The New world of Plasma Antennas

The New world of Plasma Antennas..

 The future of high-frequency, high-speed wireless communications could very well be plasma antennas capable of transmitting focused radio waves that would quickly dissipate using conventional antennas..

 

Transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves have become an integral part of the present day civilisation. Antenna is an essential device for this process. It is a transducer that transmits or receives electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic radiation into electric current, or vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless LAN, cellphones, radar, and spacecraft communication. Antennas are most commonly employed in air or outer space, but can also be operated underwater or even through soil and  rock at certain frequencies for short distances.

 


Growing need for speed of communication network along with data handling capacity are the major forces helping to explore new vistas of transmission and reception. With the wireless generations moving from 2G to 3G, 4G, 5G and so on, the real benefit of upgrading the Wi-Fi networks is to get them to run faster. Wi-Fi usually can manage 54 megabits of data per second. The fancied Wi-Fig (a graphical user interface for configuring wirless connection) would handle up to 7 gigabits per second. This would mean downloading a TV show in a matter of seconds. Advances in antenna technology are expected to play a great role in the desired speed and capacity-handling capabilities of communication networks.

Antenna technology
Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of one or more conductors, usually called elements. In transmission, an alternating current is created in the elements by applying a voltage at the antenna terminals, causing the elements to radiate an electromagnetic field. In reception, the inverse occurs. An electromagnetic field from another source induces an alternating current in the elements and a corresponding voltage at the antenna’s terminals. Some receiving antennas (such as parabolic and horn types) incorporate shaped reflective sufaces to collect the radio waves striking them, and direct these waves onto the actual conductive elements.

 

Some of the firstrudimentary antennas were built in 1888 by Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) in his pioneering experiments to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz placed the emitter dipole at the focal point of a parabolic reflector.

The words antenna (plural: antennas) and aerial are used interchangeably, but usually a rigid metallic structure is termed an antenna and a wire format is called an aerial. The origin of the word antenna relative to wireless apparatus is attributed to Guglielmo Marconi. In 1895, while testing early radio apparatuses Marconi experimented with early wireless equipment. A 2.5-metre long pole along which a wire was carried, was used as a radiating and receiving aerial element. In Italian a tent pole is known as l’antenna centrale, and the pole with a wire along side it used as an aerial was simply called l’antenna. Until then wireless radiating, transmitting and receiving elements were known simply as aerials or terminals. Marconi’s use of the word antenna (Italian for pole) became a popular term for what today is uniformly known as the antenna.

Since the discovery of radio frequency (RF) transmission, antenna design has been an integral part of virtually every communication and radar application. Technology has advanced to provide unique antenna designs for applications ranging from general broadcast of radio frequency signals for public use to complex weapon systems. In its most common form, an antenna represents a conducting metal surface that is sized to emit radiations at one or more selected frequencies. Antennas must be efficient so the maximum amount of signal strength is expended in the propagated wave and not wasted in antenna reflection.
 


There is a long list of antenna designs with their suitability, advantages and limitations.  There are many antenna types and many ways of categorising them. Antenna types can be used to differentiate antennas for radios, televisions and radar systems. Because antennas can be built for transmission of different frequencies, another way to categorise antenna types is by their frequency. For radio antennas, it’s important to know whether these are built for, say, frequency modulation (FM) broad-casting at 88-108 MHz or amplitude modulation (AM) broadcasting at 535-1605 kHz . For television antennas, one distinguishes between ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennas and very-high frequency (VHF) antennas, or antennas that pick up both. 

Traditional telecom antenna

Stores that sell antennas categorise various types on terms of customers’ needs. The range of antennas can be categorised as short, medium or long. For customers buying a television antenna, the decision is dependent on how close they are to the transmitting towers that they wish to pick up a signal from. If the range is well-matched to the distance, it will help avoid the antenna picking up unwanted signals.

Location is another way of looking at antenna type. Antennas can be made for indoor, outdoor or attic installation. Indoor antennas are easy to install but usually do not have the elevation to provide the best signal, particularly for customers who are far from the transmission. Outdoor antennas were primarily made for rooftops, but now more are being designed to mount on the side of a house, on a pole or deck. The attic can be a useful installation point for those who do not want their antenna inside or outside for aesthetic or other reasons.

Another set of antenna types is differentiated by style. Style can mean the antenna’s appearance in terms of design. It can also address whether the antenna is directional and gathers signals from a central location or whether it is multi-directional—seeking signals from towers transmitting from different locations. The latest version of antenna, i.e., plasma antenna employs ionised gas enclosed in a tube (or other enclosure) as the conducting element of the antenna. 

Plasma antennas
The different states of matter generally found on earth are solid, liquid and gas. Sir William Crookes, an English physicist, identified a fourth state of matter, now called plasma, in 1879. Plasma is by far the most common form of matter. Plasma in the stars and in the tenuous space between them makes up over 99 per cent of the visible universe and perhaps most of what is not visible. 

Important to antenna technology, plasmas are conductive assemblies of charged and neutral particles and fields that exhibit collective effects. Plasmas carry electrical currents and generate magnetic fields.

A plasma antenna is a type of antenna in which the metal-conducting elements of a conventional antenna are replaced by plasma. These are radio frequency antennas that employ plasma as the guiding medium for electromagnetic radiation. The plasma antennas are essentially a cluster of thousands of diodes on a silicon chip that produces a tiny cloud of electrons when charged. These tiny, dense clouds can reflect high-frequency waves like mirrors, focusing the beams by selectively activating particular diodes. The ‘beam-forming’ capability could allow ultra-fast transmission of high data loads—like those needed to seamlessly stream a TV show to an untethered tablet—creating an attractive option for the next generation of supercharged wireless transmitters. 

Many types of plasma antennas can be constructed, including dipole, loop and reflector antennas. Plasma antennas are interpreted as various devices in which plasma with electric conductivity serves as an emitting element. In gas plasma antenna the concept is to use plasma discharge tubes as the antenna elements. When the tubes are energised, these turn into conductors, and can transmit and receive radio signals. When de-energised, these revert to non-conducting elements and do not reflect probing radio signals.

The fact that the emitting element is formed over the interval needed for the emission of an electromagnetic pulse is an important advantage of plasma antennas. In the passive state (in the absence of plasma in the discharge tube), such a device does not exhibit electric conductivity.

A plasma stream flowing from a jet into the ambient space, the plasma trace of a body moving at an ultrasonic velocity in the atmosphere, and alternative plasma objects have been studied as possible antenna elements. Solid-state plasma antenna uses beam-forming technology and the same manufacturing process that is currently used for silicon chips. That makes it small enough to fit into smartphones.

Higher frequencies mean shorter wavelengths and hence smaller antennas. The antenna actually becomes cheaper with the smaller size because it needs less silicon. There is a gas plasma alternative but it’s not solid-state, so it is bigger and contains moving parts—making it more of a pain to manufacture. That leaves the door open for solid-state plasma antenna to be used for next generation Wi-Gig (its version 1.0 was announced in December 2009) that can reach up to 7Gbps bandwidth over frequencies up to 60 GHz. 

Development progress
Initial investigations were related to the feasibility of plasma antennas as low-radar cross-section radiating elements with further development and future commercialisation of this technology. The plasma antenna R&D project has proceeded to develop a new antenna solution that minimises antenna-detectability by radar at the first instance. But since then an investigation of the wider technical issues of existing antenna systems has revealed areas where plasma antennas might be useful.

A significant progress has been made in developing plasma antennas. Present plasma antennas have been operating in the region of 1 to 10 GHz.  Field trials have shown that an energised plasma refector is essentially as effective as a metal reflector. However, when de-energised, the reflecte signal drops by over 20 dB. Still some technicalities related to plasma antennas like increasing the operating plasma density without overloading the plasma discharge tubes, reducing the power required and the plasma noise caused by the ionising power supply, etc, have to be looked into in order to make them the useful technologies for wireless communication in near future. 

The future of high-frequency, high-speed wireless communications could very well be plasma antennas capable of transmitting focused radio waves that would quickly dissipate using conventional antennas. Thus, plasma antennas might be able to revolutionise not just high-speed wireless communications but also radar arrays and directed energy weapons. The good news is that plasma antennas will be on-the-shelf in the next couple of years. The bad news is that some military powers can use it to create a more advanced version of its existing pain beam. 

Advantages of  plasma antennas
1. An important advantage of plasma antenna over a conventional antenna is that the former is much lighter. Based on a set of patented beam-forming technologies, these high-performance electronically-steerable antennas are extremely lightweight and compact.

2. Free from mechanical parts, these maintenance-free plasma antennas are ideally suited for a wide range of wireless communications and sensing applications.

3. Plasma antennas have a number of potential advantages for antenna design. These are reconfigurable. Whe one plasma antenna is de-energised, the antenna reverts to a dielectric tube, and a second antenna can transmit through it. This allows using several large antennas stacked over each other instead of several small antennas placed next to each other. This results in better sensitivity and directivity.

4. When a plasma element is not energised it is difficult to detect it by radar. Even when it is energised, it is transparent to the transmissions above the plasma frequency, which falls in the microwave region. 

5. Plasma elements can be energised and de-energised in seconds, which prevents signal degradation.

6. When a particular plasma element is not energised, its radiation does not affect nearby elements.

7. Plasma antenna can focus high-frequency radio waves that would dissipate quickly if beamed by conventional arrays. 

8. Plasma antennas boost wireless speeds. Such antennas could enable next-generation Wi-Fi that allows for super-fast wireless data transfers. 

9. Solid-state plasma antennas deliver gigabit-bandwidth, and high-frequency plasma antenna could hold the key for economically viable super-fast wireless networking. 

10. Plasma antennas might also be used to create low-cost radar arrays that could be mounted on cars to help them navigate in low-visibility conditions, or used to make directed, more focused and less bulky energy weapons. 

11. Plasma antennas have developed an innovative range of selectable multi-beam antennas that meet the demands in today’s wireless communication, defense and homeland security markets.

Limitations
1. The current hardware uses a wider range of frequencies so it’s impractically massive to be used for mobile environments.

2. Plasma antennas are expensive and hard to manufacture.

3. High-frequency signals mean that antennas operating at higher frequencies couldn’t penetrate walls like conventional Wi-Fi, so signals would have to be refected throughout the buildings.

Plasma antennas could theoretically solve some of these problems because these can operate at a wider range of frequencies, but gas antennas are also more complex (and likely more expensive) than their silicon-diode counterparts, which are small enough to fit inside a cell phone.

With plasma antenna technology, there are kinks to iron out, but researchers and engineers are optimistic to make this promising technology commercially available in few years.

India Turning into R&D Powerhouse

India Turning into R&D Powerhouse.......

More and more MNCs are flocking to India to set up an R&D base. Let’s see what makes India a perfect destination for carrying out research activities from the standpoint of technology and innovation...........

Today, India is looked at as one of the cheapest R&D destinations with highly talented engineers. The setting up of an R&D base by an increasing number of MNCs is a testimony to this fact. These R&D setups either serve the local market or help the parent company deliver new generation of products faster to the global market. For instance, one of the primary research areas for Philips Lighting India centre is to develop products that can suit Indian operating conditions.

In particular, embedded systems related work is growing fast and maturing to focus on enabling value-added devices. Almost every major international firmfrom Intel to Texas Instruments (TI) has its R&D or design lab for microprocessors in India. Telecom, consumer electronics, automation and automotive are the top verticals with MNC R&D base in India.

“Automotive, healthcare and power are driving the demand in the semiconductor industry and we are well positioned to take advantage of the growing market by investing in R&D. The introduction of latest technologies will help us differentiate from our competitors,” says Guruswamy Ganesh, vice president and country manager, Freescale Semiconductor India.

Infineon India ontributes to almost every major automotive or smartcard product launched globally. The centre has aggressive plans for coming years. “As the market in India develops, the local R&D is expected to work closely with the marketing and sales teams to increase competitiveness of Infineon solutions for local markets. Existing engineering activities will be expanded further by initiating a new competence centre for power electronics. Further, engineering of applications over Infinon products specificto Indian market is being considered,” informs Vinay Shenoy, managing director, Infinen Technology India.

The immense intellectual power that India possesses, makes it a perfect destination for carrying out research activities from the standpoint of technology and innovation.

Samsung employs 5500 researchers in India and plans to hire 1100 more next year. The Korean giant has two research centres in India, which work for its global projects.
Samsung’s story clearly indicates that electronics world has traction for the Indian talent. The nation is witnessing a talent war for engineers and technical professionals.

“Infineon Inia’s main incentive for setting up operations in India was the country’s abundance of highly skilled professionals in the areas of hardware and software development and R&D. This is now supplemented by the company’s attraction to the Indian semiconductor market. According to industry analysts, India’s markets for automotive and industrial electronics and smart cards are estimated to reach two billion US dollars by 2015,” informs Shenoy.

According to a recent study by management consultancy Zinnov, hiring in R&D domain is expected to grow by 15 per cent this fiscal.The study suggests that operating cost of R&D centres in India has gone up by 9 per cent. Despite this, operating cost in India is still 25 per cent lower than in China.

Chandramouli C.S., management consulting director, Zinnov, said, “The increase in operating cost, beginning last year, will not dampen the investment mood. MNCs are looking at ramping up operations and continue to invest in value creation and innovation in India.”

Interestingly, Tier-II locations in India are emerging fast and offer up to 40-50 per cent savings on cost. “The MNCs in India have started setting up their secondary R&D centres for noncore work in tier-II locations in India such as Madurai, Chandigarh, Baroda, Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar as these are 40 to 50 per cent more cost-effective than Tier-I locations such as Bengaluru, Pune or Chennai,” according to Chandramouli.

Looking ahead, we can expect a 10 to 15 per cent growth in the next couple of years in R&D in India, with growth mostly in engineering and embedded systems. The new companies that are being established were initially into sustenance and are now focussing more on innovation and leadership, which is completely different from what they actually do.

Of course, there are some roadblocks too that India needs to overcome in order to enjoy a smooth ride as an R&D hub.

Companies like Samsung, Intel and AMD are facing talent crunch in their R&D centres in India, making them turn towards Indian universities for talent.

“There is surely a talent crunch when it comes to candidates with PhDs. One of the other challenges that we face is that as a technology company we need to build the depth in terms of engineers’ skillsets. Since there is a strong service mindset in people, after working for a year or so sometimes they start feeling nervous doing the same thing and express the desire to change jobs. That mindset needs to change, as in technology and R&D depth is very critical and important,” says Jitendra Chaddah, director, Intel India Strategic Development & Operations.

Intel’s rival, the California based $6.49-billion AMD Inc., is also facing a talent crunch in its design centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

MNC R&D in India:  A Quick Look

1. Meant to serve either the global market or develop products suited for the Indian market 2. Operating cost in India 25 per cent lower than in China 3. Tier-II locations like Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar emerging fast by offering up to 40-50 per cent savings on cost 4. Embedded systems related work growing fast 5. Automotive, healthcare, power and security driving the demand in semiconductors 6. Local advantages: Availability of highly skilled professionals in hardware and software, lower operating cost and growing Indian market 7. Local deterrents: Talent crunch, lack of adequate physical infrastructure, not-soencouraging industry-academia interface 8. Suggestions: • Engineering institutes in India should impart postgraduate education in technologies relevant for the India market,   like energy efficiency, automotive safety and security • The government should provide encouraging tax incentives to help companies grow their R&D labs here

Kiranmai Pendyala, head-HR, AMD India, says, “We are acquiring senior professionals from various markets like Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Singapore and the US. Attrition has increased in 2010-11 as the market is ripe and growth opportunities exist in the ecosystem. Hiring cost has definitel increased, given the market dynamics.”

Lack of adequate physical infrastructure (lack of regular power supply, poor roads) defiitely poses a challenge to operate smoothly in India and also in faster growth of already existing units.

“A lot needs to be done in the area of industry and academia interface to ensure that the technologies that students learn in the class are the latest that the industry is working on. While this has already started to a great extent, penetration needs to take place across the universities in India. Also, the R&Ds happening in the country are working towards providing solutions for the global market while the demand for unique products to serve India’s growing market is increasing. It is important that R&D players invest for home-grown solutions as well, which can range from solar energy for generating power to cost-effective connectivity solutions,” says Guruswamy.

“To enhance the R&D eco-system, engineering institutes should emphasise postgraduate education in technologies relevant for the Indian market; for example, energy efficiency, automotive safet and security. This will enable more relevant collaboration between the industry and academia,” suggests Shenoy.

“Most important of all is the support from the government to leverage this strength and continue to provide all help in encouraging more growth by giving tax incentives to help companies grow their R&D labs here, which benefits Indi immensely,” adds Guruswamy.

10 R&D majors in India

1. Delta India Electronics Delta India has state-of-the-art R&D centres located in Gurgaon and Bengaluru. Besides core product area and applications, it is working on complete solutions for smart-grid applications and automotive applications. In core product area and applications, it is constantly enhancing the efficiency rate of power converters and infrastructure monitoring solutions for telecom sites. Delta offers highly customised products and R&D facilities in India work on indigenisation of UPS and display solution products suited to India and SAARC customer requirements and environment. Developing custom power supply for storage and network equipment is another core area for Delta India’s R&D activity. 2. John F. Welch Technology Centre GE’s John F. Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) in Bengaluru is a multi-disciplinary R&D centre accelerating the company’s delivery of advanced technology to its global customers. The centre collaborates with GE’s three other R&D facilities that form the GE Global Research team to conduct research, development and engineering activities for all of GE’s diverse businesses worldwide. Inaugurated on Sept 17, 2000, the centre is home to state-of-the-art laboratories working in the areas of mechanical engineering, electronic and electrical system technology, ceramics and metallurgy, catalysis and advanced chemistry, chemical engineering and process, polymer science and new synthetic materials, process modeling and simulation, power electronics and analysis technologies. The centre has filed for more than 185 patents for R&D activities in Bengaluru and been granted twelve to date. In addition to GE’s global research activities, JFWTC is also home to technology teams from other GE organisations including GE Advanced Materials, GE Consumer & Industrial, GE Energy, GE Transportation and GE Healthcare. “The centre in Bengaluru does R&D for the entire spectrum of GE products. At this centre, we are working on CdTe technology for solar cells, which is being developed globally,” informs Dr Mano Manoharan, general manager, operations, GE Global Research, and technology leader, manufacturing and materials, John F. Welch Technology Center. 3. Freescale Semiconductor India Freescale Semiconductor designs and manufactures embedded processing technologies for automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets and its India design centres build system-on-chips for these markets along with creation of digital and mixed-signal IPs and an impressive portfolio of low-tier to high-tier processor core platforms. Freescale Semiconductor has R&D centres in Noida, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, employing more than a thousand highly skilled professionals who play a significant part in delivering innovative products. Freescale India has been leading many important projects. It contributed immensely to the 360-degree surround-view parking assistance system launched recently, and also to small cell development for femto and pico base stations in the networking market. 4. Infineon India Infineon India has a well established global R&D centre set up in Bengaluru. The company is a global semiconductor innovator in energy efficiency, mobility and security, employing around 280 professionals in India. Infineon’s business spans from automotive electronics semiconductor solutions for power train and safety in two- and four-wheel vehicles, and chip card and security solutions for ePassport, citizen cards and drivers’ licences to industrial and multi-market sector solutions for electronic ballasts, power supplies, and solar and wind energy conversion. The R&D centre plays an essential role in software and hardware development for global products. Software development projects involve all layers from low-level software design to high-level application software and complex configuration software, whereas hardware design involves complex system-on-chip verification and validation and design automation systems (design flow and design libraries). Infineon India plays a leading role in global automotive software strategy development such as automotive network standards, automotive open system architecture (AUTOSAR), automotive safety and electric vehicle motor control. Smart card operating systems and applications is another major area of R&D at Infineon India. New chip designs are verified and validated to ensure full and perfect compliance to specification and delivered to the market within tight consumer windows. Parts of complex chip design flows and methodologies that reduce chip development time and ensure first-time right silicon are addressed. 5. Intel India Intel India is Intel’s largest non-manufacturing site outside of the US and considered a microcosm of Intel with the presence of major business groups. Having started its sales office in 1988 and R&D activities in 1999, Intel India has grown from less than 200 employees in 2000 to over 3000 employees now. A majority of these employees are in R&D. The Intel R&D centre in Bengaluru is spread across three facilities. Intel India has made significant contributions through its engineering capability in silicon design, validation and systems software to a number of Intel Xeon server products and integrated graphics for clients. It is engaged in a range of software projects in server management, ultra-mobile, graphics, IT applications and factory automation. It also has a dedicated innovation team named Ideas to Reality Group (I2R), started in 2007, focusing on developing Intel architecture based solutions for the emerging markets. Intel recently announced the availability of Intel Xeon processor E7 family (formerly codenamed Eagleton)—Intel’s first ten-core processor with 30 MB of L3 cache memory and 2.9 billion transistors. Intel India team based in Bengaluru jointly led the design of the Intel Xeon processor E7 family, in collaboration with other teams in the US, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica. Intel India is working on the design and validation of next-generation server chips, and development of next-generation integrated graphics for clients. It’s also working on the development of system-on-chip platforms for mobile phones. In addition, it is involved in throughput computing research and frugal innovation. “The work we do here is significant and sizeable; one is looking at solving critical problems which can change Intel products and the other is end-to-end or complete ownership of the platform. India will also have a role to play when it comes to our future success in tablets and phones. Apart from that, we have parallel computing research work being done out of here. A core team of people is doing local market innovation like the Atom-based universal handheld device which has a biometric, printer, GPRS and an integrated smartcard reader,” informs Jitendra Chaddah, director, Intel India Strategic Development & Operations. 6. Nokia Nokia has three R&D centres in India, one each in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The centres are focused on next-generation packet-switched mobile technologies and communication solutions to enhance corporate productivity. While all the three centres are an integral part of Nokia’s global R&D infrastructure and therefore work on global projects, these centres do play a pivotal role in assimilating local flavours from the market and act as a conduit for information to the global product development teams. Currently, Nokia has 1000 people working on various R&D projects. Of the three centres, the Bengaluru R&D centre is the largest Nokia site in India. It was established in 2001 with the acquisition of Amber Networks. Over the years, it has played a pivotal role in the development of new applications, software platforms and chipsets for high-end Nokia mobile devices. The software platform group works on development of parts of the base services for the platform, application frameworks, user interfaces and test tools. On the chipset side, the work done in India is mainly in the areas of ASIC design, hardware design, integration and verification, protocol software design and integration, speech and video codec design and integration. The facility today houses over 1200 employees across all teams. 7. Panasonic Panasonic has established its first R&D subsidiary in India, the Panasonic Research & Development Center India (PRDCI), in Gurgaon, Haryana. The centre will contribute to the company’s business expansion in the growing market with efficient R&D tailored to local needs. Panasonic has been making a company-wide effort to cultivate its business in India, having enhanced its product lineup and marketing structure here. The PRDCI, Panasonic’s ninth R&D centre in emerging countries, will help realise an integrated operation of product development, manufacturing and sales with its effective, locally-oriented R&D initiatives. In particular, serving as a technology platform, the centre will promote the technologies and their standardisation that are deemed essential for making inroads into the Indian market through collaboration with local universities and industrial partners, mainly in the areas of energy management and audio-video products as well as new business development. Panasonic aims to become the No.1 green innovation company in the electronics industry by 2018—the 100th anniversary of its founding. To this end, the company is undergoing a transformation to be a globally-oriented company, focusing on emerging markets such as India, under its Green Transformation 2012 (GT12) management plan covering three years through March 2013. 8. Philips Lighting India In 2008, Philips inaugurated a global R&D centre for lighting in India. This was its third such unit in the world. The facility, situated in Noida, not only caters to the needs of the Indian market but also the Asia-Pacific, European and North American markets. Philips’ other R&D centres are located at Eindhoven in the Netherlands and in Shanghai, China. One of the primary research areas for the India centre is to develop products that can tackle high-voltage fluctuations in India. In 2010, the lighting business contributed 57.9 per cent to Philips India’s overall revenue. The main focus of this R&D facility is provide lighting solutions that are customised keeping in mind the India-specific environmental and infrastructural challenges such as voltage fluctuations, energy spikes and intermittent power supply. “Philips recently developed India’s first consumer LED bulb. This bulb is a significant R&D achievement which was designed at its Noida research facility. Within Philips, it is the fastest innovation globally—from conceptualisation till the actual production,” informs Indranil Goswami, head-Lighting Application Services, Philips Lighting India. 9. Samsung Electronics  Samsung has two software development centres—Samsung India Software Centre (SISC) and Samsung India Software operations unit (SISO) at Noida and Bengaluru, respectively. While the Samsung India Software Centre is developing software solutions for Samsung’s global software requirements for high-end televisions like plasma and LCD TVs and digital media products, SISO is working on major projects for Samsung Electronics in the areas of telecom (wireless terminals and infrastructure), networking, system-on-chip (SoC), digital printing and other multimedia/digital media as well as application software. In addition to working on global R&D projects, SISO is also helping Samsung India’s mobile business by focusing on product customisation for the Indian market. Samsung India currently employs around 2000 employees across its R&D centres at Noida and Bengaluru. Samsung India is also carrying out hardware R&D at its Noida R&D centre. The focus of the R&D centre is to customise consumer electronics products (flat TVs with Easy View technology) to better meet the needs of Indian consumers. 10. Texas Instruments In August 1985, Texas Instruments (TI) set up an R&D facility in Bengaluru, becoming the first global technology company to establish its presence in India. Ever since, India has been a great resource for TI for talent, leadership and innovation. The focus at TI India has consistently been on innovation. The number of patents filed in the US by TI engineers in India is perhaps the highest by any technology company in the country. TI India has achieved many ‘firsts.’ In 1995, it developed the first processor designed in India for control applications. The TI India R&D centre was extensively involved in developing LoCosto—the industry’s first single-chip solution for wireless handsets. TI India is deeply involved in developing state-of-the-art solutions for applications like wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure (base stations), video (security and surveillance, IP phones, set-top boxes) and high-performance analogue. Today, there is hardly any chip produced by TI that is not touched by engineers at TI India. Since 2006, in addition to being a significant and critical R&D centre for TI globally, TI India has increased its focus on the Indian semiconductor market in a big way. The company is working closely with its customers in India in a wide array of sectors such as industrial electronics (UPS, inverters, energy meters, lighting, etc), medical electronics (ultrasound scanners, X-ray machines, ECG machines, MRI scanners, etc), consumer, telecom and automotive.

Designing A Cost-Effective and Versatile Home Area Network Device

Designing A Cost-Effective and Versatile Home Area Network Device

The device proposed here integrates seamlessly with a home area network and keeps a tab on the energy consumption and operation of electrical equipment while acting as a low-cost energy meter.

 The sky-rocketing cost of energy production has necessitated a more efficientenergy consumption process. This has brought revolution in electrical equipment manufacturing and energy metering infrastructure. Home area network (HAN) is an advanced electrical ecosystem in which a smart utility meter and HAN devices communicate with each other to control the energy consumption profile. Armed with the latest technological advancements in the fieldof energy utilisation, HANs are ready to supplant the traditional electrical ecosystems at home.

Fig. 1: Application diagram of HAN device

A basic HAN device has a two-way communication link with a utility meter and optionally with other devices in a HAN ecosystem, sharing energy consumption data of the equipment it is connected to and also receiving commands to turn off or hibernate the equipment when unused.

This low-cost device can be hooked in the existing electrical infrastructure without the need to replace, renovate, alter or rework the infrastructure. The power consumption is very low (in microamperes) when it’s not in use. The following sections describe certain enhancements to the basic HAN device architecture which extend its capability and feature-set.

Architecture

The HAN device can be considered as an intelligent power socket, which at one end connects to the normal power socket and on the other end offers pluggable connection interface for home appliances, e.g., microwave and air-conditioner. It can be controlled directly by the utility meter over wireless interfaces like radio frequency (RF) or wired interfaces like power line communication (home plug, etc). Additionally, its firmwarecan be upgraded over the RF/programmable logic controller (PLC) interface by the utility meter. Various energy parameters of the device can be displayed on the LCD. It also supports battery backup option for maintaining the time and date.

Fig. 1 shows the application diagram of the HAN device. The device consists of a microcontroller, 230V-3.3V converter, relay, signal conditioning circuitry, infrared (IR) interface (supporting both transmitter and receiver), LCD panel and RF/power-line communication physical layer.

Its main operational features are:

1. Very low current consumption (10 μA) when it’s not functional
2. Very low run current (10 mA); 40 mA at full load
3. Fully controlled by the energy meter
4. High-voltage cut-off to save the appliances
5. Wireless communication over 2.4GHz Zigbee
6. Month-wise information storage of the power consumed
7. Fully-functional system starting from 90V AC to 300V AC
8. Easy to hook on to the network
9. Compact in size

Role of various components Fig. 2 shows the block diagram of the device components. The role of these components is described below:

Microcontroller. The microcontroller or system-on-a-chip (SoC) plays a pivotal role in the device operation. In addition to controlling other components, it stores the application firware in its internal Flash memory. For supporting various functionalities of the HAN device, the microcontroller should be equipped with the following features:

1. Low-power processing core with the capability to perform complex arithmetic operations required for energy calculation
2. Suitable physical-layer communication interface for RF or power-line communication, if used
3. On-chip Flash memory and static random-access memory for storing application firmware and faster operation
4. LCD driver for LCD display
5. Interfaces like universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter, which can support infrared communication
6. High-resolution analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) with programmable gain amplifierfor voltage and current measurements
7. Input/output (I/O) ports for driving relays
8. Real-time counter for time keepingThe microcontroller senses the voltage and current through the signal conditioning circuit along with the ADC and programmable gain amplifierto calculate root mean square (RMS) voltage and current values, instantaneous energy consumed and total energy consumed over a period of time (one month or longer). It then sends this data to the utility meter through RF or power line communication and also displays it on the LCD. When a command to turn off the device is received, it drives suitable logic on its I/O ports to operate the relay.

The microcontroller gets its power supply from the power line through a 230V-3.3V converter. The converter can be suitably configuredaccording to the operating voltage of the microcontroller. The on-chip Flash firware can be updated over the RF or PLC interface by the utility meter. The protocol and exact details of frmware updation depend on specific implementations.

Fig: 2: Block diagram of HAN device

Signal conditioning. The signal conditioning unit consists of an analogue front-end for voltage and current measurement. The line voltage is measured by first down-sizin it with a resistor ladder, thereafter direct-current (DC) filteringand DC biasing.

Compared to voltage measurement, current measurement is less involved. First, the line current is downsized using a current transformer and then passed through a small value of high-precision shunt resistor. The voltage drop across this shunt resistor gives a measure of the line current. As this voltage drop is very small, it is suitably amplifiedbefore being fed to the ADC.

The amplifierconsists of programmable gain stages for amplificationof only the alternating-current (AC) components, thus preventing the amplifie output from saturation.

Infrared interface. The infrared interface can be configuredsuitably according to the range and power consumption. It provides remote configurationsupport for the HAN device, enabling the user to remotely turn on/off the home appliance connected to the HAN device. The protocol and exact details of operation can be flexiblychosen for particular implementations.

LCD panel. The LCD panel displays the instantaneous energy consumed, total energy consumed last/current month, date and time of the day, RMS voltage and RMS current. It inherits some of the utility meter display, thus acting as a low-accuracy but smart AC energy meter.

In a nutshell, the above architecture conceptualises a cost-effective and extremely versatile HAN device, which is replete with all the essential HAN device features along with the support for advanced features like firmwar upgrade and full control of appliances over RF/PLC interface. It also doubles as a low-cost smart AC energy meter, providing round-the-clock energy consumption details of the home appliance.

Though the device is depicted here as a standalone intelligent power socket, it can also be implemented inside home appliances.

---

Real-time temperature sensors

Working With Real time Temperature Sensors:

Real-time temperature monitoring with dedicated temperature sensors ensure that today’s smaller and faster systems operate in the safe thermal zone. The new-generation sensors monitor internal and external components’ hot spots with pinpoint accuracy. Availability of accurate, low-cost and easy-to-use sensor iCs permits designers to make on-chip temperature measurements to squeeze the maximum performance from their systems

Fully autonomous wireless temperature sensor powered by a vibrational energy harvester

Temperature is the most often measured environmental quantity and many biological, chemical, physical, mechanical and electronic systems are affected by temperature. Some processes work well only within a narrow range of temperatures. So proper care must be taken to monitor and protect the system.
When temperature limits are exceeded, electronic components and ciruits may be damaged by exposure to high temperatures. Temperature sensing helps to enhance circuit stability. By sensing the temperature inside the equipment, high temperature levels can be detected and actions can be taken to reduce system temperature, or even shut the system down to avert disasters.
Several temperature sensing techniques are used currently. The most common of these are thermocouples, thermistors and sensor integrated circuits (ICs). What is most suitable for your application depends on the required temperature range, linearity, accuracy, cost, features and the ease of designing the necessary support circuitry.

Thermocouples

A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar metals joined together at one end, to produce a small unique voltage at a given temperature. The thermoelectric voltage, resulting from the temperature difference from one end of the wire to the other, is actually the sum of all the voltage differences along the wire from end to end.
Thermocouples are available in different combinations of metals or calibrations. The four most common calibrations are J, K, T and E. Each calibration has a different temperature range and environment, although the maximum temperature varies with the diameter of the wire used in the thermocouple. For example, a ‘type J’ thermocouple is made from iron and constantan wires.

K-type thermocouple

Thermocouples are very popular because of their low thermal mass and wide operating temperature range, which can extend to about 1700°C with common types. However, sensitivity of thermocouples is rather small (of the order of tens of microvolts perºC). A low-offset amplifier is needed to produce a usable output voltage.
Thermistors

Thermistors are special solid temperature sensors that behave like temperature-sensitive electrical resistors. These are generally composed of semiconductor materials. There are basically two types of thermistors—negative temperature coefficient (NTC), which are used mostly in temperature sensing and positive temperature coefficient (PTC), which are used mostly in electric current control.
Thermistor exhibits a change in electrical resistance with a change in its temperature. The resistance is measured by passing a small, measured direct current through it and measuring the voltage drop produced thereby. When it comes to NTC-type, the negative coeffiient can be as large as several per cent perºC, allowing the thermistor circuit to detect minute changes in temperature, which could not be observed with a thermocouple circuit.

Low-cost thermistors often perform simple measurement (and trip-point detection) functions in low-end systems. Low-precision thermistors are often inexpensive. You can find thermitors that will work over a temperature range from about -100°C to +550°C, although most are rated for maximum operating temperatures from 100°C to 150°C. Simple thermistor-based set-point thermostat or controller applications can be implemented with very few components. Just the thermistor, a comparator and a few other components can do the job.

PTC thermistors

As thermistors are extremely non-linear devices that are highly dependent upon process parameters, and their performance may be degraded by self-heating, these have drawbacks in some applications. For example, resistance temperature function of a thermistor is very non-linear, so if wide range of temperatures are to be measured, you’ll find it necessary to perform sustantial linearisation.

Sensor ICs

There are a wide variety of temperature sensor ICs that are available to simplify the broadest possible range of temperature monitoring challenges. These silicon temperature sensors differ significantly from the above mentioned types in a couple of important ways.
The first is operating temperature range. A temperature sensor IC can operate over the nominal IC temperature range of -55°C to +150°C. The second major difference is functionality. A silicon temperature sensor is an integrated circuit, and can therefore include extensive signal processing circuitry within the same package as the sensor. There is no need to add compensation (or linearisation) circuits for temperature sensor Ics.
Some of these are analogue circuits with either voltage or current output. Others combine analogue-sensing circuits with voltage comparators to provide alert functions. Some other sensor ICs combine analogue-sensing circuitry with digital input/output and control registers, making them an ideal solution for microprocessor-based systems.
Digital output sensor usually contains a temperature sensor, ananalogue-to-digital converter (ADC), a two-wire digital interface and registers for controlling the IC’s operation.Temperature is continuously measured and can be read at any time. If desired, the host processor can instruct the sensor to monitor temperature and take an output pin high (or low) if temperature exceeds a programmed limit. Lower threshold temperature can also be programmed and the host can be notified when temperature has dropped below this threshold. Thus, digital output sensor can be used for reliable temperature monitoring in microprocessor-based systems.
How to use?A temperature sensor produces an analogue or digital output whose strength depends on the temperature of the sensor. Heat is conducted to the sensing element through the sensor’s package and its metal leads. In general, a sensor in a metal package will have a dominant thermal path through the package. For sensors in plastic packages, the leads provide the dominant thermal path.Therefore a board-mounted IC sensor will do a fine job of measuring the temperature of the circuit board.
If its needed to measure the temperature of something other than the circuit board, it should be ensured that the sensor and its leads are at the same temperature as the object you wish to measure. This usually involves making a good mechanical (and thermal) contact by attaching the sensor and its leads to the object being measured with thermally-conductive epoxy.
If a liquid’s temperature is to be measured, the sensor can be mounted inside a sealed-end metal tube and dipped into a bath, or screwed into a threaded hole in a tank. Temperature sensors and any accompanying wiring and circuits must be kept insulated and dry, to avoid leakage and corrosion.
Any linear circuit connected to wires in an uncongenial environment can have its performance adversely affected by intense electromagnetic sources such as relays, radio transmitters, motors with arcing brushes, etc, as its wiring can act as an aerial and the internal junctions can act as rectifiers. In such cases, a small bypass capacitor from the power supply pin to ground rail helps clean up power supply noise.

Smart cooling fan controller, based on the LM56 temperature sensor IC, that turns the fan on at one temperature, then increases its speed if temperature rises above a second threshold

Output filtering can be added as well. When using analogue sensors that should not directly drive large capacitive loads, the output filter apacitor can be isolated with a low-value resistor (like a zobel network) in series with the capacitor.
A three-terminal sensor needs three wires for power, ground and output signals. When sensing the temperature in a remote location, it is desirable to minimise the number of wires between the sensor and the main circuit board. In such situations you can use a two-terminal sensor. Moving to two wires means that power and signal must coexist on the same wires.
From audio amplifiers to personal computersAudio amplifiers that dissipate more than a few watts always have their power transistors or the entire power amplifier IC bolted to a heat sink. It is often desirable to monitor temperature in an audio power amplifier to protect the electronics from overheating, either by activating a cooling fan or shutting the system down. A good way to monitor the temperature is to mount the temperature sensor on the heat sink. Fit the sensor package by drilling a hole into the heat sink and cement the sensor to the heat sink with thermal-paste or heat-conducting epoxy.
Recent generations of personal computers dissipate a lot of power, which means they tend to get hot. High-performance computer processor chips consume excessive power and can get hot enough to suffer extremely harmful damage due to high temperature. To enhance system-stability it is often desirable to monitor processor’s temperature and activate a cooling fan, slow down the system clock or shut down the computer completely if the processor gets too hot. 
One good mounting site for the temperature sensor is in the centre of a hole drilled into the microprocessor’s heat sink, which can be clipped to the processor or attached with epoxy. Another location is the cavity beneath a socketed processor. It is also possible to mount the sensor on the circuit board next to the microprocessor socket.