18 Nov 2014 | Tokyo

STMicroelectronics Exhibits Its Latest Embedded Systems Solutions at Embedded Technology 2014

November 19 –21, 2014, PACIFICO Yokohama, Japan (ST Booth: No. F-41) Tokyo / 18 Nov 2014

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, will present its latest embedded systems solutions at Embedded Technology 2014.

Offering a comprehensive product portfolio that covers all of the main components for embedded systems, ST supports a wide range of application areas from Robotics and IoT (Internet of Things) to more conventional fields where there is a growing demand for higher performance, greater miniaturization, and reduced power consumption.

Main solutions at the ST booth:

Brain

The microcontroller (MCU) provides the central control function in embedded systems. The leading supplier of ARM Cortex®-M-core MCUs, ST will exhibit the STM32F7, the world’s first 32-bit MCU based on ARM® Cortex®-M7, announced in September 2014. This product operates at frequencies up to 200 MHz, and uses a 6-stage superscalar pipeline and a floating-point unit (FPU) to produce up to 1000 CoreMarks1. To give visitors a clearer idea of the outstanding performance that the STM32F7 offers, ST compares the speed of the new microcontroller to previous solutions in a demo based on drawing complicated figures on a display. ST will also present various development kits and tools for the STM32 family of ARM-core MCUs, which consists of more than 500 product types with pin and software compatibility.

Robotics

Equipped with a variety of semiconductor solutions, including sensors and a number of different types of ICs, robots are a good example of highly integrated embedded systems. ST will exhibit the humanoid robot, iCub, an example of the advanced robotics research in Europe, developed by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Italy, one of ST’s R&D partners. iCub is a cognitive robot that emulates the learning process of humans by seeing, touching, and listening, and it has been adopted by more than 30 research laboratories worldwide. It has an artificial skin covering its body and it is able to balance on its own legs. iCub is using ST’s MCU, motor-control, and motion-sensing technologies. Its operation is controlled by many ST 32-bit MCUs, acceleration sensors, gyroscopes, and motor-driver ICs. At its booth, ST and IIT staff will show how iCub uses its visual, tactile, and auditory senses to recognize objects on a table and recognize and learn the motions of its operator.

ST will also be exhibiting the ACM-R5H, an amphibious snake-like robot developed by HiBot Corp. designed for inspecting underwater structures and conducing underwater searches. ST’s high-performance 32-bit MCUs are used in the robot’s head as the main controller and in its body to control the motors that give the robot mobility. ST gyroscopes and eCompasses (accelerometer / geomagnetic sensor combos) are used for posture detection. Visitors to the ST booth will be able to see the robot swimming around in a water pool and to watch underwater footage shot by a small video camera mounted on the robot’s head.

Smart agriculture

Agricultural producers are increasingly looking for access to the more efficient technologies offered by smart agriculture. At its booth, ST will demonstrate an environment- sensing technology for smart agriculture that helps maximize production efficiency by collecting the various data needed to optimize plant growth.

Compliant with the 6LoWPAN/MESH IoT technology, ST’s smart-agriculture solution consists of multiple sensor nodes located throughout a farm or a plant factory together with an access point that collects the data acquired by the nodes. Equipped with ST temperature and humidity sensors, pressure sensors, acceleration sensors, and MEMS microphones, these sensor nodes detect humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure, vibrations caused by wind, as well as noise in and around the farm. The detected data are processed by the ultra-low-power 32-bit MCUs installed in each sensor node and then transmitted to the access point via sub-1GHz wireless transceiver ICs. Farmers can retrieve this data from the access point on their mobile device and use the information in preparing an optimal growing environment.

Smart fitness

With electronics now being widely used in fitness, there is a fast-growing business trend for people’s motion data to be collected, stored, and analyzed in new applications and services. ST will demonstrate inertial measurement units (IMUs) made for a fitness apparatus by LP-Research. These units are equipped with 32-bit MCUs, acceleration sensors, gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors, DC-DC converters, and switch controllers. ST will also demonstrate a wristwatch-style optical heart-rate-monitor solution that integrates 32-bit MCUs, acceleration sensors, and communication ICs. This solution is able to detect and visualize, with a high degree of accuracy, the lower-body movements and the heart rate of a person wearing five IMUs on their legs and lower back, together with a wristwatch-style heart-rate meter. Such embedded-system solutions also have the potential to be adapted for use in rehabilitation equipment and gaming applications.

Smart homes

Voice recognition and short-range wireless communication can be used to improve the operability of household equipment and home appliances. The ST booth will host solutions that enable these functions in LED room-lighting systems and home appliances. Equipped with ST’s MEMS microphones, 32-bit MCUs, and Bluetooth ICs, the remote controls for an LED lighting system enable users to turn the lighting on or off and to operate the dimmer control via voice commands. ST will also conduct a demonstration of wireless data communication between an evaluation board for ST’s NFC transceiver ICs and a portable terminal. The NFC transceiver ICs installed in home appliances enable communication with smartphones and tablet PCs, simplifying settings configuration and appliance operation.

ST will also showcase various application examples of STM32, audio-effect GUIs, and TPM (Trusted Platform Module)-equipped secure gateway terminals.

About STMicroelectronics

ST is a global leader in the semiconductor market serving customers across the spectrum of sense and power and automotive products and embedded processing solutions. From energy management and savings to trust and data security, from healthcare and wellness to smart consumer devices, in the home, car and office, at work and at play, ST is found everywhere microelectronics make a positive and innovative contribution to people’s life. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.

In 2013, the company’s net revenues were $8.08 billion. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com

1 CoreMark is an industry-standard benchmark developed by the Embedded Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) to measure MCU performance using a suite of application-code algorithms assembled to reflect real-world operation.