even in machines with lesser specifications. The software is distributed electronically after purchase. It is compactable with all versions of Windows, from XP to 8. We can have a backup of the installation file once it is received. It is a quick install and we do not need any extra framework software.
Top competing tools Mentioned below are some other similar strip board designing tools. VeroDes. Veroboard is the same as a strip board. VeroDes is yet another easy-to-use design program for all those who wish to design circuits. We VIII
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can easily accommodate board sizes up to 70 holes by 70 tracks in the design. With this software, we can easily visualise both sides of our circuit with links, breaks and component pins marked. It also helps us to modify the design as per our requirements. We can also create our own components having up to 25 pins by 25 pins. VeeCAD strip board editor. VeeCaD strip board is used for prototypes and small-quantity designs. The tool helps in making the prototyping practical, replacing the need for a PCB. We can draw our own components and save these in the library for future use. In fact, this tool helps us save hours of planning layouts on graph paper. Strip board magic. This is a Windows application, developed by a British company called Ambyr, for designing PCB layouts on strip board. Although the interface seems to be quite primitive and a little strange, it is functional even on Windows XP and Linux. One major issue that we face while working with this software is the size of some circuits, which are larger than normal because of the inability of the program to change the orientation of components on the board.
Wouldn’t you want to try it out? If you are a beginner and wish to design something unique for yourself, LochMaster 4.0 could be an ideal choice for you. The tool helps you with an easy-to-design environment with realistic components library and test mode for tracing signals and connections. You can install the software by using the free copy bundled with this month’s copy of EFY Plus magazine. The author is a member of the EFY editorial team www.efymag.com
dIy: project
LED Scrolling Display pins required to drive them. For example, an 8×8 matrix of LEDs, shown in Fig. 1, would need 64 I/O pins—one for each LED pixel. By wiring all anodes together in rows (R1 through R8) and cathodes in columns (C1 through C8), the required number of I/O pins is reduced to 16. Each LED is addressed by its row and column number. In Fig. 1, if R4 is pulled high and C3 is pulled low, the LED in the fourth row and third
Harwinder Singh
M
ost outdoor LED displays and some indoor LED displays are built around individually-mounted LEDs. A cluster of red, green and blue diodes is driven together to form a full-colour display. In a dot-matrix LED display, the LEDs are wired together in rows and columns to minimise the number of
Fig. 1: Structure of an 8x8 LED dot-matrix display
1
IC1 7805
halana
robin c
column will turn on. Alphabets and numerals can be displayed by fast scanning of either rows or columns. In this project, column scanning has been used.
Working of a dot-matrix display Fig. 2 shows which LEDs in a 5×7 matrix of LEDs are to be turned on to display the English alphabet A. The seven
X1 = 230V AC PRIMARY TO SECONDARY TO 0 −12V, 1A SECONDARY TRANSFORMER
T8 GND
Fig. 3: Power supply and controller circuit
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dIy: project 5V
DIS1 − DIS3 = 8x8 DOT MATRIX DISPLAY
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Fig. 4: Display unit
rows and five columns of the array are controlled through a microcontroller. If we want to display alphabet A, we will first select column C1 (which means C1 is pulled low in this case) and deselect other columns by blocking their ground paths (one way of doing that is by pulling C2 through C5 pins to logic high). Now, the first column is active, and you need to turn on the LEDs in rows R2 through R7 of this column, which can be done by applying forward-bias voltages to these rows. Next, select column C2 (and deselect all other columns) and apply www.efymag.com
forward-bias voltages to resistors R1 and R5, and similarly for columns C3 and C4. Then, activate column C5 by pulling it down and deselect other columns, and apply forward-bias voltages to LEDs in rows R2 through R7. By repeating these steps quickly (>100 times per second), and turning on the respective LEDs in each row of that column, the persistence of vision comes into play and we perceive the displayed image of the alphabet A as still. You must have noticed that across each row one pin is sourcing the current for only one LED at a time, but
a column pin may have to sink the currents from more than one LED. For example, column C1 should be able to sink the current from six LEDs while displaying alphabet A. A microcontroller has low sourcing as well as sinking capabilities. To obviate this limitation, external transistor arrays or buffers are used. In this project, pnp transistor BC558 (T1-T8) has been used for this purpose. In the circuit an 8×8 dot-matrix has been used.
Brief description of the ICs used IC1 is a 7805, 5V regulator IC, which Electronics For You | November 2014
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Fig. 8: Track layout of the top layer of display unit
for high-speed operation in cascaded system. The same serial information, available at the Q terminals on the next negative clock edge, provides a means for cascading CD4094 devices when the clock rise time is slow. ULN2803 (IC6–IC8) is an octal high-voltage, high-current Darlington transistor array. The eight npn Darlington connected transistors (T1-T8) are ideally suited for interfacing between low-logic-level digital circuitry and the higher current/voltage requirements of lamps and relays. The device features open-collector outputs and freewheeling clamp diodes for transient suppression. It is designed to be compatible with standard TTL families of Ics.
Circuit and working The circuit diagram is divided here into two parts. The first part has a power supply and controller circuit as shown in Fig. 3. The display unit is in the second part as shown in Fig. 4. The power supply circuit is built www.efymag.com
around a step-down transformer, bridge rectifier and 5V regulator. The configuration is conventional. The circuit provides regulated 5V for operation of the circuit. Microcontroller AT89C52 provides outputs to control the logic levels for the eight rows R0-R7 through port A (P0.0-P0.7). RNW1 is a network resistor, which acts as a pull-up resistor for port 0. An array of eight pnp BC558 transistors (T1-T8) working as current drivers takes care of the current required for LEDs of the dot-matrix; the microcontroller has low sourcing capabilities. The reset arrangement is made at pin 9 of the microcontroller with the help of capacitor C3, resistor R2 and switch S1. The circuit for the display unit is shown in Fig. 4. It is built around three CD4094 cascaded 8-bit shift registers (IC3-IC5), three ULN2803 high-current Darlington transistor arrays (IC6-IC8) and three 8×8 dot-matrix displays (DIS1-DIS3). Clock and data pulses are generated by the microcontroller at
ports P2.1 and P2.0, respectively. These are transferred to the display unit through connectors CON2 and CON4. Clock pulses are fed to pin 3 of all Electronics For You | November 2014
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Fig. 9: Component-side track layouts of top as well as bottom layers of the display unit
the three shift registers, while data pulses are fed to pin 2 of the first shift register, IC3. The output of the first shift register from pin 9 is fed to pin 2 of the second shift register, IC4. To complete the cascading, output of the second shift register from its pin 9 is fed to pin 2 of the third shift register, IC5. Data from the shift registers is used for activation or deactivation of columns of the three dot-matrix displays (DIS1-DIS3) through IC6-IC8 ICs. For controlling the logic levels at rows R0-R7, data from port P0 is transferred from the microcontroller to the display unit through connectors CON1 and CON3, with a supply of 5V and com-
mon ground to display unit of these two connectors.
Software The source program for the display of ‘EFY INDIA’ is written in Assembly language and compiled using Keil μVision4 compiler. The generated hex code is burnt into the microcontroller using a suitable programmer.
Construction and testing An actual-size, single-layer PCB layout for the power supply and the microcontroller unit is shown in Fig. 5 and its component layout in Fig. 6. PCB for the display unit is a double-sided
THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE ON OPEN SOURCE
efy Note The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free download at source.efymag.com one. Track layout of its bottom layer is shown in Fig. 7 and of top layer in Fig. 8. Component and track layouts of the top layer as well as the bottom layer are shown in Fig. 9. Assemble the circuits on the PCBs to save time and avoid assembly errors. The author is a project associate in DECD at C-DAC, Mohali, Punjab
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dIy: project
Automated Plants Watering System Ayan Pahwa
D
uring summers, most people are too lazy to water the potted plants on their rooftop gardens every day. Explained in this section is a simple and exciting plant watering system that you can build yourself in just a few hours. It is an Arduino based automatic plant waterfeeder system that uses a soil moisture sensor. The author’s prototype is shown in Fig. 1.
Circuit and working The circuit diagram of the automated plant watering system is shown in Fig.
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype
2. The circuit comprises an Arduino UNO board, a soil moisture sensor, a servo motor, a 12V water pump and an L293D (IC1) motor driver IC to run the water pump. You can power the Arduino board using a 7V to 12V wall wart or plugin adaptor or solar panel. You need a separate 12V battery or power supply or solar panel for the pump motor. Soil moisture sensor. Two types of soil moisture sensors are available in the market—contact and non-contact sensors. A contact soil sensor (as shown in Fig. 3) is used in this project because it has to check soil moisture to measure the electrical conductivity. The moisture sensor provides an analogue output, which can easily be interfaced with Arduino. In this project, two sensors can be connected to analogue pins, A0 and A1, of the Arduino board. Each sensor has four pins (Vcc, Gnd, Ao and Do) available for interfacing with the Arduino board. Here, digital output pin (Do) is not used. The water pump and servo motor are controlled by Arduino connected to digital pins 3 and 9, respectively. That is, the
SERVO MOTOR
SENSOR1, SENSOR2 = SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR
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Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the automated plants watering system www.efymag.com
Abhijeet
Rai
servo motor signal control pin is connected to pin 9 of the Arduino board. The program in the Arduino reads the moisture value from the sensor every 20 seconds. If the value reaches the threshold value, the program does the following three things: 1. It moves the servo motor horn, along with the water pipe fixed on it, toward potted plant, whose moisture level is less than the predetermined/ threshold level. 2. It starts the motor pump to supply water to the plant for a fixed period of time and then stops the water pump (refer Fig. 4). 3. It brings back the servo motor horn to its initial position.
Software program The program is written in Arduino programming language. The code is well commented and is easy to understand. Compile the autowatering. ino code and upload it to the microcontroller, using Test Points Arduino IDE verTest point Details sion 1. The sensor TP0 0V will calibrate by TP1 5V itself once it is TP2 12V kept in the soil Parts List
- L293D motor driver - Soil moisture sensor - Arduino UNO board - Servo motor - 12V DC motor pump - 3-pin connector - 2-pin connector - Water container - Small flexible water pipe - 12V battery - 7-12V power adaptor
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dIy: circuit
Monitor for 6V/12V Batteries switches S1 and S2 simultaneously select between the preset threshold for 6V and 12V rechargeable batteries. potentiometers VR1 and VR2 set the highest allowable input voltage. For example, for a 12V battery, if you wish to activate the visual and audio alarms at 14.5V, you should set the potentiometer VR2 reference voltage to 14.5V/5 = 2.9V. Potentiometers VR3 and VR4 set the lowest allowable input voltage. For example, for a 12V battery, if you wish to activate the visual and audio alarms at 10.8V, you should set the potentiometer VR4 reference voltage to 10.8V/5 = 2.16V. Similarly, you can obtain the reference voltages for a 6V battery by setting potentiometers VR1 and VR3. When the input voltage is above the threshold set by potentiometers VR1 or VR2, the output at pin OUT1
Petre Tzv Petrov
R
echargeable batteries of 6V and 12V are used in a large number of applications. It is imperative that these are maintained properly to get maximum life out of them. Further, their permissible number of chargedischarge cycles must be fully utilised. Here is a circuit that gives a visual as well as an audible alarm if the battery voltage is higher or lower than acceptable limits, so that corrective action can be taken.
Circuit and working As shown in Fig. 1, the circuit is built around dual-operational amplifier LM358 (IC1), hex inverting Schmitt trigger 74HC14 (IC2) and a few other components. The circuit can be divided into two parts—the input unit built around two operational amplifiers (op amps) in IC1 working as comparators, and audio alarm unit built around two RC oscillators and a transistor. Voltage from the battery under test (BUT) is applied to connector CON1. It is divided by five by R1 and R2 for comparison with the threshold levels. the power supply of the circuit is limited to 5V ±2%. SPDT
of IC1 becomes low and the LED2 indicating a high voltage switches on. The output of gate N1 of IC2 becomes high and the RC oscillator built around gate N2 oscillates. The output, which is a square wave with frequency of approximately 1kHz, is
R4 470E
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D1 − D4 = 1N4148 SIGNAL DIODE
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LS1
LS1 = 32−OHM HEADPHONE SPEAKER
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of monitor for 6V/12V batteries
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dIy: circuit
Simple Low-Power Audio Amplifier lator, while 7909 is a negative voltage regulator. Diodes D1 and D2 are used to protect IC1 and IC2 against reverse voltages from capacitors connected to the regulators. These regulators provide ±9V regulated output for the operation of the circuit. Use suitable heat sinks with the regulator ICs because they get hot during operation. In case of overheating, there is provision for a thermal shutdown. The amplifier section is built around TL072 (IC3) and a low-power amplifier LM386. The op-amp A1 of IC3 operates as a low-noise preamplifier. Capacitor C8 is used in order to pass low frequency. The op-amp A2 of IC3 operates as a low-pass filter. For changing the cut-off frequency, you have to change the values of capacitors C11 and C12. LM386 is a low-power amplifier IC with built-in biasing and inputs that are referred to the ground. It has a gain of 20 and can drive a speaker of 8-ohm impedance. The circuit is simple to use. You have to simply feed the output from a mobile phone, or any other lowvolume device, into RCA1 socket on the PCB. The amplified sound can be
S.C. Dwivedi
T
he small-signal amplifier is generally referred to as a voltage amplifier because it usually converts a small input voltage into a much larger output voltage. The audio power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting low-power audio signal to a suitable level to be delivered to the load. This low-power amplifier circuit is useful for the amplification of sound from small-signal devices such as mobile phones, laptops or desktops.
Circuit and working As shown in Fig. 1, this circuit is built around a step-down transformer (X1), bridge rectifier BR1, regulators 7809 (IC1) and 7909 (IC2), dual op-amp TL072 (IC3), low-power amplifier LM386 (IC4) and some other components. The circuit can be divided into two sections—dual power supply section and amplifier section. The dual power supply section is built around step-down transformer X1 (230V ac primary to 12V-0-12V, 1A secondary) and two voltage regulators 7809 and 7909. IC 7809 is a positive voltage reguD1 1N4007 X1 = 230V AC PRIMARY TO 12V − 0 −12V, 1A SECONDARY TRANSFORMER
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of simple low power audio amplifier
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dIy: circuit
Laser Based Security Lock
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2
TH 6
T3 BC547
R11 1K
R10 270K
7 DIS
IC3 Vcc NE555
RESET 4
8
TP2
TP1
LED1
GND
LED2 S1 LED4 LED3
R13 680E
11 Vss
O9
9 8
CO
S2 INPUT KEY
12
O8
6 O7
O6
5
13
CLK EN
O5
O4
4017B
IC1 CLK 14
RESET 15
VDD 16
1
10
4
7 O3
O2
O1
2
R4 1K
R14 680E
R3 1K
C2 10u 16V
T2 BC547
C3 0.01u
INPUT KEY
R16 680E R15 680E
8 TRIG2
9 6 TRIG1
OUT2
RST2
CON2
5 OUT1
4 RST1
7 GND
11
10
R8 1K
C4 0.01u 12
IC2 THR2 NE556
13 DIS2
1 DIS1
2 THR1
3 CON1
Vcc
14
R5 330K
R9 1K C1 6.8u 16V
T1 L14F1 SENSOR
Details
CON1 5V
Test point
R1 10K
Test Points
R6 330K
The block diagram of a laser-based security lock is shown in Fig. 1 and its schematic diagram in Fig. 2. Switches S1 and S2 work as security input keys and switch S3 is used for opening the lock manually. The lock can be an electric strike installed on the door frame to allow access with an access control system or any electronic remote control system. Electric strikes are generally available in two configurations—fail-secure and fail-safe. In fail-secure configuration, applying electric current to the strike causes it to open; whereas in failsafe configuration, applying electric current to the strike causes it to lock. A fail-secure configuration is used in this project. Opening the lock. The use of switch S2, pressing and releasing of switch S1 and supplying the laser pulses at
3
Circuit and working
O0
P
resented here is a security system that uses an inexpensive laser torch which is usually available with a key ring. The advantage of this security lock is that you can use any laser torch or pointer that is easily available in toy shops. It employs minimal input keys and yet is very secure. It can be used as a door lock, briefcase lock or any other application related to an electronic locking system.
R2 100K
EFY LAB
the right time are the security features of this circuit. Switch S2 should not be released during the entire operation, otherwise the counter will get reset and you will not be able to open on the lock. W h e n switch S1 is pressed, the first in-built timer of IC2 is triggered. Its output pin 5 goes high for four seconds. LED1 glows and transistor T3 conducts. During this time, the collector of T3 becomes low, which in turn pulls the clock enable pin (pin 13) of IC1 to low state. This enables the counter (IC1) to count. During this time, five laser pulses are applied (by you) at photo sensor T1. These signal pulses go to clock pin 14. LED4 glows and T2 conducts at the fifth pulse. This triggers the in-built second
R7 10K
mar
Nitin Ku
CON2
Fig. 1: Block diagram of the laser based security lock
Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the laser based security lock Electronics For You | November 2014
87
diy: tips & technique
Remote Control of Webcam Through Internet
N
ecessity is the mother of invention, and that’s how I could find a smart solution for controlling my webcam from a remote location where distance is no limit. This article describes the technique to control the webcam connected to a Raspberry Pi’s general-purpose input/ output (GPIOs) pins from a remote machine’s web browser. Once I am 800km away from my present location, I may not be able to come back easily for making minor adjustments to the webcam. The system has to run continuously with a webcam connected to it and reliability is of utmost importance. Linux and PHP are reliable tools to achieve my goal. For more than ten years now, I have been using various clones of Linux as my preferred operating system. PHP is a good tool for networking and so I chose my favorite PHP and the smartest solution came in no time. GPIOs can be manipulated at the raw shell commands level, and PHP can execute shell command almost silently without any ripple on the outside.
The system detail The Raspberry Pi (Raspi) board streams a live image through a port forwarding it to a remote IP address. The webcam sits on the shaft of a stepper motor, which is being run by the same Raspberry Pi. The prototype is shown in Fig. 1. The webcam can turn clockwise or anticlockwise, depending upon the remote instructions issued by me. It can even be made to move continuously (150 degrees) from one side to the other and back. This can be done while I am in Howrah and the Raspi webcam 90
November 2014 | Electronics For You
is sitting on my attic in Vindhyanagar, which is about 800km away. The PHP codes in Raspberry Pi’s machine control the webcam smoothly. If there is a sudden power failure, the Raspi will go down but once power comes back, everything will be restored. The camstepper.php program runs at crontab level and restarts at every booting. You can open and edit the camstepper.php using nano editor by typing the following command on the terminal:
Remote control of GPIOs Ensure that you have apache2 with php5 installed in your Linux system. If not, you can install it as given below: $sudo apt-get install apache2 $sudo apt-get install php5 php5-imap
Drop class.phpmailer.php in your document root directory as this file is used for sending email by PHP. The file is available for download from the link: https://github.com/PHPMailer/ $ sudo nano camstepper.php PHPMailer/blob/master/class.php$sudo su mailer.php. The imap file is required #crontab -e // this will open the crontab if you want to install all the features of for su. the webcam. Also, you have to install Add the following line at the WiringPi in your system. bottom; it will start the task at every Now, let us see the beauty and reboot: power of PHP to manipulate the GPIOs @reboot php -f /var/www/camstepper.php of a Raspi board. For controlling the & // GPIOs—putting them off or on—we will be using the WiringPi shell commands (gpio) in PHP. For installing the WiringPi, the link is: https://projects. drogon.net/raspberry-pi/wiringpi/download-and-install/ Once the WiringPi is installed, you can control the GPIOs by simple command line controls, which we will do Fig. 1: Author’s prototype in PHP using shell_exec command—so simple and it does so flawlessly in PHP. S1 L1a 1 9 POWER The remote machine is the COMMON IN1 2 16 client machine. It can be an M1 CON1 OUT1 IN2 5V Android phone or any comL1b 3 15 IN3 OUT2 puter, but it should be conL2a L2b IC1 OUT3 14 4 IN4 COM nected to the same network ULN2003 5 13 OUT4 IN5 which has the Raspi connected 6 6 to a webcam. The remote maOUT5 12 16 IN6 18 M1 = UNIPOLAR 7 IN7 11 chine should have a browser 24 OUT6 STEPPER 26 to open the page to access MOTOR 8 OUT7 10 GND GND Raspi’s GPIO. The browser CON2 TO RASPBERRY PI should be capable of displaying frames. Fig. 2: Circuit diagram and stepper motor connections COM
Somnath Bera
habhaiya
vivek panc
www.efymag.com
diy: tips & technique The circuit for stepper motor connections The circuit diagram for controlling the unipolar stepper motor is shown in Fig. 2. The camstepper.php program will control the stepper motor. The unipolar stepper has five or six wires—the middle or common wires are joined together and connected to +5V supply. The remaining four wires are connected to pins 13, 14, 15 and 16 of ULN2003. For a 5V bipolar stepper, connect it directly to the GPIOs, bypassing the ULN2003. That way it produces less but good enough torque for a tiny webcam. However, for better torque, it is to be connected through a ULN2003. If you study the camstepper.php program, you would find that the entire pan of the webcam is controlled by just two GPIOs. These two GPIOs are GPIO-18 and GPIO-21 (physical pins 12 and 13). Any other GPIO can also be considered. The two GPIOs have the following states:
Fig. 3: Combined browser window for image being captured and stepper motor control panel
