Watching Us Watching Them The future of the user interface

1. e YOUR ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE ISSUE 4
06
Watching Us
Watching Them
The Future of the User Interface
rswww.com/electronics

2. SWITCH TO APEM
Apem is an established name in switches synonymous
with innovation, quality and reliability.
Approved to most European and International
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APEM have established facilities
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3. PABI TIES
LI
06 4
CA
2
G
CE SWITCHIN
USER INTERFA
G
R4
14 GET READY
FO
Welcome to your latest edition of eTech. The theme for this edition is
user interface and mobile technology, with a focus on the future of
UI, 4G and batteries for mobile designs.
We’ve also introduced a new ‘Market Trends’ feature in conjunction with iSuppli, INSIDE eTech
where we look at future technology trends and the growing use of motion
sensors in mobile phones - see page 22. 04 iSAY
The world of electronics technology is evolving rapidly and nowhere is this more 05 RS NEWSLINE
apparent than on the DesignSpark.com forums and blogs. DesignSpark.com is the
gateway to online resources and design support for engineers, powered by RS.
06 FUTURE OF THE USER INTERFACE
DesignSpark.com provides us all with an ideal forum to keep up-to-date with the 10 PRODUCT NEWS
latest trends, tools and hot topics and some of these have shaped this edition.
12 BATTERIES FOR MOBILE DESIGNS
Feedback from you indicates that you want to see 14 GET READY FOR 4G
more Design Reviews. So we have extended this
feature with the ARM mbed review on page 20 16 LANE DETECTION
Terms and conditions: Terms and
and the Embedded Systems review on page 34.
20 DESIGN REVIEW:
conditions of sale set out in the current ARM mbed
RS Catalogue. This issue is valid from We are now more connected with you
October 2010 to December 2010.
than ever before! Keep in touch with us 22 MARKET TRENDS:
through DesignSpark.com or email me at MOTION SENSORS
Published by: RS Components
Limited. Registered office:
Birchington Road, Weldon, Corby,
etech@rs-components.com. 24 SWITCHING CAPABILITIES
26
Northamptonshire NN17 9RS.
Registered No. 1002091. RS EPD UPDATE : WIRELESS
Components Ltd 2010.
Glenn Jarrett
RS are trademarks of RS
Components Limited. An Head of Electronics Marketing 29 DESIGN TIPS: ELEKTOR
32
Electrocomponents Company.
ELECTRONICS ExTRAS
34 DESIGN REVIEW:
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
38 CUSTOMER PROFILE
40 LUNCH BREAK
42 INDUSTRY NEWS: FRAUNHOFER
ELE_0010_1010 eTech - ISSUE 4 03

4. iSAY RS
PROF FERNANDO AGUADO,
.
UNIVERSITY OF VIGO, SPAIN
NEWSLINES
SAYS:
3D CAD Library from RS Energy Micro Cortex M3
“
continues to grow range now available.
Why there’s
RS introduces 3D CAD models Silicon and Development Kits add ultra low power
from more manufacturers choice to ARM portfolio at RS
In a major expansion of the 3D CAD programme, RS Adding Energy Micro to the M3 core and its integrated low-
no time like the present
introduces an additional 5000 new models available to already comprehensive range power peripherals to the test.
space
”
download from its website. Models from key manufacturer of ARM devices at RS brings The combination of Ultra-low
Tyco Electronics include the popular Mate-n-Lok and the world of ultra-low power power and industry standard core
to get into
MODU ranges, along with high speed Z-Pack and Multigig applications in to the hands of should prove to be a compelling
connectors. Also introduced are a series of sensor and Design Engineers everywhere. one for energy conscious
relay models from Schneider Electric, ideal for use in safety This range expansion will engineers everywhere.
equipment designs. include 128k Flash versions of
all devices in the Gecko product
family. Alongside the silicon,
With this expansion, RS now both the Gecko and Tiny Gecko
offers a huge number of development tools will be
3D CAD models in over 20 available allowing designers to For detailed information,
The European Space Agency’s new low-cost launch different file formats to suit all put the advanced 32-bit Cortex visit rswww.com/electronics
vehicle, Vega, heralds “the democratisation of space” of the most popular 3D design
software suites. All models
– and exciting opportunities for electronics
are available to download
companies to become involved. free-of-charge, ready to be
incorporated into your new
Development kit and
design. accessories offer doubles
Here’s how. Smaller satellites make it applications. Also, these smaller
To download 3D models from RS, to over 1,300
visit rswww.com/3d.
realistic to carry out missions that would satellites will train new engineers RS recruits development kit reviewers
have been inconceivable just a few in space technologies, and make
years ago. CubeSats, one of the most space missions affordable for
popular standards for small satellites, many fields of research.
allow scientists to carry out experiments
in space with very modest budgets. The For example, the XATCOBEO project,
RS sign new distribution
design of a single satellite traditionally
involves massive expenditure, long
a joint research project between INTA
and the University of Vigo includes three
agreement with Bourns
periods of design and testing, and an exciting and challenging experiments: an Partnership covers EMEA and APAC,
extensive specialized team, but CubeSats in-flight reconfigurable radio based on adding to existing US agreement
“
change the rules completely. They are standard FPGAs, a radiation dose sensor
smaller and simpler, cheaper to launch,
and a small team of engineers can
and a panel deployment mechanism.
Lower launch costs The partnership with Bourns, a leading manufacturer of passive
components, formalises the long-standing relationship with RS.
develop in years, rather than decades. This pioneering work will pave the way
for many future small-satellite projects
and smaller payloads The two companies will be working together on a series of
initiatives covering range developments and promotional activities, A significant investment by RS in leading edge
Lower launch costs and smaller payloads
make it economical to fly shorter
where the University of Vigo has a
pivotal role: like HUMSAT - a low-cost
make it economical to be carried out on a global basis. development tools has seen the development kit
and accessories offer expand to over 1,300. Now
to fly shorter missions -
”
missions - and more of them. In turn, global communications infrastructure Over 700 new products have RS is actively looking for reviewers to contribute to
and more of them.
this means that electronic components for humanitarian aid and disaster or been added to the RS range, the growing database of independent reviews on
on board don’t need to be radiation climate change monitoring; GENSO - including TBU™ high speed DesignSpark.com.
hardened, nor undergo time-consuming, a worldwide network of education protection components.
costly space qualification. and radio amateur ground stations; To view the full range of development kits on offer,
and the European Student Earth Orbiter visit rswww.com/developmentkits
Commercial, off-the-shelf components (ESEO) and European Student Moon
can be used instead. In this “virtuous Orbiter (ESMO).
circle” modern COTS will help meet
, If you are interested in writing and posting a
the tight mass, power, and dimensions In all of these, the use of COTS If you’ve got a strong opinion and would review, email your details to etech@rs-components.
constraints in CubeSats, and at lower components will provide opportunities like the opportunity to get on your soapbox, com and we will send you details of how to obtain
cost. It all combines to make CubeSat for the European electronics industry to write it up in around 300 words and email a development kit free of charge.
More details can be found
highly competitive for commercial test its technology and play its part. it to etech@rs-components.com
at rswww.com/bourns
04 eTech - ISSUE 4 eTech - ISSUE 4 05

5. Watching Us
Watching Them
The Future of the User Interface
Designers of home computing and consumer Growth of touch
technology know that success relies heavily Mechanical knobs, dials and sliders, which were
commonplace even on portable music players as
on delivering the most outstanding user recently as the last decade, have quickly become
experience. Game consoles, smartphones ancient history. Mobile phones introduced the
and even PCs are evolving quickly to provide concept of soft keys to enable context-sensitive
access to large numbers of features and options.
seamless, intuitive interactions that consumers Current MP3 players and mobile handsets have taken
not only demand, but also need if they are the concept further to deliver an even more flexible
to make best use of increasingly diverse user interface featuring capacitive touch sensing.
and powerful features. To make it happen, More recently still, smartphones with multi-touch
designers are “disappearing” the technology. capability have begun enabling users to interact even
more freely and naturally with their gadgets. Basic
two-touch sensing allows features such as pinch-
to-zoom, allowing people to experience and share
the increasing variety of content now available on
mobile handsets more spontaneously and naturally
than ever before. Just around the corner, true
multi-touch, capable of decoding ten or more touch
points simultaneously, hints at a vast new world of
single-user and multi-user applications; not only on
equipment such as handhelds and game terminals,
but also in professional applications such as drawing
packages, management/logistics software, and tools
for collaborative design.
To enable the next technology leap for touchscreens,
UK-based Peratech has developed a cost effective
pressure-sensing touchscreen technology which
differentiates between gentle touch and a hard
poke. Using what’s called the Quantum Tunnelling
Composite (QTC), a touchscreen display can very
efficiently detect where, and how hard the screen
is being pressed. Peratech’s QTC changes the game
Continued page 08>
06 eTech - ISSUE 4 eTech - ISSUE 4 07

6. switch
Omron
< Continued from page 06
when it comes to human machine “light coding” at wavelengths
, at home and on the way to work;
interface design with capabilities close to infrared, to compute why should they then spend
to build truly 3D user interfaces in depth-of-field data. The resulting their working day struggling
small, low power devices. Using absence of lag means this with cumbersome, unrewarding
products with an embedded QTC approach is well suited to high- industrial technology?
switch consumers could use speed consumer devices.
this third dimension to search PrimeSense’s 3D capture system The benefits of good ergonomics
deeper into a file structure simply shows how visual recognition, in industrial design are, of course,
by pressing harder, control an drawing on components such as already understood. Equipment
solutions
avatar’s movement through a CMOS image sensors can allow designers have drawn heavily
game more naturally, or create the machines to respond to users’ on existing PC technology, for
thin or thick lines which are vital movements. Sensed actions can example, not only to benefit
for Far East characters. be replicated on screen and used from the advanced processing
to determine subsequent events capabilities and economies of
Optical sensing in the game; no handheld or even scale that are available but also to
Despite howls from some self- wearable controller is needed. take advantage of user-interface
confessed geeks and couch Building on the concept of motion- advances such as menus and
potatoes, disappearing technology aware gaming, which Nintendo pointers – and, more recently,
is also having a significant effect in Wii cemented into the collective touchscreen capability.
the gaming sector. Nintendo Wii, consumer consciousness,
featuring MEMS motion sensors PrimeSense’s technology heralds Examining some of today’s
embedded in wireless handsets, another significant milestone: the most advanced machines, such
Introducing the New A9 series of Switches
took user interaction to a higher age of the controller-less controller. as production-line equipment
level than was possible with the for electronics manufacturing,
traditional gamepad featuring The notion is poised to reach shows how simplified graphics
button and joystick control only. significantly beyond gaming, and touchscreens are being
The recent announcement of however. PrimeSense envisages used successfully to help users This new range of switches from Omron has a see-saw mechanism that offers high contact reliability
Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox television viewers using hand set up complex processes
360 claims to advance the movements, instead of a quickly and accurately, despite combined with a quick electrical changeover that minimises risk of sparks and chattering.
concept of ultra-accessible and traditional remote, to select economic pressures that are
compelling gameplay even channels, browse interactive forcing employers to provide the I Two-point clip contact mechanism combined with see-saw action
further. Kinect uses optical sensing features and access online briefest, most cursory training.
and recognition technologies services. The company’s CEO, Inon Extensive use of pictorial – rather I Gold-plated clip contact and cleaning mechanisms ensure high reliability
developed by the Israeli company Beracha, has said the technology than text-based – instructions also
PrimeSense to realise what some enables a paradigm shift in overcomes language barriers, I Specially designed to prevent grease entering the contact area
the way people interact with which brings benefits I Sealed against flux entry and a built-in ‘O’ ring ensure immersion washability
“
consumer electronic devices. In for equipment owners as
I Washable Models (IP64)
More recently still,
fact, PrimeSense’s goal, through well as vendors in today’s
its recognition technologies, is globalised economy.
smartphones with multi- to enable users to control and
interact naturally with devices in a Taking a fresh look at important A9P Push Button Switch
touch capability have simple and intuitive way. advances in the consumer sector –
and particularly technologies such
Available with straight, right-angle or vertical mounting, with or without a 5mm cap top.
begun enabling users to Implications for professional
technology
as multi-touch, motion sensing
and 3D optical techniques – could
interact even more freely This, of course, is where many inspire future generations of
A9S Slide Switch
owners of professional technology professional equipment designers This switch is available with two positions (changeover) or three positions (off-on-off).
and naturally with their
”
– such as industrial, medical and to deliver even more productive,
gadgets. office equipment - would like to
go. Achieving a more natural and
easy to use and rewarding designs
in the future. A9T Toggle Switch
intuitive user experience is seen as
Offered in momentary and latching form with two or three positions and a standard, flat or anti-
being central to helping business
consider as being the ultimate owners increase their productivity, electrostatic actuator. It is also available with straight, right-angle, vertical or bracket versions.
game controller – the player’s reduce training overheads, and
own body. avoid cost contributors such as
stoppages and human errors. Omron’s range of switches includes quality, precision microswitches satisfying most industries,
Optical 3D sensing can be done in It is also important to note that tactile switches featuring the industry’s smallest positive click action switch and DIP switches to
a number of ways. Some systems today’s equipment operators Find the latest introductions suit most production processes.
detect the position of the user’s expect a better user experience; from RS to support new
body or limbs by calculating the as increasingly tech-savvy user interface designs
“time of flight” for a pulse of light. consumers, they are accustomed for applications at
PrimeSense uses what it calls to easy interaction with devices rswww.com/electronics Omron designs operability, user-friendliness and customer benefits
into all of its switches. Visit www.omron-rs.eu to view the range
08 eTech - ISSUE 4

7. PRODUCT PRODUCT
NEWS AGILENT 33500 SERIES
WAVEFORM GENERATOR NEWS
Agilent Technologies Announces 30 MHz Function/
Arbitrary Waveform Generators with Unparalleled Signal
Accuracy compact connections.
n Agilent 33500 series of waveform generators deliver the lowest
total harmonic distortion, true point-by-point arbitrary waveforms,
lowest jitter in their class for the most challenging measurement
JTAG PROGRAMMING AND
applications.The generators include USB 2.0 , LAN (LXI-C) and GPIB BOUNDARY-SCAN TESTING PRODUCTS
(optional) for quick and easy connectivity to a PC or a network. Increase your coverage with JTAG master
Online search term: Agilent, 30MHz
n JTAGMaster is a Boundary Scan Tester and In-System Programmer from
ABI Electronics. The ABI JTAGMaster is a complete and powerful solution for
the testing, faultfinding and programming of complex PCB assemblies with
JTAG devices.
Online search term: JTagMaster
RS THERMAL INTERFACE
MOLEx MINI-FIT H20 RANGE Allowing the efficient conduction and management
The sealed Mini-Fit H2O™ IP67-rated system meets of heat away from sensitive components
the need for weatherproof, compact connections
n RS Components is delighted to introduce a range of thermal
n The Mini-Fit H2O™ mid-range power interface materials, gap fillers, greases and gels. The range offers
connector is designed for use in weatherproof good value without compromise in performance.
applications. It has a small overall profile and Online search term: RS Thermal Interface Material
can handle up to 9.0A per circuit. RECOM REC3.5 AND REC6
Online search term: molex h2o minifit ISOLATED DC/DC CONVERTERS
Re³inforced DC/DC Converters offer up to
10kVDC isolation compact connections
n The Recom Re³inforced range offer users the triple
bonus of reinforced isolation, high isolation voltage and
high efficiency. The REC3.5-R8/R10 offers 3.5W
of power and the REC6-R8/R10 offers 6W
DESCO EMIT BENCH TOP ZERO VOLT IONISER of power, both with 10kVDC of isolation
Zero Volt ESD equipment for handling of sensitive electronic components in a DIP24 package.
Online search term: recom, rec35*, rec6*
n Ionization systems provide neutralization of charges on items such as circuit board
materials and some device packages. The ionisers from Desco Emit are very small
in size, have two fan speeds, have visual and audible power and alarm indicators and
come with a 5 year manufacturer’s warranty.
Online search term: ESD zero ioniser NEW COST EFFECTIVE PASSIVE
COMPONENTS FROM RS
RS Series of Thick Film Resistors,
0402 / 0603 / 0805 / 1206 format
SCHAFFNER INLET FILTER 9244x SERIES
n RS Series of Thick Film Resistors, 0402 / 0603 / 0805 / 1206 format,
FN 9244 Excellent performance IEC inlet filter RS Thick Film Chip Resistors have anti-surge characteristics superior to
standard metal film resistors and are very reliable. They are suitable for
n The FM9244 series of IEC inlet filters from Schaffner provide
both reflow and flow soldering operation with a consistent size to allow
excellent performance and are a practical solution helping you
pick and place machines to be used.
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Online search term: schaffner FN9244* RS Series of Carbon Film Leaded Resistors,
MICROCHIP MCP2200EV-VCP Axial 0.25W / 0.5W / 1W / 2W format
MCP2200 USB to RS232 Development n The RS Carbon Composition Resistors consist of a solid
and Evaluation Board cylindrical resistive element with embedded wire leads to which
HALL EFFECT JOYSTICKS FROM APEM the wires are attached. The body of the resistor is protected with
Contactless joysticks for harsh environments n The MCP2200EV-VCP is a USB to RS232 development and paint or plastic polymers then colour coded with its value.
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n The 3000 Series are high precision contactless accompanying software allows the special device features to
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10 eTech - ISSUE 4 See more online - Over 5,000 new products are added at rswww.com/electronics every month eTech - ISSUE 4 11

8. Batteries designs
solid polymer composite rather than an organic powered by battery manufacturer’s ever- cells, ensuring that there is always the perfect
solvent, as is the case with Li-ion. Advantages stronger R&D efforts, according to Herbert solution for any application. Regardless of
of this approach include lower manufacturing Schein, Managing Director and CEO at VARTA technology, the fundamental questions remain
cost, more rugged construction and wider Microbattery, “There is a continuing increase the same for the designer: finding the solution
adaptability to different packaging shapes. in more powerful batteries, for example in the that best meets the requirements of size,
area of rechargeable batteries there is a need voltage, current, duration, weight, temperature
live longer for mobile This means that, as with Lithium Ion battery
cells, they can be used to construct battery
packs in a huge variety of voltages and
for technically advanced and well-engineered
energy storage. VARTA Microbattery meets
these requirements with fundamental
range, recharging, environmental and
safety considerations.
capacities, all of them ultra-lightweight in research. The challenges of the future will be
”
By Vincent Bannigan
relation to their capacity. met by a strengthened team in a new research
Product Manager, RS Components
and development centre.
Varta’s innovative EasyPack range, based on
As mobile devices continue to evolve, they are becoming smaller and smarter. Today’s their leading PoLiFlex® technology, offers a The right choice – the widest range
higher performance mobile processors demand ever-greater power; and users want high performance, ready-made, cost effective Despite this, traditional solutions may still
solution. The expanding RS catalogue prove best for some applications. The limited
longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries, in ever smaller and lighter packages. includes four 3.7V EasyPack modules with output current of Li-ion and Li-polymer
capacities up to 2000mAh. And designing batteries may be a drawback, especially with
The batteries for use in these applications are amongst the best, they suffer no memory customers a range of Li-ion batteries in could not be simpler, thanks to the availability need for a protection circuit module. Also
continue to develop with higher energy effect, and lose their charge slowly when not cylindrical and flat prismatic hard and soft-pack of an EasyPack Charging Evaluation Kit. This transportation issues need to be considered
densities, as manufacturers apply new in use. Beyond these advantages, lithium formats, delivering between 3.7V, 1840mAh comes complete with a sample of each of with lithium chemistries. Often there is a more
rechargeable chemistries such as lithium-ion ion batteries are increasingly recognised and 15V, 6800mAh in packages of up to 12 the EasyPack range; plus a plug in power suitable solution provided by more traditional
and lithium polymer to professional for military, electric vehicle, and aerospace cells. All provide high energy density and long supply, open PCB-mounted charger circuit technologies: for example a 2.7kg pure lead
and industrial devices as well as applications because of their high energy cycle life, require no maintenance and have and connector set. Based on the Texas battery can produce over 300A. It’s hand
consumer products. density. Manufacturers are making a string built-in circuit protection Instruments BQ24014 charge management portable yet powerful enough to start a
of R&D improvements to the technology, chip, the kit also incorporates 14 test pins to large vehicle.
Not to be confused with the non-rechargeable focusing on energy density, durability, Improving on Lithium-ion make it easy to perform measurements and
lithium primary cells, lithium-ion batteries cost, and safety. Lithium polymer technology is a further add elements to the circuit. RS stocks literally hundreds of different battery Find a complete range of batteries
are justifiably popular for portable consumer development from lithium-ion batteries, in types, from dozens of manufacturers, ranging suitable for mobile devices at
electronics, as their energy-to-weight ratios For example, Enix Energies offers RS which the lithium-salt electrolyte is held in a Battery innovations are set to continue, from coin back-up batteries to lead-acid primary rswww.com
12 eTech - ISSUE 4 eTech - ISSUE 4 13

9. Get ready for
4G
“
Fourth-generation (4G) wireless has got off to a quiet start but the
migration to a faster mobile internet is already underway. Cities The move from 3G to
such as Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas already have 4G services 4G is far smaller than
in place and US operator Sprint is gradually adding cities to its list.
the one from GSM to 3G
that faced integrated
circuit (IC) designers
”
Stockholm and Oslo saw the first deployments of 4G to launch, getting underway just ahead of the Beijing
service by operator TeliaSonera late last year. But, as
with the 3G services that preceded them, there is a
Olympics in 2008.
ten years ago
catch. These services all fall under the 4G banner One thing became very clear early on in the development
but these US and European networks use of the 4G standards. The 4G networks would use some
different protocols. form of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing only reduce the cost of 4G handsets, it means Wimax can support downlink datarates
(OFDM), the same basic technology as that used in WiFi you can get the additional bandwidth and lower approaching 50Mbit/s, with LTE promising
Sprint and a number of operators in Asia have opted wireless networks and ADSL for wired access to the latency of LTE alongside high-speed CPUs that 100Mbit/s, although the higher peak speed of
for services based on a mobile form of the Wimax internet. The situation is slightly simpler than with 3G as can be used for embedded processing. LTE was only recently demonstrated by Telstra
standard that was originally developed to offer wireless Qualcomm’s own successor to CDMA2000 did not enjoy in Australia. But these are speeds that, for
broadband to homes and at least 250 are already in place. success: operators picked either LTE or Wimax. The result for designers of industrial systems users closer to a basestation, compete well
TeliaSonera and other large operators such as Verizon is a set of wireless standards that support high- protocols benefit from low latency as well with ADSL minus the wires, making possible a
Wireless in the US and NTT DoCoMo in Japan have There is good news for anyone who wants to implement speed access to the internet at a lower cost as high bandwidth and LTE in particular host of new applications.
chosen the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) of the standard LTE in industrial communications. In terms of the amount than that of 3G when it first appeared. Analysts was designed to reduce latency compared
widely used for 3G today in Europe and Japan. of die space that it takes up, the move from 3G to 4G also expect the wireless dongle market to be with 3G. This helps reduce the chances
is far smaller than the one from GSM to 3G that faced much more important in the early development of time-outs and similar problems from
As with 3G, there are strong technical similarities integrated circuit (IC) designers ten years ago. of 4G than they were for 3G, especially as disrupting communications, as well as helping
between LTE and Wimax – their differences often the the networks that underpin 4G are based applications such as videoconferencing where
result of their different lineages. Although the world According to Professor Gerhard Fettweis of the Technical on the Internet Protocol (IP) rather than delay in sound and video can irritate the users.
ended up with three different 3G protocols, they were University of Dresden, whereas the 3G modem would being designed around the needs of Get more online...
all based around the core technology of code-division use up a complete IC ten years ago, a modem that voice communication. In applications such as telemedicine, LTE and
multiple access (CDMA). CDMA2000, based largely supports 2G, 3G and LTE implemented using today’s Wimax bring higher peak bandwidths than their Find out more on 4G, and add your
on technology from Qualcomm, became the preferred silicon technology does not need more than a quarter of The design decisions behind the 4G standards 3G predecessors, making it possible to have voice on how the roll-out is going
standard for the US and Korea. In Europe and Japan, a die. So, we are likely to see those functions combined help with applications such as security, real- high-quality two-way video to allow doctors to at www.designspark.com
wideband-CDMA prevailed. TDS-CDMA was the last with applications and graphics processors. That will not time monitoring and control. Many network make better diagnoses remotely.
14 eTech - ISSUE 4 eTech - ISSUE 4 15

10. Lane detector
zooms
out the noise
By Yifei Wang, Naim Dahnoun and Alin Achim
Department of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering, University of Bristol
Throughout the last two decades, a significant amount of research has
been carried out in the area of lane detection to improve the safety of
motor vehicles. These systems will prevent drivers from unwittingly moving
out of their lane and into the path of other cars on the road.
It is a difficult problem to solve as, even with clearly By carefully selecting a region of the image and
marked lanes, images captured by a camera contain interpolating this region back to the original image
a large number of extraneous features that can size, the driver’s view can be simulated and the
confuse the lane-detection algorithm. lanes on the interpolated and original images
should overlap.
Feature extraction is a key part of lane detection:
using image processing to work out which shapes in The first task is to select the appropriate area for
the frame form part of the actual lanes along which interpolation. On a flat, straight road, the vehicle will
the vehicle is moving. By using the characteristics head towards the vanishing point where the left and
of the lanes and their shape information, a novel right lanes meet on the horizon. A Sobel filter is used
feature-extraction algorithm has been developed that to generate lines for each clear edge in the image.The
can verify whether the features in a process belong to intersection of each line and the horizon’s ‘vanishing
the lanes or are extraneous noise. line’ is a possible position for the vanishing point of
the lane. A voting system picks the point on the
Typically, while driving on a straight road with vanishing line to which most of the detected
continuous lane markings, the positions of the lanes edges point.
will not change significantly over time from the
driver’s point of view. The algorithm takes advantage This technique works for flat, straight
of the above phenomenon and tries to find the non- roads but few are like that. To extend
moving features within the scene. In order to do this, this approach to curved lanes,
a digital interpolationis is used.
Continued page 18>
16 eTech - ISSUE 4 eTech - ISSUE 4 17

11. Microcontrollers
< Continued from page 17
Does your product design require a USB Connectivity upgrade?
the image is split into a number of
Add USB connectivity to your application without completely redesigning the system
horizontal bands and perform vanishing
point detection on each of the image bands.
Controllers
Digital Signal
The number of edges belonging to the lane
boundaries found by the Sobel filter will
decrease with distance, so the vanishing
point of the lowest, and nearest, image
band is detected first. The vanishing points
on the upper bands are detected based on
the vanishing-point position of the lower
bands to reduce the detection error and the
amount of processing needed. Detection
Analog
accuracy is helped by tracking the position
of the vanishing point frame by frame on
the basis that the position of the vanishing
point will not change dramatically. can perform up to eight 8bit multiply- comparison, in addition to the edge map
accumulate (MAC) operations per clock from the original image. As the maximum
To extract the lane features and suppress cycle. The processor can be clocked at up to zooming ratio is set to be 0.9 in normal
noise from edges that do not belong to the 700MHz. , although we run it at 600MHz, . cases, the selected zooming areas have
lane markings, a logical-AND operation is Due to the high precision required in some almost the same size as the original image.
applied to the original image edge map algorithms a combination of 8 × 8bit and 4 × Therefore a large amount of data needs to
Memory
and to the edge map from the scaled, 16bit MACs, which the processor supports, be transferred. However, a large portion
interpolated image on a pixel-by-pixel have been used. of the image is repeated for each pair of
basis. If the interpolated edges overlap the adjacent selected areas. Reusing the
with the original image edges, these edges This processor also provides a video repeated areas will save the memory
are preserved. More of the noise can be subsystem. This provides a glueless transfer significantly.
removed by rejecting edges that are clearly interface to the standard video decoder and
at the wrong angle to be a lane marking. on-screen display. The combination of the In experiments, the initial gradient map
video subsystem and the enhanced direct was very noisy, containing a large number
The zooming and edge comparison process memory access (EDMA) that the processor of unwanted features. The resizing and Microchip o ers design engineers a complete, out-of-the-box solution that makes it easy ORDER YOUR MCP2200EV VCP
is carried out with different zooming ratios supports simplifies considerably the data noise-removal algorithm successfully to add USB connectivity to existing systems.
until most of the unwanted features are transfer from the camera to the processing removes most of the unwanted feature but DEMO BOARD FROM RS TODAY!
removed. Typically, the lanes will remain buffer and from the output buffer to preserve the lane features, showing that The MCP2200EV-VCP USB-to-RS232 Demo Board is a low-cost evaluation tool which is supported
intact because, on a straight road, will the display. If the EDMA and the central the implementation results agree with the with software libraries and a PC based con guration tool, the board removes the burden of
remain approximately in the same position processing unit (CPU) are synchronised theory and are robust.
on the image no matter the scale factor. The perfectly, the memory transfer overhead
thoroughly understanding the USB protocol from system designers, which simpli es the addition
other objects will disappear because they will be reduced to minimum. The possibility of using the on-chip resizer of customizable USB functionality to existing designs.
will not match up in all cases. to interpolate the zooming areas needs to
Based on experiments, ten iterations are The captured frames (test videos are in be further investigated. But the complete The Board serves as a complete USB-to-RS232 converter solution (dongle) and provides USB-to-GPIO
normally sufficient even under very severe NTSC format) are resized to 352 × 240 pixels system is running today in real-time at capability, enabling designers to manipulate the on-chip I/O from the included PC software, so that
conditions. During the edge comparison to reduce the computation, using the on- above 23 frames per second without they can program and test di erent functional con gurations.
process, segmented lane markings will be chip resizer hardware. The resizer is capable the need to write code at the assembly
shortened because of the change in length of generating output images from 1/4× to 4× level and just by managing the memory The whole solution is designed to shorten time-to-market for a variety of applications in addition MCP2200EV-VCP : RS Stock No 699-0448 : ~ £16.00
and position caused by the image scaling. the original image size in increments efficiently. Further optimisation could be
to legacy RS-232 applications. MCP2200-I/MQ : RS Stock No 698-8990 : £1.54
Although they will stay on the same line of 256/N where N is an integer between achieved by identifying the slow parts of
after interpolation, the upper part of the line 64 and 1024. the code and optimise these parts using MCP2200-I/SO : RS Stock No 698-8993 : £1.42
will be erased. intrinsics, linear assembly or assembly. Features: MCP2200-I/SS : RS Stock No 698-8997 : £1.42
The system was implemented can be • Powered via USB
As multiple vanishing points exist on separated into three main parts.The first is
segmented images each of the image edge and vanishing-point detection, which • Test points for all GPIO pins
bands has its own corresponding vanishing takes 16% of the total computation power. • RS232 device and 9-pin D-sub connector for connecting to RS232 applications
point and the results of edge detection Handling multiple vanishing points takes 2% • Tx and Rx LEDs for indicating USB to UART tra c (when enabled)
on each section are compared separately. of compute power.The last component of
• Software for con guring special features of the device
Image content above the vanishing line, the process, digital interpolation and feature
which does not include useful information, extraction, is the most processor hungry,
is not processed in order to reduce the
computational complexity.
taking 82% of the total computation power.
Intelligent Electronics start with Microchip
As the iterative zooming process normally
The system was implemented on a Texas requires ten steps, ten different zooming See our full range of TI digital media
Instruments TMSD6437 Digital Media
Processor, based on the C64+ core which
areas need to be transferred into internal
memory for interpolation and edge
processors available from stock
at rswww.com/ti
rswww.com/microchip
18 eTech - ISSUE 4 The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies.
© 2010, Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. ME276Eng/08.10D