New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q3 2021 | Digital Edition

Q3 2021

16 Accelerating Innovation at the Edge with Adaptive System-on-Modules 20 "Engineering a sea change in ocean wave energy harvesting" 24 Adaptive SoCs for 5G Baseband Acceleration 28 Detection and Control – Radar in Use

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Q3 2021

About New-Tech Magazines Group Read To Lead ‘New-Tech Magazines’ A world leader in publishing high-tech and electronics, producing top quality publications read by tens of thousands professionals from all over the world especially from Europe, innovative electronics, IoT, microwave, homeland security, aerospace, automotive and technological industries. Our specialized target audiences prefer New-Tech Europe because they know that our publications are a reliable source of the latest information in their respective fields. Our multidimensional editorials, news items, interviews and feature articles provide them with a full, well-rounded picture of the markets in which they operate - an essential asset for every technological leader striving to stay ahead, make the right decisions, and generate the next global innovation. Moreover, as an attractive platform for advertisers from around the world, New-Tech Europe has become a hub for bustling international commercial activity. Here, through ads and other promotional materials, Israeli readers obtain crucial information about developers and manufacturers worldwide, finding the tools, instruments, systems and components they need to facilitate their innovative endeavors. Targeting the needs of both the global and european industries and global advertisers, New-Tech Magazines Group constantly expands and upgrades its services. Over the years, the company has been able to formulate a remarkably effective, multi-medium mix of offerings, combining magazine publications with useful online activities, newsletters and special events and exhibitions.

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Contents

10 LATEST NEWS 16 Accelerating Innovation at the Edge with Adaptive System-on-Modules 20 "Engineering a sea change in ocean wave energy harvesting" 24 Adaptive SoCs for 5G Baseband Acceleration 28 Detection and Control – Radar in Use 30 "Automate Measurements with the Digilent Analog Discovery PRO" 34 How to Make a Digital Predistortion Solution Practical and Relevant

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40 OUT OF THE BOX 42 NEW PRODUCTS 52 INDEX

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New-Tech Magazine Europe l 9

Latest News

MicroSys Partners with Leading AI Chipmaker Hailo to Launch High-Performance, Embedded AI Platform

milestone, our customers reap the enormous benefits of AI and neural networks,” said Ina Sophia Schindler, Managing Director at MicroSys Electronics. “Hailo’s AI processor allows edge devices to run full-scale deep learning applications more efficiently, effectively, and sustainably while significantly lowering costs. In combination with our NXP helping

MicroSys miriac embedded modules and platforms

combined with Hailo-8 AI acceleration modules offer a high-performance, scalable embedded platform for AI processing at the edge, with applications in fields such as Industry 4.0, automotive and heavy machinery MicroSys Electronics announced its partnership with leading AI

credit: MicroSys

(Artificial Intelligence) chipmaker Hailo to launch its miriac AIP-LX2160A embedded platform hosting up to 5 integrated Hailo-8 AI accelerator modules. The new edge server- grade AI solution enables high-performance and scalable AI inference capabilities at the edge. The new, application- ready AI platform offers industries a high bandwidth and power-efficient solution at the edge, benefiting a wide range of applications in Industry 4.0, automotive, heavy machinery, and more. Powered by the NXP QorIQ Layerscape LX2160A high- throughput processor technology, the miriac AIP-LX2160A can integrate multiple advanced Hailo-8 AI accelerators and offers best-in-class processing performance and deep learning capabilities of up to 130 tera-operations per second (TOPS). The combined solution delivers exceptional AI computing performance across multiple standard NN benchmarks, including over 6000 Frames Per Second (FPS) on Resnet-50, over 5000 FPS on Mobilenet-V1 SSD and close to 1000 FPS on YOLOv5m. Awarded the “Best AI and Vision Processor 2021” by the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, the automotive grade Hailo-8 outperforms other available AI processors for edge computing with up to 26 tera-operations per second (TOPS) at a typical power consumption of 2.5 W. The embedded platform, combining the Hailo-8 AI processor with MicroSys’s Arm Cortex NXP Layerscape platforms, give customers the benefit of highly efficient AI implemented into their connected edge appliances for situational awareness and predictive maintenance analytics. “Our strategic partnership with Hailo is an important

processor-based platforms, our customers get one of the most powerful AI solutions that can be developed for edge applications.” Typical markets for this new application-ready bundle include low-power IIoT and Industry 4.0 edge servers for predictive maintenance, collaborative robotics, video surveillance servers in infrastructures with distributed cameras, communication servers for autonomous vehicles in logistics and agriculture, and heavy equipment for construction, as well as edge servers in trains where multiple GigE Vision camera streams are analyzed with AI for increased safety and security. “We are excited to partner with MicroSys, a world-leader in embedded systems,” said Orr Danon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hailo. “This collaboration strengthens our position in the edge computing sector, enabling us to further address the rapidly growing market seeking embedded edge platforms with robust AI capabilities. We look forward to continuing to work with MicroSys to bring unmatched edge processing solutions to a broad range of automotive and industrial automation applications.” The new application-ready AI starter kit comes replete with everything necessary for evaluation and development, including a carrier board, cable set and cooling solution. Developers will also have access to MicroSys’s comprehensive AI toolchain and developer tools offered in Hailo’s developer zone. For more information about the miriac®-AIP-LX2160A, please visit: miriac®-AIP-LX2160A product page

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Latest News

NI Collaborates with EA Elektro-Automatik to Accelerate Battery Test for Electric Vehicles

NI announced it collaborated with EA Elektro-Automatik (EA) GmbH & Co. KG, Germany’s leading manufacturer of laboratory power supplies, high-performance power supplies and electronic loads, to offer bidirectional power supplies that support battery cycling and power-level test for electric vehicles (EVs). EA’s best-in-class power supplies will be integrated into NI’s software-connected toolchain as part of NI’s power electronics offering

more flexible battery cycling configurations for their test labs, and quicker response time for new power level test requirements.

“NI and EA Elektro-Automatik share the same vision of providing high performance and flexibility for test engineers to ensure test labs meet their evolving needs,” said Noah Redding, NI senior director of validation for NI’s Transportation Business Unit. “As demand for electric vehicles continues to grow,

credit: NI

to optimize battery test workflows. This joint effort accelerates the path to Zero Emissions by shortening time to market and improving safety and performance throughout the lifecycle of the battery. The U.N. 2021 Climate Report’s findings that global temperatures will reach critical levels in the next 20 years have accelerated the demand for broad-scale implementation of EVs as a critical step to limit greenhouse gas emissions. However, validating EV batteries remains a critical factor in scaling this technology, as the battery makes up 70% of the cost of EV development. Power electronics are essential for EV battery testing to meet safety and performance expectations, without compromising on the flexibility that rapid innovation requires. Integrating EA’s devices into NI’s toolchain gives EV test engineers and lab managers Powell Electronics, the supplier of connectors and more for high-rel applications including defence, aerospace and industrial, announces its sponsorship of the InMotion student team of the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) for the ‘Revolution’ race car project. InMotion’s mission is to make charging an electric car as fast and convenient as refueling a petrol car. The team receives both technical expertise and high-quality connectors from Powell Electronics. The new ‘Revolution’ race car will be used as a platform to showcase and test InMotion’s fast charging technology. Latest test have shown the recharging the car takes only 12 minutes. The ‘Revolution’ car will be competing in the 24 hours of Le Mans in

we at NI understand it is our responsibility to help the market Engineer Ambitiously to meet this moment and accelerate the path to Vision Zero. We are looking forward to the opportunities that will come through this collaboration with EA in helping engineers move faster and optimize battery test workflows to bring this important technology to the market.” “This partnership combines industry-leading control, measurement and power into state-of-the-art test systems. These systems allow customers to speed up time to market while driving corporate zero emissions initiatives,” says Eric Turner, Managing Director of EA Elektro-Automatik, Inc USA. “The renewable energy test market is an essential step in product development and production. EA is proud to be a technology enabler via power regeneration technology that reduces energy consumption by up to 96%.” 2023 as the first fully electric endurance racecar. Remarks Gary Evans, European MD of Powell Electronics: “We really like InMotion’s ‘Revolution’ race car project and are very happy to sponsor it”. “Charging times are one of the key problems that still keeps people from using an electric vehicle and we hope InMotion will be successful with their current project and that it will bring them a step closer to achieving their main goal”, he adds. Comments Rainier Heijne, Team Manager of the InMotion student team: “Without the sponsorship of companies like Powell Electronics a project like our ‘Revolution’ race car wouldn’t be possible. We are very grateful for Powell’s outstanding financial and technical support”.

Powell Electronics sponsors the InMotion student team from Eindhoven University of Technology

New-Tech Magazine Europe l 11

Latest News

Infineon opens high-tech chip factory for power electronics on 300-millimeter thin wafers

Infineon Technologies AG officially opened its high- tech chip factory for power electronics on 300-millimeter thin wafers at its Villach site in Austria under the motto “Ready for Mission Future.” At 1.6 billion euros, the investment made by the semiconductor group represents one of the largest such projects in the microelectronics sector in Europe. The Villach site is one of the world’s most modern fabs and was opened by Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss, Infineon Austria CEO Sabine Herlitschka along with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

First products are currently being shipped After three years of preparation and construction, the factory was commissioned at the beginning of August, three months ahead of schedule. The first wafers will leave the Villach plant this week. In the first stage of expansion, the chips will primarily be used to meet demand from the automotive industry, data centers and renewable energy generation of solar and wind power. On the group level, the new factory will give Infineon additional sales potential of around two billion euros per year.

Picture: The fab is opened – Martin Selmayr (Head of Representation of the European Commission in Austria), Sebastian Kurz (Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria), Thomas Reisinger (Board Member Operations, Infineon Austria), Reinhard Ploss (CEO, Infineon Technologies), Sabine Herlitschka (CEO, Infineon Austria), and Jochen Hanebeck (COO, Infineon Technologies) – (f.l.t.r)

The semiconductors produced in Villach will be used in numerous applications. As a result, the new factory will enable Infineon to serve the growing market for power semiconductors in electric cars, data centers as well as solar and wind energy. Arithmetically speaking, the annual capacity planned for industrial semiconductors is sufficient to equip solar systems producing a total of around 1,500 TWh of electricity – roughly three times the annual power consumption in Germany. At the opening, Kurz underscored the new chip factory’s significance, including to his own country. “The Infineon site in Villach is an absolute success story,” he said. “The new chip factory is an economic and technological lighthouse project for all of Austria. I would like to thank all of those responsible for their commitment to our country, which will create an additional 400 jobs. The immense investment of 1.6 billion euros shows that Austria, as a business and technology location, offers excellent framework conditions and the employee know-how that is needed to make them happen. We in the federal government want to continue to invest massively in digitization in order to position ourselves in the best possible way in global competition.” Sabine Herlitschka, the CEO of Infineon Technologies Austria AG, said: “With this investment, Infineon

Infineon set the stage for long-term, profitable growth based on energy efficiency and CO 2 reduction at an early stage and announced the construction of the chip factory for power electronics (“energy-saving chips”) in 2018. “The new fab is a milestone for Infineon, and its opening is very good news for our customers,” Ploss said. “The timing to create new capacity in Europe could not be better, given the growing global demand for power semiconductors. The last few months have clearly shown how essential microelectronics are in virtually every area of life. Given the accelerated pace of digitalization and electrification, we expect demand for power semiconductors to continue to grow in the coming years. The additional capacities will help us serve our customers worldwide even better, including long term.” The global chip-market situation clearly shows how important investments in innovative technologies are for the future. Today, microelectronics is the dominant technology on which all other developments, systems and technologies in the area of digitalization are based. With the expansion of its production facilities, Infineon is setting an industrial policy milestone in terms of supply security for both European industry and the global market.

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Latest News

has demonstrated that it is also possible to build attractive production sites in Europe in the highly competitive microelectronics sector. We are setting new standards with this investment. The energy-saving chips from Villach will become important core elements for the energy transition. We are thus making a relevant contribution to the European Green Deal and beyond. We are ‘Ready for Mission Future.’” Energy-saving chips for ‘green’ products Infineon’s products have been contributing to higher energy efficiency and thus to climate protection for years. Infineon’s Villach site plays a crucial role in these solutions as it serves as the global center of expertise for power electronics. These energy-saving chips switch electricity intelligently and minimize the carbon footprint of numerous applications. They reduce energy consumption in household appliances, LED lighting and mobile devices. For example, modern semiconductors can reduce the energy consumption of refrigerators by 40 percent. The energy consumption of lighting in buildings is reduced by 25 percent. With the products manufactured in the new production facility, more than 13 million tons of CO 2 can be avoided – thanks to the product mix in Villach. This equals the amount of CO 2 that is produced by more than 20 million people living in Europe. Energy-efficient factory During the construction of the factory, the company paid particular attention to ways that could further improve its energy balance sheet: 80 percent of the site’s heating requirements will be covered by intelligently recycling the waste heat of the cooling systems, and around 20,000 tons of CO 2 will be avoided each year. The extensive use of exhaust air purification systems will cut direct emissions to virtually zero. Another milestone in terms of sustainable production and circular economy is the production and recycling of green hydrogen. The hydrogen required as a process gas in production will be produced directly on site in Villach from renewable energy sources starting at the beginning of 2022. This will eliminate CO 2 emissions during the original production and transport. This green hydrogen will be recycled after use in chip production and used to fuel public transportation buses. This project of dual use of green hydrogen is unique in Europe. With the help of these and other measures, the site will make enable the Infineon

Group to take a huge stride forward in its effort to become carbon neutral by 2030. Ultra-modern chip factory links two sites in Europe to form a mega-factory The new chip factory has about 60,000 m² of gross floor space. Production will be gradually ramped up over the next four to five years. More than two-thirds of the 400 additional highly qualified specialists needed to operate the factory have already been hired. The chip factory is one of the most modern in the world and relies on full automation and digitization. As a “learning factory,” artificial intelligence solutions will be used primarily in the area of predictive maintenance. Networked plants will know at an early stage when they need maintenance thanks to a multitude of data and simulations. Infineon is going one step farther. Jochen Hanebeck, a member of the Management Board and Chief Operations Officer of Infineon, said: “Infineon now has two large power semiconductor manufacturing sites for 300-millimeter thin wafers, one in Dresden and one in Villach. Both sites are based on the same standardized production and digitization concepts. This allows us to control the manufacturing operations at the two sites as if they were one factory. We increase productivity and create additional flexibility for our customers. This is because we can quickly move production volumes for different products between the sites and thus respond even faster to their needs. With the virtual megafactory, Infineon is setting a new benchmark in 300-millimeter manufacturing. This makes further increases in resource and energy efficiency possible, as well as optimization of the environmental footprint.” Global pioneer in 300-millimeter thin-wafer technology, power electronics The chips are manufactured on 300-millimeter thin wafers, which at 40 micrometers are thinner than a human hair. Villach is the Group’s center of expertise for power semiconductors and has long been an important innovation site in Infineon’s manufacturing network. It was here that the production of power semiconductors on 300-millimeter thin wafers was developed about 10 years ago. This was then expanded to fully automated volume production at the Dresden site in recent years. The use of this technology brings significant productivity advantages due to the larger wafer diameter and reduces capital expenditure.

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Latest News

Autotalks launches platform for preventing bike and scooter accidents

The ZooZ platform is based on a V2X device and a smart V2X sign. The compact V2X device is installed on the handlebar of all types of bikes and scooters, both electric and non-electric

The blind spot alert use case prevents a scenario of a car turning right and cutting the bike lane. The bike ahead alert prevents a scenario of a driver being surprised by a bike hidden behind a curve on a countryside or mountain road. In the intersection safety use case, the platform prevents a scenario of a driver turning right or left while failing to see the cyclist entering the

ZooZ is expected to connect micro mobility to the vehicle safety network, increasing drivers’ awareness to bikes and scooters in order to prevent accidents

credit: Autotalks

Autotalks, a V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication solutions pioneer and leader, is launching ZooZ, a platform for preventing bike and scooter accidents with the use of V2X. The company is already in discussions with manufacturing and integration partners in order to implement the platform. Autotalks is adapting its own V2X solutions to mitigate the sharp rise in accidents involving two-wheelers and will officially launch ZooZ on September 7-12 at the IAA Mobility show (hall B5, booth D50) in Munich, Germany. Autotalks, established in 2008, was the first company to create V2X chipsets. These chipsets are now used by top tier car manufacturers. In 2018, Autotalks became the first company to offer a global V2X solution unifying DSRC and C-V2X communications technologies on a deployment-ready chipset. Now, the company is working to spearhead the creation of a V2X-based micro mobility safety network. The ZooZ concept platform is based on a V2X device and a smart sign. The compact device is installed on the handlebar of all types of bikes and scooters, electric and non-electric. It alerts when a vehicle equipped with V2X is endangering a cyclist and informs other V2X equipped vehicles and smart signs about the existence of the cyclist. The ZooZ device will be integrated into bike computers. The smart sign reliably alerts drivers, even those without V2X, when a bike or scooter with a device is entering an intersection. All road- users, including cars, bikers, scooters, motorcycles, and pedestrians will communicate with each other through V2X to form a safety network. The ZooZ device is expected to handle a wide variety of use cases, including scenarios such as blind spot alert, bike ahead alert, intersection safety and group communication.

intersection. The group communication allows for a safe and simple exchange of messages between a group of cyclists. The ZooZ smart sign will be designed for installation at intersections. The sign lights up when a V2X equipped bike or scooter is approaching the intersection, and it alerts all drivers, even those without V2X. It is expected to be low- cost, and simple to install and to maintain. The sign does not require line-of-sight to the cyclists. Autotalks recently conducted a research study with the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, using Autotalks’ smart signposts. The results show that drivers braked 70% more when a bike was present in the intersection. The smart sign boosted the driver’s attention to a bike rider by 20%. This increase in awareness of the cyclists’ whereabouts did not come at the expense of attention given to others at or near the intersection. “The surge in the use of micro mobility has changed traffic patterns and led to a sharp increase in accidents,’’ stated Onn Haran, founder and CTO of Autotalks. “The percentage of bikes and scooters in overall traffic fatalities is constantly growing. 75% of accidents are caused by driver error, failing to notice the cyclists, who are small and obstructed by other vehicles.” Haran continued: “V2X is the only automotive safety communication technology. It is the only technology that can connect bikes and scooters to vehicles, adding them to the safety network. ZooZ is the future of micro mobility safety and is a concept of what we expect to see in every bike, scooter and car within five years. Our plan is to take the test one step further and install our technology on all vehicles, two-wheelers and road infrastructure.”

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Latest News Dutch AI Semiconductor Startup Axelera AI Launches With $12 Million Seed Round

next few years.” “Bitfury has a proven track record of incubating and bringing game-changing technologies to market,” said Valery Vavilov, CEO and co-founder of Bitfury Group. “We can look no further than LiquidStack, the emerging leader in two-phase liquid immersion cooling for the world’s most intensive

Stealth company incubated by blockchain unicorn Bitfury Group and global nanoelectronics R&D center imec AI semiconductor startup Axelera AI announced that it has successfully closed a seed investment round of $12 million. The round was led by emerging technologies leader

Credit: Axelera

computing applications, and Crystal Blockchain, the most advanced blockchain analytics platform for digital asset compliance. We could not be more excited to support the launch of Axelera AI, which is bound to accelerate the development and delivery of critical AI solutions for across global markets. “Over the years imec has been researching custom circuits and novel architectures for efficient AI using in-memory compute, algorithms and quantization”, said Diederik Verkest, Program Director for machine learning at imec. “We are proud that after working together with the Bitfury Group, we can leverage and contribute this expertise to ensure Axelera AI develops and brings the best possible product to the edge AI market.” Axelera AI is a unique Dutch start-up on a journey to deliver a disruptive AI chip that will accelerate the application of AI at the ‘edge of IOT’,” according to Sander Verbrugge, Partner at Innovation Industries. “Affordable AI compute power operating at low power is essential to unlock the full potential of AI in our everyday lives. We are proud to be part of this journey and to support this world-class team achieve its ambitions”. “Axelera AI has brought together a stellar team and, as such unites several distinct in-memory compute efforts from across Europe under one roof. We very much look forward to working with Fabrizio and his team and helping them to achieve their ambitious goals by leveraging imec. xpand’s cross-border, value-add platform and network,” said Cyril Vančura, Partner at imec.xpand.

Bitfury and joined by global nanoelectronics R&D center imec and deep-tech venture capital funds Innovation Industries and imec.xpand. The funding will support the company’s development of an industry-defining product powering AI applications at the edge. Axelera AI was incubated by Bitfury Group in 2019, formerly operating as Bitfury AI until the company came out as an independent entity this year. Building on its extensive research and development focused on integrating world-class hardware and software technologies for edge and cloud-to-edge enterprise solutions, Axelera AI has also joined forces with imec since early 2020 to develop groundbreaking computing architecture for high- performance AI. Headquartered in the AI Innovation Center of the High-Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Axelera AI also has R&D offices in Leuven (BE) and Zurich (CH). The company has already recruited an elite team of more than 20 senior engineers and developers from world-leading AI companies and research centers, including Intel, Qualcomm, IBM, and imec. “With our launch as a new independent company and the closing of this investment, Axelera AI is now claiming its place as a significant player in the global AI sector,” said Fabrizio del Maffeo, CEO and co-founder of Axelera AI. “Our extraordinary team merges complementary expertise in software development, image processing, dataflow architecture, in-memory computing, algorithms and quantization with a proven track record of business success, and we look forward to building on our extensive R&D, introducing new solutions across the globe in the

New-Tech Magazine Europe l 15

Accelerating Innovation at the Edge with Adaptive System-on-Modules

Evan Leal, Director, Product Marketing - Boards & Kits at Xilinx

AI-enabled are increasingly being deployed at the edge and endpoint. High- performance AI inference is enabling smarter cities and highly automated smart factories. Even the retail experience is becoming more sophisticated with smart retail ushering in highly sophisticated automated shopping experiences. These applications need to be extremely reliable and require high performance, while being delivered in an efficient and compact form factor. Edge processing challenges When deploying a system at the edge, power consumption, footprint, and cost are all limiting factors. Increasing processing demands, within the limitations of edge processing, mean that providing applications

the required performance level is challenging. While CPUs have experienced improvements at the edge, the gains have slowed in recent years. Unaccelerated CPUs struggle to provide the performance needed for the next generation of AI-enabled edge applications, especially when considering the tight latency requirements. A domain-specific architecture (DSA) is key when implementing advanced AI applications at the edge. DSAs also provide determinism and low latency. A suitable DSA will be designed specifically to process the required data efficiently – both the AI inference, and the non-AI parts of the application, essentially the whole application. This is important considering AI inference requires non-AI pre- and post-processing, all of which have higher performance

requirements. Fundamentally, whole application acceleration is required to implement efficient AI-enabled applications at the edge (and elsewhere). Like any fixed silicon solution, application-specific standard products (ASSP) that have been developed for AI edge applications still have limitations. The main challenge is that AI innovation is incredibly rapid, leaving AI models obsolete much quicker than non- AI technologies. Fixed silicon devices that implement AI can quickly become obsolete due to the emergence of newer, more-efficient AI models. It can take several years to tape-out a fixed silicon device by which time the state-of-the-art in AI models will have advanced. Security and functional safety requirements are also becoming more important for edge applications, often resulting

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in potentially expensive field updates. The promise of adaptive computing Adaptive computing – encompassing hardware that can be optimized for specific applications such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) – is a powerful solution for AI enabled edge applications. New adaptive hardware has also been introduced, including adaptive System-on-Chips (SoC) which contain FPGA fabric, coupledwith one or more embedded CPU subsystems. However, adaptive computing is so much more than “just hardware”. It incorporates a comprehensive set of design and runtime software that, when combined, delivers a unique adaptive platform from which highly flexible, yet efficient systems can be built. Adaptive computing allows DSAs to be implemented without the design time and upfront cost needed when dealing with custom silicon devices, ASICs for example. This means flexible and optimized solutions can be deployed rapidly for any given domain, including AI-enabled edge applications. Adaptive SoCs are ideal for such domain-specific processing because they combine the flexibility of a comprehensive, embedded CPU subsystem with the optimal data processing of adaptive hardware. System-on-Modules (SOMs) provide a complete, production-ready computing platform, and save significant development time and cost vs. chip down development. SOMs can plug into a larger edge application, providing both the flexibility of a custom implementation with the ease-of-use and reduced time to market of an off-the-shelf Introducing Adaptive System-on-Modules

Figure 1: Kria K26 SOM

solution. These benefits make SOMs an ideal platform for edge AI applications. However, to achieve the performance required by modern AI- enabled applications, acceleration is needed. Some applications require custom hardware components to interface with an adaptive SoC, meaning chip-down design is needed. However, an increasing number of AI-enabled edge applications need similar hardware components and interfaces, even for vastly different end applications. As industries have moved towards standardized interface and communications protocols, the same set of components are suitable for a variety of applications, despite having vastly different processing needs. An adaptive SOM for an AI-enabled edge application incorporates an adaptive SoC with industry-standard interfaces and components, allowing developers with limited or even no hardware experience to benefit from adaptive computing technology. An adaptive SoC can implement both the AI and non-AI processing, hence the whole application. Additionally, an adaptive SoC on an adaptive SOM enables a high degree

of customization.). It is designed to be integrated into larger systems and uses a predefined form factor. Adaptive SOMs make it possible to take full advantage of adaptive computing without having to do chip-down design. An adaptive SOM is just part of the solution. The software is also key. Companies that adopt adaptive SOMs benefit from a unique combination of performance, flexibility, and rapid development time. They can enjoy the benefits of adaptive computing without the need to build their own circuit boards, something that has only recently been possible at the edge with the introduction of Xilinx’s Kria™ portfolio of adaptive SOMs. The Kria K26 SOM is built on top of the Zynq® UltraScale+™ MPSoC architecture, which features a quad- core Arm® Cortex™-A53 processor, more than 250 thousand logic cells, and a H.264/265 video codec. The SOM also features 4GB of DDR4 memory and 69 3.3V I/Os & 116 1.8V I/Os, which allow it to adapt to virtually any sensor or interface. With 1.4 tera-ops of AI compute, the Kria K26 SOM enables developers to create vision AI applications offering more than 3X higher performance at

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lower latency and power compared to GPU-based SOMs, critical for smart vision applications like security, traffic and city cameras, retail analytics, machine vision, and vision guided robotics. By standardizing the core parts of the system, developers have more time to focus on building in features that differentiate their technology from the competition. Unlike other edge AI products that allow software updates but are limited by fixed accelerators, Kria SOMs offer two degrees of flexibility - software and hardware over time. Users can adapt the I/O interfaces, vision processing, and AI accelerators to support some or all of the following: MIPI, LVDS, and SLVS-EC interfaces; higher quality, specialised high-dynamic range imaging algorithms for day or night; 8-bit deep learning processing units, or in the future, 4-bit or even binary neural network approaches. The intersection of multi-modal sensor fusion with real-time AI processing is now extremely accessible, starting with the Xilinx KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit and deploying into production with the Kria K26 SOM. Benefits for hardware and software developers Adaptive SOMs benefit both hardware and software developers. For hardware developers, adaptive SOMs offer an off-the shelf, production-ready solution, saving significant development cost and time. These devices also allow hardware teams to change the design late in the process, vs. a SOM based on fixed silicon technology. For AI and software developers, adaptive computing is more accessible than ever. Xilinx has made sure to invest heavily in tool flows to ensure this is the case. The

Figure 2: Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit

ecosystem partners. Xilinx offerings are open source accelerated applications, provided at no-charge, and range from smart camera and face detection to natural language processing with smart vision. The future is adaptive AI models will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. This means acceleration platforms must be adaptable to allow optimal implementation of AI techniques for today and tomorrow. Indeed, SOMs provide an ideal edge processing platform. When combined with adaptive SoCs, SOMs offer a comprehensive, production ready platform for AI-enabled edge applications. Companies that adopt these devices can reap the rewards of adaptive computing, benefitting from a unique combination of performance, flexibility, and rapid development time.

introduction of the Kria SOM portfolio takes this accessibility to the next level by coupling the hardware and software platform with production- ready vision accelerated applications. These turnkey applications eliminate all the FPGA hardware design work and only require software developers to integrate their custom AI models, application code, and optionally modify the vision pipeline – using familiar design environments, such as TensorFlow, Pytorch or Caffe frameworks, as well as C, C++, OpenCL™, and Python programming languages—enabled by the Vitis™ unified software development platform and libraries. With this new accelerated- application paradigm for software- based design, Xilinx also announced the first embedded app store for edge applications, offering customers a wide selection of apps for Kria SOMs from Xilinx and its

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Engineering a sea change in ocean wave energy harvesting

VICOR

C-Power autonomous offshore power systems promise to unlock new marine applications through efficient energy delivery and remote, high-bandwidth communications The ability to harness ocean wave energy is a rapidly evolving field that marine engineers are refining to provide reliable, cost-effective maritime energy generation and storage while enabling new forms of offshore data and communication services. Columbia Power Technologies, Inc. (C-Power), a global leader in wave energy systems based in Corvallis, Oregon, is helping to expand the marine economy by providing reliable, cost-effective energy generation and storage, data and communication services for offshore assets. C-Power autonomous offshore power systems (AOPS) capture mechanical wave

energy and convert it into usable power for a wide range of oceanic applications such as offshore oil and gas exploration and production, offshore carbon sequestration, oceanographic research, aquaculture and homeland defense. Harvesting ocean energy on the kilowatt scale Founded in 2005, C-Power has evolved its focus as its expertise in the bourgeoning field of oceanic energy harvesting has grown (Figure 1). While other companies pursue large, megawatt systems, C-Power focuses on remote, kilowatt-scale power for offshore data communications networks, initially through a DARPA project called Wave Energy Buoy Systems (WEBS). Through the WEBS project, C-Power discovered a nascent opportunity

in the form of localized power generation for underwater vehicles, subsea operating equipment and open-ocean sensors used to collect environmental data. Previously, power for these applications was generated using expensive, cumbersome, non- rechargeable onboard batteries or subsea electric tethers fed from a ship or diesel generator. With the development of AOPS, C-Power opened the door to unimagined new applications by supplying an autonomous, environmentally friendly, ocean-borne power source capable of doubling as a communications conduit. SeaRAY enhances power efficiency and data communication The latest AOPS platform, known as the SeaRAY, is key to the near-term focus of C-Power to produce power

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systems that generate 10W to 1MW from ocean waves. To achieve its goals at the lower end of the power spectrum, C-Power created a SeaRAY AOPS design with a high power-to-weight ratio using power conversion technology from Vicor Corporation. The small design footprint enhances mobility and commercial viability, making SeaRAY easier to deliver and set up, saving tens of thousands of dollars in daily operating costs. “We really needed wide-range DC-DC, something that we could control and regulate as we’re converting pulsed ocean wave power into a semi-stable DC bus,” said Joe Prudell, a C-Power senior R&D electrical engineer. “This is extremely challenging. Being able to do that at various power levels using Vicor’s power modules really is an advantage.” The SeaRAY design also makes autonomous, remote data communications possible by transmitting what happens in the ocean to the cloud in real time. Previously, marine data-gathering systems have been limited in the breadth and frequency of data collection. Using cellular networks and satellite communications to pass data in real-time between the cloud and the SeaRAY allows more and richer data to be collected and delivered more often (Figure 2). Harvesting energy from a constantly shifting power source The key power design challenge for C-Power was to reconcile complex ocean wave energy properties with the demanding power conversion requirements of the SeaRAY. This included an ultra-wide 30:1 input range, which reflects the unpredictable nature of ocean

Figure 1: While much attention has been paid to advancements in solar and wind power technology, C-Power is a pioneer in efficiently harnessing ocean wave energy to enable new forms of offshore applications including oil and gas exploration and production, offshore carbon sequestration, oceanographic research, aquaculture and homeland defence.

storage devices. The unit is also capable of accepting external control signals from the C-Power system to match precise power

waves. The Vicor Power Systems design team delivered a system capable of converting power with high efficiency and charging energy

Figure 2: The SeaRAY design makes remote, autonomous data communications possible by sending information from the ocean to the cloud. Using cellular networks and satellite communications to pass data in real-time between the cloud and the SeaRAY AOPS allows more and richer data to be collected and delivered more often.

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conversion needs in real time. “The ability to convert a very nasty power profile into a cost-effective, practical solution, and then condition that power and turn it into usable energy for a wide range of mobile and static payloads, is really on the leading edge,” said C-Power CEO Reenst Lesemann. “There’s nobody else that’s been able to do that yet.” The scalable power design of the SeaRAY uses Vicor BCM® fixed-ratio bus converters and PRM™ regulator modules with complex multistage discrete converters to efficiently convert turbulent, unpredictable wave energy and provide controlled power. This enabled C-Power to increase the SeaRAY design’s conversion efficiency from about 50 percent to a range of 85 to 94 percent. The use of stable, wide-input Vicor DC-DC converters provided C-Power much-needed control as the SeaRAY converts pulsed ocean wave power into a varying DC bus while still producing a constant current at various power levels. In addition, the power conversion topologies used in Vicor modules help to minimize electromagnetic interference and noise onboard the SeaRAY that could otherwise compromise sensor measurement accuracy. “There are plenty of companies trying to capture and convert wave energy, but it’s another thing to do something in a small, compact form factor and still satisfy what customers need from an operational and logistics perspective,” Lesemann said. “That’s where we, with Vicor’s assistance, have been able to stick our chins out so much further than everyone else.” Learn more about SeaRay and wave power.

Figure 3: SeaRAY uses the Vicor BCM ® fixed-ratio bus converter and PRM™ regulator modules with complex multistage discrete converters to efficiently convert wave energy and provide controlled power. Using power modules Vicor developed a power delivery network that improved the SeaRAY conversion efficiency from 50% to over 90%.

About C-Power Columbia Power Technologies, Inc. (C-Power) delivers the products the marine economy needs to change the ocean from a power desert into a power- and data-enriched environment. As a worldwide leader in wave energy systems, C-Power is developing reliable, sustainable, cost-effective energy generation and storage solutions that are easy to transport and deployable anywhere in the world for a wide range of applications benefitting critical industries such as offshore energy, defense and security, aquaculture, science and research, and communications. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, with product development in Corvallis, Oregon, the C-Power team brings more than 150 years of

successful management, operating and engineering experience. Learn more at cpower.co. About Vicor Vicor Corporation, the leader in high- performance power modules, solves the toughest power challenges for our customers, enabling them to innovate and maximize system performance. Our easy-to-deploy power modules provide the highest density and efficiency enabling advanced power delivery networks from the power source to the point-of-load. Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Vicor serves customers worldwide with unequaled power conversion and power delivery technologies. www. vicorpower.com

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WHAT IF WE COULD STOP DISEASES BEFORE THEY COULDN’T BE STOPPED?

The key to beating more illnesses is earlier detection, and ADI’s precision sensing technology is powering new, ultra-fast disease testing, bringing us one step closer to a healthier future for all.

Analog Devices. Where what if becomes what is. See What If: analog.com/WhatIf

Electrical readout of electron-nuclear spins in a diamond quantum chip at room temperature

Milos Nesladek, IMEC

In short: Nuclear spins in diamonds are promising candidates for quantum technologies because of their long coherence times The key to diamond quantum applications is the nitrogen- vacancy center in the crystal that gives access to both nuclear and electron spins The team of Milos Nesladek in IMO-IMOMEC succeeded in the electrical readout of entangled nuclear-electron spins at room temperature This is important for device scaling and integration as well as applications such as ambient sensing The team of Milos Nesladek from IMO-IMOMEC, an imec research group at University of Hasselt, has a long track-record of using artificial diamonds in the race to develop the

best solid-state quantum system. In research that was recently published in Nature Communications they now demonstrate a viable approach for a quantum technology platform that operates at room-temperature via electrically-read electron-nuclear spin gates on a diamond electronic chip. This proof of concept is a first step towards more complex, electrically-read gates for advanced quantum technologies that can benefit from the long nuclear spin coherence in diamond. Nuclear and electron Semiconductor spin qubit systems are promising candidates for future quantum technologies, such as quantum computing, telecommunication and sensing because of their potential for wide spins in diamond quantum systems

electronic scalability and nanoscale device integration. Nuclear spins in diamonds are particularly interesting because of their large coherence times which is important for performance and reliability of complex quantum applications. At ambient temperatures the coherence time is in the range of seconds; when cooled down to around 10K it even increases to tens of minutes. Milos Nesladek: “Key to quantum applications for diamond is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, a defect in the crystal where a nitrogen atom replaces one of the carbons adjacent to a free lattice space (a vacancy). The negatively charged NV center is one of the most attractive solid-state qubit platforms as it benefits from an electronic spin that can be used as a qubit or as an auxiliary qubit for reading dark nuclear spins. Having

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