Electronics Weekly: LEDs, Chipsets, Action!

New Cypress Automotive LED Driver for Headlight Systems

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. recently introduced an automotive LED driver that enables smaller headlight systems. The S6BL112A automotive-grade LED driver features synchronous control, enabling stable performance in a lighting system. The device is able to drive LEDs at a 2.1-MHz switching frequency, reducing physical size and costs. The LED drivers combine with Cypress's Traveo microcontrollers (MCUs) and power management ICs (PMICs) to provide an automotive front-lighting solution.

(Image courtesy of Cypress Semiconductor Corp.)
Cypress's S6BL112A Automotive LED driver features an input voltage range of 4.5-42 V that encompasses operating conditions such as cold-cranking or load dump. The LED driver also facilitates the design of electrical system safeguards by including System Safety Functions such as under current detection, over current and voltage protection, as well as the ability to mask LED OPEN diagnosis during cold cranking. Its synchronous operation eliminates unstable dimming that can occur when the input voltage is low.

The new S6BL112A LED driver is currently sampling, with production expected in the fourth quarter of 2016. It is available in a 16-pin, thermally-enhanced TSSOP package.

More information on Cypress's automotive LED drivers is available on the company's website.


HexaTech Demonstrates UVSure UV-C LED

HexaTech Inc. announced the demonstration of its UVSure UV-C LED, based on HexaTech's proprietary aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate material. The 263 nm wavelength device achieves 6 mW in a 0.15 mm2 active area die. When scaled to their second generation footprint, the die is expected to produce approximately 24 mW.

When driven in pulse mode to 300 mA, the same 0.15 mm2 active area die is able to reach 19 mW, or approximately 76 mW in the large die format.

(Image courtesy of Hexatech Inc.)

For more information on HexaTech's UVSure UV-C LED technology, please visit the product website.


Actions Semiconductor Launches the S900VR and the V700 28-nm Chipsets for Virtual Reality Devices

Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. announced recently that its subsidiary, Actions Technology (Zhuhai), has released two chipsets based on 28nm process technology, the S900VR and the V700, targeting the virtual reality market. 

(Image courtesy of Actions Semiconductor.)
The S900VR is designed for 360 degree panoramic virtual reality devices. Rooted in Actions' S900 28-nm chipset, the S900VR features 64-bit architecture and a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, as well as an Imagination PowerVR G6230 GPU. The S900VR provides up to 4K video and image effects with high refresh rates, as well as latencies below 20ms. It supports up to 2560x1600@60fps LCD display and all standard video decoding playback capabilities which includes FHD 1080P@60fps / H.265 HEVC 4K x 2K@30fps video decoder. The S900VR supports 4K UHD, 360 degree panoramic video playback, distortion and dispersion adjustment technology, pupillary distance adjustment and left and right split-screen technology. 

The V700 offers a virtual reality solution for mid-end, 360 degree panoramic virtual reality devices.  The V700 features 64-bit architecture, a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and a high performance ARM Mali-450 GPU. Its integrated VPU is qualified for almost full format video decoding/encoding capabilities and the V700's Display Engine is designed for displaying 4K video and image effects with high refresh rates. It supports up to 1920x1080@60fps LCD display and all standard video decoding playback capabilities which includes FHD 1080P@60fps / H.265 HEVC 4K x 2K@30fps video decoder.

Both the S900VR and the V700 have peripheral interfaces, providing customers with expansion options, and the ability to integrate with a variety of ports.

Find out more on Actions Semiconductor’s product website.


Spreadtrum LTE Chipset is Adopted for Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016) SM-J210F/DS Smart Phones

Spreadtrum Communications, announced that its 4G chipset SC9830i has been adopted for Samsung’s newly released Galaxy J2 (2016) SM-J210F/DS smartphones, which will soon be launched into the market. 

(Image courtesy of Samsung.)
The Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016)/ SM-J210F/DS Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow based super AMOLED models supported a VoLTE solution by Spreadtrum's LTE 28nm quad-core SoC platform SC9830i, features a 2GB RAM/16GB storage, a micro SD slot up to 128GB, supporting 1080p HD video and an 8 megapixel primary camera, a 5 megapixel front camera.

This integrated SoC platform consists of 28nm quad-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A7 5-mode (TDD-LTE/FDD-LTE/TDSCDMA/WCDMA/HSPA(+)/GSM/GPRS/EDGE) baseband chip SC9830i, power management chip SC2723M, RF chip SR3593S, and Spreadtrum's 3in1 connectivity chip SC2331S.

More information can be found at Spreadtrum’s website.


4Gbit DDR4 DRAM

(Image courtesy of ISSI.)
Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (ISSI), has announced it has begun sampling production units of its new 4-gigabit (4Gbit) DDR4 DRAM.

The 4Gbit DDR4 device is IS43QR16256A (IS46QR16256A for automotive grade), and it is organized as 256Mbx16, packaged in a 96-ball BGA, and operates at 1.2V. ISSI's DDR4 provides performance and reliability needed for networking, automotive, and industrial systems. This is the first DDR4 DRAM from ISSI, and adds to ISSI's existing selection of DRAMs.

In addition to the new DDR4, ISSI offers a line of SDR, mobile SDR/DDR, DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 products, 256Kb-4Gb automotive grade flash memory products as well as a line of asynchronous and synchronous SRAMs with densities from 64Kb to 72Mb, and analog & mixed signal products.

Learn more from the ISSI website.


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