electronica 2024: Best-in-Show Nominees

November 04, 2024

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The Embedded Computing Design editorial staff is pleased to present this year’s electronica Best-in-Show nominees in the following categories: 

AI & Machine Learning

• Qualcomm Technologies: The Qualcomm® IQ series

The Qualcomm® IQ series is a new family of industrial-grade processors designed for the most challenging environments and extreme temperature conditions. With available safety features that support device uptime and reliability, these new platforms enable Qualcomm Technologies to drive industrial connectivity and intelligence by integrating leading compute and AI capabilities into devices across industries.

Analog, Power & Related Components

• Dracula Technologies’ LAYER®Vault

Dracula Technologies’ LAYER®Vault is the world's first solution to combine low-light OPV energy harvesting and storage on a single, flexible film, replacing disposable batteries in low-power electronics. LAYER®Vault enhances energy autonomy for low-power devices. By harvesting ambient light through non-toxic organic photovoltaic technology.

• Allegro MicroSystems: A89224

The A89224 is a high-performance Automotive System On Chip, integrated 3- phase gate drive and precision current sense capability. It is designed for use with advanced stand-alone up to 90V 3-phase BLDC and PMSM automotive motor control applications. A89224 addresses key market trend of 48V automotive systems to drive motors in pumps and fans.

• Dukosi: The Dukosi Cell Monitoring System (DKCMS)

The DKCMS consists of DK8102 Cell Monitors, a DK8202 System Hub, the Dukosi API and proprietary C-SynQ® communication protocol. The Cell Monitors make accurate, synchronous, on-cell measurements, process the data, and send it to the BMS Host via the System Hub. This innovative approach not only enhances data accuracy but also simplifies the battery management system (BMS) architecture.

Computer Boards, Systems, Components & Peripherals

• GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc.: All-in-One GD-xD-W515-EVAL Board

The GD-xD-W515-EVAL Board is the kit including GigaDevice's MCU, Flash, PMU, and Sensor product. In combination with HW and SW, this kit delivers tailored solutions to customers across a spectrum of applications, including smart home HMI, smart door lock, and portable device control. The board consists of a mainboard, fingerprint board, and LCD board.

• nVent Schroff: Positive Retraction Card Lok

The Positive Retraction Card Lok (or wedge locks) allows for the field application engineer to be able to untighten the card lok easily and reliably, allowing for the removal of the CCA from the Chasis. The positive retraction Card-Lok has a clamp force of 2.4 times higher than standard wedge locks and demonstrates 45% lower thermal resistance. The 260PR, 265PR, and 280PR are positive retraction versions of the biggest-selling models of the 260, 265, and 280 allowing for easy retrofitting (Only providing the 260PR information for this request).

MEMS & Sensors

• STMicroelectronics’ ST1VAFE3BX

The ST1VAFE3BX combines an Analog Front-End (AFE) with a MEMS 3-axis Accelerometer and AI capabilities and integrates biopotential sensors (ECG, EEG, ENG) with an accelerometer for activity monitoring. The embedded Machine Learning Core processes data internally, eliminating the need for MCU computing. The compact 2x2 mm device is ideal for health and wellness applications, featuring ultra-low power consumption.

Memory & Storage:

• Longsys FORESEE Automotive LPDDR4x

FORESEE, an industry storage brand under Longsys, introduces automotive-grade Grade 2 LPDDR4x, offering 2GB, 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB capacities for advanced automotive systems. Longsys’ FORESEE Automotive LPDDR4x is built on a 1ynm process, delivers up to 4266Mbps transfer speed, supports PASR, and includes built-in ODT and DQS technologies.

• FORESEE Automotive SPI NAND Flash

Longsys’ FORESEE Automotive SPI NAND Flash is a 4G-bit (512Mx8bit) Serial NAND Flash Memory, operating on a single 1.8V VCC. The device supports the standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPl, Dual/Quad SPl: Serial Clock, Chip Select, Serial Data S1O0 (Dl), SIOI (DO), S1O2 (WP#) and SlO3(HOLD#). SPl clock frequencies of up to 104 MHz are supported.

• KIOXIA Europe GmbH: KIOXIA Automotive UFS 4.0

KIOXIA’s automotive-grade Universal Flash Storage (UFS) ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices deliver the higher storage transfer speeds needed for next-generation telematics, infotainment, and ADAS applications. Backward compatible with UFS 3.1, engineers can fully benefit from 5G connectivity with faster system startups through improved sequential read and write speeds.

• Apacer Technology B.V.: Enterprise SSD PV19E-25M

Apacer’s PV19E-25M U.3 Solid State Disk (SSD) delivers the advantages of flash disk technology with PCIe Gen4 x4 interface, including being fully compliant with standard U.3 form factor, providing low power consumption, and hot-swapping. It offers a wide range of capacities up to 30,720 GB and delivers outstanding performance up to 7,460 MB/s (for sequential read) and 7,100 MB/s (for sequential write) based on eTLC NAND flash with the DDR4.

Microcontrollers, Microprocessors & IP

• Infineon Technologies AG: PSOC™ Edge

The PSOC™ Edge devices are based on high-performance Arm Cortex-M55, including Helium™-DSP support paired with Arm Ethos-U55 and Cortex-M33 paired with Infineon’s ultra-low power NNLite — a proprietary hardware accelerator intended to accelerate the neural networks used in ML/AI applications. Support for “always-on” sensing and response makes the microcontroller ideal for the next generation of advanced IoT and industrial segments such as smart homes, wearables, security, robotics, and many more.

Security

• Pantherun Technologies Private Limited: AES

Pantherun’s AES implementation for Edge computing delivers enhanced encryption without requiring key exchange or data format changes. Available as both FPGA IP and software IP, it ensures high-performance, low-latency encryption for real-time applications. Designed to secure data communication in critical environments, Pantherun’s solution seamlessly integrates with existing systems. Its unique, scalable architecture is optimized for edge devices in IoT, industrial automation, and automotive.

Wired & Wireless Connectivity (Including IoT & Industrial IoT)

• Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9151

Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9151 System-in-Package (SiP) is a major, end-to-end cellular IoT differentiator that encompasses hardware, software, tools, and nRF Cloud Services. The nRF9151 SiP is a compact, highly integrated device that contains a System-on-Chip (SoC) designed for extensive application development for wearable devices, smart sensors, and other space-constrained IoT applications.

• Pantherun Technologies Private Limited: Pepper FPGA Open Source

Pepper is a groundbreaking FPGA-based open source development platform engineered to meet the stringent demands of industrial applications. Compact, powerful, and versatile, Pepper is designed to be the ultimate solution for engineers building networked IoT devices, switches, and routers with Pantherun’s unique latency-free AES encryption built-in.