1. technology and computing

Fall 2012
How to use E-paper
An easy shortcut to demos
and proof-of-concept
From Pervasive Displays we are now able to provide E-paper hardware and related software
for our customers. Read more on page 07.
This issue is about:
02
F&S launching new
ARM based modules
04
ROBUSTEL – LTE/4G/
GSM/ GPRS products for
DIN-Rail mounting
05
RECOM - Your choice
for power
06
Transpixel LCD
technology used in new
digital sinage solutions
Please visit us on booth
1724 at E-12 in Odense
11.-13. September
Support
Solutions
Sales
Competence on products
Competence within networking
Competence on market & segments
Easy test and
development on
EDT’s PCAP sensors
Even simple modules
can provide a
complete solution
M-Comp is now able to provide E-paper hardware and
related software solutions
Besides providing PCAP sensors
for sample evaluation, M-COMP
can also provide technical documentation.
Based on the customers requirements M-COMP takes care of the
production and logistics involved in
supplying an inter-connection PCB.
Danish signage companies explore
the possibilities using Eco-Sign
E-paper based products to expand
their business portfolio.
Read more on page 03.
Read more on page 08.
Read more on page 07.
Moment
M-Comp A/S
Hecovej 6
8722 Hedensted
Denmark
Tlf. +45 9669 5000
Editor
Lars Nordberg-Hansen
Tlf. +45 8753 8810
lnh@m-comp.dk
Editorial employees
Erik Sandholm
Carsten Birch
Sune Meyer
Lars Agerberg
Michael Friis Jespersen
Layout and print
Stormes Grafisk
Printed in 9,000 copies
M-Comp have received ISO9001:2008
certification on June 21st, 2012
By: Lars Nordberg-Hansen,
lnh@m-comp.dk
M-Comp is proud to announce
that we managed to complete
our ISO9001:2008 project as
scheduled before July 1st. During the process of implementing ISO9001:2008 we have found
numerous ways to improve our
performance and the support to
our customers. It is clear that
this project will provide excellent
added value for our customers.
M-Comp very much appreciates
the trust shown to our team
by our customers and we are
therefore very focused on turning work into value for our customers.
Meet us at E-12 in Odense
We are as
usual backing up local exhibitions as we are sure
this provide value for the many
busy engineers in the Danish
electronics industry who cannot
easily take out days to travel to
an international exhibition, but
most likely can take out some
F&S launching new ARM based modules
By Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
The all-new modules from F&S
in the Pico-ITX form-factor covers an even wider range of customer demands for easy start
and low-cost using the latest
ARM based CPU‘s
The concept of the ArmStone
PICOITX is to provide a small
form-factor SBC with standard
connectors for LAN, USB, HDMI
and SD cards. Using the built-in
feature connector, it is possible
to expand with extra I/O options
and connectivity. ASTONE is the
name of the adapter board providing extra RS232/485 and CAN
bus interfaces.
Specifications: armStoneA8
with WCE6.0/ WCE7 or Linux
Advantages are: Short design
time and cost-optimized solution options – ideal for most
customers that prefer not to
make their own baseboard design, a task taking up many
resources thus prolonging the
time to market.
ASTONE-ADP-UNI1
hours.
We will this year have focus on
our modules – in particular projected capacitive touch which
requires a lot of support in the
integration process, as well as
E-paper and transparent LCD’s.
All of these areas are the future
for many applications that until
today have not been able to implement touch or displays for
example due to requirements
for low power consumption or an
IP67 enclosure.
Apart from the above focus, we
will show more conventional
modules for industrial use, like
high-bright TFT panels, Industrial PC products either on board
level or as a complete embedded
solution. Such solutions can either be delivered as a complete
product from one of our suppliers, or we can do the assembly
on our own ISO9001:2008 certified factory in Hedensted.
Remember: Seeing is Believing
Please do not forget that MComp offers a wide range of
demo units which you can borrow to test technology which
your company may consider to
implement in the future. This is
all the way from ARM based units
with implemented P-CAP driver
and display, to E-Paper modules
in demo kits, or just conventional
display kits.
We Make Your Solution
a Standard Stock Item
•
•
•
•
•
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Cortex A8-800MHz (1GHz) Samsung CPU
TFT up to WXGA (1ch LVDS), HDMI/ DVI up
to 1080p/H264 decoder 1080p@30fps
256MB (512 MB) RAM, 128MB (1GB) Flash
MicroSD Card Slot, 4 wire/ cap. touch)
1-2x Ethernet 10/100MB,
USB2.0 Device, USB2.0 Host
1x SPI, 1x I2C, 3x RS232, 1x CAN, Audio
(Lin IN, Lin OUT, MIC)
5V (4W typ.), 100x72mm (Pico-ITX)
0+70C (-25+85C*)
•
•
•
•
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Adapter board to connect with
armStone (feature connector)
Audio Lin IN, LINE OUT, MIC (jack plug)
2x RS232 (DSUB9)
D/A and GPIO and CAN (pin connector)
PicoITX form factor, 66 Pin connector
Our M-Complete service where
we take the responsibility of
building and stocking your designed module is being very well
received by the supply chain
management at our customers.
Please do remember to bring
along your requests, concepts or
ideas to E-12 - or of course just
call us at any given time.
Competence
on
products
Support
Easy test and development on EDT’s PCAP sensors
By Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
Bringing a PCAP sensor to life
in a design - or to test the features/functionality of the sensor - can be quite a difficult task
to solve. With EDT, M-COMP
provide extended support to
our customers. The EDT PCAP
sensor technology is based on
EDT’s own design using the
FocalTech controller.
EDT has produced a small HID
PCB (I²C to USB) for testing the
series EP0xx0M06 Capacitive
touch. The small HID print supports the EDT PCAP sizes 3.5”,
4.3”, 5.7” to 7.0”. The input from
the PCAP to the I²C to USB is
a 10-pin ZIF and a USB Mini-B
plug for the interface to a PC
with Microsoft Windows® 7.
Besides providing PCAP sensors for sample evaluation, MCOMP can also provide technical documentation with detailed
description on how to interface
and control the PCAP sensor.
The hardware is a Silabs F321
with a 8051 core. Upon attaching the USB board to the PC,
Microsoft Windows® 7 will start
up Flicks. Flicks is a small software program that comes preinstalled on Microsoft Windows®
7.
Following the documentation
step by step, customers will with
a functioning MCU platform with
I²C interface be able to bring up
the PCAP sensor in functional
mode in less than a days work.
Flicks has some predefined
functions, such as using single
tap or double tap with a finger.
Flicks also works with finger
gestures in a web browser with
a possibility to customize the
gestures.
If you wish to work with the PCAP sensor on a more detailed level
in a Windows environment EDT can also provide an interface
board which we have described in earlier issues of MOMENT.
This board gives full control on testing different settings on the
FocalTech controller such as gain, offset, threshold etc.
New 7” Hi-Resolution TFT Module from EDT,
1024x600 Pixel Wide Viewing Angle
INFO
The module comes with the following characteristics:
•
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•
Wide viewing angle
Long term availability
LVDS interface with selectable 18/24 bit color depth
PCAP and resistive touch sensor option
1024x600, LED backlight 350 NIT
Operating temp: -20 to +70 degrees.
In the evolving series of 7” TFT modules from EDT we are now
able to provide a high-resolution version of the 7” TFT module.
ROBUSTEL – LTE/4G/GSM/GPRS
products for DIN-Rail mounting
By Michael Friis Jespersen,
mfj@m-comp.dk
Robustel is a Chinese manufacturer of communication
products for DIN-rail mounting
in industrial applications. The
product range has recently been
completed by a new LTE/4G
version of the highly popular
M1000-series of products.
The new products support data
transmission speeds up to
100Mbps for downloads and up
to 50Mbps for upload of data,
depending on network support
and coverage. This is supported
by a USB 2.0 interface for the
customer applications and as
such providing a complete wireless broadband connection.
A GPS receiver is available as an
option for specific models in the
M1000 series. The wireless modem supports a wide range of
input voltages from 9 to 36 VDC,
and the metal enclosure can be
mounted on a DIN-rail or on a
wall, even with support of extra
grounding.
The Robustel M1000 products
encompass a vast range of fea-
tures and options, such as:
• Antenna diversity
• Control via standard AT
commands
• A comprehensive SDK is
available for usage on
Windows® and Linux
platforms
Applications for the M1000 products could be digital signage,
remote
metering/controls,
vending machine controls, unmanned petrol stations, IT and
telecom in general, video surveillance, transportation, buil-
ding automation and so on; Anywhere a wireless high speed
connection is required is where
the Robustel M1000 LTE/4G
products will be the right match.
For applications with fewer
requirements for high speed
data, such as SMS commands
to control a PLC application,
the Robustel M1000 series also
include cost-efficient products
with GPRS or CSD support for
easy SMS interface using AT
commands.
UPS without batteries
By Lars Agerberg, lag@m-comp.dk
Tri-M is introducing a NoBattery UPS Power Solution,
TUP1000, A DC-DC converter
using ultra capacitors and with
a fully programmable power
output of +4.5VDC to +12.6VDC.
When and why to use capacitors and not batteries?
In embedded systems suffering from one ore more of these
characteristics/needs:
TOP1000 can produce 35 watts
@ +5VDC or 42 Watts @ +12VDC
and has a wide input voltages
spec of +4.5V to +33V DC. It
has up to 96% efficiency with
a temperature range of -40°C
to +85°C. Active input voltage
clamping and reverse polarity
short circuit makes it a real rugged product.
PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PC/104Express™, EPIC, EBX, Mini-ITX,
and SUMIT.
Extendible
If you expect longer outages or
have a high powered application you can extend the capability simply by connecting one
of Tri-M’s high-capacity CBP
modules. These ultracapacitor
packs work seamlessly with the
TUP1000 to provide continuous
power during extended outages.
TUP1000 meets the SFF standard. SFF (Small Form Factor) includes the following standards:
INFO
When
• Low maintenance costs
• Transient problems
• Short and frequent power
losses
• Temperatures out of office
standards
• Shock and vibration
problems
Why
• Guaranteed for 500K
charge cycles
• 10000W transient suppression
• Charging in less than 10 seconds
• -40°C to +85°C
• Tested to meet
MIL-STD-810G2
New Futaba VF-Displays
with touch function and
intelligent CIG controller
RECOM
– Your choice
for power
By Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
By Sune Meyer, sm@m-comp.dk
Futaba has released a new
graphic VFD product line with
capacitive touch sensors and
intelligent CIG (Chip-in-Glass)
controller. First display versions
are available with resolutions of
256 x 64, 128x64 and 125 x 85
pixels with up to 24 sensors.
Main advantages of Futaba VFD
touch sensors are cost efficient
construction, which is integrated into VFD manufacturing process, protected robust design
and possibilities for “Hidden until lit / Black Panel” effect by using plastic or glass front filters.
The new CIG controllers allow easiest software control and substantial display cost
reduction.
Key advantages of Vacuum Fluorescent Displays, which also apply for these new touch sensor
& CIC controller designs, are
excellent wide distance recognition and viewing angle as well
as wide operating temperature
of -40 to 85°C and fast reaction
time for smooth scrolling performance.
Different display colors can be
achieved by using multicolor
front filters.
Whether talking about LED driving or power conversion for AC/
DC and DC/DC, the product portfolio of German based RECOM is
a great choice for your application.
With features such as minimal
power conversion efficiency
loss, low output ripple noise
and focus on low power consumption, RECOM puts itself at
the very front of the field when
addressing current needs and
demands of its target audience. When choosing a RECOM
LED Driver or Power Converter,
there is also the obvious advantage of reducing development time and cost, as well as
eliminating the process of obtaining necessary product certifications, all of which are often
overlooked aspects. Keeping
this in mind, let us move on to
recent RECOM product news.
R-78C Switching Regulator
– the Next Generation
TW001GIN
8 Touch-Sensoren
Contrast enhancement
Futaba has addressed the ongoing problem of VFD filter supply,
by a new cooperation with filter
supplier Rosco.
Rosco offers with the product
portfolio, E-Colour a large variety of cost-efficient contrast &
colour filters suitable for VFD.
Also E-Colour demo filter sets
are available for customer evaluation.
Generally we re-emphasize,
that for VFD displays a ND contrast or colour filter is mandatory to improve contrast & visibility.
TW002GINK
256x64 Pixel
24 Touch-Sensoren
The existing features of the
standard R-78 series (high efficiency, small case size and
pin-compatibility with 78-series
linear regulators) have been
improved by adding a much
higher input voltage range of up
to 42VDC and double the output
power in the same size case.
The R-78C series offers 15W/
cm³ of power.
Not only does the R-78C have
consistent efficiency, it has also
low output ripple (20-40mVpp) and can meet Class B EMC
with a simple low pass filter.
The standard output voltage options are 1.8V, 3.3V, 5V, 9V, 12C
and 15V all with 1A continuous
output current and 3A peak current.
The output is overload and short
circuit protected. The ambient
operating temperature covers the full industrial range
of -40°C to +85°C and the high
conversion efficiency makes
heat-sinking unnecessary. The
converter is EN60950 certified,
RoHS 6/6 conform and comes
with RECOM’s standard 3 year
warranty. The MTBF is specified by MIL-HDBK 217F at +25°C
with 8.6 million hours.
Truck dashboard: Before enhancement
Truck dashboard: After enhancement
with contrast filter
Competence
on markets
and segments
Sales
Media player with
long term
availability
By: Carsten Birch, cb@m-comp.dk
Axiomtek has designed DSB310, a low power fanless media
player with excellent graphics
capability. DSB-310 uses the
AMD G-Series T40E processor
that is a low power dual core
CPU with graphics processing
that is able to decode a vast majority of video formats via the
hardware.
The box is designed to take a
2.5” HDD meaning endless storage space for media files. In addition, DSB-310 can be ordered
with built-in Wi-Fi for seamless
network access. DSB-310 supports HDMI/DVI through cable
connection to the display port.
On the back cover of DSB-310
there is a 100x100 mm VESA
mounting bracket – this can be
complemented by an Axiomtek
wall mount bracket.
Fanless Slim
15.6” panel PC
with Dual-Core
Intel Atom CPU
By: Carsten Birch, cb@m-comp.dk
Axiomtek have introduced GOT
615-801, an industrial 15.6” Panel
PC with touchscreen. The new
design from Axiomtek makes it
possible to install this Panel PC in
almost any environment. On the
back cover of GOT615-801 there
is a 100x100 mm VESA mount,
which can be used with a VESA
arm or Axiomtek can even provide
a wall mount bracket. Axiomtek
has chosen a resistive touch-
screen technology as this type of
touchscreen can be operated using all types of inputs, like fingers,
when wearing gloves, using a stylus etc.
GOT615-801 uses the Intel Atom
D525 1.86GHz dual core CPU
which ensures superb performance at very low power. There
is also a PCIe mini card expansion
slot which can be used for an endless row of communication like
Wi-Fi, GSM, 4G/LTE etc.
TransPixel LCD technology used in
new digital signage solutions
By: Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
As you may have seen in several
Hollywood movies, transparent
displays are used in for example forensics situations or in
science fiction movies, to give
viewers the feel of a hi-tech look
into the future of what could be
become a new usage of display
technologies.
Today transparent display technology is readily available for
customers to implement and
use. The current focus area for
this kind of technology is for example digital signage solutions.
The TransPixel products from
LiteMax are the latest developments in a series of turnkey
solutions for the digital signage
market. Customers are able to
integrate their preferred focus
products into the TransPixel
solutions and thereby easily displaying real live products in the
world of digital media.
The TransPixel unit comes with
built-in media player. Content
can be upgraded via USB of LAN
and can be managed based on preset
schedules.
17.2” Transparent LCD Display
STD1713 is an innovative transparent
display with LED backlight, providing
very low power consumption. The unit
is plug-and-play compatible for digital
signage, exhibition halls, department
stores or the like.
KEY FEATURES
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17.2” with 1366x52 pixel
Transparent LCD Display
Brightness 500 nits
Ultra Wide Screen (16 :6)
•
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LED Backlight
Easy and simple magnetic
frame cover – can be
delivered in various colours
How to use E-paper, an easy shortcut
to demo’s and proof-of-concept
By: Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
From Pervasive Displays we are
now able to provide E-paper
hardware and related software
for our customers that would
like to evaluate and explore the
possibilities in using E-paper
technology.
Pervasive Displays have launched a small 1.44” demo unit in a
small box which in an easy way
let the customers understand
the benefit of e-paper technology. Via a USB cable connection,
you are able to send black-andwhite images directly to the display.
Demo features and developer
kit The multi-functional E-paper
demo kit features three operation modes:
Standalone mode
• Battery powered slide show
of images preloaded through
USB with up to 4 pre-loaded
images
• Images preloaded through
USB interface
• Allows for 10 hours of con
tinuous operation
• Battery, rechargeable
through USB connection
USB mode
• Allows writing images direct ly to the display using a PC
• PC Software (Java-based)
included
Development mode
• Configuration for easy
integration into your
embedded system:
• SPI interface
• Display fully accessible
via the SPI interface for
fast system integration
• Separate display
controllers available
with the same interface
For customers who would
like to explore more about
the possibilities in e-paper
integration, Pervasive Displays can also provide a
complete HW and SW solution for making e-paper
based digital signage. With
the Eco-Sign the customer can
choose a 7.4” or a 10.2” E-paper
display in a slim chassis that
includes battery and ZigBee radio.
The Eco-Sign solution consists
of the E-paper display, ZigBee
gateways, Windows® software
and API. The ZigBee network
is self-organizing and can easily be extended to cover a larger
area by adding repeaters.
The ease of installation and the
rechargeable battery of this
“paper-like” display make the
Pervasive Displays Eco-Sign a
perfect solution for office automation, electronic signage/ePOP and other applications
where low power and wireless
updates are paramount requirements.
Features hardware
• Sunlight readable and
almost 180-degree viewing
angle
• Over one year battery
lifetime without recharging
• Slim design, easy integration
using VESA mounts.
• Transmission
• Ultra-low power IEEE
802.15.4 standard – ZigBee
2.4GHz
• Encrypted packet security
with 128 bits AES
• DHCP addressable bridge
Transmitter (ZigBee Coor dinator) has RJ45 port which
is IP addressable gateway
converting data from
Ethernet to ZigBee wireless
• Each Coordinator/Router
covers a large area around
10,000 sq. feet or 1000 sq.
meters
Features software
• Update and control devices
from central system
(Freeware)
• Support for image, text,
database, barcode, QR-Code
and several objects in
powerful template design
tool to design layouts
• API for Windows
environment
Exploring the possibilities
One of M-COMP’s customers
who are very much involved in
digital information technology
are currently exploring the possibilities using Eco-Sign products to expand their portfolio.
M-Comp is currently working
with a customer that is a major
manufacturer of digital signage
solutions and information systems. This customer have been
looking for new technology and
solutions that have a “green”
profile, and with E-paper this
goal can be archived compared
to standard TFT technologies.
Competent cooperations
Competence
within
networking
Solutions
Even simple modules can provide
a complete solution
By Erik Sandholm, es@m-comp.dk
M-COMP supply a wide variety of
special items to our customer’s
products and projects, ranging
from special cables to more complex circuit boards. We do this to
make it easier for our customers
to focus on the process of bringing a solution fast to the end-customer. As we all know, missing
one small item being a part of a
total solution can stop the whole
supply process. Our goal and ability is to assist our customers as
much as possible bringing their
products to market. In a certain
project it involved a small, low
complexity design in order for the
customer to be able to make a
monitor product with special approvals for harsh environments.
Based on
the customers requirements
M-COMP takes care
of the production and logistics involved in supplying an
inter-connection PCB. This interconnection PCB was needed to
make an easier connection to the
various other modules inside the
monitor ( AD
board, OSD
panel, USB port
etc.) For the same
customer M-Comp also supply a
custom designed OSD board with
built-in waterproof buzzer.
Contact us
Denmark
M-Comp A/S
Hecovej 6
8722 Hedensted
Denmark
Sverige
M-Comp AB
Kyrkogatan 5
172 32 Sundbyberg
Sweden
Finland
M-Comp Finland
Malminkaari 23 A
FI-00700 Helsinki
Finland
Tlf. +45 9669 5000
info@m-comp.dk
Tel.: +46 856 485 599
info@m-comp.se
Tel.: +358 9 4259 7875
info@m-comp.fi
We are a Nordic based company, which is driven by and based on
the knowledge and experience of our colleagues, partners and our
international network. Our over all aim is to provide our customers
the best solutions and easy access to the newest know-how through
modular electronic component combined with effective logistics.
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