Communications

Analog Devices and Intel are determining the future of real-time Ethernet in industrial networks at the Electronica exhibition in Munich this week, writes Richard Wilson Real-time Ethernet is going to be the next big thing in industrial networking. Seen as a high speed alternative to the serial fieldbus networking protocol in factory automation, robotics and industrial IoT, real-time Ethernet could transform industrial ...

Small Cell Forum (SCF) has published its latest guidelines for operators planning to deploy Network Function Virtualisation (NFV). Small cell virtualisation offers scalability and network slicing and so is likely to be used as a part of 5G networks, enterprise services and the internet of things (IoT). Virtualisation allows network functions to be separated from the radio, and run on commodity hardware, including the ...

Analog Devices has moved into the market for real-time Ethernet with the acquisition of US-based firm Innovasic, which has developed interface chips for deterministic Ethernet. Seen as a high speed alternative to the serial fieldbus networking protocol in  factory automation, robotics and industrial IoT, real-time Ethernet is the focus of a new standards push for robust, synchronised networks. The IEEE has recognised that ...

Texas Instruments has released a slew of 10Gbit/s USB Type-C products. TUSB1046-DCI, for example, is a VESA USB Type-C Alt Mode re-driving switch supporting USB 3.1 data rates up to 10Gbit/s and DisplayPort 1.4 up to 8.1Gbit/s for downstream facing port (Host). 10Gbit/s is ‘SuperSpeedPlus’, compared with 5Gbit/s ‘SuperSpeed’. The device is used for configurations C, D, E, and F ...

If you thought there was nothing much left to do with switches, think again, and Elma has bought real-time variable feel to a rotary encoder. Dubbed Cyber One, as a switch it combines a 384 clock/rev rotary encoder and push-button. Then, for user experience, as an experience, its firmware offers various pre-set ‘feels’, including: 0-6 Ncm torque (electromagnetic), 8-64 detents, artificial end-stop, ...

Linear Technology is to show two third-party IoT network product ranges at Electronica in Munich, based on its SmartMesh radios.

Silicon Radar of Frankfurt introduces development kits for its GHz CMOS radar MMICs, which are built using SiGe or SiGe:C from IHP.

Wireless light switch firm EnOcean has introduced a Bluetooth LE version of its battery-free wireless light switch technology.

Taiyo Yuden has made its Bluetooth v4.1 low-energy modules a third smaller, getting them down to 15.4 x 10 x 2mm. There are two, called EYSGCCAXX and EYSGCCSXX, and they are aimed at wearables and industrial equipment such as hand-held barcode scanners and mobile printers. The difference between the part is that the AXX version has UART and SPI interfaces, while ...

Keysight Technologies has announced signal analyser that covers millimetre-wave frequencies, now seen as the most likely option for next generation 5G mobile communications networks. The N9041B UXA X-Series signal analyser will provide frequency coverage to 110GHz with a maximum analysis bandwidth of up to 5GHz. The instrument’s front end design has a specified average noise level (DANL) as low as ...