Digital Magzine

www.newelectronics.co.
uk
12 January 2016
SMART FACTORIES • INDUSTRY 4.O • AGILE DESIGN • SECURE SOFTWARE
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Rival consortia say microsatellites
are the best way to bring
broadband to remote areas
of the globe
CONTENTS VOL 49 NO 1
19
22 26
Cover illustration: John Bradley
COMMENT 5 INTERVIEW 12 DIGITAL DESIGN 24

Business and economic Tapping into the IoT’s promise Don’t go over the waterfall
uncertainty continues to With the IoT changing the digital and physical Hardware design has always been a linear process –
bedevil the electronics landscape, New Electronics hears from a Sierra the waterfall approach. But could an Agile approach
industry as we enter 2016 Wireless executive about the need for help to get complex FPGA based products to market
comprehensive connectivity more quickly?
NEWS
Collaborative agreement will COVER STORY 14 EMBEDDED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT 26
develop ALD technology to Launching into a new market Concerns about code
maintain world leading Several projects are emerging that look to There’s a lot more to embedded software
position 7 provide broadband access to remote areas of security than simply writing ‘bomb proof’ code.
the world via low earth orbiting satellites – and We talk to a couple of experts about what’s
Intel completes its acquisition the market could be huge needed in the sector
of Altera, NXP closes the
Freescale deal. But are there CONTRACT MANUFACTURING 19 FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT 29
more deals in the offing? 8 Pointing the way Taking precautions
Industry 4.0, or the Industrial IoT, is getting a lot Certain precautions should be taken by engineers
The Weightless SIG says its of coverage, but do contract electronics when they are looking to compare additive jitter
latest communications manufacturers in the UK understand the performance based on clock buffer data sheets
standard will ‘revolutionise’ IoT concept? And have they implemented it?
connectivity 9
SMART FACTORIES 22 New Electronics’ weekly eZine features
IBM is looking to extend the The beating heart the latest blogs, news, articles and
reach of cognitive computing Smart factories will be at the heart of Industry more. To register for your copy, go to
technology into the Internet 4.0, but could they also help to revitalise the www.newelectronics.co.uk
of Things 10 UK’s manufacturing sector?
www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016 3

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COMMENT THE INDUSTRY
Interesting
times
IT’S A NEW YEAR, BUT THE
INDUSTRY REMAINS UNCERTAIN
M
agazines, such as New Electronics, endeavour – particularly at this time of
the year – to put a positive spin on things. But it’s hard to do that at the
moment.
There’s a number of reasons for this. One of the biggest factors is continuing
uncertainty about what exactly is happening to the global economy. Last year
saw the FTSE100 drop by 5%, while 2016 was welcomed by an apparent
meltdown in the Chinese stock market and the leading global markets falling in
sympathy.
But some of the market figures suggest things are better than they appear.
Late in 2015, statistics provided by DMASS – which monitors sales of
semiconductors through industrial distribution channels – pointed to demand
booming. Sales in the UK in Q3 2015 were said to have grown by 17.4% over
the same period in 2014; something that doesn’t quite agree with the data
provided by the UK’s Electronic Component Supply Network (ECSN). More
uncertainty then; while the figures say one thing, market sentiment says
another and ECSN is expecting only ‘low growth, at best’ for 2016.
There’s also uncertainty over the shape of the industry. Last year saw a rash
of acquisitions, with Chinese investment vehicles targeting a number of high
profile companies.
In some respects, some of last year’s acquisition frenzy can be put down to
companies looking to make themselves too big to swallow. But another reason
for these acquisitions was simply market share; with long term growth rates in
the electronics industry slowing, executives are looking for ways to keep the
shareholders happy. Buying companies, increasing revenues and cutting costs is
a traditional route to providing the return for which investors look.
Is there a double edged sword at work here? As companies combine and
chief executives look for the so called ‘synergies’, there’s a suspicion that one of
the casualties will be the R&D budget. Short term ?nancial gains maybe being
traded against an inability to develop the company’s longer term future.
And yet, despite the uncertainty, the outburst of innovation on display at the
recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas must go a long way to
convincing everyone that while the companies that make components are
experiencing ‘interesting times’, those that use them are as creative as ever and
that the industry is in good health.
Graham Pitcher, Group Editor (gpitcher@findlay.co.uk)
www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016

NEWS PRINTED ELECTRONICS
CPI to commercialise ALD

T: 01322 221144 F: 01322 221188
www.newelectronics.co.uk COLLABORATION DEAL TO DEVELOP PRINTABLE ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY.
E: ne@findlay.co.uk TOM AUSTIN-MORGAN REPORTS.
Editor Neil Tyler The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Beneq to develop ultra barrier solutions in photovoltaics,
ntyler@findlay.co.uk have signed an agreement that will see them OLEDs, microelectronics and sensors.
developing atomic layer deposition (ALD) Dr Mikko Söderlund, Beneq’s head of industrial
Online Editorial Tom Austin-Morgan
Assistant taustin-morgan@findlay.co.uk technologies for printable electronics applications. solutions, added: “Beneq and CPI share a vision of
The agreement follows CPI’s recent installation of the enabling role of ALD in flexible electronics. Pilot-
Group Editor Graham Pitcher
gpitcher@findlay.co.uk
two of Beneq’s ALD tools: one batch tool and one scale operation and rapid prototyping with our
roll to roll system. equipment provides Beneq with invaluable
Contributing Chris Edwards, John Walko Alf Smith, CPI business development manager, information on system performance, and our
Editors Louise Joselyn
editor@newelectronics.co.uk
said: “The partnership means we will be able to customers benefit from an established R&D platform
constantly refine and optimise our capability and and faster time to market with ALD applications.”
Art Editors Martin Cherry
mcherry@findlay.co.uk associated processes over the coming years to ALD, a specialist barrier coating technique used
Andrew Ganassin ensure that we remain a world leader in ALD to protect optoelectronic devices, is being used by
aganassin@findlay.co.uk coatings.” CPI to add moisture protection layers to flexible
Illustrator Phil Holmes The agreement brings together Beneq’s high polymer substrates. While current commercial barrier
precision vacuum coating technology and CPI’s films are said to be ‘prohibitively expensive’ for large
Sales Manager Marc Young
myoung@findlay.co.uk
capability in scaling up of printed electronics. area applications, single thin layer ALD barrier
Working together, the two organisations say they will structures have the potential to reduce this cost,
Publisher Peter Ring create an open access environment for companies whilst providing the required properties.
pring@findlay.co.uk
Executive Ed Tranter
Director etranter@findlay.co.uk 77GHz radar chip to enable next gen ADAS
Production Nicki McKenna A single chip 77GHz radar transceiver from NXP is expected to enable the ‘next
Manager nmckenna@findlay.co.uk generation’ of radar sensor assemblies and to accelerate the adoption of advanced
driver assistance systems (ADAS).
New Electronics, incorporating Electronic The device, which measures 7.5 x 7.5mm, allows systems to be integrated
Equipment News and Electronics News, is ‘invisibly’ practically anywhere in a car. This is highlighted as an advantage for
published twice monthly by engineers looking to design in increasing numbers of sensors. With a power
Findlay Media Ltd, Hawley Mill, Hawley Road, consumption said to be 40% less than conventional radar ICs, the device is
Dartford, Kent, DA2 7TJ
believed to have applications in emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind
spot monitoring, cross traffic alert and automated parking.
Copyright 2016 Findlay Media.
Torsten Lehmann, NXP’s senior vp for infotainment and driver assistance,
Annual subscription (22 issues)
claimed: “Building the world’s smallest fully integrated 77GHz chip will pave the
UK £108. Overseas £163. Airmail is £199.
ISSN 0047-9624 Online ISSN 2049-2316 way for self-driving cars and drive increased ADAS adoption in the volume market.”
Working prototypes of the RF CMOS IC are now with NXP’s lead customers and
Origination: CC Media, London
are being field tested by engineers working on Google’s self driving cars.
Printed in the UK by Pensord Press
Moving on?
If you change jobs or your company moves,
Prototype opto processor ‘Future proof’ ECU platform
please contact circulation@findlay.co.uk to
continue receiving your free copy of Researchers from MIT, the University of California at Renesas and TTTech are working to develop a future
New Electronics Berkeley and the University of Colorado have proof, high performance electronic control unit (ECU)
produced a working optoelectronic microprocessor. platform for driver assistance systems (ADAS).
The device, which computes electronically, but which According to the partners, the platform will integrate
uses light to move data, was produced using existing Renesas’ RH850/P1x MCUs and R-Car SoCs with
fabrication techniques. TTTech’s TTIntegration software.
The chip, manufactured by Globalfoundries using TTIntegration runs as middleware, providing
a silicon on insulator process, has 850 optical applications with the CPU time and memory they
components and 70million transistors; enough to need, while separating or abstracting hardware from
demonstrate the functionality that a commercial applications. Strict partitioning is said to ensure that
optical chip would require. In tests, the researchers a bug or defect in one application cannot harm any
found the performance of the transistors was other or cause the ECU to crash. The platform will
Findlay Media is a member of the
Periodical Publishers’ Association
‘virtually indistinguishable’ from that of conventional also take advantage of TTTech’s Deterministic
computing devices. Ethernet technology.

NEWS ACQUISITIONS
£23m for IoT research

Nine UK universities will work with more than
47 industry and public sector partners over
Intel, NXP close deals
the next three years to explore issues relating MAKING AN OFFER FOR ANOTHER COMPANY – AND GETTING IT ACCEPTED – IS ONE
to privacy, ethics, trust, reliability, acceptability THING; COMPLETING THE DEAL IS ANOTHER. GRAHAM PITCHER REPORTS.
and security in the Internet of Things.
The £23million PETRAS project is part of
IoTUK, a £40m, three-year, Government Intel and NXP have completed their respective acquisitions of Altera and Freescale, deals which
programme that seeks to advance the UK’s see two long standing and well known electronics names effectively disappearing.
global leadership in IoT and to increase the The acquisition of Altera by Intel was announced in June 2015, following a period of ‘will they,
adoption of high quality IoT technologies and won’t they?’ speculation. Rumours Prst started circulating in March 2015, when the FPGA
services throughout businesses and the developer was said to have received a $10billion offer. In the end, Intel paid $16.7bn, with
public sector. industry watchers not only questioning what the processor giant saw in Altera, but also the
amount it paid.
Materials developed for Intel, however, is bullish about the deal, claiming access to Altera’s technology will enable ‘new
classes of product in the data centre and IoT sectors’. “Together,” said Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich,
stretchable electronics “we will apply Moore’s Law to grow today’s FPGA business and invent new products that make
Panasonic has developed a polymer resin Plm amazing experiences of the future possible.” These products will be targeted at applications such
that is said to stretch by 250%, then return to as autonomous driving and machine learning, as well as data centres and IoT.
its original shape. Altera will now operate as Intel’s Programmable Solutions Group (PSG) and maintain ‘business
Using a stretchable resin as a base as usual’. In a statement, Intel said it intends to fully support and grow Altera’s FPGA business
material, Panasonic has also developed a and to support the entire product line, including those based on ARM technology.
transparent electrode material and conductive Devices will continue to be made at TSMC, with the exception of Stratix 10 parts, where an
paste that remain conductive even after agreement had already been reached on the
repeated cycles of stretch and restore. The use of Intel’s 14nm process technology.
transparent electrode material comprises a The Prst indication of where Altera’s
thin conductive layer of carbon nanotubes technology may play a role in future Intel
formed on the base material of stretchable “We have products could come later this year.
resin. The conductive paste was produced by According to Intel, it plans to integrate a
created an
combining the stretchable resin, used as a Xeon processor and what it calls a
binder, with silver Pller. industry ‘coherently attached’ FPGA – a combination
powerhouse.” expected to bring a ‘signiPcant’ performance
Gold nanoparticles etch boost to data centre operations.
Rick Clemmer Dan McNamara, previously general
straight channels manager of Altera’s embedded division, will
Scientists from the US National Institute of be general manager of PSG, reporting directly to Krzanich.
Standards and Technology and IBM say that Meanwhile, NXP’s acquisition of Freescale closed on 7 December 2015. The deal valued the
gold nanoparticles can be used to create latter at $11.8bn. Where Intel appeared to be more interested in Altera’s technology, NXP was
straight paths in a range of III-V looking squarely at market opportunities when it made the offer for Freescale – while there was
semiconductors. little overlap between the two companies’ portfolios, they both had security and automotive as
The team patterned the surface of indium target markets. Bringing the two companies together has created the fourth largest
phosphide by coating it selectively with an semiconductor business, excluding memory companies.
ultrathin layer of gold. Upon heating, the Plm CEO Rick Clemmer was enthusiastic as the deal concluded. “We have created an industry
breaks up into droplets and the underlying InP powerhouse focused on the high growth opportunities in the ‘smarter world’.
dissolves into the gold nanoparticles. “[The] formation of the new NXP is a transformative step on our journey to become the
Water vapour is then introduced into the industry leader in high performance mixed signal solutions.”
system. At less than 300°C, the gold alloy NXP will have Pve business units: security and connectivity; automotive; RF; standard products;
etches nanoscale pits into the InP. However, and digital networking. Steve Owen, executive VP of global sales and marketing, noted: “It’s
at 440°C and higher, the process formed long exciting times for all of us and a time for more innovation and smarter thinking. The deal brings
V-shaped nanochannels which followed together two fantastic semiconductor companies and our customers are looking to us to
straight paths dictated by the crystalline innovate.” He added the new company has a ‘signiPcant’ engineering presence – some 11,000
lattice. The dimensions of the grooves engineers around the world – and it would continue to work with the same ambition, but with a
correspond to the size of droplet, which can broader portfolio of products.
be controlled. The one blockbuster deal from 2015 still to close is Avago’s $37bn acquisition of Broadcom.
The team believes the process might also When the proposed deal was announced at the end of May 2015, Avago said it expected it to
work for creating patterns on silicon and other complete by the end of Q1 2016.
materials. Industry watchers are now wondering whether the more than $100bn spent on electronics
acquisitions in 2015 was a blip or, if not, which company is next?
8 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

NEWS IoT CONNECTIVITY
LPWAN standard a ‘turning point’ Smallest temperature

sensor harvests energy
WEIGHTLESS SIG SAYS ITS LATEST COMMUNICATIONS STANDARD WILL ‘REVOLUTIONISE’ IoT Researchers at Eindhoven
CONNECTIVITY. GRAHAM PITCHER REPORTS. University of Technology have
developed an energy harvesting
In a move which it expects to revolutionise the low power WAN (LPWAN) market, the Weightless SIG has wireless temperature sensor. The
unveiled Weightless-P, an open standard tailored to deliver ubiquitous wide area IoT connectivity. The duplex device measures 2mm2 and
wireless link is said to support adaptive data rates of up to 100kbit/s through a scalable network technology weighs 1.6mg. The sensor is also
inspired by the mobile phone network. said to operate beneath a layer of
While intended to operate in the sub 1GHz spectrum, those developing devices based on Weightless-P will paint, plaster or concrete.
have the option to work in licensed spectrum, using 12.5kHz narrowband technology. The sensor has a router with an
Professor William Webb, CEO of the Weightless SIG, commented: “Weightless-P is a turning point in antenna that harvests power from
LPWAN technology; no longer does the IoT community need to compromise between performance and cost the radio waves it uses to
when making connectivity decisions. Weightless-P is the dePnitive open standard for wide area IoT communicate. Once enough energy
connectivity.” has been accumulated, it switches
According to the industry group, Weightless-P delivers the best compromise for the widest range of IoT on, measures the temperature and
applications. Along with low complexity, the open standard is said to enable long battery life, reliability, long sends a signal back to the router.
range and robust security. The sensor has a range of
Derrick Wei, CEO of M2COMM, claimed: “Weightless-P is revolutionary; it will transform the LPWAN space 2.5cm, but the researchers hope
by providing the very Prst clean slate open standard designed from the ground up for both public and private to extend this to 5m.
IoT deployments.”
Cheaper MEMS devices?
First handheld ‘scope from R&S
MIT researchers have built a
Rohde & Schwarz has launched its first handheld oscilloscope and MEMS gas sensor using 3D
claims the device – called Scope Rider – has the functionality and printing at 1% of the cost of a
touch and feel of a state of the art lab device. device produced using traditional
Scope Rider, which features a 10bit A/D converter, has a precise sensor fabrication techniques.
digital trigger system, 33 automatic measurement functions, mask The team sprayed a Quid
test and XY diagram mode. It can function as a logic analyser with containing tiny Qakes of graphene
eight additional digital channels, as a protocol analyser with trigger oxide in a prescribed pattern on a
and decoding capability, as a data logger and a digital multimeter. Up silicon substrate. The Quid
evaporated, leaving an ultrathin
to 50,000 waveforms per second can be acquired.
coating of graphene oxide. When
Two and four channel variants are available, with bandwidths of
the Qakes interact with gas
60, 100, 200, 350 and 500MHz. Trigger and decoding options will be molecules, their resistance
available for I2C, SPI, UART, RS232, RS422 and RS485. changes in a measurable way.

NEWS ANALYSIS COGNITIVE COMPUTING
Extending cognitive
computing to the IoT
WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS, IBM IS LOOKING TO EXTEND THE REACH OF COGNITIVE
COMPUTING INTO THE INTERNET OF THINGS. NEIL TYLER REPORTS.
L
ast month, IBM opened a new global reason from their interactions with us and drive deeper engagement with both clients and
headquarters for its Watson Internet of from their experiences with their environment, partners. It will also serve as an innovation lab
Things (IoT) unit in Munich. At the launch, the enabling them to keep pace with the volume, for data scientists, engineers and
company made a series of announcements – complexity and unpredictability of information programmers, who will be working to deliver
including new offerings, capabilities and generated by the IoT. Business is being connected solutions at the intersection of
partners – with the aim being transformed around companies cognitive computing and the IoT to create new
to extend cognitive computing by the rise of IoT and everything opportunities for growth.”
IBM’s Watson
into the rapidly evolving IoT is happening at a compressed IBM is also opening eight new Watson IoT
Internet of Things
world by deploying IBM’s timescale.” Client Experience Centers across Asia, Europe
unit in Munich
Watson IoT Cloud platform. The decision to base the and the Americas. The centres are located in
“The IoT will soon be the operation – the company’s Beijing, Boeblingen, Sao Paulo, Seoul and
largest single source of data largest investment in Europe in Tokyo, as well as in Massachusetts, North
on the planet, yet almost 90% more than two decades – in Carolina and Texas.
of that data is never acted Munich was driven by the depth These centres are intended to provide
upon,” said Harriet Green, and breadth of opportunities clients and partners with access to the
general manager, Watson IoT provided by the German market. technology, tools and talent needed to develop
and Education. “With its “While the IoT is and create new products and services using
abilities to sense, reason and everywhere,” Greenstein cognitive intelligence delivered through the
learn, Watson opens the door explained, “Industry 4.0 started Watson IoT Cloud Platform.
for enterprises, governments in Germany and businesses IBM added that four families of Watson API
and individuals to harness here have played an important services are being made available as part of
real-time data, compare it with part not only in leading its Watson IoT Analytics offering.
historical data sets and then innovation but in terms of These include: the Natural Language
find unexpected correlations leading to new standards and market leadership. Processing (NLP) API Family, which enables
insights.” “Munich provides IBM with a centre of users to interact with systems and devices
Speaking to New Electronics prior to the gravity and a chance to bring the best minds in using simple, human language; the Machine
event, Bret Greenstein, VP of IoT for IBM, Europe together in one location.” The Munich Learning Watson API Family, which automates
explained: “Cognitive computing is a new site will also be the home for IBM’s :rst data processing and monitors new data and
class of systems that are capable of learning European Watson innovation centre. user interactions; a Video and Image Analytics
at scale, can reason with purpose and interact According to Greenstein: “This new campus API Family; and a Text Analytics API Family that
with humans naturally. Rather than being will bring together IBM developers, can mine unstructured textual data to :nd
explicitly programmed, these devices learn and consultants, researchers and designers to correlations and patterns in data.

Emmanuel Walckenaer
Emmanuel Walckenaer is responsible for the Sierra
Wireless Enterprise Solutions business. He joined
Sierra Wireless in March 2009 from Wavecom, where
he had served as vice president of Intelligent Device
Services from 2007 to 2009. A ten-year career at
Gemplus (now Gemalto), saw him create the Over-
the-Air software offering, complete with a support
hotline and training unit. He also headed up the
EMEA wireless service branch and set up the North
and South American Gemplus service organisations
to support both telecom and ID Security. Prior to
Gemplus, he held various positions in IT, marketing
and business development at Esso.
12
INTERVIEW EMMANUEL WALCKENAER
Tapping into
but, crucially, says Walckenaer: “It is vital that we reduce the
complexity in building and deploying IoT connectivity solutions. Our IoT
Acceleration Platform is designed to empower customer innovation
and get IoT solutions to market faster with the ability to scale and
IoT promise
grow quickly. Ours is a simple strategy – providing customers with a
complete device to cloud offer.”
Recent research from Gartner suggests that the demand for
connected devices will surge to 1trillion by 2040. Additional research
further indicates that there will be $166billion invested in the IoT
industry by 2020, with 20bn IoT devices coming online.
According to Walckenaer, however, the true potential of the IoT will
With the IoT changing the digital and physical only be achieved ‘if there is interoperability and convergence between
landscape, Emmanuel Walckenaer, talks with Neil multiple technologies and ecosystems’. “That’s why everything that
we have done this year – from the IoT Acceleration Platform to Project
Tyler about the need for comprehensive connectivity. mangOH – is driven by the need to enhance flexibility and
expandability.”
W
ith a 20 year history of innovation, Sierra Wireless has a Project mangOH is an open source hardware reference design that
lot of experience of the M2M market. Since launching the has been created to enable IoT developers with limited wireless,
world’s first cellular embedded module in 1997, it has hardware or low level software expertise to develop applications
shipped in excess of 100million devices connecting the quickly.
Internet of Things, with its products operating on more than 80 According to Walckenaer, it is not only low cost and flexible, but
networks worldwide. also provides access to the company’s AirVantage cloud services.
As Emmanuel Walckenaer, senior vice president, Cloud and “That flexibility comes from the CF3 Snap In sockets that support
Connectivity Services, explains: “The company is, and always has any next-generation WP or HL Series. A developer will be able, as a
been, focused on providing technology leadership and developing result, to choose what cellular modules to use based on the end
innovative solutions that make wireless communications easier to customer needs as well as regional cellular requirements.”
integrate, deploy and maintain.” A signiEcant beneEt is that these IoT modules are not only suitable
To that end, Sierra Wireless unveiled in 2015 an IoT Acceleration for prototyping, but can also be used in production.
Platform, described as the industry’s Erst integrated service platform Sierra Wireless operates across a number of key IoT segments,
that combines cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and managed including automotive and transport, energy and industrial, enterprise,
connectivity services for worldwide deployments. and residential and healthcare. As such, it is well positioned to spot
“Due to be released in the Erst quarter of 2016, this platform is market trends.
unique,” said Walckenaer. “It has been designed to provide global “The IoT market is certainly more mature and what we are seeing
multi-operator coverage by combining Sierra Wireless and third-party is larger data consumption on one side and the need for more frugal
network operator SIMs, which can be managed from a single uniEed data collection and lower power on the other,” Walckenaer says.
connectivity platform,” he explains. “We have found that companies “There has been a real surge in the demand for IoT enabled
offering IoT products and services have pretty similar needs.” devices and platforms but, with seven different technologies jockeying
The IoT Acceleration Platform provides connectivity to the Google for position, it’s a challenging market” he continues.
Cloud Platform and, as a result, customers will beneEt from being able “In automotive, for sure, we are seeing a rapid take-up. This is a
to access Google BigQuery, Google’s analytical service, with data key market as it will help to drive volumes. But, beyond automotive,
collected from connected devices. transport in general is proving a very active market – whether that is
Google’s Cloud Platform is a set of modular cloud-based services managing fuel consumption, vehicle tracking or the optimisation of
and customers will be able to develop anything from a simple website routes. There is a pretty strong business case to support IoT.”
to more complex applications. They can collect and store sensor data What is true of all markets, though, is that business models are
and use the tools provided to build customised analytics, big data, or changing and Walckenaer believes the subscription economy will
IoT applications. change everything.
Organisations that are already operating on the Google Cloud He also warns that it is crucial to have the right technology in place
Platform will be able to integrate existing applications and services if an IoT project is to succeed.
quickly and more easily. “You need a solid IT team because, while you may be able to buy in
“The platform is pre-connected, so the process of doing this has the modules, gateway devices and servers, when it comes to building
been simpliEed. As a consequence the resulting applications are more a working network it’s complicated – you will need to be an expert in
flexible and scalable and will be able to support future growth,” the three key building blocks: hardware; telecoms; and IT. Even our
Walckenaer explains. more experienced customers are backing away from this, focusing on
“Our intention is to provide customers with a comprehensive end- the application development.
to-end solution that helps them to manage connectivity,” he says. “It is vital that you are able to provide a joined up approach and,
“Our aim is to vastly simplify the sourcing, management, and while Sierra Wireless may be a small player, I think we have developed
administration of multi-region IoT deployments.” an understanding of those three key elements that few of our
The IoT is changing the digital and physical landscape radically competitors are able to match.”
13
Launching a
new industry
The idea of providing broadband access to remote
areas by satellite is gathering pace and attracting the
attention of serial entrepreneurs. By John Walko.
S
everal projects have recently appeared on the
scene, all planning to use low earth orbiting
satellites (LEO) to change the dynamics of how
internet access is delivered to under-served
regions of the globe.
The idea for data versions of LEO networks was first Why should this new spate of projects fare better?
floated in the late 1990s, aiming to bring broadband One reason is that satellites can now be made much
Internet access to remote and poor areas of the world. smaller and lighter, so launch costs are significantly
They followed earlier well-funded efforts to provide LEO lower. More importantly, the size, manufacturability and
based mobile telephony – at the time, thought to component costs associated with the different terminals
represent the way forward. But those projects, such as and handsets have plummeted since those early days,
the Bill Gates and Craig McCaw inspired Teledesic and while functionality and ease of use have increased. We
initial versions of Iridium and Globalstar, failed to deliver have also seen significant advances in solid-state
on the hype – partly because of technology constraints, antennas for LEO satellite terminals, which need to track
partly down to poor business models, more often both. a satellite as it moves across the sky and transfer
Samsung outlines how 4600 satellites could enable Tbit/s broadband connectivity
While entrepreneurs battle it out to offer demand anticipated in the 2020s and that it operate at data rates exceeding Tbit/s. Khan
Internet to the masses via their satellite has no firm plans to build such a system. stresses that all parts of the system will need
constellations, electronics giant Samsung laid Khan argues that mobile data will continue to to use phased array antennas to improve
out its vision for ‘Space Internet’ late in 2015. grow at unprecedented rates, and adds that coverage and reduce interference.
In a paper penned by Farooq Khan, satellites, as well as drones and balloons, Interestingly, Khan links several of these
Samsung America’s head of research and may be essential to connect ‘the remaining concepts with 5G research, an area in which
development, the company has proposed two-thirds of humankind that currently do not Samsung continues to be a major innovator.
some 4600 ‘low cost microsatellites in low- have access to the internet’. “With the 5G vision of providing wireless
earth orbit, each capable of providing Tbit/s Khan argues the cost of providing mobile access in the millimetre wave spectrum, a
data rates, with signal latencies better than or connectivity to such areas cost effectively must single standards based wireless technology
equal to ground based systems’. entail a ‘new wireless architecture’, referred to can be developed for access, backhaul and
The satellites would weigh less than 500kg as multi-comm-core (MCC) ‘that can scale to satellite communications, eliminating
and operate at altitudes of less than 2000km. Tbit/s data rates for ground based local area fragmentation and thereby reducing costs of
They will ‘use less power, due to proximity to and wide area access, for wireless backhaul providing wireless services,” he claims.
Earth, are smaller in size, lower in weight, and as well as access via unmanned aerial More specifically, he suggests the network
are therefore easier to launch’ (than other vehicles and satellites’. would deploy frequencies ranging from
proposed systems.) All three types of links envisaged in the 10.7GHz to 275GHz – split into a 57.75GHz
The company stresses the paper simply system (see diagram) – uplink from ground package for uplink, 56.2GHz for downlink and
lays out the technologies that would be station to satellite, inter-satellite link, and 38.75GHz for inter-satellite communications.
needed to cope with the wireless traffic downlink to ground or air – would need to The concept also relies on phased array

COVER STORY BROADBAND
BY SATELLITE
seamlessly to another when the first satellite approaches have been operating for some 15 years. The groups have
the horizon. Meanwhile, satellite solar cell efficiency has also raised money for second-generation constellations;
more than doubled since the early days and power Globalstar’s latest iteration was launched last year and
amplifier efficiency has also surged. Iridium’s NEXT constellation satellites are scheduled to to
While these factors have helped the business be fully operational in 2018.
proposition, uncertainties remain about demand and the Of the new entrants, the one most likely to succeed is
ever-present regulatory constraints of LEO satellites in OneWeb, founded by Greg Wyler, who has led previous
view of frequency allocations. attempts to bring broadband Internet to rural and poorer
However, the basic economics of manufacturing have parts of the world. The project is backed by the likes of
not seen such advances. Small satellites cost more to Virgin Galactic, Qualcomm, Hughes Network Systems,
manufacture per kg than larger ones. Airbus Defence and Space and, importantly, satellite
Roger Rusch, president of consultancy TelAstra and a network operator Intelsat. Interestingly, Coca Cola is also
long-time observer of the satellite sector, notes that it involved.
takes far more satellites in LEO to provide continuous OneWeb is planning a constellation of 650 Ku-band
communications service than satellites in geostationary satellites (with a further 250 spares), each weighing only
orbit (GEO)
“The deep pocketed visionaries promoting
these huge constellations of LEOs have
unrealistic expectations about the costs of Inter satellite link
Inter satellite link
deploying the satellites, running the networks
and manufacturing the terminals, not to
mention what people are prepared – or able –
to pay for the service or the devices,” Rusch
told New Electronics.
The projects to which Rusch refers include
those from OneWeb and SpaceX, both backed
by serial entrepreneurs, and the outline of
potential projects from LeoSat and engineering
conglomerate Samsung (see box on this page). Antenna Antenna
array array
It needs to be said that, while the original
investors in Iridium and Globalstar lost their
money, both constellations were built and Data Data
centre Access point Access point centre
Humans
Internet
radars: already a critical element of many 5G
developments. These will be necessary to Downlink Uplink
improve coverage and reduce interference.
Khan notes that phased arrays allow the
beam to be steered ‘with the flexibility and Samsung’s concept of how internet access blocks/functions are replicated across spatial
speed of electronics’, rather than the slower might be delivered in the future centres on cores.
and less flexible mechanical approach used more than 4000 low earth orbit satellites Khan maintains the MCC architecture will
for traditional parabolic dishes. delivering data rates in excess of 1Tbit/s be attractive from a power consumption
Samsung acknowledges that putting the perspective when data rates of at least tens of
project into effect will depend on technologies hundreds of Gbit/s require many GHz of
still under development, such as RFICs capable group. Within each spectrum will be stacked bandwidth. As already noted, MCC is
of handling millimetre-wave frequencies multiple bandwidth cores, each supporting 1 to expected to be applicable to other wireless
effectively. 2GHz bandwidth. The RF front end and systems evolving to these data rates.
A key element of the ‘viable radio bandwidth core stacking blocks within each Roger Rusch told New Electronics: “This is a
architecture’ will be implementation of the spectrum are planned to be replicated to fantastic system that shifts the communication
MCC. Khan declined to comment about its provide spatial cores (to support multibeam burden to the user terminal, so the space
current stage of development. radar and/or MIMO capability) segment can be (relatively) cheap and simple.
The research paper indicates the group Each bandwidth core would have its own It might be technically possible, but the total
expects the system to use a set of RF front end set of data converters, channel coding and costs of space and ground would be
and antenna arrays covering each spectrum other baseband functions and these astronomical.”

COVER STORY BROADBAND BY SATELLITE
Teledesic in Ka-band and SkyBridge in the Ku-band –

There are a number of ‘elephants in the room’, had to seek similar approval.
including: the increases in capacity available from Even before OneWeb has published detailed technical
specifications or outlined its plans, satellite Keet
GEO satellites; developing affordable terminals operators are suggesting that LEO constellations will
interfere with their established operations.
capable of tracking low latency LEO satellites; Rusch noted this will be one of many regulatory
regulatory issues; and manufacturing budgets. hurdles the projects will have to overcome and cautioned
that the ITU – ‘which is not a regulatory body, unlike the
FCC in the US or Ofcom in the UK’ – lacks the power to
150kg, which would make them amongst the smallest rule on these inevitable debates.
and lightest communications satellites designed for Rival SpaceX, backed by Elon Musk and with a
commercial service. rumoured $1bn investment from Google and support from
Inter-satellite links are not planned, so the system will financial company Fidelity, has even more ambitious and
need many gateways – which is where the commercial long-term plans. The company has filed for a constellation
link with Intelsat comes into play. The cost of these and of 4000 satellites orbiting at 625km altitude. It has
other ground control facilities, as well as designing, requested permission from the FCC to commence trials
building and launching the satellites, is expected to reach with up to eight experimental satellites, dubbed MicroSat-
$7.5bn, according to Rusch. To date, the group has 1a and MicroSat-1b, operating in the Ku and Ka bands.
raised some $500million, mostly from its many backers. Musk has suggested the network could deliver speeds
Airbus will build the satellites, which are expected to be and reduced network hops similar to terrestrial fibre.
launched into 20 orbital planes at an altitude of about The trial satellites are expected to be launched
1200km. Each satellite is expected to cost $500,000. beginning next year on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket – but
OneWeb – which was reluctant to discuss technical this may be delayed following recent problems, when the
details of the project with New Electronics – has also rocket failed to put a payload into orbit. Despite that
demonstrated various prototypes of user terminals, setback, Musk’s space ambitions range from launchers
including some operated by solar power. They will offer and sending supplies to the International Space Station,
combinations of LTE, 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi and are estimated to his ultimate goal of colonising Mars.
to cost $250 per terminal. Projections about how much the SpaceX satellite project
Wyler said recently that he anticipates the first 10 would cost range from $10bn to $15bn and few believe it
satellites will allow testing of the network and terminals could be fully operational until well into the next decade.
to be completed by 2017, with the entire constellation to We can expect major developments in all these
be ready by late 2019. The bulk of the satellites will be projects during the coming years, but there are a number
made in the US. of elephants in the room, including: the dramatic
He stressed the project has acquired rights to the increases in capacity available from high throughput GEO
crucial spectrum needed from earlier projects and that satellites; developing affordable terminals capable of
OneWeb would soon file submissions to the ITU that tracking low latency LEO satellites; regulatory issues
would allow regulators and GEO-satellite operators to around coordinating the spectrum for these constellations
assess, with precision, the constellation’s conformity with the existing geostationary satellites in the same
with ITU rules forbidding unintentional interference with band; and manufacturing the satellites to the budgets
GEO satellites. being bandied about.
Wyler said the company’s specially developed And this article has not discussed ambitious projects
Progressive Pitch technology will modify the orientation from Google and Facebook. The search giant’s effort,
and power level of the LEO satellites as they pass over dubbed Project Loon, centres on balloons and is already
the equator so they do not disturb the millions of satellite being trialled. Facebook, meanwhile, is looking to use
dishes targeted at geostationary satellites. drones for Internet connectivity and has partnered with
The important issue here is equivalent power-Kux Eutelsat to use GEO satellites in a project targeting
density, a requirement developed in the 1990s, when subscribers in Africa.
two other non-geostationary orbit systems – the ill-fated Watch this space.

SECTOR FOCUS CONTRACT MANUFACTURING
C Pointing the way

ontract manufacturers have an
increasingly important role to
play in the UK’s manufacturing
ecosystem, whether that is in
supporting volume production or new
and emerging businesses looking to
take new products from concept to While Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet of Things is getting a lot of
volume assembly. According to Bgures
from the Electronic Components Supply press coverage, do contract manufacturers in the UK understand the
Network (ECSN), the CEM sector in the
UK and Ireland now, in terms of
concept, let alone employ it? By Neil Tyler
demand, accounts for more than 40%
of all electronic components by value. This information and communication and connectors in high volumes.
However, it is a sector in which “Costs and technology is intended to drive a “You can point to numerous
companies are facing increased timescales need revolution in the working of the supply examples where complex ERP systems
competition and, as a result, they to decline to a chain and make production, supported are being used in high volume product
have to be smarter and faster in order by a much higher level of automation assembly; from vehicle assembly and
point where mid
to manage ever more demanding and digitisation, far more efficient. petro-chemicals to food processing.”
and lower volume
customers. “In my opinion, much of what we call Specialist contract electronics
Could Industry 4.0 or the Industrial manufacturers Industry 4.0 has been embedded manufacturer AWS is a case in point.
Internet of Things provide CEMs with a will be able to within Western companies’ ERP CEO Paul Deehan says: “Our
competitive edge? justify investing in systems for decades,” suggests Adam customers are calling for more
The concept of the smart factory, Industry 4.0.” Fletcher, chairman of ECSN. “But what structured methods of measuring all
which is at the heart of Industry 4.0, Adam Fletcher we are seeing today is the unleashing aspects of our relationship, whether
aims to have everything imaginable of its true capabilities. It will not be that’s quality, cost or delivery times. It
connected to a network that is capable achieved quickly, nor at low cost; many is, and will remain, an on-going trend.”
of storing, transferring, analysing and high volume component manufacturers “In order to better meet their needs,
acting upon information gleaned from a already use sophisticated automated we needed to have a real time picture
network of connected machines, manufacturing systems to produce of all our business operations so that
control systems and sensors. semiconductors, passive components we could deliver a high standard of

SECTOR FOCUS CONTRACT MANUFACTURING
Part of AWS’ fully ‘wait and see’ approach, he believes.

automated dedicated “Most UK based CEMs have a
production line primary customer base that is looking
for lower volume, high mix, board
assembly, where the cost of an
Industry 4.0 implementation today just
couldn’t be recovered. They will only
adopt these new processes when their
customers volumes, value or needs
demand it.”
In many cases, smaller (and some
larger) organisations are adopting a
lower tech approach, looking to deploy
intelligent, lower cost human labour
and ‘knife and fork’ IT systems capable
service to customers, whether that was “While our existing ERP software of achieving lower costs, faster
enhanced traceability, reduced has been controlling and monitoring implementation and greater Cexibility.
manufacturing times, speed of our activities for many years, this “I only came across the term
response or continuous improvement.” investment represents a signiBcant Industry 4.0 six months ago,”
To that end, the company has step towards the era of the Smart concedes Maughan, “but it isn’t a new
invested more than £50,000 in a fully Factory. technology or a new business
integrated control system for use in its “We are now able to measure our discipline.”
manufacturing plants. manufacturing performance in real What it is, according to Fletcher and
The system covers all key business time, at all process stages and on all Maughan, is the ability to use
processes, from front end processing machines, which means we can make technology that wasn’t available just a
of enquiries, quotes, contract review decisions a lot faster.” few years ago to achieve improved
and orders (including document Importantly, management has results that beneBt both manufacturer
control) to the manufacturing process ‘visibility’ in real time from any and customer.
itself, with scanning route cards, work workstation and senior management “As a manufacturer, we can use
order tracking and the provision of live can see the same information across Industry 4.0 to manage much smaller
‘in process’ productivity, quality and the company’s two sites. production runs and to act on received
test reports. To prevent operators signing off jobs data immediately. It was one of the key
“That level of detail helps us to for which they are not trained or jobs reasons why we decided to invest in
differentiate ourselves from many other going through to the next station after “Our customers this new ERP system,” Maughan says.
EMS providers,” explains Jamie missing an operation, the system are calling for “As batch sizes have got
Maughan, the company’s group features built in ‘fool-prooBng’ and it more structured signiBcantly smaller, it is beneBcial if
operations director. even controls Engineering Change methods of you can monitor in real time. We can
“Our control system enables us to NotiBcations from any source. measuring all monitor production, assess it, spot any
monitor activities and provide aspects of our defects and then make the necessary
immediate feedback to customers Early adoption relationship; changes immediately. It’s ongoing.”
concerning their orders,” he explains. While larger manufacturers and their whether that’s According to Deehan, this capability
“It enables us to monitor in-process supply chains are likely to be ‘early quality, cost or will probably be adopted more widely
quality pass levels and test results; we adopters’ of Industry 4.0 , the key within the next Bve years.
delivery times.”
can track orders and, while challenge is to get a diverse supply “There are still big gaps to Bll if we
Paul Deehan
management and workers can access network fully engaged in the process, want to fully deliver on the concept of
the system, only trained operators Fletcher suggests. Industry 4.0, but the beneBts for us
(those who have been authorised) can “The challenge will be to implement and our customers are already obvious
pass product onto the next stage.” those elements that genuinely release – it means that, as a CEM, you have
According to Maughan the response new added-value opportunities. But, to the data to hand that allows you to be
from customers has been positive. achieve this, the costs and timescales much more proactive and to provide
“Our customers can now see live of implementation need to decline to a customers with a more transparent and
progress of their jobs across all stages point where mid and lower volume efBcient manufacturing process.”
from contract review, through build manufacturers will be able to justify While Industry 4.0 remains in the
phases to pack and shipped dates,” he the investment.” early stages of what market researcher
says. “That level of detail has surprised Many lower volume CEM Gartner refers to as the ‘hype’ cycle,
many customers, especially as it is manufacturers, especially those with the advantages and beneBts it brings
coming from a company of our size and operations predominantly outside to manufacturing are becoming
one that operates in the CEM space. Europe, are taking a more cautious increasingly obvious.

S
mart factories will be at the
heart of the Industry 4.0
revolution, a future vision of
manufacturing in which
factories are populated by machines
that will be self-optimised, self-
conDgured and even employ artiDcial
intelligence to complete complex
manufacturing tasks.
In the process, the approach is set
to provide cost efDciencies for
companies and improved levels of
service and quality for customers.
When combined with new additive
technologies and 3D printing the
factory of the future will be one in Smart factories are at the heart of Industry 4.0. Could they help to
which people are comfortable
operating and working alongside revitalise UK manufacturing? By Neil Tyler
machines capable of regulating and
monitoring themselves.
For industrial Drms the value from
Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet
of Things (IIoT) emerges from either So if the UK is to remain very small batches,” Pulman
cost savings, such as better competitive in the world economy, will explains.
preventative maintenance, or from it need to embrace the concept of According to Pulman, it’s an
new revenue generation, derived from ‘Smarter Factories’? approach that will be extended to
better product development or being other product lines and is an example
quicker to market. In short, it Smart factories of Industry 4.0 in practice.
promises to deliver signiDcant value Perhaps that process has already “We want to be a key supplier in
to organisations as they transform begun: there are a number of sites in this rapidly developing integrated
their business models and services the UK that could be described as industry market,” he explains.
by embracing the data that an army of leaders when it comes to the
sensors can provide. adoption of Industry 4.0. Customisation
“As to what the future of smart HARTING Integrated Solutions The evolution of the IIoT will be
factories will be and what Industry 4.0 (HIS), based in Northampton, designs supported by an increasingly complex
actually means also depends upon and manufactures backplanes and network of systems and services.
who you talk to,” suggests Dr Graeme backplane systems for customer- “What we are going to see is far
Philp, Chief Executive of Gambica and speciDc applications, including fully greater customisation driven by these
a member of the ESCO Industry 4.0 integrated systems. new technologies,” suggests Dr Philp.
work stream. “But we are seeing a “We offer solutions to enable the “Traditionally, plants have been
signiDcant move towards greater integrated industry associated with designed for mass production and, as
automation and machine intelligence, Industry 4.0,” says Rob Pulman, a result, tend to be relatively
which is driving manufacturers to look European applications manager. inflexible. Today, we are beginning to
beyond traditional centrally organised “These are primarily connectivity see manufacturers adopting
scheduling systems. products that combine power, signal technologies that are capable of
“It will be a world in which ongoing and data, but we also employ an speeding and customising production
product development will be possible. Industry 4.0 modular manufacturing – a key differentiator in a crowded
Devices will be capable of feeding approach that uses RFID readers and market.”
back data via the cloud, even when tags to manage and monitor Future factories will see a
they have left the factory, enabling production.” proliferation in the deployment of
continuous innovation to take place in Customers can place orders online sensors throughout the manufacturing
the Deld.” using the company’s eShop and process, with the data generated
Manufacturing is being factory cells, via its SAP system, can “What we are going managed and controlled via the cloud.
transformed by the information combine to provide different frames, to see is far greater “The IIoT will make factories flexible
technology revolution and factories modular assembly and labelling. customisation and, ultimately, they will be able to
will be more automated and IT-driven “We offer a genuinely customised driven by these new manufacture batch sizes of one –
– they will be smarter, safer and more product that can be produced quickly technologies.” manufacturing to order. In effect, the
sustainable. and efDciently and which can handle Dr Graeme Philp smart factory of tomorrow could turn

SECTOR FOCUS SMART FACTORIES
currently work,” he says. “In many

respects, the UK is a blank canvas,
so the concept of the Smart Factory
may gain traction here more quickly
than many expect.”
On that last point, Dr Philp may be
overly optimistic, but his argument
that the key challenge for the UK is to
make industry more aware of the
concept holds true.
“That is always the challenge;
especially in reaching smaller to
medium sized businesses. It will
require a big change in the way they
have traditionally operated, so the
primary challenge is to get them to
engage. How do we reach them?”
Digital demonstrator
Last year saw the opening of the UK’s
Drst Industry 4.0 incubator – a digital
factory demonstrator – comprising a
virtual 3D factory alongside a physical
production line designed to
demonstrate the mass customisation
of consumer goods.
Based in the Manufacturing
out to be a very sophisticated 3D chain, that is where the people and The digital factory Technology Centre in Coventry, it allows
printer,” suggests Dr Philp. He also jobs will be in the future. That will demonstrator in the users to interact with a virtual 3D
believes the factory model will itself determine a factory’s ability to deliver MTC’s immersive 3D factory. Described as a ‘living lab’, the
change completely. and manage customised production.” Computer Aided factory allows the latest technologies
“Imagine that design and Virtual Environment to be ‘dropped’ in to illustrate how the
development is centralised, while ‘If it’s not broke’ (CAVE). Inset: what output from sensors can be used to
production is dispersed to regional A recent research report looking at the user actually sees manage and alter the functions of
factories so as to be nearer to end manufacturing in the UK found that, robotic elements in the production
markets. For example, could we see while the German manufacturing process. Network machinery, control
small ‘pop up’ factories in the centre sector was 2.7 times larger than the systems and sensors operate
of London or Manchester?” UK’s, German companies were alongside one another so that data can
Small automated factories will only spending upwards of 6.6 times as be drawn together, combined and
need one of two people to manage much on automation than UK decisions made.
them and, being located near to their companies, with no negative impact “The demonstrator is a great
end markets, will avoid the need for on employment levels. educational tool,” says Dr Philp. “It’s
product to be shipped vast distances. When UK companies were asked a practical demonstration of Industry
“Not only would that impact on about their experience of automation, 4.0.”
carbon emissions, it could also result their response was almost universally Some features and technologies
in manufacturing being reshored. The positive; more than 90% said associated with Industry 4.0 are
competitive environment is set to automation projects had met their becoming more commonplace in
change,” Dr Philp believes. objectives, while protecting and manufacturing. What will change
“Manufacturing will be located creating new jobs. manufacturing going forward will be
where there is a market and you won’t Dr Philp suggests that, while the richness of the data available and
have to be good at manufacturing in Germany has a good record when it the ability to customise products
the traditional sense. We will be able comes to investing in new technology: more proDtably.
to eliminate low-cost labour as a key “Manufacturers may want to protect “We want to be a A big question must hang over the
pre-requisite for a successful the status quo – the ‘if it’s not broke, key supplier in this human element in this but, perhaps,
manufacturing economy. why Dx it?’ syndrome. rapidly developing the nature of the jobs available will
“What will be key to future “Compare their situation to the integrated industry change from manufacturing itself to
success will be the availability of a UK’s, where no one is seriously market.” the programming and servicing of
sophisticated and successful supply looking to protect the way we Rob Pulman machines.

Don’t go over the waterfall
An Agile approach to design might just help to get FPGA based products to market
more quickly. By Graham Pitcher.
H
ardware design has, But as systems become more said. “We not only span technologies,
traditionally, been complex and time to market but also different parts of a design. A
accomplished in a linear pressures increase, there are signs customer might have a GUI team, an
fashion – the so called that another approach might be a FPGA team and so on. Some of these
waterfall approach. This starts with more appropriate way to develop customers have commented that
requirements capture, followed by the devices such as FPGAs. because we don’t have barriers
production of a detailed specification That approach is Agile between teams, we can often
and then an architecture. development – a concept that is more implement things more efficiently.”
Andy Culmer, engineering director common amongst software One of the problems with the
with design consultancy ITDev, said: developers. Culmer said one of the waterfall approach which Culmer
“Everything is fixed up front and you advantages of Agile development is flagged up is to do with time to
tend to work through the architecture the use of cross functional teams. “If “Design doesn’t market. “You save all of the
block by block, with a lot of you have hardware and software proceed on a block uncertainty for the end of the
integration towards the end of the people working side by side towards a by block basis; project,” he said. “While you can
project. That means system common goal, it tends to break down rather, Agile is all predict how long it takes to design a
verification doesn’t happen until the the barriers and you don’t end up with about features.” block, you can’t forecast accurately
latter stages because you can’t fully problems specific to either ‘camp’.” Andy Culmer how long it will take to integrate that
verify your design until it’s integrated. He noted that ITDev brings a block, fix bugs and verify the
It’s a somewhat inflexible approach in number of different disciplines to its integrated system.” The result, he
which it is hard to judge progress.” teams. “It’s not just FPGA design,” he contended, is greater risk. “You might
A potential approach for the Agile development of complex FPGA based hardware
This potential approach acknowledges that it’s not always possible to go from nothing to a basic integrated system in one iteration, even
if you leave out all of the features. The emphasis should be to work, as far as possible, at a system level and to prioritise integration over
feature implementation. You’ll still need to give due consideration to features when architecting the design, but only to the level of detail
required for that purpose.
1 Start with software models of the complete system. This will test
the concept and inform the architecture design. Only add features
to the model that are needed to inform these decisions. Other
6 Test your design in the system as soon as possible. Use the
target hardware, when available, or development boards to
keep improving higher level test coverage and highlight integration
features can be modelled on a ‘just in time’ basis. issues.
2 Move to model-based system level simulations. Set up

continuous integration (CI) testing and get your simulations 7 Add hardware based testing to your CI. Automate your tests and
run them regularly to detect issues as soon as they appear.
automated as soon as possible.
3 Replace models with basic implementations. Leave the features 8 Add features incrementally. Ensure verification/test coverage is
maintained with every iteration.
4
for later, but keep your CI verification coverage high.
Build as much as possible as you go along. Add automated
builds to your CI. If there are unforeseen problems, you’ll want to
9 Release product to market. As soon as the minimum required
features are available you can go to market, or at least start
customer trials. Gather feedback and use this to set development
know about them as soon as possible. priorities.
5 Prioritise development of a synthesisable design. Because you are

simulating your whole design as you go along, as soon as you
have a fully buildable design you can start testing in the wider system.
10 Continue incremental development. Add new features and
release them to market as upgrades or new product
generations.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DIGITAL DESIGN
efficient. Finally, there are the

processes and the ways in which
Requirements teams are organised.”
There are a number of meeting
types, ranging from ‘show and tells’ –
updates on what’s been done – to
Design longer ones with a forward looking
agenda. “There’s a focus on the
‘stories’ you’ll deliver in the next
increment, or ‘sprint’. It’s an ideal
Implementation
opportunity for engineers to discuss
aspects such as hardware/software
partitioning and design for test. This
results in a detailed plan for each
Verification
story, greater accuracy and buy-in.”
Spreading the risk

Maintenance Culmer noted that Agile allows risk to
be spread more evenly. “The project
becomes more predictable because
you are tracking progress on the
basis of how long it takes to
implement features, rather than how
Function n
long it takes to integrate blocks.”
Integrate and test Integrate and test He also believes Agile provides
more opportunity to do something
Function 2 about risk. “If things aren’t going to
Design plan, you have the opportunity to deal
review with the problem because each sprint
Project start Integrate and test
• Capture
might only be two or three weeks’
requirements Yes work. Each new sprint has a new plan
Function 1 Sign off Deliver to and the stories you include are
• Produce customer
specification always those of greatest value, based
• Define No on the latest information. By planning
architecture and estimating regularly and as a
team, the current plan doesn’t suffer
from becoming unrealistic.”
Continuous integration is one way
of monitoring the use of resources on
Update requirements an FPGA. Culmer said: “If something
and specification
didn’t synthesise as expected –
maybe you ran out of block RAM, for
example – you can tie that back to
think you’re halfway through the Fig 1 (top): The but also the motivation and use the commit and you can usually find
design, but you don’t really know.” traditional waterfall cases behind it. The scope is out quickly where the problem was.
Agile changes that, he believes. approach is inherently everything needed for that feature, And continuous integration forces you
“Agile is much more about constant linear. not just design implementation.” to keep your testbenches up to date.”
integration of incremental changes. There are three main features of Agile may not always be the clear
Fig 2 (bottom): Agile
The design doesn’t proceed on a an Agile project, Culmer said. “One is choice, however. “If you’re designing,
design focuses on the
block by block basis; rather, Agile is incremental development and the fact say, for aerospace, where
constant integration
all about features.” that you work feature by feature. requirements are inflexible,” Culmer
The focus on features inherent in of incremental Another is continuous integration; concluded, “you may not see all of
the Agile approach fosters a shared changes every time a change is made, the benefits that Agile brings and a
understanding and a focus on automated checking is performed. It’s waterfall approach may be
delivering value. “In Agile, features not just simulation, but also builds, reasonable. There’s also nothing
are usually described in the form of static code analysis and all sorts of wrong with borrowing from multiple
‘user stories’. These not only tools. Without this, incremental methodologies to maximise the
encapsulate a feature’s requirements, development would be a lot less benefit for any given application.”

Concerns
about code
There’s a lot more to embedded software security
than simply writing ‘bomb proof’ code.
By Graham Pitcher.
S
ecurity was the buzzword of But Walls counselled: “Safety and management has been one of the
2015, particularly when it security are not the same thing; biggest exploits, but noted there are
came to the Internet of Things safety is protecting the world, while other issues. “You can attack
(IoT). The industry came to security is vice versa.” software by forcing overflows, for
realise that billions of devices with Niall Cooling, CEO of Feabhas example. But one of the questions
communications capability presented Software, added: “Security isn’t just that needs to be asked is whether
something of a threat and that about software; it’s the system. There we’re using the right language. While
‘something needed to be done’. are a lot of parallels with safety and the use of C won’t change, it’s not
If you are in any doubt, consider you can’t isolate one element. secure.”
the recent Blackhat conference in Las Security needs to be end to end.” Continuing, Cooling contended the
Vegas. The global IT security event Both agree the embedded systems software security discussion has
had sessions speciFcally addressing world has overlooked the need for started from the wrong point. “We’re
how to hack IoT applications and how software security for some time. trying to secure systems using a
to hack ARM based systems. Both “How many systems would have been “I’m shocked by language that isn’t inherently secure.”
sessions were sold out, with connected only a few years ago?” how many One of the reasons why C and C++
attendees eager to learn the latest Walls asked. “Probably only about companies don’t continue to prevail is cost. Walls said:
defence techniques. 10%. Today, it’s more like 95%.” The use static analysis.” “The drivers for embedded systems
problem, he pointed out, is often that Niall Cooling development have been cost, design
Call for education connectivity is added to a system that cycle time and power consumption.
An accusing Fnger has pointed hasn’t been designed with We look to make the code as small
towards embedded software as a connectivity in mind. “As soon as you as possible so it can run on the
potential weak point. But, according introduce connectivity, all aspects cheapest device. Making devices
to a couple of industry specialists, it’s become a concern because people secure has thrown this process a
not the software that’s the problem; connect things without thinking about ‘curve ball’ because cryptography is
rather, it’s the people who write it. It’s security.” expensive and power hungry.”
time, they agreed, for a bit of Cooling pointed out that a lot of Languages are also an issue,
education. embedded systems don’t have user Cooling suggested. “C and C++ are
Colin Walls, an embedded software names or passwords. “They tend to efficient, but it’s all down to how
technologist with Mentor Graphics, be closed and aren’t conFgurable,” he much flash?, which processor? The
said: “I’m worried about use of the said. “If you want to conFgure bill of materials plays a big part.”
term ‘security’, because it can mean something, you have to interact with it It’s here the experts agree on the
one of several things; all of which are and that information is often sent need for education. Walls pointed out
important. For example, it can mean over a network as ASCII characters. that, in his experience, embedded
protecting data you’re transmitting It’s one way people can get into a “Security can mean engineers are conservative. “They
that you don’t want people to see. It system and we, as an industry, will one of many things; tend not to do things differently;
can also mean preventing people have to do more string management all of which are usually for a good reason.”
getting into systems. Then there’s in the future.” important.” Cooling agreed: “Software is not
making systems safe.” He believes the lack of string Colin Walls the main background for embedded

EMBEDDED DESIGN EMBEDDED SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT
Keeping on top of integer types made ‘a huge amount of sense’.

system developers. They may be “ARM’s TrustZone technology on
domain specialists, but software is Cortex-M based processors will be
only part of their job and they do what Integer types in C can be confusing, but the core types are: massive for the IoT. It will be central
they’re comfortable with.” •char for the future and will eliminate a raft
So what advice can the two •short of potential problems – it’ll be a game
experts offer? “Everything is •int changer.”
important at the moment,” Walls Beyond that, Walls pointed to
•long
observed. “Everyone is worried about mechanisms that might protect
•long long
IoT security – and that comes down to against a software overGow.
people making decisions they “Someone trying to take advantage of
Each type can be unsigned or signed.
shouldn’t have. But, in the big an overGow would hit a buffer,” he
scheme of things, there’s nothing Problems with integers occur in a number of ways, pointed out. “And you can always
more important than data security – including: build in a self test routine that can
connectivity has crept up on people •overflow recognise if you have an overGow
and they connect things without •underflow before you Fnd out about it. Self
thinking about security.” •promotion/extension testing code is something that not
•demotion/narrowing everyone has thought about and
Building a system •sign conversion might only require a couple of hours’
Cooling expanded. “You can ride off work.”
the back of traditional
The most common root problem using integer based
communications approaches, such as More rigour needed
attacks is where the implementation of an algorithm has
TCP/IP, but there are things like IPv6 In Cooling’s opinion, there is a need
mixed signed and unsigned values. Targets include
and 6LoWPAN coming through; people for more rigour, or what he called
need to address these. Beyond that, standard library functions, such as malloc or memcpy, ‘enforced automation’. “There are
there’s the platform. What are you which both take parameters of type size_t. basic things like static analysis tools
programming? Then there’s hardware and I’m shocked by how many
security, the operating system and In this code example, if the attacker can craft copySize companies don’t use this approach. It
the apps using that OS. Systems will so that it is a negative number, then the test is true will solve many issues and help to Fx
need to support randomisation and, int copySize; silly mistakes. People also need to
even though you can have well written // do work, copySize calculated… understand how to test for
apps, if someone can see the if (copySize > MAX_BUF_SZ) { construction and for coverage.”
memory through a JTAG port, “There are a lot of parallels with
return -1;
everything crumbles.” the safety world, but safety has a lot
}
Walls agreed. “You can’t look at of compliance requirements and
memcpy(&d, &s, copySize*sizeof(type));
security in isolation; you’re building a standards like IEC26262. There’s
system. But if you do want a nothing like that in the commercial
particular level of security, you might The output shows that, by crafting the value of copySize, world. Standards make you write code
want to use multiple cores, which memcpy overflows the destination buffer (d) into the properly and test it properly. It stops
gives the opportunity to segment the following memory (buffer c). unwarranted behaviour and
applications and to put a different OS developers must learn best practice
on each core. Also think about using $ ./a.out -2147482047< quickly.”
a hypervisor as the overarching s[1024] 1712400 c[0] 0 There is also the need to design
control software for multiple cores. About to copy 6404 bytes for the future. Walls said: “Make the
You can also accommodate legacy assumption that there are faults in
s[1024] 1712400 c[0] 1712400
systems and control the ways in the software you’ve written.” Cooling
which they communicate.” agreed: “It’s not just about security
You can improve the quality of your software by:
“Encryption is an obvious today; it’s about how you maintain
approach,” he continued, “and if you reading more on the subject security going forward. We have to
use the latest secure versions of •using compiler flags build systems on the basis that they
protocols, you should be in good •following a security based standard will become insecure in the future
shape.” •enforcing the standard using static analysis tools and need software upgrades,” he
Cooling agreed that hypervisors concluded.

SYSTEM DESIGN FREQUENCY CONTROL
A Taking
fan-out buffer is used in
timing applications that
require multiple copies of a
clock signal to be distributed.
precautions
When choosing the right fan-out
buffer for a timing application, it’s
usually helpful to understand additive
phase jitter specifications when
comparing product data sheet
specifications.
A clock distribution IC does not
generate a clock signal
Engineers should take certain precautions when they are looking to
independently; as such, phase noise compare additive jitter performance, based on clock buffer data
cannot be measured unless an input
is applied. The term most commonly sheets. By Fran Boudreau.
used to quantify the quality of a clock
distribution IC is additive phase jitter,
or additive phase noise over a
specified band. additional measurement – and can Equation 1: Jtotal2 = Jsource2 + Jbuffer2
Less common is a standard inherently provide limiting results. Equation 2: Jbuffer2 = Jtotal2 – Jsource2
methodology to measure additive Longer test time is required to Equation 3: Jbuffer = √(Jtotal2 – Jsource2)
phase jitter. This methodology capture lower frequency performance;
requires the design engineer to dig a lower bandwidth scope acts as a Input slew rate
into clock buffer data sheet details. low pass filter, which means a high Additive jitter performance depends
For example, differences in input slew bandwidth scope with high sensitivity on the input slew rate. Lower input
rate, input frequency and input source is required. In other words, slew rates often will result in higher
phase noise can produce a wide oscilloscope jitter provides a total additive jitter. A designer must ensure
variation in stated clock buffer figure, while phase noise paints a similar slew rates, as stated in the
performance. better picture of contributing factors. data sheet, will be used to get the
Phase noise is a frequency domain To characterise the clock buffer’s expected results in the application.
measurement in which phase jitter contribution to phase jitter, the For example, the actual additive
over a defined offset bandwidth can designer must first measure the phase jitter will fall short of the
be calculated. There are many source and then the source plus stated data sheet performance if the
reasons for using this method – it’s buffer. Phase jitter is then calculated input is a clipped sine wave or a sine
repeatable and easy to measure and by using equation 1. An assumption wave for some temperature-controlled
allows an engineer to analyse specific often made when calculating phase crystal oscillators (TCXOs) or oven-
offset frequency bands of interest. jitter is that the source and buffer controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs).
Time domain measurements noise are not correlated, but rather In this case, the only option is to
eliminate the possibility of analysing composed of purely random jitter. measure the clock buffer
over a specific band afterwards – Total jitter can be measured using performance, as the data sheet value
each band of interest requires an equations 2 and 3. will be irrelevant.

SYSTEM DESIGN FREQUENCY CONTROL
Tj = rms jitter
500
L(f) = noise power
450 fo = frequency
12kHz – 20MHz phase jitter (fs)
400
350 As the frequency, fo, is reduced, the
phase jitter is increased (providing a
300 constant noise power). Phase jitter is
250 improved by a factor of two for every
200 twofold increase in frequency, if phase
noise performance remains constant,
150
which is why most data sheets quote
100 performance at high frequencies.
Fig 1: A plot of
50 Designers must exercise care to
additive phase jitter
determine the additive jitter
0 against input slew
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 performance at the frequency of
rate for two clock operation. Additionally, the phase
Input frequency (MHz)
buffers noise performance, L(f), of a buffer can
It will also be helpful to compare a similar or slightly lower phase noise change slightly versus operating
slew rates in the additive jitter =oor as the buffer, then an overly frequency. Figure 2 shows the additive
measurement used when comparing optimistic additive phase jitter number jitter performance for a clock buffer
jitter between various clock buffer will be reported. versus input frequency, using an
manufactures’ data sheets. Figure 1 Therefore, a designer must use adequate low noise source.
shows how additive jitter changes over caution when comparing additive jitter
various slew rates. More importantly, it based on data sheet values. However, Conclusion
also shows that a buffer may not be it’s best to avoid relying on the additive Designers must take care when
superior over all slew rates. phase jitter figures. The phase noise evaluating clock distribution IC
plots can be compared, for example, if performance using data sheet
Input phase noise two buffers under consideration have a specifications and when designing a
To ensure accurate measurement similar phase noise =oor; in this case, buffer in a circuit; differences between
results, the source phase noise must the additive jitter performance should input slew rate, input frequency and
be significantly lower than the device be similar. If one buffer has a better input source phase noise can produce
under test. Often an OCXO is used as quoted additive phase jitter, then the wide variations in performance.
a source, but this becomes more advantage may result from how the • Higher slew rates result in lower
difficult or at least costly at higher jitter was measured. additive phase jitter.
frequencies and can still have • Higher frequencies result in lower
limitations at close-in offsets. Using Input frequency additive phase jitter.
Equation 3 results in 112fs of additive Equation 4 shows the relationship • Higher input phase noise can result
jitter for the Si53302 clock at between jitter, noise L(f) and frequency. in lower additive phase jitter.
156.250MHz input over frequencies It may insightful to compare the
ranging from 12kHz to 20MHz. Equation 4: Tj rms = 10L(f)/20/√2πfo stated phase noise performance in
However, when using a source with where: addition to the additive phase jitter
Fig 2: A plot of between various buffers under
350 consideration. For example, does the
additive jitter versus
device with better additive phase jitter
300 frequency for the
also have better phase noise
Si53302 clock buffer
performance? If not, then the
250
measurement technique may be sub-
Additive jitter (fs)
optimal. Theoretical calculations may

200
not apply in all cases. Device
150 evaluation using the intended source
Vendor A may be required to determine the real-
100 world performance and optimal
solution.
Vendor B
50
Author profile:
0 Fran Boudreau is senior applications
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50
engineer, timing products, with Silicon
Differential input slew rate (V/ns)
Laboratories.

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www.newelectronics.co.

SMART FACTORIES • INDUSTRY 4.O • AGILE DESIGN • SECURE SOFTWARE

Access all areas

COMMENT 5 INTERVIEW 12 DIGITAL DESIGN 24

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MEDICAL AVIATION CONSUMER

medical applications, ask about our new CertificatioQPack™ for ThreadX.

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CPI to commercialise ALD

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£23m for IoT research

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LPWAN standard a ‘turning point’ Smallest temperature

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14 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

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Teledesic in Ka-band and SkyBridge in the Ku-band –

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C Pointing the way

www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016 19

Part of AWS’ fully ‘wait and see’ approach, he believes.

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22 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

currently work,” he says. “In many

www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016 23

2 Move to model-based system level simulations. Set up

5 Prioritise development of a synthesisable design. Because you are

24 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

efﬁcient. Finally, there are the

Spreading the risk

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26 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

Keeping on top of integer types made ‘a huge amount of sense’.

www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016 27

www.newelectronics.co.uk 12 January 2016 29

optimal. Theoretical calculations may

30 12 January 2016 www.newelectronics.co.uk

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