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Create Virtual CPUs
Using CPU Sim
CPU Sim is a software that lets you create CPU architectures of your choice,
create and edit assembly languages, and run them on the simulated CPU using
machine language
Anagha P.
U
nderstanding the concepts of
computer organisation and
architecture is difficult by just
reading about it. Hands-on experience
is required to fully grasp the subject.
Unfortunately, providing this experi-
ence can be difficult due to the lack of
availability and high cost in setting up
labs with necessary hardware. Moreo-
ver, the time required by the users to
familiarise with the tools for working
with hardware is also significant. In
order to solve this problem, some cen-
tral processing unit (CPU) simulator
programs were developed. But most
of these software packages could simu-
late only fixed architectures.
Why you should learn
to use CPU Sim
The idea that you should have ex-
posure to as many different archi-
tectures as possible and hands-on
experience to design your very own
simple architectures is what led to
the development of CPU Sim. It is an
interactive simulator that allows you
to understand computer architectures
and organisations, design your own
architectures from scratch, or mod-
ify the given architectures. You can
write the programs using machine
language or Assembly language and
run them on the virtual CPU. You can
also specify details of the CPU to be
simulated, such as register set, micro-
instruction set, machine instruction
set, memory and Assembly language
instructions. The software was based
www.efymag.com
Main window
on STARTLE simulator developed
by JM Kerridge of the University of
Sheffield.
What the user gets
By using CPU Sim, you can get hands-
on experience on the following subjects
of computer organisation and archi-
tecture:
1. Representation of numeric data
and their number bases
2. Non-numeric data representation
3. Microprogrammed realisation
of the CPU (where control signals are
generated by a microcode/micropro-
gram stored in the control read-only
memory)
4. Operation of control unit: in-
Electronics For You Plus | August 2014
EFY Plus DVD
struction fetch, decode
and execution
5. Instruction types
(data manipulation,
memory architecture, reg-
isters, interrupt, control,
external I/O)
6. Instruction formats
7. Assembly language
programming and ma-
chine language program-
ming
8. Addressing modes
of CPU
9. Main memory or-
ganisation and operations
Understanding and
using CPU Sim does not
require in-depth knowl-
edge of a high-level lan-
guage, but an apprecia-
tion of concepts involved
in high-level language
programming is an advantage.
What you can do with it
CPU Sim is a complete development
environment. This software allows
creating or modifying a simulated
CPU including units such as registers,
microinstructions, machine instruc-
tions and RAM, and specifying its
features.
You can create, edit and execute
Assembly language programs for this
virtually created CPU. It has built-
in features and dialogue boxes that
help you design CPU architecture,
text editor where you can write and
edit the Assembly language program,
assembler and separate displays for
I
 EFY Plus DVD
CPU Sim Facts
License type Freeware
Author Dale Skrien, Department of
Computer Science, Colby
College
Operating system Windows, Linux, OSX
Latest version CPU Sim 3.9.0
Disk space 7.9 MB
Other Java runtime environment
requirement(s) (JRE) 1.5 or later
viewing RAM and registers during
execution.
It has several features that make
debugging easier. For instance, you
can execute the assembled programs
either continuously or step-by-step.
It allows inspecting or changing any
of the values in the register or RAM
windows and resuming execution or
stepping forward or backward during
the execution. If an error is detected
during assembling in the program
to be run, it is highlighted in the text
editor.
What makes it special
The architecture of CPU Sim is de-
signed at register-transfer level. This
means the basic units of the hypotheti-
cal CPU are registers, condition bits
and memory (RAM). The user does
not have to deal with logic gates or
transistors on the digital logic level of
the machine.
CPU Sim is developed purely us-
ing Java Swing package. This makes
the program run on any computer
with Java runtime environment (JRE)
installed in it, irrespective of the plat-
form (Windows, Linux or OSX) it runs
on.
When you start CPU Sim, the win-
dow comes with a loaded hypothetical
CPU known as Wombat1. Here you
can assemble and run a program for
that architecture. You can also create a
new virtual CPU from scratch by going
to File > New Machine.
Why CPU Sim
XSIM Computer Simulator, DLX Simu-
lator, HiRISC Simulator, Simple Com-
puter Emulator and TOM (Thoroughly
II August 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
Installation
1. Confirm that Java runtime environment (JRE) 1.5 is installed in the computer. If not,
download it (free) from http://java.sun.com/ (Java comes installed with OSX)
2. If necessary, fix your Path system variable so that it includes the directory installed
with Java, in which the Java interpreter application is located. (Not required for OSX)
3. Unzip CPUSim3.9.0.zip file, which produces two folders, CPUSim3.9.0 and
MACOSX
4. Start CPU Sim
Windows: In the folder CPUSim3.9.0, double click on the batch file CPUSim.bat and
the program opens automatically. If a window Wombat1 does not open, check again if you
have the suitable version of JRE installed in your computer.
OSX: To install the English language version of CPU Sim, double-click on
CPUSim3.9.0.app. For Chinese version, double-click on CPUSim3.9.0.Chinese.app file.
Linux (or for those who prefer using Command Prompt/Terminal Window):
1. Open the command prompt or terminal window and navigate to the folder
CPUSim3.9.0.
2. Type the following commands for their respective operating system, in a single line:
 For Windows:
java -cp CPUSim3.9.jar;jhall.jar;CPUSimHelp3.9.jar cpusim.Main
 For OSX and Linux:
java -cp CPUSim3.9.jar:jhall.jar:CPUSimHelp3.9.jar cpusim.Main
3. The following four additional optional arguments can be added to the command
line, in any order:
-m <machine file name>
-t <text (assembly program) file name>
-l <language>
-c
The -m flag is used to indicate the machine file to be loaded into CPU Sim during start
up. If a text file is specified using -t flag, that file is opened during start up. The language
for display menus and dialogues can be indicated by the -l file (-l English or -l Chinese).
If -l file is not specified, it opens in the default English language. The -c flag (which can
be used only together with -t and -m flags) indicates that the Java Swing GUI should not
be used, and the corresponding text file and machine file will be loaded and run from the
command line. The -p flag is used to specify property files (files that contain information
like the preferred fonts, register, RAM windows, and recently opened machine and text
files) and is used to load them into CPU Sim during start up.
easy user interface and appealing
view are additional advantages.
Support
CPU Sim has a very comprehen-
sive help guide provided in the
menu bar (Help > General CPU
Sim Help). The installation pack-
age also contains a PDF document
Sample assembly language (CPUSim3.4UserManual.pdf) that
explains how various functions are
Obedient Moron) Computer Simulator performed using this software. It
are some of the CPU simulator tools also includes tutorials with sample
we found online that have features assignments that can be run on CPU
similar to CPU Sim. Though most of Sim. Questions and comments can be
these are available for free, they lack directly sent to the author Dale Skrien
many of the features available in CPU by e-mail. Visit CPU Sim home page
Sim. This software is simple enough www.cs.colby.edu/djskrien/CPUSim
for self-learning and to work with, yet for details. 
rich enough to thoroughly understand
the concepts and build on them. An The author is a technical correspondent at EFY
www.efymag.com

Simulate Your PIC
Microcontroller Using gpsim
In this article, we explore the features and advantages of gpsim by analysing
the step-by-step procedure to simulate PIC microcontroller using this tool.
gpsim is available for Linux operating system on the DVD accompanying this
month’s issue of EFY Plus
Sneha Ambastha
g
psim is a free software simula-
tion tool for PIC microcontrollers
from Microchip, which has been
designed to be fast enough to simulate
PICs at a speed of about 20MHz. Its
accurate design makes it comparable to
using a real PIC microcontroller from
the core to the I/O pins and even all
the internal peripherals.
Why it is noteworthy
It is mostly written in C++, which ena-
bles it to easily implement a hierarchi-
cal model of a PIC. This in turn enables
it to use the inheritance property of
C++, which allows the various models
Three important functions
1. Complex debugging with in-circuit
emulators
2. Provides a means to access virtual
functions like execute and name
3. Sets read and write break points on
values
Competitors to gpsim
 Real PIC Simulator
 PICsim
 Oshon Simulator
 PIC Development Studio
System requirements
1. No minimum hardware requirement
2. Two packages, readline and gtk (the
gimp tool kit), are pre-installed in a
Linux distribution like Ubuntu
3. Utility package, gputils
www.efymag.com
of PIC to share a relationship. By be-
ing designed to support all the three
families of PIC (12-bit core, 14-bit core
and 16-bit core), this tool eliminates
the need of a different simulator for a
different core. gpsim’s accuracy allows
it to test the PIC in the same way as it
would be in a real world.
Why use this tool
Currently, there are so many software
simulators available for PIC that it
Fig. 1: Register reviewer
Fig. 2: Source browser
Electronics For You Plus | August 2014
EFY Plus DVD
becomes obvious for engineers to ask:
Why use gpsim? A simple answer
to this is that, being a free and open
source software, unlike most of its
serious competition, gpsim enjoys the
FOSS community support.
gpsim has the following benefits
that make it superior to all the other
simulators available in the market:
Easy debugging with three-control
option. gpsim is capable of being con-
trolled from either a graphical user
interface (GUI) by a remote process
or by a command line interface (CLI).
Although the tool is by default config-
ured for GUI, it can also be configured
for CLI and remote process later.
No hardware requirements. gpsim
does not require any minimum hard-
ware specification and so can be built
and run on any popular Linux distri-
bution. Moreover, it is not limited to
Linux and has also been
ported to other operating
systems like Microsoft
Windows, BSD, MAC
and Solaris.
Supports loadable
modules. This feature
enables gpsim to add all
other devices that are
totally separate from this
tool. It allows users to
customise a simulation
environment.
Allows easy inspec-
tion. At times, a his-
tory or a trace of the work
helps inspect its current
status and to analyse the
III
 EFY Plus DVD

How to compile and install cause of the bugs. gpsim helps diag-
nose the bugs providing that history.
Since we have seen that some users find the installation to be a challenge, here are the steps to
extract and convert this tool into an executable file: Additional benefits
As discussed before, gpsim can be easily installed in Linux/Unix environment. However, through supportive tools
gpsim is available in compressed format and should be converted to an executable format for
installation: gpsim has the following supportive
1. Create a parent subdirectory for gpsim (example, gnupic) tools that help it in simulation:
$ mkdir ~/gnupic Register reviewer. gpsim has two
(you can choose whatever directory name you like) similar register windows that provide
2. Copy the tar ball to this directory and expand it: data for RAM and EEPROM. It allows
$ cd ~/gnupic
you to see all registers in the current
$ mv the_path_of_where_ever_the_tarball_is/gpsim-0.x.y.tar.gz .
$ tar -xvzf gpsim-0.x.y.tar.gz processor, with their display names
(Where ‘x.y’ is the release number. As per the software in the DVD ‘x.y’ is ‘27.0’) and values. The register viewer pro-
These commands will create a subdirectory called gpsim-0.x.y. All of gpsim’s source code vides the following functions:
will be untarred here. 1. One can not only set read, write
3. cd gpsim-0.x.y and break point values but also clear
4. ./configure each break point on the registers
This will check your system for the proper tools necessary to build gpsim and then it will
2. Writes and reads of specific data
create Makefiles.
5. make all can be logged in
This will create the executable. 3. Cells can be copied just by drag-
6. su root ging the borders of the selected cells
Su or root privileges are required to complete the installation. If you don’t have root privileges 4. The content of one cell can be
or don’t wish to install gpsim in the /usr/local/bin directory, check the steps on building without copied to another cell
root privileges. 5. ‘Add watch’ allows one to watch
7. make install
the register values
This copies the executable file into the /usr/local/bin subdirectory.
The last and final step is to install gpsim: Source browser. gpsim has two
1. Use the following codes: source browsers: .asm and .obj. The
cd $HOME/compiling .asm is a colour-coded display of the
tar xzvf gpsim-VERSION-tar.gz PIC source whereas the .obj provides
cd gpsim-VERSION- an opcode view. The opcode view has
./configure --with-exdbm=$HOME/localinst/eXdbm --prefix=$HOME/localinst/gpsim memory cell on one line and informa-
make install
tion related to disassembly, address
cd $HOME
2. Edit your shell configuration and add something like: and hexadecimal value on the other.
export PATH=”$PATH”:$HOME/localinst/gpsim/bin Breadboard. It not only allows one
3. Re-login to let changes take effect. to create/modify and examine the
As these files were only needed for compiling and installation, they can be removed. To PIC environment but also helps to in-
remove these files you can use the commands: stantiate PIC processor from the com-
rm -rf $HOME/compiling/eXdbm mand line or from .stc file. In simple
rm -rf $HOME/compiling/gpsim
language, it helps in creating a correct
rm -rf $HOME/compiling/gtk+extra
Use the following link to build and install gpsim on Windows: http://gpsim.sourceforge.net/ configuration to test the source code.
gpsimWin32/gpsimWin32.html You can create code just by a click and
also connect to those nodes for a bet-

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IV August 2014 | Electronics For You Plus www.efymag.com


ter configuration just with the help of
gpsim’s breadboard.
Scope window. gpsim also has a
scope window that provides a graphi-
Fig. 3: Breadboard
Fig. 4: Source Window1
Fig. 5: Source Window2
www.efymag.com
cal view of the I/O pin states in the
same way as a logic analyser. It can be
controlled either from the GUI or from
the command line.
What users
have to say
We realise that a journal-
ist’s conclusion might not
be as accurate as that of
an actual user. Therefore
we are reproducing be-
low some reviews on this
tool from the sourceforge.
net and edaboard.com
communities:
1. “Step debugging
Electronics For You Plus | August 2014
EFY Plus DVD
of assembly code with virtual bread-
board, watch, scope, and supports
stimulus files and graphical periph-
eral module simulation. Wow! This is
worth money!”
2. “Made my transition from High
Level development to embedded de-
velopment world much easier. Works
great with 16F series. Waiting for the
kinks to unwind in the 18F series.
Great job, developers and maintain-
ers!!”
3. “I found to manage the nice
free and open source PIC simulator
gpsim. It has GUI and animation also.
Earlier I tried it, but it crashed after
‘Add library’ (libgpsim_modules.dll
on windows). I used the latest ver-
sion—0.25.1. But the good news is,
earlier version 0.24.0 works perfectly.
I was also having problem in using
USART module correctly (on Linux).
This is also solved.” 
The author is a technical journalist at EFY. The
article is based on the gpsim document from
Sourceforge.net
V
 EFY Plus DVD
Magic: An Interactive
VLSI Layout Tool
Magic layout tool has the capability to incorporate expertise about design rules
and connectivity directly into a layout system in order to implement some powerful
interactive operations
Pankaj V.
M
agic is an easy-to-use VLSI
layout tool that has been
popular with universities
and small companies. It can be seen
as an open source EDA alternative to
the various commercial EDA tools out
there. It provides many useful features
for streamlining your product design
flow.
What’s noteworthy
about Magic
Magic uses simplified design rules and
circuit structures that make design-
ing easier, but produces circuits that
are of lower density than what you
Magic screenshot
VI August 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
would get with more complex rules
and structures. This density sacrifice is,
however, compensated by the reduced
design time. Magic permits only Man-
hattan designs, that is, where edges are
either vertical or horizontal.
Magic combines circuit knowledge
with an interactive editor interface to
speed up your manufacturing design
processes. It allows you to enter and
modify your designs quickly. The
built-in knowledge of layout rules,
circuits and transistors, and the knowl-
edge of efficient routing, helps you
re-arrange your circuit as a circuit,
and not just a collection of geometrical
objects. This makes any modification
process more efficient and less com-
plex. Most importantly, it allows you
to focus on your design while the soft-
ware takes care of mundane tasks like
following layout rules.
Now let us have a look at some key
features that set it apart from the other
layout editors available.
Efficient corner-stitching
technique
Like most layout editors, Magic also
uses cells. However, the contents
of these cells are represented using
corner-stitching technique, which
provides efficient searching options
and allows for quick modification of
the database.
Each point in the x-y plane is con-
tained in exactly one tile and
empty space is represented ex-
plicitly. These tiles are linked
together at their corners. This
allows for fast and efficient
algorithms for searching, crea-
tion or deletion. Though it re-
quires more storage space, this
technique allows for efficient
two-dimensional searches and
permits fast updates.
Interactive interface
Magic is usable through an
interface that features colour
graphics and also allows the
use of a mouse to design basic
cells. These basic cells can be
hierarchically combined to
make larger structures. The
tool also provides multiple
overlapping windows that can
refer to different portions of
a single cell or to completely
www.efymag.com

different cells altogether. This way
you can see an overall view of the chip
while zooming in one or more than one
piece of the chip, and you can precisely
align large components. Additionally,
it enables you to easily copy informa-
tion from one window to the other.
Interactive router
A key feature and an aid to manual
routing in this layout tool is its interac-
tive router, Irouter, which provides an
interface to the internal maze router.
You can perform routing at one con-
nection at a time, specifying the start-
ing and the end point prior to each
connection.
What’s more, you can decide the
order in which signals should be rout-
ed and how multi-point nets should
be decomposed into point-to-area con-
nections. But the interactive router is
not a fully automated router, so it will
not consider the interactions between
nets and thus net decomposition is not
automatic.
The special Magic ‘hint’ layers will
allow you to control the nature of the
routes. Typically, you can determine
the overall path of a connection and
leave the ‘design-rule check’ and ‘de-
touring’ around or over minor obsta-
cles to the router tool itself.
Design-rule check with
error paints
Magic incorporates a continuous
design-rule check feature, which ena-
bles you to have an up-to-date picture
of design rule errors (if any) in your
layout. Therefore it is not necessary
to have a complete check over the
whole design unless design rules are
changed.
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New features in the latest version
1. Improved routing through an interactive maze router, which allows you to specify hits
to control the routing
2. Accurate path-length extractions are now possible, which is very useful while dealing
with high-speed circuits
3. An interface to IRSIM simulator
With the interactive feature of
continuous design-rule check, you
can easily and immediately figure out
the error location. While editing any
layout with Magic, the system will au-
tomatically check the design rules, as
mentioned above. Whether you paint
or erase, or move a cell or change any
array structure, Magic will recheck the
area changed by you in order to check
for the violation of any of the layout
rules. If rules are violated, little white
dots will be displayed in the vicinity
of the violation. These white dots or
the error paint will stay till you fix the
problem.
Circuit extraction in
hierarchical designs
Magic uses cell hierarchies to repre-
sent a layout. Each cell contains three
things: paint, label and sub cell. While
some say that a hierarchical structure
is not necessary by reasoning that lay-
out can also be represented as flat, a
hierarchical structure greatly improves
efficiency of the design tools as well as
the speed and ease of designing with
them.
There is a problem though. In
case of cell overlaps, this situation be-
comes complicated. As each cell uses a
separate plane, so information must be
combined from these separate planes
in case of any overlap. Therefore
circuits cannot be extracted hierarchi-
cally as it can cause transistors to split
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EFY Plus DVD
between cells or form (appear?) broken
in cell-overlap situations.
Magic, however, allows the cells
to overlap as long as the transistor
structure is not changed. This means,
you can have extracted circuit to be
represented hierarchically. The ex-
tracted circuit will contain the circuit
of the cell, circuits of its sub cells and
connections between them.
Though Magic can deal with cell
overlapping, extensive use of cell over-
laps is not recommended. Extended
overlapping will cause the tool to run
very slowly and hard to make any
modifications.
Stretch and compact cells
Plowing is a special feature that allows
you to rearrange the layout without
changing the electrical circuit which
it represents. The plow operation pre-
serves the design rules and connectiv-
ity to maintain the electrical structure
of the circuit.
As the plow moves, every edge
in its path is pushed ahead of it (not
the layers), preserving design rules,
connectivity, transistors and contact
sizes. This makes everything ahead of
the plow to get compacted down to a
minimum spacing as per the design
rules, and the material which crosses
its original position gets stretched
behind the plow. To get a better idea,
you can try it out using the installer in
the DVD accompanying this magazine.
2015
ELECTRONICS
to a bright future
ctive tool
INDUSTRY IS AT A
gies
nt security cameras
Electronics For You Plus | August 2014 VII
 EFY Plus DVD
You can stretch or compact most
of the materials including polysilicon,
diffusion and metal. However, compo-
nents like transistors and contacts can
only be moved, their shapes cannot be
changed.
Technology file
Magic is a technology-independent
layout editor where all the technology-
specific information is contained in
a technology file. This file includes
information about layer types used,
electrical connectivity between types,
design rules, rules for mask genera-
tion and rules for extracting netlists for
circuit simulation.
Since there is different technology
file for every fabrication process, you
can either build your own or re-write
the existing one for a new fabrication
process. You can download the stand-
ard technology file using FTP server at
MOSIS foundation. You can select the
symbolic link ‘Current’ for the latest
version at the following URL:
VIII August 2014 | Electronics For You Plus
ftp://ftp.mosis.edu/pub/son-
deen/magic/new/beta/current.tar.gz
Why Magic
Magic is different from the other lay-
out editors available. It is not just a
colour-painting tool, it understands
geometrical design rules, transistors,
connectivity and routing. It is a very
handy tool for easy bug fixing and ex-
perimentation with alternative designs
to enhance the performance of a circuit.
One of its major features, which
the other similar tools lack, is routing.
Routing is the most tedious and error-
prone task, but Magic has made it
easy with its interactive routing tools.
Another problem with the other tools
is their inflexibility and difficulty to
experiment with them.
But Magic’s built-in knowledge of
design rules and interactive feature of
continuous design-rule check with an
in-built hierarchical circuit extractor
makes this tool highly flexible and easy
to use. Also, its plowing feature ena-
bles students to experiment and have
better intuition on designing chips and
fix bugs easily.
Support
Magic is an open source tool avail-
able at http://opencircuitdesign.com/
magic/
You can download the latest ver-
sion of the tool and find the related
tutorials on this website. If you are
trying to learn about the system, you
can start with the various tutorials
available on the website. Also, there is
a set of manuals for the system main-
tainers that can help in creating new
technologies.
While running Magic, you can get
help from the tool itself. Its help com-
mand will provide you the command’s
syntax with a brief description of the
command. For other queries and sup-
port, you can write to Magic authors at
magic-dev@csl.cornell.edu 
The author is a technical journalist at EFY
www.efymag.com
contents
48
electronics for you Plus | August 2014 | Vol. 3 No. 4

78
Technology Focus Buyers’ Guide
En Route to Security 3.0 RF Modules to Suit
Your Application

12 eStyle Buyers’ Guide

Editor : Ramesh Chopra

Tablets: When Size Matters Hands-On Editorial : Editorial Secretary

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28 Manufacture
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54
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Using MATLAB
58 Technology Focus
Security Testing Tools: Wapiti, OWASP
• Building Image Processing Embedded
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This Month’s DVD Contents

82 Career
Plenty of Jobs Unfold for
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86 Test & Measurement

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important for connecting modem chips to
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 First Look!
Headphones
from Sennheiser
For style and flexibility of
movement with audio excellence
S ennheiser has launched three head-
phones for those who like to hear
music on the go—PX 95 mini-head-
phones, rotatable neckband earphone
PMX 95 and the in-ear PCX 95. These
are optimised for MP3, iPod, iPhone and
portable media players, and come with a
2-year warranty.
The sleek PX 95 mini-headphones
provide a detailed stereo sound repro-
duction, while still being light enough
to wear comfortably for hours on end.
The slender steel headband is not only
durable but also highly flexible for a
proper fit. The headphone’s ear-pad
foam and quality fabric mesh enhances
acoustics and the adjustable ear cups
ensure a personalised fit.
The PMX 95 is a contemporary, ur-
bane model with an ergonomic neck-
band for superior comfort and a secure
fit. The single-sided anti-friction cable
allows the wearer maximum freedom
of movement while enjoying stereo
sound on the go. The soft, rotatable ear
cups are easily adjustable.
The PCX 95 is Sennheiser’s first
model of headphones with an in-ear
neckband design. They deliver detailed,
bass-driven sound with amazing depth
and extension in an unobtrusive, easy-
to-wear package. The single-sided
anti-friction cable allows the wearer
maximum mobility, and the included set
of ear adaptors guarantees a perfect fit.
Price:
PCX 95: ` 5490
PMX 95: ` 4990
PX 95: ` 3990
8 August 2014 | Electronics For You
The Latest Home And Office Products
MTS Introduces MBlaze Power Wi-Fi
For high-speed data connectivity with up to six devices
S istema Shyam TeleServices has
launched MTS MBlaze Power
Wi-Fi which ensures that today’s
smartphone and tablet users never
run out of battery and
have constant access
to high-speed Internet.
It packs a 5200mAH
battery bank which
can fully charge a
smartphone up to
three times. It can
provide high-speed
data connectivity to up
to six devices includ-
Intex Launches Multi-media Speakers
For loud and impactful music with special lighting effects
I ntex Technologies has introduced a
new range of colour-changing mul-
ti-media speakers. The SUF GLO se-
ries speakers are well suited for users
who are fond of loud and impactful
music coupled with special lighting
effects to create a disco-like appeal at
home. The newly introduced range
includes three models—IT-5000,
IT-2525 and IT-2575—designed to
generate high-volume sound with
sophisticated light show.
The SUF GLO multimedia speak-
ers are optimised for superior ex-
perience in indoor or small outdoor
surroundings to elevate the music
experience of party hoppers. In ad-
dition to producing high-frequency
beats, the series comes in combina-
ing smartphones, tablets, laptops,
smart TVs, gaming consoles on MTS’
3GPlus telecom network.
MTS MBlaze Power Wi-Fi comes
with media-sharing ca-
pabilities, allowing us-
ers connected through
Wi-Fi to share docu-
ments, songs, videos
and pictures, etc. Users
can store up to 32GB
data on the power bank
through a memory card.
Price: ` 2999
tion with six multi-colour LEDs which
glow as per power output generated
by the speakers. All three speakers are
compatible with DVD/PC/LCD TV
and come in six equaliser options of
Normal, Classic, POP, Jazz, Rock and
Country to suit your mood.
For model IT-5000, the output
Power is 20W + 3W x 5, impedance is
4Ω, speaker size/Watt for main unit is
10.2cm (4”)/20W and for satellite 7.7
cm (3”)/3W x 5, frequency response
for main unit is 40Hz~200Hz and for
satellite 200Hz~20KHz.
Price: ` 2730 (IT-2525)
` 4300 (IT-5000)
www.efymag.com
 First Look! The Latest Home And Office Products

GizMo Videocon Introduces VPhone

A low-cost feature-rich phone with a large screen
ByTes
V ideocon Mobiles brings in this
sleek looking device that boasts
of international finish and style. It
venience of big on-screen fonts that
enable elderly people to dial numbers
and access on-screen menu easily.
New Design Tool App For
Smartphones features a rubberised back finish The VPhone Grande has inbuilt
that is designed for supe- six-regional-language
Coilcraft has announced its new RF and
Power Inductor Product Finder app rior grip and cool looks. The support that in-
for Apple and Android smartphones. Phone also comes with a cludes Hindi, Pun-
This free application enables users to first-in-class two inter- jabi and Tamil. It
quickly select the best inductor for their changeable back panels has 1.3MP camera,
design and order free evaluation sam- that allow the consumer 1100mAH battery
ples, all from their mobile phone. The to show off different and features like
Power Inductor tool provides instant styles as per occasion. a movie juke box
comparisons of core and winding losses, The VPhone Grande application, secu-
as well as DCR at temperature analysis.
features a large 7.1cm rity inbox, smart
It also allows users to quickly compare
(2.8”) QVCA display for auto call record-
L, Q, Ω and ESR, analyse inductance at
an immersive multimedia ing and smart
frequency, and search for products with
the highest Q or impedance. experience along with a call divert.
movie-hall like video
PNR Status Checker For playback. The large Price: ` 1950
Indian Railways Travellers screen also offers the con-
UCWeb has introduced a new inte-
grated PNR and train status checker

Arise Launches Android LED TVs

feature, Train Enquiry, for its UC
Browser smartphone app for the
Android, iOS and Windows platforms.
This free service will provide Indian
Railways travellers information about
train status, schedules and routes. The
service can be accessed via various
links on UC Browser’s homepage navi-
gation or simply by visiting train.ucweb.
com. Train Search shows the fastest
route to get to a destination, allow-
ing users to search for trains between
stations, seat availability, as well as the
corresponding fare.
Now Book Auto, Taxi Using
AUTOnCAB App
Here's an app that addresses one of
the most important issues of Delhiites.
A Delhi-based company called NGA
Technologies has developed a mobile
app that lets people book cabs and
autos using the Internet or through a
phone call. The app called AUTOnCAB
connects passengers and auto/cab driv-
ers. The company wants to make the
complex and waiting process of com-
muting by auto or cab hassle-free with
use of smartphones.
With connectivity to the Internet, Wi-Fi and much more
A rise India has launched its new
range of LED TVs that are pow-
ered by Android 4.2 aka Jelly Bean
surf on the Internet, web browsing,
access to Wi-Fi, home share, com-
ponent video input and MHL link.
operating system. The TVs allow the It can pair Android phone directly
consumers to surf the Internet and to the TV through HDMI port. The
enjoy the Android applications on device can also support image for-
their TV sets. mats such as MPEG4, MP3 and JPEG,
Known as the Arise LED TV for USB, expandable memory via Micro
Android, it provides synchronising op- SD card.
tion. One can view Price: ` 35,000
TV programmes
or channels also
in smartphones or
tablets by installing
a specific applica-
tion.
Additionally,
the TV provides
QWERTY key-
board with 15cm
(6”) joy stick to
play games. It also
allows users to

10 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 Buyers’ Guide
Tablets: When Size Matters
It is safe to say that, compared to smartphones, tablet sales in India have not picked up well.
While the market is brimming with tablet devices of all sizes, price range and features, not
many people are going for them. The reason for that can be debated, which we shall leave
for another day. Right now, let’s focus on what we need to look at when buying tablets
prasid banerjee
I
ndeed, one of the reasons for the
lack of demand for tablets is their
usability. While a phone is carried
by everyone from a teenager to senior
citizens, many are quite confused
whether they should buy a tablet or
not.
When it comes to tablets, there
are different sizes available. While
17.8cm (7-inch) devices are often
too small, it is the 25.4cm (10-inch)
ones that really make the most sense.
Why? Because anything beyond
15.2cm (6-inch) is a phablet, which
can pretty much cover the work of
a 17.8cm tablet as well. On the other
hand, anything above 30.5cm (12-
inch) is not quite as portable as you
would want it to be.
To be or not to be
With the option to dock a tablet and
2-in-1 devices available, many believe
that a laptop is truly a thing for the last
generation to dwell on. But a laptop is
iBall Slide
3GQ1035
Price ` 17,999
Connectivity 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi
Display 25.7cm (10.1-inch)
Processor 1.2GHz Cortex A7
quad-core
Operating system Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
12 August 2014 | Electronics For You
still useful in many situations.
Now, what do you use your
laptop for? The most common us-
age today is to watch movies, audio
chat or video chat with friends and
family, and cook up documents on
Microsoft Word. If this is the extent
of your usage, then a tablet does
make sense for you. These devices
are cheaper than laptops and can do
all of these things.
But, if your usage extends to
audio editing, graphics, gaming or
other advanced activities, you cannot
do without a powerful laptop. Also,
if you are working with a laptop on
you desk most of the day, you may
Tablets to choose from
Lenovo Yoga 10 Samsung Galaxy
Note 10.1
` 22,999 ` 49,990
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi/3G
25.4cm (10-inch) 25.7cm (10.1-inch)
1.2GHz quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 quad-core
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
not find it convenient to
replace it with a tablet.
Wi-Fi or
without Wi-Fi
Tablets come with Wi-
Fi and without Wi-Fi.
While the Wi-Fi variant
will connect to the Inter-
net only through Wi-Fi,
the other will connect using mobile
networks. So, their usage is pretty self-
explanatory.
You buy a Wi-Fi tablet if you have
regular access to wireless connections.
3G tablets, on the other hand, are use-
ful for those who need to use their
device on the move, such as outdoor
sales people and professionals.
If you want a tablet for basic re-
quirements, you can most often do with
a Wi-Fi-enabled device. All you have to
do is download your e-books, movies
etc in advance so as to use them while
in transit.
If you are unsure whether either
of these variants would fulfil your
Apple iPad Air HP Omni 10 Asus Transformer
Book T100
` 44,900 ` 27,900 ` 34,000
Wi-Fi/3G Wi-Fi Wi-Fi, 3G
24.6cm (9.7-inch) 25.4cm (10-inch) 25.7cm (10.1-inch)
Apple A7 64-bit 1.4GHz Intel Atom 1.86GHz Intel Atom Bay
Z3770 quad-core Trail Z3740 quad-core
Apple iOS 7 Windows 8 Windows 8.1
www.efymag.com

needs then you can go for a tablet that
has both the features. The iBall Slide
3GQ1035, for example, can connect us-
ing 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi networks.
Price
Like smartphones and other tablets,
25.4cm devices are also available
across a wide price range. This display
size though won’t be available in the
below ` 15,000 range, also known
as the budget range. The iBall Slide
mentioned above is priced at around
` 18,000.
25.4cm devices are available for
` 16,000 onward, going well beyond
` 50,000. The Apple iPad Air and Sam-
sung Galaxy Note 10.1 are high-end
devices priced around ` 50,000. But
these are immensely powerful de-
vices, which would often be more than
what you need. On the other hand, for
hardcore gadget fans, the unparallaled
performance that these bring would be
a treasure.
Calling or non-calling
Many people may like to replace their
smartphone with a tablet. In our hum-
ble opinion, your smartphone should
be a companion of your tablet (espe-
cially if you are buying iPad). How-
ever, tablets can be used for phone
calls and can replace smartphones if
you want. Just a suggestion, go for a
Bluetooth or other headset if you in-
tend to use a 25.4cm tablet for calling
purposes as well.
There are myriad offerings from
companies like Xolo, iBall and many
others. The tablets are usually priced
over ` 20,000.
Build
At this point you may be wondering
how two 25.4cm tablets differ in their
build, form factor, etc. Well, in theory
they should not, but they can and they
do. The build of a device plays a huge
role in its portability. A slim device like
Apple’s iPad Air would be much easier
to carry around than others.
Another example of the build
quality is that seen in Lenovo Yoga 10
www.efymag.com
Buyers’ Guide
TM
tablets. These tablets can be docked O
without a cover or keyboard, allowing Peripherals for Industrial Automation
you comfortable setups for Skyping
with family, watching movies, etc. The Analog
build of Lenovo Yoga 10 has been liked NEW Timers
by most users.
Also important is the weight of the ON Delay, Interval, Star Delta, Cyclic ON
Operating Modes First OFF First, Forward-Pause-Reverse,
device. Lesser the weight, easier it is True power OFF
30 Sec, 60 Sec, 3/10/30/60 Sec/Min,
to carry the device through crowded Time Ranges 1/3/10/30 Sec/Min/Hr, 1/2/4/8 Sec/Min/Hr,
public transport and on long journeys. 1/10 Sec/Min/Hr
# SPDT (1 C/O)
Output Contact
# DPDT (2 C/O)
Operating system Contact Rating 5A @ 230VAC/ 24VDC
110VAC, 230VAC, 415VAC, 24VAC/DC,
Supply Voltage
The operating system is a factor that 20-240VAC, 12-240VDC
everyone looks at while buying a tablet
or laptop. Here’s how we suggest you NEW
choose yours. The premise from the
beginning has been that you are going Hooters
to use your tablet as a replacement for with Flasher
72*72mm
your laptop. Let’s face it, nothing quite Size 96*96mm
matches the functionality and wide us- T one
144*144mm
2 Tone, 4 Tone,110dB Output.
age that Microsoft’s Windows presents Flasher W ith Flasher / W ithout Flasher
Accept Push Button On Front and/or Terminals
when it comes to PCs. Unfortunately, Function on Back
there are not many Windows options Volume Control Yes, 10 to 100%
230VAC,24VDC,
available for tablets. The Asus Trans- Supply Voltage
20-240VAC,12-240VDC
former Book T100 is a good Windows
tablet though, which easily passes as a Also Available
netbook when docked.
SMPS (Din Rail Mount)
Relay Interface Modules
Others like the Samsung Galaxy SSR Interface Modules
FRC/ D-SUB connector
Note 10.1 that we have mentioned here Opto Interface Modules
Diode/ Resistor Modules
run on Apple’s iOS or Google Android Power Distribution Modules
operating system. You will find that Redundancy Modules
Analog Signal Converters
both these OSs are good replacements Dedicated Controller
Products For Special
for Windows. The fact that Microsoft Applications
leads in the OS segment has more to
do with users being comfortable with
the OS on their PC and not wanting to
try new ones. Android has apps like
QuickOffice which replaces MS Office.
O
TM
In addition, it also has apps for Skype Website: www.shavison.com
and virtually everything you need. Email: shavison@shavison.com
SHAVISON ELECTRONICS PVT. LTD.
Unit No. G-5 , B Wing , Udyog Bhavan No. 2 , Plot K-3 ,
Conclusion Anand Nagar MIDC , Ambernath (E) 421 506 , MH , India.
TeleFax: +91-251-2620417/ 2620427 Cell: +91 98 203 62980
A 25.4cm tablet can be a perfect re-
placement for a netbook. In fact, if
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you look at Asus Transformer series, Chintamani Electricals - 09850045468 Baroda: M/S Seemaco
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you will find devices that replicate Multiple Technology Solutions - 8861876624 Chennai: Shree
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Further, if you happen to buy an iPad Jalna : Tech Edge - 09822012595 Karnal : Powertech -
Air, iPad with Retina Display or Gal- 09212260995 Kolhapur : Kedar - 09850041672 Madurai :
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axy Note 10.1, you will get much more : A. Harilal -09321085554 Mahavir - 09821022778 Mulund:
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Electronics For You | August 2014 15
 technology nEWS
Most happening, fact-filled current affairs from around the world
Huge fan of ‘selfies?’
You should try ‘dronies’
Drones are the helicopter-like flying
devices that the military has used for
years for surveillance and monitoring.
These drones are now coming to the
electronic consumers market, and have
been used in agriculture, photography
of houses by estate agents, gather-
ing news, children’s toys, etc. Drones
were of no use to mainstream users
until someone came up with the idea
of using drones for clicking airborne
‘selfies.’
There are quite a few drone cam-
eras available in the market. The Hexo
Plus drone is compatible with GoPro
camera. This drone follows and films
autonomously. Another competitor
product AirDog also tracks and fol-
lows you, meanwhile snaps photos and
videos of you and your action sport.
If you take a look at the amount of
funding these products raised on Kick-
starter, you realise that people are ea-
ger to buy and experience these kinds
of products. Airdog quickly raised
$200,000 while Hexo Plus was hoping
to raise $50,000 but, within three days,
it passed $700,000. Twitter showcased
a company-sponsored account, Dronie,
at Cannes Lions International Festival
of Creativity recently, using which
people can take free dronie-selfie
videos.
Flying drones is not that easy. It’s
as difficult as driving a car for the
first time. A runner at west Austral-
ian triathlon was hit by the drone in
April. Drones can sometimes crash into
people too.
Learn without paying
attention using smart gloves
Researchers from Georgia Institute
of Technology have succeeded in
building a pair of smart gloves for
blind people. The gloves are based on
passive haptic feedback learning. In
16 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Hexo drone (Courtesy: http://www.tuxboard.com)
haptic learning process, vibrations are
used to guide a subject to learn motor
skills even when they are not paying
any attention. Blind people can read
and write Braille script without paying
much attention using these gloves.
The motors used in these gloves
are programmed to give feedback in
the same sequence as Braille typing
pattern. Researchers have attached vi-
brating motors in the knuckles of these
gloves. During the test participants
were supposed to type words that they
had learnt.
A group of people who had no
idea about Braille script participated
in the test. Participants were intro-
duced to repeated vibration sequences
while they were playing a game for 30
minutes. The research team instructed
them to ignore audio cues and focus
on a game. Once 30 minutes were
over, participants were asked to repeat
the sequence. Even though they were
distracted while learning vibration se-
quences, their answers were accurate.
Most of the people learnt 70 per cent of
Braille script after the test.
A pair of jeans to fight
against rape
Two young Indian women have come
up with a creative way to combat their
country’s pervasive rape problem: a
pair of high-tech jeans.
Students Diksha Pathak, 21, and
Anjali Srivastava, 23, of Varanasi
designed a pair of red pants outfitted
with a small electronic button that
sends a distress call to the nearest po-
lice station when pressed. The signal
acts as a tracker, so police can rush
straight to the victim’s location. There
are already as many as 200 police sta-
tions capable of receiving the alarm in
Varanasi and its surrounding areas.
Tests will be carried out soon, and
lawmakers may press for the technol-
ogy to be used nationwide if they are
successful.
Pathak joined forces with Sriv-
astava, who is studying electronic
communication, to invent the device,
which lasts for about three months be-
Outraged by the prevalence of sexual violence
against women in India, students Diksha Pathak
(left) and Anjali Srivastava have created a
high-tech pair of jeans designed to prevent rape
(Courtesy: http://nypost.com)
www.efymag.com
technology nEWS
fore the batteries need to be replaced. The students’ timing
couldn’t be better. Very recently, a UN child’s rights com-
mittee charged Indian authorities with not doing enough to
fight sexual violence after two teenage sisters were gang-
raped and hung from a mango tree in a rural village in Uttar
Pradesh.

World’s fastest maglev toy train

Men love toys, particularly toys that are a hell lot more than
just toys. Take this toy for example. Built by Takara Tomy, it
uses maglev technology, the same used by those extremely
fast trains you have probably ridden in East Asia or watched
on TV. Basically, this toy is a maglev train that’s capable of
putting every toy train built in the history of mankind to
shame. The toy can reach speeds of up to 600 kilometres
per hour (relative to its scale) which, to the untrained eye, is
nothing but a quick blur!

World’s fastest maglev toy train (Courtesy: http://newlaunches.com)

The train uses its own magnet that levitates it off the
plastic track. The track is also laced with magnets, enabling
the toy to follow the principles of magnetism to the fullest
and do things most of us have never seen a toy do. The
air-cushion created between the train and the plastic track
reduces friction to such an extent that the toy zips around
quicker than you can scream “maglev!”
The train will hit store-shelves by 2015 and will come
with a price tag of approximately US$ 98. But we don’t
recommend you buy one of these for your offspring, at least
until he/she is old enough to spell “magnetic levitating
train” in less than ten seconds.

This robot can make you a super-human

Researchers from MIT have developed a robot that helps in
enhancing experience of day-to-day activities. This wrist-
mounted robot can easily perform tasks with one hand for
which you usually need both hands, such as opening jars,
twisting screwdriver, stirring coffee by holding mug, lifting
heavy jobs, etc.
The device has two extra fingers adjacent to thumb and
small finger of user’s hand. It has control algorithm which

18 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 technology nEWS

MIT researchers are developing extra robot limbs that can help out humans where
an extra hand, arm, or leg might be useful (Courtesy: http://www.gizmag.com)

enables the user to grab or hold different objects firmly. It

learns the natural movement of hand and performs tasks
without any extra command. The robot is designed to learn
the natural movements of fingers.
The device has actuators in it, which are linked together
to apply force. These actuators create same strength as that
of human fingers. This robot has multiple position-recording
sensors. Researchers have developed the control algorithm
of robot on theory basis of bio-mechanical synergy. Record-
ings collected from sensors are used to optimise the algo-
rithm in order to assume certain posture of hand.

Smart seats to alert sleepy car drivers

Number of car accidents is rising rapidly in most countries.
Most of these accidents happen due to drivers’ negligence;
they tend to lose their alertness due to dizziness they feel
while driving. Researchers from Nottingham Trent Univer-
sity have developed smart seats for cars with the help of a
firm named Plessey. These seats alert the driver when he or
she starts falling asleep. Researchers have used ECG sensors
in seats. These sensors detect driver’s heart rate and detect if
the driver is falling asleep due to fatigue.
The team is planning to implement fabric-based sen-
sors in seats, which can send a warning message to drivers
and ask them to pull over. The system can also trigger car’s
cruise control or lane departure technology, if driver ignores
the warning. Using wireless network, the sensors can send
information to nearby traffic control centre.

Smartphone to analyse your DNA

Researchers from Polytechnique Montreal and Gorilla Glass
manufacturer Corning are attempting to achieve something
very useful for any forensic expert. They are developing
display sensors for smartphones which can use user’s spit
to not only detect the body temperature but also analyse his
DNA. The researchers claim that sensors can be embedded
inside the smartphone’s display, which will allow users to
check their body temperature, help diabetic patients to check
their blood sugar levels and work with platforms like Ap-
ple’s Homekit to give detailed report on user’s health.

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 19

 technology nEWS
Researchers are developing new display sensors
for smartphones that will read the user’s spit to not
only detect the body temperature, but also analyse
the DNA (Courtesy: http://www.indiatimes.com)
The researchers have also devel-
oped first-of-its-kind laser-written
guiding system. It can further help
these advancements and use laser into
the glass to create pathways which
transmit data in form of small light
beams, as waveguides act as a tunnel
to channel these lights. It is similar to
how wires convey electric signals. If it
is added to a smartphone along with
readable code, it can open the doors
to many opportunities by such device
makers.
Images from your mind
on a screen
Researchers in the US claim to have
built a unique machine that can extract
images from people’s brains and then
project them on a display screen. Yes,
you heard that right! Alan Cowen, a
neuroscientist at the University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley and his co-researchers,
Brice Kuhl of New York University
and Professor Marvin Chun of Yale,
have built this one-of-its-kind system
that envisions a future where cops and
investigative agencies could generate
images of criminals from the mind of
a witness!
The machine has been used to
accurately reconstruct human faces
based on data received from a brain
scanner, until now. However, the same
approach could be used to extract im-
ages from people’s dreams, memories
and imagination, in the coming days.
The methods yield strikingly accurate
neural reconstructions of faces.
For research purposes, six volun-
teers were shown as many as 300 faces
20 August 2014 | Electronics For You
while they lay in an MRI scanner.
The process showed how their brains
would respond to different anatomi-
cal features they saw. This gave the
researchers a database of responses,
across several areas of the brain. The
volunteers were then shown a set of
entirely new faces and their responses
to the new images were measured.
The researchers compared these re-
sponses to the database, following
which they were able to reconstruct
the image the volunteers were look-
ing at.
Auto-follow sports drone set
for take-off
Stratasys, a leading global provider of
3D printing and additive manufactur-
3D-printed auto-follow drone (Courtesy: http://www.unmanned-aerial.com) easier. For human
ing solutions, has announced that UAV
start-up company, Helico, has success-
fully introduced AirDog, the world’s
first automated drone designed to
track and video outdoor sports and
activities, using Stratasys 3D printing
technology. Aimed primarily at the
consumer market, AirDog is an inno-
vative, yet simple-to-use ‘quad-copter’
that operates via a wrist-worn tracking
device and accommodates a standard
GoPro sports camera.
Users can automatically capture ex-
citing live aerial video footage and still
photography of themselves, having set
distance, speed and height levels for
AirDog to follow. Helico is specifically
targeting the outdoor ‘extreme’ sports
Check efytimes.com for more news, daily
market and expects AirDog to be of
particular interest to recreational par-
ticipants of freestyle BMX, motocross
and skateboarding, as well as water-
sports such as surfing, kite-surfing and
wake-boarding.
Intellectual property for
capacitive-touch sensing
devices
Renesas Electronics has developed an
innovative new intellectual property
(IP) that implements industry-leading
capacitive-touch sensing technol-
ogy suitable for home appliances and
healthcare equipment, such as blood
pressure and blood glucose meters.
The IP achieves high-touch sensitiv-
ity five times better than of Renesas’
R8C/3xT microcon-
trollers, as well as high
noise immunity allow-
ing the technology to
pass strict noise tests.
Renesas IP supports
the mutual capacitance
method which is more
reliable and versatile
than the common self-
capacitance method.
Renesas will also
provide development
tools to make appli-
cation development
machine interface ap-
plications for electric and electronic
equipment, touch-key interfaces have
been the subject of increasing attention.
The use of capacitive-touch technology
is being rapidly adopted because it can
easily improve reliability in product
design and enhance the end-user ex-
perience.
For home appliances used in the
kitchen, it is often the case that the ap-
pliance will be splashed with water,
or the user will be wearing gloves.
Besides, equipment such as IH stoves
emit strong electromagnetic fields. So
a technology that provides both high
sensitivity and high noise immunity
can reliably respond to the static ca-
pacitance when such end products
are used.
www.efymag.com
 Futuristic Electronics
Almost Here: Self-Learning,
Self-Healing Computers
Processors that mimic the human brain could be the next big disruption in computing
H
Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram
ow long can the indus-
try rely on Moore’s
Law? Today’s com-
puters are rather too
good at calculating
stuff and can achieve anything that can
be reduced to a numerical problem.
But complex problems, which need
a good amount of reasoning or those
that need so-called ‘intuition,’ require
too much programming and hence too
much processing and power too. Just
stuffing more transistors into
smaller chips will
take us nowhere.
So, what next?
Seeking to
move to the next
new frontier of
computing, research
teams across the
world are trying to
move away from tra-
ditional chip designing
methods and radically
redesign memory, com-
putation and communica-
tion circuitry based on how
the neurons and synapses of
the brain work. This will be
a big leap in artificial intel-
Brain
ligence, eventually resulting
in self-learning computers that
will be able to understand and adapt
themselves to changes, complete tasks
without routine programming and
work around failures too. Such self-
learning computers are commonly
dubbed as ‘neuromorphic’ as they
mimic the human brain. Here, we look
at some of the significant strides in this
direction.
22 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Mimicking the mammalian
brain in function, size and
power consumption
One of the largest and oldest pro-
jects in this direction is the DARPA
sponsored Systems of Neuromorphic
Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics
(SyNAPSE), which is contracted main-
ly to IBM and HRL, along with some
US-based universities. The goal of the
project is to build a proces-
y s te m (Co
s
scale
wafer
romo
r p h ic
A neu
Sca le s — sor that
mammal’s brain in function, size
and power consumption. Specifically,
“It should recreate 10 billion neurons,
100 trillion synapses, consume one
kilowatt and occupy less than two li-
tres of space.” Since it started in 2008,
the project has seen some interesting
results.
The first breakthrough came in
2011, when IBM revealed two work-
ing prototypes of neurosynaptic chips.
Both the cores were fabricated in 45nm
silicon on insulator (SOI) comple-
mentary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) and contained 256 neurons.
One core had 262,144 programmable
synapses while the other had 65,536
learning synapses. Then came the
Brain Wall—a visualisation tool that
allows researchers to view neuron
activation states in a large-scale neural
network and observe patterns
of neural activity as they move
across the network. It helps visu-
alise supercomputer simulations
as well as activities within a
neurosynaptic core.
Meanwhile, in 2012, IBM
demonstrated a computing
system called TrueNorth
that simulated 530 billion
neurons and 100 trillion
synapses, running on the
world’s second-fastest
operating supercomput-
er. TrueNorth was sup-
ported by Compass—a
multi-threaded, mas-
sively parallel func-
erg) tional simulator and
e id e lb
y of H
: U n iversit a parallel compiler
y
urtes
that maps a network of long-dis-
tance pathways in the macaque mon-
imitates a key brain to TrueNorth.
Last year, they had more updates.
IBM revealed that the chips are radi-
cally different from the current Von
Neumann architecture based ones.
The new model works with multiple
low-power processor cores working
in parallel. Each neurosynaptic core
has its own memory (synapses), a
processor (neuron) and communica-
tion conduit (axon). By operating these
suitably, one can achieve recognition
www.efymag.com
 Futuristic Electronics
and other sensing capabilities similar
to the brain. IBM also revealed a soft-
ware ecosystem that taps the power
of such cores, notably a simulator that
can run a virtual network of neuro-
synaptic cores for testing and research
purposes.
To make use of these neurosynaptic
cores, IBM proposes a programming
model based on reusable and stackable
building blocks called corelets. IBM’s
ultimate goal is to build a processing
system with 10 billion neurons and
100 trillion synapses drawing just one
kilowatt of power. Currently, IBM and
Cornell University are working on the
second generation of neurosynaptic
processors, which will also emulate
256 neurons each, like the first attempt.
But with a newly developed inter-core
communication, the new processors
are expected to contain around 4000
cores each, making a total of around
one million neurons per processor.
A chip that can anticipate
user actions
Last year, Qualcomm revealed a suc-
cessful effort in this direction. Their
Zeroth project was driven by an under-
standing of people’s changing expecta-
tions from mobile devices. In the future,
people will want their devices to un-
derstand them and help them without
anything being told. They will want to
interact more naturally with their devic-
es. “The computational complexity of
achieving these goals using traditional
computing architectures is quite chal-
lenging, particularly in a power- and
size-constrained environment vs in
the cloud and using supercomputers,”
writes Samir Kumar, director–business
development, Qualcomm.
Hence, they set out to create a new
biologically-inspired computer proces-
sor designed like the human brain and
nervous system so that devices could
have embedded cognition driven by
brain inspired computing. Eventu-
ally, Zeroth was born. Zeroth-based
products will not just have human-like
perception but also the ability to learn
on-the-go based on feedback from the
environment, like we do. They have
24 August 2014 | Electronics For You
IBM’s Brain Wall (Courtesy: IBM)
also taught the processor to perceive
things the way humans do, based on
mathematical models created by neu-
roscientists.
These models accurately characterise
biological neuron behaviour when they
are sending, receiving or processing
information. Qualcomm aims to create,
define and standardise this new process-
ing architecture, which they call the neu-
ral processing unit (NPU), so that it can
be used in a variety of devices alongside
other chips, so that a combination of pro-
gramming, learning and self-correction
will characterise future devices.
To demonstrate the success of
Zeroth, last year Qualcomm built a
robot using the NPU and taught it to
do various things such as pick only
the white from a selection of assorted
boxes, sort and arrange toys in a kid’s
room and so on, all by ‘teaching’ and
not ‘programming’ it.
An analogue brain
While the previous two examples are
based on ‘digital neurons,’ a neuro-
morphic system being developed by
the University of Heidelberg as part
of the European Union sponsored
Human Brain Project, is based on ana-
logue circuitry, which makes it closer
to the real brain!
In order to understand the working
of the brain, from that of individual
neurons to whole functional areas,
the BrainScales project takes three
approaches: in vivo biological ex-
perimentation, simulation on petascale
supercomputers and the construction
of neuromorphic
processors.
The neuro-
morphic proces-
sor constructed by
them consists of
a 20cm-diameter
silicon wafer con-
taining an array of
identical, tightly-
connected chips,
with mixed-signal
circuitry. While the
simulated neurons
are analogue, the
synaptic weights and inter-chip com-
munication are digital. Each wafer
contains 48 reticles, each of which in
turn contains eight high-input-count
analogue neural network (HICANN)
chips, making a total of 384 identical
chips per wafer. Each 5×10 mm2 HI-
CANN chip contains an analogue neu-
ral core (ANC) as the central functional
block, along with supporting circuitry.
In the current setup, each of the 384
chips implements 128,000 synapses
and up to 512 spiking neurons, total-
ling to approximately 200,000 neurons
and 49 million synapses per wafer.
Such a highly parallel chip design
with configurable electronic neurons
helps the team to understand the
dependencies, synchronisation and
communication among neurons and
synapses, so the knowledge can later
be applied to computing.
Super chip
for prosthetic limbs
A team at Stanford University, headed
by Kwabena Boahen, has also devel-
oped brain-inspired microchips, details
of which were revealed in an IEEE con-
ference earlier this year. The team has
used 16 custom-designed ‘Neurocore’
chips to develop a circuit board called
the ‘Neurogrid’ that can simulate one
million neurons and billions of syn-
aptic connections. The Neurogrid is
9000 times faster than today’s personal
computers, and is about 100,000 times
more energy-efficient than a PC-based
simulation of a million neurons. Ac-
cording to the team’s estimates, a PC
www.efymag.com
 Futuristic Electronics
Stanford’s Neurograid emulates a million neurons across sixteen
neurocores (Courtesy: Stanford University)
consumes 40,000 times more power
than a Neurogrid.
Such speed and low-power char-
acteristics of the Neurogrid make it
an ideal platform to model and un-
derstand the functioning of the brain.
Moreover, modified Neurocore chips
can also be used for other nature-mim-
icking functions, such as say, to control
prosthetic limbs. This is considered one
of the most promising applications of
the Neurogrid, and Boahen is working
very closely with other teams at Stan-
ford University to achieve this.
Comparing the Neurogrid to other
similar projects, such as SyNAPSE and
Brain Scales, Boahen writes in his IEEE
paper: “Each of these research teams
has made different technical choices,
such as whether to dedicate each
hardware circuit to modelling a single
neural element (e.g., a single synapse)
or several (e.g., by activating the hard-
ware circuit twice to model the effect
of two active synapses). These choices
have resulted in different trade-offs in
terms of capability and performance.”
Boahen arrives at a single metric to
calculate the total system cost including
the size of the chip, how many neurons
it simulates and the power it consumes,
and uses it to show the Neurogrid as
the most cost-effective way to simulate
neurons, in keeping with his goal of
creating a system affordable enough to
be widely used in research.
However, there are a few areas
that the team is seriously working on
26 August 2014 | Electronics For You
improving now. One,
of course, is the cost.
Currently, the devel-
opment of each Neu-
rogrid uses a 15-year
old fabrication pro-
cess and costs around
$40,000. By using
modern processes and
by fabricating chips
in larger volumes, the
cost could be brought
down to $400 per mil-
lion-neuron board.
Secondly, the
team is also working
on creating a neu-
rocompiler to enable people to use
the board without knowing anything
about synapses and neurons.
The third challenge concerns power
consumption. Despite being thou-
sands of times more energy-efficient
than today’s PCs, the Neurogrid still
lags behind when compared to the
human brain. According to Boahen’s
paper, the human brain, with 80,000
times more neurons than Neurogrid,
consumes only three times as much
power. So, arriving at such energy ef-
ficiency levels is a huge challenge that
faces not just Boahen’s team but the
whole global community of neuromor-
phic engineers.
Spinning the future
Another promising sub-project under
the European Union’s Human Brain
Project is the University of Manches-
ter’s SpiNNAker—a project that Steve
Furber, co-creator of the ARM proces-
sor is deeply involved in.
The team has developed a new
brain-inspired computer architecture
called SpiNNaker, which is being used
to develop the SpiNNaker Machine, a
parallel computing platform made up
of one million ARM processor chips.
Each SpiNNaker chip, designed by
the team and fabricated in China and
Taiwan, features 18 core processors.
The machine will feature approxi-
mately 56,000 of these super-thin chips,
mounted on individual boards carry-
ing 48 units. In a media report, Furber
explains that although the SpiNNaker
Machine incorporates one million ARM
processor cores, the brain is so much
more complicated that they will be able
to get to just one per cent of the scale of
the brain with one million chips.
Last year, the SpiNNaker archi-
tecture was put to work on a robot
developed by Prof. Jörg Conradt at
Technische Universität München. To
the robot’s back, the team attached
a SpiNNaker board with chips that
simulated a neural network to process
data from the robot’s eyes or ‘silicon
retinas’, in the same way the brain
would. The robot was programmed to
recognise shapes ‘+’ and ‘x,’ and take
a specific action for each. For example,
when it spotted a ‘+’ the robot moved
forward towards it and when it saw an
‘x’ the robot retreated.
This demo is just the beginning.
Over time, the working of, and learn-
ing from the SpiNNaker Machine, will
be applied to robotics, computer sci-
ence and neuroscience. It will provide
a deeper understanding of the brain’s
working, which will hopefully help
develop treatments for various men-
tal disorders including Alzheimer’s
disease.
Apart from these key projects,
there are other global efforts to create
neuromorphic chips. There are also nu-
merous efforts to create brain-inspired
software that enable conventional
processors to imbibe deep-learning
capabilities. One good example is the
recent deep-learning processing system
developed by Purdue University that
uses software cum hardware innova-
tions to enable smartphones to quickly
grasp and understand their environ-
ment by instantaneously overlaying
text tags on whatever the camera
captures.
Overall, engineers across the world
are beginning to understand that the
intuitive and úber-powerful comput-
ing that the future calls for is possible
only by mimicking some or all aspects
of the human brain, and are going all
out to achieve this. 
The author is a technically-qualified freelance
writer, editor and hands-on mom based in Chennai
www.efymag.com
 MANUFACTURE
Part 2 of 2
Flexible Electronics: What’s the Use
Having dealt with the materials used for flexible electronics, types of flexible circuits and
their integration process in first part of this article, let us now focus on the applications of
flexible ciruits
K. MOHAN KUMAR
W
hy do we need another form
of electronics? Standard
silicon-chip-based electron-
ics is making great strides in miniaturi-
sation, cramming more functionality
into smaller chips. Couldn’t we just
embed these chips into flexible materi-
als to create flexible applications?
Answer is No. New applications
like organic light-emitting diodes
(OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics
(OPVs) need big areas. “With silicon-
based circuits, you would need huge
numbers of embedded chips to get the
necessary intensity and uniformity.
That would be prohibitively expensive
and would generate so much heat lo-
cally, you would melt the substrate!”
Flexible electronics could transform
the way we make and use electronic
devices. Flexible electronics opens the
door to foldaway smartphone displays,
solar cells on a roll of plastic and ad-
vanced medical devices—if we can
figure out how to make them. Nearly
everyone knows what the inside of a
computer or a mobile phone looks like:
A stiff circuit board, usually green,
crammed with chips, resistors, capaci-
tors and sockets, interconnected by a
suburban sprawl of printed wiring.
What if our printed circuit board was
not stiff and was flexible enough to
bend or even fold?
Why flexible electronics
Flexible electronics is in vogue for two
reasons. First, it promises an entirely
new design tool. Imagine, for example,
tiny smartphones that wrap around
our wrists, and flexible displays that
fold out as large as a television. Or
photovoltaic cells and reconfigurable
28 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Fig. 10: A bionic ear
Fig. 11: Schematic diagram of the active-sensor-matrix thin
film for the artificial nose and tongue
antennae that conform to the roofs and
trunks of our cars. Or flexible implants
that can monitor and treat cancer or
help paraplegics walk again.
Second, flexible electronics might
cost less to make. Conventional semi-
conductors require complex processes
and multi-billion dollar foundries.
Researchers hope to print flexible elec-
tronics on plastic film the same way we
print ink on newspapers. “If we could
make flexible electronics cheap enough,
you could have throwaway electronics.
You could wear your phone on your
clothing, or run a bioassay to assess
your health simply by wiping your nose
with a tissue,” Gomez says.
Before any of this happens,
though, researchers have to
rethink what they know about
electronics. None of the flex-
ible electronic devices under
development would match the
billions of transistors that now
fit on silicon chips, or their
billions of on-off cycles per sec-
ond. They would not have to.
Despite the challenge, flexible
electronics promises changes
that go beyond folding dis-
plays, inexpensive solar cells,
antennae and sensors. It could
veer off in some unexpected
directions, such as helping
paraplegics walk again.
Applications in
health care
Flexible electronics has at-
tracted a lot of attention for its
enormous potential in many
important applications, such
as wearable health monitoring
devices and medical implants.
While a number of approaches
to making flexible sensors or electron-
ics have been developed over the last
two decades, flexibility in electronic
materials is very attractive for medical
and bioengineering. Living organisms
are intrinsically flexible and malleable.
Thus, flexibility is a necessity for suc-
cessful integration of electronics in bio-
logical systems. Furthermore, in order
to carry out daily tasks, flexibility is
less likely to hinder over stiffness.
Recently, some electronic devices
have been integrated into human bod-
ies. One example is the bionic eye.
Here a vision-compromised patient
requires an electrically-active address-
able matrix array, with each unit or
www.efymag.com
 MANUFACTURE
pixel recording an image and trans-
mitting this to the patient via the optic
nerve. Such technology is not restricted
to vision and is applicable to many
other types of sensation.
A microarray thin film can also
be integrated into bed linen and pa-
tient dormitories, and can operate in
similar ways to monitor and identify
abnormalities in body temperature, as
PET
Carbon nanofibre
MnO2 + CNT cathode
Polymer electrolyte
Zn Foil Anode
PET
(a)
(b)
Fig. 12: (a) battery structure, (b) optical
micrograhy of a flexible battery during flexing The combustion reaction has fueled the
Fig. 13: The Morph mobile phone concept, where flexibility and
transparency become important (Courtesy: Nokia Research)
Fig. 14: Components of a flexible, wearable mobile energy-
harvesting system
30 August 2014 | Electronics For You
well as sweat-elemental analysis. As
with the lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applica-
tions, these thin films will become a
key component of our approach to
next-generation healthcare. Heat dis-
tribution in the body, sweat content
and frequency or postural pressure
on part of the body can all reveal vital
information on pathological symptoms
or recovering stages.
Further applications of microarray
systems based on such flexible thin-
film technology are a facilitator for ar-
tificial noses and tongues, as shown in
Fig. 11. Sensory receptors in olfactory
(nose) and gustatory (taste) systems
have a range of chemical receptors.
Many of these receptors sense par-
ticular chemical properties, including
acidity, salt concentration and enzyme
affinity.
It can also be used to monitor the
pulses from brain and analyse the
changes and design the treatment
based on the present situtation of the
patient.
In automotive industry
development of humanity
since the discovery of fire.
The main reasons for the
ubiquity of combustion
are twofold. The first re-
lates to its intrinsic mass
and volume energy den-
sities. For example, one
kg of crude oil contains
nearly 50MJ of chemical
potential energy. The sec-
ond relates to storage and
portability. Crude oil hap-
pens to be liquid at sur-
face conditions, making
it easy to store, transport
and convert, which is fun-
damental for applications
such as transportation.
Although electric ve-
hicles trace their inven-
tion to the mid-1800s,
their widespread adop-
tion has not yet mate-
rialised. This is partly
due to the high energy
density (J/kg) of fossil fuel compared
to the batteries, with the implication
that electric vehicles require unfeasi-
bly heavy and large batteries to store
equivalent energy as a tank of fuel.
Besides low energy density, batteries
suffer from low power density (W/
kg), leading to electric vehicles with
comparatively low performance when
compared to equivalent fuel-powered
vehicles. Despite these issues, increas-
ingly scarce fossil fuel resources, as
well as environmental incentives, have
increased the adoption of electric vehi-
cles, fueling research and development
in this field.
Advances in thin-film battery
technology through the use of nano-
structures for enhanced energy density
and hybrid supercapacitor allowed
increased energy and power densities.
Lightweight substrates, such as poly-
ethylene terephthalate (PET) and pa-
per, have led to a reduction in battery
weight. Flexible, thin-film technology
is especially beneficial in this instance,
as it allows batteries to be moulded
into suitable shapes at relatively low
costs.
Flexible thin-film technology may
also find applications in road signs
and markings. Intelligent roads will be
engineered with the aim of improving
road safety, lowering road congestion
and energy consumption. The road
and vehicle will be able to interact to
dynamically adjust either party to en-
ergetically optimise their systems. The
advantage of flexible thin-film technol-
ogy is its mechanical durability and
ease of inexpensive integration within
the existing road networks.
In energy management
and mobile devices
The innovative gadgets that we are
presently experiencing are made pos-
sible by flex circuits in the industry.
Today, mobile and other electronic
gadgets manufacturers are design-
ing the products keeping in view the
future scope of the product and its
use in more than one way. The ease of
handling the device is also an impor-
tant factor that needs to be noted while
www.efymag.com

Fig. 15: Demonstration of a flexible OLED device
Fig. 16: An artistic illustration of an interactive e-skin device
where intensity of the emitted light corresponds to how hard the
surface is pressed
manufacturing. Now-a-days the de-
vices are manufactured in such a way
that these are embedded in our daily
life beyond the limit of separation.
Nano-optoelectromechanical sys-
tems (NOEMS) could access energy
sources arising at the nanoscale, con-
verting energy from environmental
sources, such as ambient noise or elec-
tromagnetic radiation, to mechanical
vibrations. This route opens up many
possibilities where device deformation
allows for transformability and new
paradigms of user interaction, such as
in the Nokia Morph Concept.
There are different ways to harvest
or scavenge energy from the sur-
rounding or ambient environment,
such as the collection of low-frequency
vibrations, heat (via temperature gradi-
ents), biomechanical motion and solar
energy. Among these, solar energy is
perhaps the most promising.
Silicon is by far the most widely
used photon absorber and currently
dominates the market of PV devices,
www.efymag.com
with an energy conversion
efficiency (η) of up to 25%.
Despite significant develop-
ment over the past decades,
the high cost of Si-based
solar cells is still a bottleneck
for the implementation of
solar electricity on a large
scale (in the absence of gov-
ernment subsidies). The de-
velopment of new materials
and concepts for PV could be
a way to reduce the overall
production costs, as well as
increase efficiency. The latter
is crucial in view of applica-
tions in mobile devices that
have a limited surface area.
Thin-film solar cells, such
as silicon, cadmium telluride
(CdTe), copper indium gal-
lium diselenide (CIGS) and
thin-film crystalline silicon
are termed ‘second-genera-
tion PVs.’ The development
of thin-film solar cells has
been driven by the potential
of cost reduction in manufac-
turing. An even cheaper and
versatile approach lies in the exploita-
tion of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells
and dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs).
These can be manufactured economi-
cally compared with silicon cells, for
example, by roll-to-roll processing,
even though they have low η.
In displays and human-
machine interactivity
One of the most demanding applica-
tions of flexible electronics is in OLED
displays. An OLED is a light-emitting
diode (LED) in which the emissive
electroluminescent layer is a film of
organic compound that emits light in
response to an electric current. This
layer of organic semiconductor is situ-
ated between two electrodes. Gener-
ally, at least one of these electrodes is
transparent. OLEDs are used to create
digital displays in such devices as tele-
vision screens, computer monitors and
portable devices like mobile phones
and PDAs. A major area of research
is the development of white OLED
MANUFACTURE
devices for use in solid-state lighting
applications.
There are two main families of
OLEDs. Those based on small mol-
ecules and those employing polymers.
Adding mobile ions to an OLED
creates a light-emitting electrochemi-
cal cell or LEC, which has a slightly
different mode of operation. OLED
displays can use either passive-matrix
(PMOLED) or active-matrix address-
ing schemes. Active-matrix OLEDs
(AMOLEDs) require a thin-film transis-
tor backplane to switch each individual
pixel on or off, but allow for higher
resolution and larger display sizes.
An OLED display works without
a backlight. Thus, it can display deep
black levels and can be thinner and
lighter than a liquid crystal display
(LCD). In low ambient light condi-
tions, such as a dark room, an OLED
screen can achieve a higher contrast
ratio than an LCD, whether the LCD
uses cold-cathode fluorescent lamps or
LED backlight.
e-skin for human-machine
integration
You might think that temporary tattoos
look cool, but what if they could also
collect and transmit information about
your heart rate, temperature, muscle
contractions or brain waves?
A new flexible electronic circuit
promises to do just that, by moving
with the skin and staying in place with-
out any adhesive. The research used
existing semiconductor technology to
imprint integrated circuits onto a thin,
flexible silicon film that can be applied
directly on the skin. With the interactive
e-skin, we could form an elegant system
on plastic that can be wrapped around
different objects to enable a new form of
human-machine interface.
In addition to giving robots a finer
sense of touch, the engineers believe
that the new e-skin technology could
also be used to create things like wall-
papers, which double as touchscreen
displays and dashboard laminates that
allow drivers to adjust electronic con-
trols with the wave of a hand.
The mobile revolution has been
Electronics For You | August 2014 31
 MANUFACTURE
won, but the smartphones and tablets
that launched it have remained pretty
much the same throughout. In 2013,
we saw the emergence of flexible
display screens as a viable option for
personal electronics. And once the
technology is perfected, the range of
possibilities gets a whole lot broader.
How about a T-shirt that plays You-
Tube videos? Or a 229cm (90-inch)
high-definition TV which you can fold
and bring to a friend’s house for the
big game? All are starting to seem like
real possibilities.
The breakthrough came as research-
ers like those at Colaneri’s lab figured
out how to build display panels onto
paper-thin plastic substrates—thin
slices of material that act as semicon-
ductors—instead of glass. “We’ve al-
ways said that flexible displays are sort
of the beginning toward truly flexible
electronics,” he said. “The display in a
conventional phone or laptop or tablet
is the least flexible thing in there, since
it’s made out of a piece of rigid glass.”
The first wave of consumer gadgets
using that and similar technologies is
under way, with more promised in the
near future.
Korean gadget giants Samsung and
LG have already rolled out TVs and
phones with curved display screens.
Apple has filed for a patent for an
‘electronic device with a wraparound
display.’ At Google, one of CNN’s
Thinkers, Mary Lou Jepsen, is a
pioneer in the field of display screens.
She’s in the super-secret Google X
lab, so there’s no telling what she and
others are actually up to. But it’s hard
to imagine new displays aren’t some-
where on the agenda.
Fig. 17: Philips ‘fluid’ smartphone concept
32 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Trend of flexible electronics market in future
The global flexible electronics market is expected to reach US$ 25.9 billion by 2018,
according to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., propelled by the increasing
demand for lighter and smaller electronic products with low power consumption.
The market, considered to be in an embryonic stage, is currently the focus of intense
research by universities, research institutes and technology-driven enterprises. In future, the
market will offer immense potential for rapid growth with applications extending beyond the
traditional sphere to military, automotive, aerospace, medical and consumer applications.
“All of the names that you men- plastic electronics and printed electron-
tioned are certainly sniffing around ics verticals, is driven by the global de-
(the idea),” Colaneri said. “I think all mand for lighter and smaller electronic
of the names that you’ve dropped are products that consume lesser power.
also among the top-ten list of most Due to the fact that these devices are
paranoid, secretive organisations more shock-resistant, cost-effective
known to man. They’re certainly think- to manufacture and can be flexed or
ing about it.” bended, they have the capability of
being integrated into portable devices,
Conclusion clothing and packaging materials.
Flexible electronics is an emerging While the market for flexible elec-
field of science and manufacturing tronics is still in its embryonic stage,
technology, which enables planting of various new applications are being
electronic devices onto conformable studied by universities, research in-
plastic substrates. The flexible elec- stitutes and high-tech companies. The
tronics sector, similar to large-area or technology is finding increasing appli-
macro electronics, organic electronics, cation in various sectors, such as mili-
tary, computers, consumer products,
aerospace, automotive and medical.
The main end-use areas for flexible
electronics include electronic displays,
photovoltaics, sensors, lighting and
logic/memory applications among
others. The capability to build flex-
ible electronics, or electronic circuits
that are capable of being stretched
and bent according to requirement,
enables the user to expand the cur-
rent scope of functions supported by
www.efymag.com
 MANUFACTURE
use of only rigid circuits. Further development of the
industry is expected to occur through the development
of suitable processes that facilitate the cost-efficient
manufacture of flexible electronics components and
the integration of rigid components customised for
various applications.
Budding electrical application areas, including
heaters, solar cells, batteries and lighting, are propel-
ling the growth of the worldwide flexible electronics
market. The technologies enable electronic systems to
be rolled, stretched, washed and worn, and thereby
conform to various architectural features. Flexible elec-
tronics components are also capable of biodegradation
with multiple-layer structures, which reduce the area
required and number of interconnections, while increas-
ing reliability of the system.
Key areas of application for flexible electronics in-
clude use in portable devices to provide a compact and
robust form factor for electronic devices as well as medi-
cal applications like the creation of a circuit that exactly
fits the gyri of the brain and enables the real-time study
of epileptic patients. Other applications include the in-
corporation of flexible circuits-based lightweight impact
sensors into the uniforms and helmets of soldiers to al-
low medics in providing better treatment to wounded
soldiers. Stretchable circuits are also capable of being
utilised with a standard balloon catheter to provide a
range of radio circuitry and sensors to monitor electri-
cal activity, pressure, temperature as well as blood flow
inside the patient’s body.
Organic electronic materials’ market is poised to
display exponential growth driven by increasing ap-
plications in conventional and niche areas, along with
expanding in numerous applications ranging from
wide-area displays and RFID tags to memories. Low
cost for fabrication and high degree of flexibility are the
two key factors driving the demand for organic elec-
tronics and its increasing penetration in the mainstream
market. The materials are also useful for new and
innovative applications, such as electronic paper and
smart windows, wherein inorganic conductors (silicon
or copper) cannot be employed. Organic conductors are
also expected to find application in emerging frontiers,
such as molecular computing.
Printed electronics, a new industry in its embryonic
stage today, can shape the future of printing, as well as
just about every other industry on the planet. Printed
electronics is the application of conductive and elec-
tronic components onto a material by means of a print-
ing process. It might not occur on a conventional press,
but the applied product will be liquid or semi-liquid in
form, and will cover a substrate pattern. 
Concluded
The author is a final-year student of KMIT affiliated to JNTUH. This article
is based on a paper he prepared for a technical seminar on the subject

34 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 innovation
Daylight Harvesting With
Automatic Lighting
Imagine the availability of 60,000 units of light energy through an automatic system that
monitors energy consumption to maximise efficiency. At the age of 48, Sekhar Nori, founder
& CEO of Skyshade Daylights Pvt Ltd, teamed up with his colleagues to create an automated
and integrated daylight harvesting system
Sneha Ambastha
S
ekhar Nori has come up with a
product he calls the Day360 In-
tegrated Daylight System (IDS).
This is a lighting system that harvests
day light to provide free lighting dur-
ing the day and electrical lighting at
night. It is controlled automatically by
the system but has manual override
option for those special occasions.
Sekhar Nori says, “During my
former experience with solar energy
field, where I worked with solar con-
version, I found that the conversion
ratio of solar energy is comparatively
depressed. This caused the system
costs to be relatively high. This is
when we recognised that it is time
to convey the visual solar energy as
light itself.”
In this system you do not convert
day light into any other form of energy
like heat or electricity. This helps in-
crease the product’s life, the product be-
comes more affordable which, in turn,
36 August 2014 | Electronics For You
increases the return on investment.
What it is
It is a concept where both natural day
light and electrical lighting are inte-
grated into a single and simple plat-
form. Depending on the availability of
day light, the electrical lighting system
switches on or off to complement light
in the area.
Although the Day360 IDS was de-
duced from the idea of Lightpipe (a so-
lar daylight system), it is a completely
new solution with daylight system
being just a part of it. The IDS makes
use of electrical lighting, day lighting,
light sensors and a lighting controller
for an all-in-one system that even has
smart meter functionality.
Sekhar says, “We did a lot of R&D
for IDS for about one-and-a-half year.
This year we finally finished its design
and fabrication. IDS is a completely
new way of providing an automatic
lighting solution for commercial build-
ings.”
How it works
The daylight system part of IDS has a light
collector, a reflective system and light
diffusers. The light collector collects sun
light and the reflective system transports
this light just like an optical fibre. The light
diffusers take the light out of the tube and
diffuse it into the building.
Lighting controllers. The lighting
controllers take care of the entire work-
ing of the IDS and also help in switching
between day light and electrical light-
ing. The lighting controller has three
parts—daylight sensing, control system
and a central control panel.
Sekhar says, “The light sensing ele-
ment used by IDS is a special light sensor
built by us. This is an open loop light
sensor. Normally the light sensor used in
building works in a closed loop. The light
sensor that we build gives a continuous
feedback to the lighting controller. In an
open loop sensor the light is measured
from the ambient sky and never measured
in the task plane. Whereas in closed loop
sensor light is continuously measured at
the task pane (a task pane could be either
floor level or any other plane) and is given
as a feedback to the controller.”
The light sensor continuously meas-
ures the ambient sun light. If the ambient
sun light is less than the desired light in-
tensity required in the room, the lighting
controller turns on the electrical lighting.
The electrical lighting is divided into
three groups, each representing a step
for switching on or off. Depending upon
the light intensity, the controller turns on
required number of steps in electric light-
ing. Nori adds, “The lighting controls and
the central control panels are also built
in-house. All lighting systems can be con-
www.efymag.com
 innovation
trolled through central control panels.”
Monitor and control energy. The control system monitors
the energy consumed and the savings on the lighting system like
a smart meter. It also allows the manual override of the system,
monitors failures and the data inputs.
Sekhar explains that the main technology behind IDS is
the response of electrical lighting to the available day light. He
adds, “In this system we have built a couple of other features
too, like the smart metering of energy consumption. The ener-
gy consumption of the electric lighting system is continuously
measured, metered and displayed in a control panel. So the
utility managers or the facility managers can actually monitor
the power consumption of the lighting systems and track the
energy savings they are able to make, and then they can also
convert it to carbon credits.”

To convince is a challenge
Sekhar says, “We are not used to the concept of day lighting
but are used to electrical lighting. The buildings too are built
in such a way that there is no methodology to use day light. So
people stay connected to the electrical lighting without consid-
ering the use of day lighting. Our challenge here is to convince
people that we have a methodology to use this day lighting.
“We are trying to make a change in the concept of building
design and show that the day lighting can be an integrated
part of the building and devices can be built for effective use of
that. In last 4-5 years we have made a large impact by doing so
many projects across the country (based on previous Lightpipe
technology).”

Benefits
Day lighting is extremely good in terms of the psychological
and physiological benefits it delivers. Lots of research and
studies conducted for lighting prove that it is a great psy-
chological uplift when the building is day-lit. It improves the
mood of the people and enhances productivity.
The use of a day lighting system adds to the energy sav-
ings of the building by using sun light as a renewable energy
source. It also increases energy efficiency of a building and a
reduction in its carbon footprint.

Market strategy
Launched only in April, Day360 IDS targets large factories,
commercial stores, warehouses, etc. Nori says, “We are pres-
ently looking at the South Asian and Middle Asian markets for
IDS because there is ample sun light available here. The South
Asian neighbourhood is also an energy-deficit region, which
is not the case with the Middle East. We assume IDS to be fit
for this market and can be used extensively here. The energy-
saving benefits are very promising in these areas.”
Sekhar proudly shares, “Day360 IDS is first of its kind in
the world and does not take in any competitors yet. We have
filed for patents for this product.” 

The author is a technology journalist at EFY

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 37

 Technology Focus
Modular, Connected and Intelligent
Define Today’s Security Products
Sending an alert during an intrusion is a passé and can no longer be considered intelligent.
Smart is re-defined by today’s security systems. They study behavioural, temperature and
humidity patterns, come with advanced processing techniques. Let us take a look at some
of the latest and intriguing security devices from around the world
ABHISHEK A. MUTHA
M
ost of the alarms
generated by secu-
rity products are
usually false and,
when that happens,
there is great distress caused for every-
one at the receiving end.
Security products today are packed
with a lot of smart sensors. They
study patterns, compare data and are
designed to generate genuine alarms.
Security devices are also much more
interconnected to ‘things’ and are easy
to install. Most devices are now just
plug-and-play type hassle-free systems.
In this article we talk about select
security products from a plethora of
them released every year. Let us take
them one at a time.
Intelligent device that
generates genuine alarms
Would it not be great if you could have
an intelligent home security system?
A system that could be installed and
configured easily, would recognise
your everyday movements at home
and your pets’ too, warn of even slight
changes to generate genuine alarms
and, last but not the least, synchronise
with your smartphone to notify you.
A screeching alarm is really annoy-
ing, especially when it is a false alarm.
But a new security system claims to
behave like a live-in security guard,
analysing house occupiers’ move-
ments. It sends relevant notifications
to avoid false alarms, such as those set
off by a wandering pet.
40 August 2014 | Electronics For You
The 15cm tall gadget has a built-in HD camera
with night vision, microphone speakers, motion,
temperature, air and humidity sensors and a
siren (Courtesy: https://www.indiegogo.com)
The Canary device can also learn and track
a home’s average temperature and humidity
levels. Any changes in trends can be monitored
using the smartphone app (Courtesy: https://
www.indiegogo.com)
Once an alert is sent, the user can choose to
call the police, sound the siren, ask a neighbour
to check-in or ignore the warning. Gradually,
with each alert, the device learns the behaviour
and habits of its user and responds to certain
changes more accurately (Courtesy: https://
www.indiegogo.com)
Called Canary, this device can be
easily connected to your existing Wi-
Fi network and synced with a smart-
phone. If there is an intrusion, you are
notified, so you can remotely trigger
the in-built siren to scare off the intrud-
ers. The system also studies air qual-
ity, temperature, noise and humidity
levels, and senses anything out of the
ordinary, including rapid changes in
temperature levels that could indicate
a fire, for instance.
What makes this 15cm (6-inch) tall
gadget so smart? It comes with a full
arsenal of sensors. It sees through an
HD video camera with night vision
and 170-degree angle lens, microphone
speakers to pick up sound and sensors
for temperature, humidity and air
quality. It also has triple-axis acceler-
ometer and a passive infrared motion
detector. It comes with a siren that
sounds a 100dB+ alarm activated by
the Canary app.
This device is highly customisable
too. It can be activated at certain days
in a week or at a particular time, prob-
ably when you are away. The different
sensors that come with this device can
be enabled and disabled depending
on your needs. Alternatively, when
certain parameters are triggered, the
system can be set to record and store
in video mode. Users can check into
the system remotely and keep an eye
on the house when on a holiday or on
tour. The creators also claim that it has
a bank-like encryption that prevents
hackers from gaining access to your
system or invalidate sensors during
break-in.
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
Canary was founded by Adam
Sager, formerly from Israel Defense
Forces, Chris Rill, who built sensors
for the US Military and Jon Troutman,
former product design lead at General
Assembly. It was successfully funded
on an online campaign. In fact, it ex-
ceeded its pledged goal of $100,000 by
a whopping 1962%! It is moderately
priced at US$ 200.
DIY security systems can’t
get any simpler
If you are constantly worried about
what’s happening at home when you
are at work, travelling or away from
home for reasons of your own, worry
no more! With the aim of simplifying
home security and automation, this
Wi-Fi motion sensor from D-Link lets
you know when something is moving
at home with an instant alert, making
your home smarter and secure.
It behaves like a completely con-
nected DIY home solution, and works
effectively and seamlessly when used
with a Wi-Fi camera (so you can see
what’s happening at home), Wi-Fi
Smart plugs (which provide a better
grip over devices at your home) and a
free mydlink Home mobile app (so you
know precisely what’s happening.)
This device is modular and much
simpler in terms of functionality as
compared to Canary. If you are looking
for a cost-effective yet simple solution,
your search could end here. With just
two buttons (WPS and Reset), and
an LED indicator on the outside, this
plug-in device incorporates a PIR sen-
sor with 7.9m (26-feet) detection range,
two internal antennae and a wireless
frequency range of 2.4 GHz to 2.4835
GHz complying with IEEE 802.11n
standard. It also has Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA/WPA2) and Wi-Fi Pro-
tected Setup (WPS) security protocols
integrated.
Whether you want to get notified
when the kids get back from school,
make sure the dog goes outside during
day time, or receive a text when the
garage door opens, this Wi-Fi motion
sensor makes it simple to stay aware of
what’s happening at home. The com-
42 August 2014 | Electronics For You
pact motion sensor plugs into
a power outlet and alerts users
of activity at home with a push
or text notification as soon as it
detects motion. It can be easily
configured with your existing
Wi-Fi network. This motion
sensor can be additionally
synced with a Wi-Fi camera to
give you visual power.
Coming to the automation
aspect, a combination of Wi-Fi
Smart plug and the intuitive
mydlink Home mobile app
available for iOS 6 or above
and Android 4.0 or above
smartphones and tablets, pro- D-Link’s Wi-Fi motion sensor (DCH-S150)
vides instant control over elec- (Courtesy: http://www.dlink.com)
tronics from anywhere, any-
time. For example, you easily
pair a D-Link smart plug with
a Wi-Fi motion sensor to make
home electronics immediately
react to motion, such as the
lights to turn on as you walk
in the front door, for the air-
conditioner to keep the living
room cool while you are away,
and for music to play when MINI Z by American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E)
you step on the treadmill. (Courtesy: http://www.meetminiz.com)
This ability to control de-
vices remotely, automate elec-
tronics and get a quick view
of what’s happening at home
from virtually anywhere puts
you in the driver’s seat. The
mydlink Wi-Fi motion sensor A MINI Z in action (Courtesy:
(DCH-S150) costs approxi- http://www.meetminiz.com)
mately US$ 40 and the Wi-Fi
smart plug costs about US$ 50. If you Engineering,
also opt for a Wi-Fi camera, the cost Inc. (AS&E). It A MINI Z image of an
pretty much equals the cost of the Ca- basically pro- unattended bag revealing
nary security system. vides on-the- acellphone
pipe bomb and a
(Courtesy: http://
g o d e t e c t i o n www.meetminiz.com)
Detecting hidden organic of bootlegged
threats quickly and items in hard-to-reach areas, such as
wirelessly vehicle tires, small boats, furniture,
Finding threats in tight spaces can be a suspicious bags, walls and car interi-
big problem. Keeping in mind officials ors. Accompanied by a Windows 8.1
from different fields like maritime tablet PC embedded with an ASEIn-
police, event security, border control, spection software, the MINI Z system
law enforcement and general aviation provides effective detection of explo-
security, the world’s first handheld Z sives, organic threats and contraband.
Backscatter technology imaging system Weighing 4 kg, with a scan speed
was designed by American Science and of 15cm (6-inch) per second and four
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
hours battery life, typically, it uses
AS&E’s signature Z Backscatter tech-
nology, producing a real-time image
of the scan target, bringing organic
materials that transmission X-ray sys-
tems can miss, such as drug, currency
and explosives to the fore by wirelessly
connecting to the tablet. Unlike port-
able transmission X-ray systems, trace
detectors or density meters, the MINI
Z system provides an easy-to-interpret
image to swiftly pinpoint organic con-
traband behind non-metallic surfaces.
The operator controls the scanning
function with the help of an uncompli-
cated, intuitive graphical user interface
on the system’s dedicated tablet which
produces an image of the scanned area
that appears in real time.
The MINI Z system is safe for
bystanders, operators and the envi-
ronment as well. The system’s X-ray
dose conforms to the appropriate
EURATOM, NCRP, ICRP and ANSI
radiation safety standards. It cannot be
used for scanning people, although the
MINI Z is a low-dose and low-energy
Z Backscatter system.
Some of the applications it can
be used for are public safety (quickly
screening unattended and suspicious
bags and packages for potential terror-
ist threats), border and security check-
points (screening vehicle bumpers,
tires, panels or interiors for concealed
threats such as drugs, cigarettes, explo-
sives and plastic weapons), drug en-
forcement (investigation of suspected
drug labs or fake currency), event
security (screening of hand baggage
and deliveries to ensure public safety)
and VIP security (securing rooms and
furniture for organic threats and IEDs
to ensure personnel safety).
Wearable electronics to
enforce law and order
A body-worn video camera for law
enforcement best fits police, private se-
curity agencies and other law enforce-
ment personnel. Seattle-based VIEVU
recently announced its latest offering
in the wearable camera domain—the
LE3. It is specifically designed for
professionals who need to video docu-
44 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Bosch’s DINION 8000 (Courtesy: www.us.boschsecurity.com)
Comparison of images from Bosch DINION IP
using starlight technology and other cameras
(Courtesy: www.us.boschsecurity.com)
ment their actions. In the US, notably
the police departments from Farfield
and Novato have deployed these cam-
eras. While some police officers feel
that this turns them into RoboCops,
others feel more positively and consid-
er it to be a means to prove their side
of the story. Despite some objections
raised, like privacy issues and mixed
reactions from the officers, the use of
this technology is growing.
This compact, 70gm, pager-sized,
self-contained video recorder with a
16GB non-removable storage captures
and provides convincing forensic
video evidence, and can be comfort-
ably clipped on the uniform. It has the
most uncomplicated way of opera-
tion; it turns on/off by simply sliding
the lens slide cover, which is very
convenient for activation in stressful
situations. With two video resolution
modes (1280×720 (HD) or 848×480
(widescreen SD)), and battery life up
to five hours for SD and three hours for
HD, it records at 30 frames per second
for up to 12 hours at SD resolution and
up to 6 hours at HD. Video evidence is
securely stored and tabulated with a
FIPS 140-2 compliant digital signature
process which can prove that the video
has not been tampered with.
The LE3 camera is powered by
VIEVU’s VERIPATRO software system
and can be integrated into existing
video systems or other video manage-
ment platforms. All video
evidence can be accessed
and stored locally or in a
cloud for ongoing cases
and trials. The software
installs either in a stand-
alone, network or cloud-
based mode.
The ability to function
in both high-definition
and standard-definition modes was
one of the most notable features incor-
porated. This was achieved by adopt-
ing the H.264 compression scheme and
by increasing the camera’s internal
memory from 4 GB to 16 GB. Another
notable change from its previous ver-
sion was the change in the lens itself.
After consulting with a forensic expert,
the company settled on the concept
of a flat image for the camera, which
means no distortion because of the
field of view. The ideal field of view
is 65 to 70 degrees, and hence the lens
was designed with a 68-degree field of
view. That provides a very flat image
with no curvature on the back side of
the image. So, if one needs to forensi-
cally enhance something, it is of high
quality all the way through.
Some other improvements de-
signed into this camera, in contrast
with the previous LE2, were ability to
mute audio. It was incorporated con-
sidering the laws in some states that
require two-party consent to record
conversations and an improved battery
life. It costs about US$ 900.
Smarter surveillance with
advanced image processing
Taking into account the burgeoning re-
quirement for security and safety prod-
ucts, more and more cameras are being
stationed in neighbourhoods, districts
or other locales where they are at the
mercy of nature and other elements.
Capturing video in dim and dingy are-
as, where most of the cameras fail, and
providing colour images when cam-
eras transition to monochrome mode,
is a challenge overcome by this 5MP
camera with starlight technology. Even
at night, the DINION IP starlight 8000
MP benefits users by providing details
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
such as colour of vehicles or clothing,
which assist in the identification of
people and objects and reduce costs
associated with added illumination.
This camera can be used for round-
the-clock video surveillance. Regard-
less of surrounding lighting quality,
time of the day or amount of object
movement, it delivers relevant IP video
24x7. Capturing images at 5MP reso-
lution at up to 30 frames per second,
even under extreme low-light condi-
tions, it gives images in fine detail. The
latest sensor technology combined
with the sophisticated noise suppres-
sion results in a light sensitivity of
0.0121 lux at full 5MP resolution in
colour and even 0.00825 lux at 1080p
resolution.
Advanced image processing tech-
niques take this camera to another
level. Intelligent video analysis (IVA)
basically tracks and concentrates on
pertinent situations as well as adds
sense and structure to stored video,
allowing you to quickly retrieve the
correct data. The DINION IP starlight
8000 MP generates full colour images
in un-illuminated situations beyond
the point where other cameras would
have switched to monochrome images.
And where others show no image at
all, it still delivers detailed mono-
chrome images.
The built-in intelligence eliminates
the probable disturbances that usually
originate from fluctuating front or back
light. The intelligent auto exposure
(iAE) gives front- and back-light com-
pensation, providing a perfect picture
every time. It dynamically adjusts the
exposure of the camera to automati-
cally adapt to changing light condi-
tions and provides perfect exposure
of objects of interest every time. Intel-
ligent dynamic noise reduction (iDNR)
saves bitrate at the source and only
uses bandwidth when needed. This
results in up to 50% less bitrate, which
significantly reduces storage costs and
network strain without compromising
on video quality.
With the ability to capture fast-
moving objects, high resolution, wide
dynamic range and superior light
46 August 2014 | Electronics For You
VIEVU’s LE3 body-worn HD video camera
sensitivity, this camera is regarded as
the ultimate 24x7 camera for IP video
surveillance.
Laser-based device
exposes hidden snipers
Snipers are always a threat to eminent
and important personalities attending
special events or delivering a public
speech. India’s Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO),
quite recently, developed a new device
to track secluded snipers behind win-
dows and curtains.
To safeguard VVIPs from such
snipers, DRDO has developed a la-
ser device called the Optical Target
Locater, which can identify and spot
potential assassins carrying sophisti-
cated rifles, hiding behind windows of
high-rise buildings. A portable laser-
based device for detection of optical
and electro-optical threats, it can aid
security firms providing VVIP secu-
rity to locate snipers and spies trying
to stalk, observe and eliminate their
high-value targets. The device has been
developed and successfully test evalu-
ated for optical targets up to a range of
300 metres.
A laser beam is released from the
equipment that examines the particular
area, and the moment it hits any de-
vice such as a telescope, binocular or
the telescopic sight of a sniper rifle,
the location of the sniper is identified.
DRDO’s Laser Science and Technology
Centre (LASTEC) Director Anil Kumar
Maini was quoted saying, “The best
part is that the sniper would not even
know that he has been compromised
and he can be apprehended.”
The security agencies deployed for
VVIP protection are already using im-
ported equipment for scanning the areas
being visited by the VVIPS. But Maini
adds, “The equipment used by these
agencies is almost two to three times
more expensive than the device devel-
oped by us, and they have shown keen
interest in the product developed by us.”
Many more interesting
innovations in security
Relying on the fact that there is 1-in-
2.25 trillion chance of a false ID with
irises, EyeLock, an iris-based iden-
tity management technology solutions
company, released an iris biometric
solution in September last year. It pro-
vides video-based iris authentication in
motion and at a distance. This system
uses video of both your irises to verify
your identity.
Another groundbreaking inno-
vation by Optellios, the US-based
manufacturer of fibre-optic sensing
and security systems, is their recently
released FP1400 zone-based perim-
eter intrusion security system. It uses
algorithm-based distributed sensing,
coupled with frequency filtering, to re-
ject environmental sources of nuisance
and false alarms. It provides superior
intrusion detection with support for
software-configurable 8 to 28 zones,
and provides cut-immunity, which
means the systems remain operational
and will detect even if a cable is cut.
IoT, short for Internet of Things,
dubbed today as ‘Internet of Every-
thing’ is starting to get a stronger hold
over the technology landscape. It is
predicted that by 2020 there will be at
least 20 billion connected devices all
over the world. With continued tech-
nological advancements, every year
will continue to bring a bevy of new
innovations that are smarter, custom-
isable and connected to the security
industry. 
The author is a senior technical correspondent
at EFY
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
En Route to Security 3.0
In an era riddled by desire, power and technology, threats
have become immeasurable and unpredictable. As a result,
security and privacy have also transitioned from being
straight-forward tasks to complex, unfathomable ones swept
by new and emerging technologies
The inventors with their terahertz scanner (Courtesy: Fraunhofer Institute)
F
Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram
ear redefines security in
every era. Huts began to
have doors when people
began to worry about their
privacy; and forts began to
have moats when kings started invad-
ing. Banks began to have passwords,
homes began to have locks, phones and
computers began to have pass-codes,
and slowly security became a basic
amenity, an all-pervading necessity.
As in any field, technology rose to the
occasion, and from homes to national
borders, high tech began to be deployed
at every turn. Still, security and privacy
continue to be serious concerns for eve-
rybody, albeit of varying degrees.
As always, technologists continue
their quest for newer technologies that
48 August 2014 | Electronics For You
can protect places, people, and now,
their devices and data too. Here, we
look at a small sample of the security-
related research and experimentation
happening across the world. To show
how vast an area it is, we shall look
at disparate examples that span from
data security to public security.
Using the cloud without
compromising privacy
In most instances, there is a paradox in
using cloud-based services and strong
encryption schemes. When you need to
perform some operation, say search, on
a strongly encrypted database stored
on the cloud, but the server cannot
decrypt the data, it has no choice but
to return all the records to you, letting
your computer assume the burden of
decrypting and searching the database.
So, although your data is secure, the
whole point of offloading work to a
cloud server is lost in the bargain! On
the other hand, if you let the server de-
crypt the message by sharing the key,
security and privacy are compromised.
IBM came out with a solution to this
problem, and was granted a patent on
it in December 2013. Their ‘fully homo-
morphic encryption’ offers a way for
servers (including cloud ones) to take en-
crypted data from a user, process it, and
send back an encrypted result–all with-
out decrypting the data first! In short,
they have solved a mathematical puzzle
that has daunted scientists for years–that
is, querying of encrypted data without
decryption. The first results related to
homomorphic encryption were revealed
by IBM researcher Craig Gentry in 2009.
Although a significant breakthrough, the
technique was complex and would take
too much time.
As one particular critic pointed
out at that time, “Performing a Google
search with encrypted keywords—a
perfectly reasonably simple application
of this algorithm—would increase the
amount of computing time by about
a trillion.” However, the technique
gained new hope in 2013, when two
more IBM researchers, Victor Shoup
and Shai Halevi, took up Gentry’s
original concept and implemented
it more practically. They released an
open source, GPL-licensed C++ library
to perform homomorphic encryption
at a low level. They are working on
providing higher-level routines.
Other researchers from reputed
institutes like the University of Toronto
and Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy are also working on similar tech-
niques, but are all faced with the chal-
lenge of making these algorithms faster
and more computationally practical.
Non-invasive parcel scanner
How cumbersome it is when the post
office or courier insists that you seal the
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
packet in their presence after they check
it for explosives and drugs? The T-
Cognition system is a terahertz scanner
developed by researchers at the Fraun-
hofer Institute for Physical Measure-
ment Techniques IPM in Kaiserslautern
in collaboration with Hübner GmbH &
Co. KG in Kassel, which helps scan the
content of packages or envelopes with-
out having to open them. In specific, the
system helps recognise parcels contain-
ing hazardous, flammable materials
such as explosives and illicit drugs.
The scientists chose to use waves
in the terahertz range for scanning, be-
cause this lies midway between micro-
wave and infrared in the electromag-
netic spectrum, and thus combines the
advantages of both. These low-energy
frequency waves can easily penetrate
paper, wood, lightweight fabrics,
plastics and ceramics. The character-
istic spectra generated by them can be
analysed using intelligent software to
accurately detect the type of material
they travel through. Also, since tera-
hertz waves are non-ionising, they are
safe to use without any special shields.
Although very useful for mail scan-
ning, this nascent technology can also
be used for other security applications
such as industrial security, airport se-
curity, and so on.
New light for scouting
fingerprints
When we say tech in security, it is not
just about high-tech video surveillance
and cloud-based analysis. Sometimes,
simple breakthroughs can be big, such
as this new UV light developed at
the University of Leicester to identify
fingerprints on thermal paper used
for printing receipts, ATM bills, etc—a
key requirement for solving several
financial crimes.
Historically, it has been a challenge
to visualise fingerprints on thermal pa-
per, as the solvent used in the chemical
process turns the whole paper black.
A technology called Hot Print Sys-
tem (HPS) developed some years ago
helped read fingerprints on thermal
paper by applying heat to the paper;
however this too turned out to be
50 August 2014 | Electronics For You
stranger uses the device,
the system recognises
that the movements do
not match the owner’s
normal tendencies, and
can be programmed to
take further action such
as locking the device or
alerting somebody.
Called LatentGesture,
the system was tested at
the lab using 20 users.
As the users do various
LatentGesture profiles each user and stores their ‘touch
tasks like tap buttons,
signature’ (Courtesy: Georgia Institute of Technology) swipe sliders or check
boxes, LatentGesture de-
problematic as the quality of thermal velops a profile of each person, what
paper varied from country to country. they call a person’s ‘touch signature.’
This new technology, on the other For every device, the system can store
hand, uses a specifically-tailored UV five touch signatures–the owner’s
light to illuminate the thermal paper and and four authorised users’. Whenever
create faint images of fingerprints. This somebody uses the mobile device, it
enables quick, non-invasive and specula- automatically identifies whether it is
tive examination of fingerprints. The fine the owner or one of the other author-
images produced by the UV light can ised users, and allows all operations
then be enhanced and converted to digi- they are authorised to do. If a stranger
tal form using the earlier HPS system. uses the system, an alert is issued or the
device is locked. The system, tested on
Knowing you intrinsically Android devices, was nearly 98 percent
People you are close to do not need an accurate on a smartphone and 97 per-
ID to recognise you! They know you by cent correct on tablets.
who you are, what you do, and why
you do things. Considering that the Funny looking blimps,
mobile phone has now become many serious about security
a man’s closest confidante, have you Early this year, the US Government an-
ever wished your phone too could rec- nounced that it would be deploying two
ognise you instinctively, without need- giant security blimps over Maryland
ing a password? Perhaps they could, around October. The blimps would carry
in the future,
thanks to a new
security system
developed by re-
searchers at the
Georgia Institute
of Technology.
The new
system continu-
ously monitors
how a user taps
and swipes a
mobile device,
and tries to un-
derstand the
patterns in these
movements. If a A bird’s eye view of the JLENS (Courtesy: Raytheon)
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
out 24/7 domestic aerial surveillance
and help enhance security manifold.
Developed by security major Ray-
theon, the Joint Land Attack Cruise
Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor
System (JLENS) comprises two 243-foot
long aerostats flying 10,000 feet above
the ground. One of them has 360-degree
surveillance capabilities that enable it
to see as far away as 547 km in any di-
rection, while the other has a powerful
integrated fire-control radar system. The
two aerostats are connected to mobile
mooring stations on the ground using
tethers that have high-speed fibre-optic
cables for sending data as well as trans-
mitting power. The aerostats can also
communicate via radio links.
Of course, this announcement has
triggered a lot of uproar about privacy
concerns, but the government is confi-
dent that the two aerostats would work
hand in hand to effectively spot and
ward off threats.
Human-like, real-time
facial recognition
A tool that excels in facial recognition
and biometric identification is perhaps
what we need to replace the security
guard, but how efficient are today’s
facial recognition tools. It is said that
Facebook’s facial recognition has near
human efficiency, but that is for static
images. For real security systems, we
need real-time facial recognition. Many
companies and research firms are
working on such technologies today,
and one such example is FST Biomet-
rics (erstwhile FST21), founded by
Major General Aharon Zeevi Farkash,
the former head of the Israeli Military
Intelligence Directorate.
One of their base technologies for In
Motion Identification (IMID) is SafeR-
ise, which uses a combination of real-
time facial recognition and biometric
technology. When somebody walks up
to a secured area, the system is capable
of immediately recognising whether she
is an authorised person or an intruder,
without even requiring the person to
stop near a camera or provide finger-
prints, iris prints, or any authentication.
Mostly, the system relies on facial
52 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Apart from unique facial features, SafeRise also notes your gait,
voice and other biometrics (Courtesy: FST Biometrics)
recognition. Using a profile picture, it
tries to understand a person’s unique
features, such as say, the number of
pixels between her eyes. Then, every
time that person approaches a pro-
tected area, the SafeRise system tries
to compare all the special features it
has stored. If you watch the output
of the security camera, the software
puts a yellow box over anything that
registers as a face. If it recognises the
face, the box turns green, else it turns
red and the door remains locked. As
the system ‘watches’ the person more,
it assimilates more biometric details
about her including her gait and voice.
The more it learns about the person, the
faster it identifies the person. SafeRise is
incorporated into FST products like the
Digital Doorman.
Quantum leap in mobile
phone security
Considering the amount of transactions
people are conducting using mobile
devices, researchers have now started
considering mobile security on the same
lines as banking security! A team at the
University of Bristol, in collaboration
with Nokia, recently demonstrated how
quantum cryptography using Quantum
Key Distribution (QKD), a bulky and
expensive technique currently used for
securing fixed physical locations like
server rooms in banks, could be used to
implement an ultra-high security scheme
for mobile devices. New hope comes
from the team’s efforts to
reduce the bulky and expen-
sive resources required for
quantum cryptography, so
that it can be implemented
by simply integrating an
optical chip into a mobile
handset.
This is basically a cli-
ent-server QKD scheme,
wherein the cumbersome
equipment, such as the
laser and detectors, are
located at the server side
and are accessible to a cli-
ent over a communication
network. The client only
requires an on-chip polari-
sation rotator, which may be integrated
into a handheld device. While the
experiments seem successful, the team
is now working towards implementing
the client-server QKD system in a real
communications network.
More examples,
all around us
There are lot more interesting develop-
ments in security across the world—
and most of them accurately reflect the
changing mindsets of people and the
newer threats of networking, increased
mobile usage, cloud computing and
the Internet of things. For example,
a decade ago people would not have
thought of do-it-yourself customised
home security using sensor-software
kits but today people need it to protect
their privacy and changing lifestyles.
Likewise, nobody would have even
imagined that it would become neces-
sary to protect trivial devices like, say,
the printer. But, with almost all devices
getting connected to the corporate or
home network, every device becomes
a point of vulnerability.
The threats faced by people today
are much more—thanks to the technol-
ogies that seemingly promise to make
life easier for them, and that means
more sleepless nights for technologists
paving the way for security X.0! 
The author is a technically-qualified freelance
writer, editor and hands-on mom based in Chennai
www.efymag.com
 Technology Focus
RF Surveillance: A Case of
Homeland and Border Security
Traditional techniques of monitoring individual activities and actions either by manual
inspection or by CCTV cameras and the advancement in electronics and radio-frequency-
based analysis has opened new avenues for threat detection
A
Srisailam Todeti
lthough security threat
can emerge from many
sources, the one which
is really brutal and cata-
strophic is terrorism.
Terrorism has far reaching conse-
quences like loss of human life and
property, and change in behavior
pattern of individuals, many of them
being irreversible.
Spread of knowledge and educa-
tion, coupled with strict vigilance,
can help contain terrorism and other
security threats. However, for robust-
ness in security, electronic threat detec-
tion mechanisms are recommended.
The main advantage is the
passive monitoring by these
electronic solutions, which
does not impact routine life
of any individual and still
ensures safety and security.
Generally, terrorist attacks are
made in densely-populated or
sensitive or tourist areas like Fig. 1: Basic block diagram of an RF surveillance system
bus stations, airports, railway
stations, hotels, places of
worship and other crowded
places.
The frequency spectrum is
allotted in India by WPC. This
means any frequencies used
by anyone who is not legally
allotted these raise suspicion,
and also any illegal activities
carried out in the licensed
band are suspect. If the illegal
and suspicious frequency and
its location are determined by Fig. 2: Multiple RF sensors to determine emitting devices in Hotel Taj Mahal it. If required, records the
any monitoring system, it can building
54 August 2014 | Electronics For You
help to locate and isolate the suspect
without much manual intervention.
This technique of detecting and lo-
cating the illegal and suspicious RF
source is called RF surveillance. Here
we discuss the RF surveillance tech-
nique which can be used both in pre-
ventive and tactical ways to effectively
counter terrorist threats.
The need
It is not easy to determine illegal ac-
tivities in communication and mobile
services due to their use en-mass.
However, communications between
terrorists and anti-social elements can
be stopped either by shutting down the
network or by jamming all the operat-
ing frequencies. This would stop all
forms of communications, including
security agencies’, and is therefore
counter-productive. That is why RF
surveillance is required and is gain-
ing popularity, as it enhances security
perimeter beyond just physical and
visual security.
How it works
Radio frequency (RF) surveillance
systems must be capable of measuring
unknown or unfriendly transmissions
and possibly extract the target infor-
mation content. Direction finding (DF)
and geo-location are usually part of
RF surveillance signal recovery; also
knowledge of the emitter location is of-
fered as part of such systems.
The basic block diagram of a
generalised RF surveillance
system is as shown in Fig. 1.
The three steps that de-
scribe it are as below:
Search. Performs the
high-speed signal search
operation in the selected fre-
quency band and identifies
active signals.
Classify. Performs signal
classification operation to
sort out the signals of inter-
est based on the selected
threshold level, alarm condi-
tions and automatic modula-
tion recognition algorithm.
Monitor. On the signal
of interest, performs the
demodulation and identifies
the intelligence available in
signals and the intelligence
www.efymag.com

for further analysis. Once intercepted
RF signal is monitored and recorded,
the system investigates RF spectrum
to identify the target message content.
Who needs it
Surveillance of wireless signals is
generally required by spectrum regula-
tors, public safety agencies, border and
coastal security, and military intelli-
gence. In the government and military
areas, these transmissions are often
characterised as signals intelligence
(SIGINT). These systems are useful to
intercept and locate the different wire-
less transmitters such as global mobile
personal communications by satellite
(GMPCS), cellular handsets and VHF/
UHF frequency range walkie-talkies.
Thus, an RF surveillance system plays
a vital role and ensures success in se-
curity mission.
Various intelligence and security
department personnel like Homeland
security department, Border and
Coastal Surveillance department,
critical infrastructure and perimeter
protection forces, signal intelligence
groups of Army, Navy and Air Force,
technical and aviation research organi-
sations, defence agencies, government
end-users, paramilitary forces, regula-
tory agencies, commercial spectrum
monitoring agencies, railways, hos-
Fig. 3: Use case of proactive indoor monitoring of sensitive areas
Fig. 4: Activity sequence for commission of RF surveillance system
www.efymag.com
pitals, transportation security depart-
ment, including aviation and maritime
transportation, can use these systems.
Overview of use case
Let us define various use cases for RF
surveillance systems in different oper-
ating environments. Three use cases
are stated below:
1. Tactical use case
2. Preventive use case
3. Costal surveillance use case
Note that these are just indicative
use patterns, and the RF surveillance
system is not limited to these applica-
tions.
Tactical use case for
critical infrastructure
protection
RF sensors can be installed in the
suspected area around the building
as shown in Fig. 2, or RF sensors can
be mounted in the sensitive buildings
as shown in Fig. 3. All RF sensors can
be connected via LAN backhaul either
with a wired or wireless system. The
sensors can then be time-synchronised
and, with its core detection algorithm,
the software can detect illegal or threat
signal. The system is very easy to in-
stall within a few minutes.
This method is best explained with
the example of Hotel Taj Mahal in
Mumbai where
terrorists attacked.
Assuming that the
terrorists were
still using RF com-
munication for
their coordination,
it was possible to
detect their sig-
nals and their pre-
cise origination, if
multiple RF sen-
sors (Fig. 2) were
put in all corners
of hotel building.
Technology Focus
Using cross-correlation technique the
exact RF origination or emitting source,
and hence terrorists’ locations, could
be detected and they could be isolated
and neutralised.
Though this technique is reactive
and tactical, it can be really quick to
spot the emitter and corrective actions
can be taken to avoid larger damage. A
better way, however, is to proactively
monitor indoor areas of the sensitive
buildings.
Fig. 3 shows a large hotel building
with multiple floors and rooms. Each
RF sensor scans its designated area
and sends information to a common
control location where all the RF-
emitting sources (legal or illegal) in the
hotel can be identified. Since sensors
can time-synchronise their sweeps,
the energy detection too gets synchro-
nised. Power-level comparisons can
then determine whether a transmitter
is inside vs outside, and if inside, in
which room.
This approach works well even if
attenuation through the walls, ceilings
and floors of buildings is substantial.
The series of actions performed by this
system in current example is summa-
rised in Fig. 4.
Preventive use case for
critical infrastructure
protection
In preventive application of an in-
frastructure protection, a distributed
network of RF surveillance systems
can be used to perform the operation in
remote mode, probably from network
operations centre (NOC). The surveil-
lance systems can be installed at various
locations by connecting them on back-
haul connectivity such as the Internet,
3G or a captive LAN network. These
systems stay synchronised in time with
GPS and therefore have the capability to
geo-map suspicious emitters.
Let us take the example of Mumbai
Electronics For You | August 2014 55
 Technology Focus
remains the same as explained in Fig.
4. For better insight of the entire city,
drive test with data recording facility
can supplement areas in which the
RF sensors cannot be easily deployed.
The drive data and the stationary sen-
sor data can be correlated at NOC and
emitters can be determined.

Fig. 5: Preventive technique for emitter detection using RF surveillance
Fig. 6: Distributed network of RF sensors for coastal surveillance
city, which has a large number of com-
mercial buildings and other important
establishments and tourist centres
like BSE building, Hotel Taj Mahal
and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. A
Coastal/border
surveillance
The third and final example is of very
large- scale monitoring, which can be
coastal or border surveillance systems.
The system works on the same philoso-
phy as described in previous section,
with a difference that the RF sensors
typical deploy- are located along the coast or border,
ment and con- and that the granularity of deployment
trol scheme for is not as dense as in previous case. The
Mumbai city deployment locations can be hill-top or
is shown in resorts where uninterrupted data con-
Fig. 5, where nectivity to NOC is available.
RF sensors are These systems also work 24×7 for
located at stra- continuous signal monitoring and
tegic locations analysis. The operational activities of
and their time- this coastal/border application are
stamped data the same as in Fig. 5, where the sur-
is pulled at veillance systems along the coastal or
NOC for net- border area, with suitable backhaul
work view of connectivity, can cover the entire sensi-
RF operations tive border area. Fig. 6 is an indicative
in the city. This example of such deployment. 
is a true proac-
tive monitor- The author is application engineer in Electronic
ing because one would know of any and Measurement group of Agilent Technologies
incremental RF emission as soon as it at Hyderabad. Along with Master of Engineering
degree and specialisation in systems and signal
happens. processing, he has over 12-year experience in
The process of installation and RF surveillance and communication, EW systems
commission of sensor-based systems development, integration and testing

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56 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 Technology Focus

Security Testing Tools: Wapiti,

OWASP ZAP and Netsparker—
A Comparison
With the vast use of the Internet, websites have become complex and impose increasing
challenge in securing them for data integrity, confidentiality, authentication, availability,
authorisation, access control, etc. Website security is especially important where critical
information is stored in web applications and the transactions need to be safe, as in the
case of defence and banking applications

control, audit, privacy protection, se- terms of architecture, software require-

B
SHWETA TYAGI
curity management, etc.
efore digging into the Security vulnerability testing is
details of web application to discover security vulnerabilities as
security testing, let us first an attacker. Vulnerability refers to the
take a brief overview of flaws in system design, implementa-
application security test- tion, operation or management. It may
ing. Security testing can be divided be used to attack, resulting in a state of
into security functional testing and insecurity. Commonly found vulner-
security vulnerability testing. abilities in web applications include
cross-site scripting, injection,
security misconfiguration,
NetiQ
Nikto
Scanner SPI session management and
Security Dynamics
Analyser Webinspect more.
Vulnerabilities of web
IBM
SAINT
AppScan applications may be accessed
by using penetration testing.
Acunetix
Source code analysis sys-
Nessus Security
Security Testing Web
Vulnerability
tems aim to help developers
Scanner Tools
Scanner locate vulnerabilities in the
underlying code of software
Tenable
STAT
Scanner Security programs and applications
Center
before they are put into pro-
Qualys
Guard Qualys Free SARA duction. Penetration testing
Security
Scans is the practice of testing a
computer system, network or
Fig. 1: Security testing tools web application to find vul-
nerabilities that an attacker
Security functional testing ensures could exploit.
that the software security functions are Several researches are available
implemented correctly and are consist- which have compared some secu-
ent with security requirements based rity testing tools from the viewpoint of
on their specifications. Software secu- their features, cost, services, functions
rity requirements mainly include data and so on. In this article, we compare
confidentiality, integrity, availability, three tools—Wapiti, OWASP ZAP and
authentication, authorisation, access Netsparker Community Edition in
ment and generated results for differ-
ent parameters.
Common web application
vulnerabilities
The common vulnerabilities of web
applications are cross-site scripting,
SQL injection, broken authentication,
cross-site request forgery and session
management. These vulnerabilities ap-
pear significantly in the Web Hacking
Incident Database (WHID).
SQL injection. It is a code injection
technique, used to attack data-driven
applications, in which malicious SQL
statements are inserted into an entry
field for execution. The best way of
finding whether an application is vul-
nerable to attack is to ensure that all
use of interpreters separates untrusted
data from query. A rare and best way
of attack is to inject malicious code into
strings as metadata. Consequently,
when the stored string is concatenated
into a dynamic SQL query, the mali-
cious code is executed. This can allow
the tester to read and modify sensitive
data contained in a database and take
full control of the database server by
exploiting vulnerabilities. Two attack
scenarios are:
Scenario #1. The application uses
untrusted data in the following vulner-
able query:
String query = “SELECT * FROM

58 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 Technology Focus
SQL Injection
Cross side scripting
Buffer Overflows
Crypto Attacks
Backdoors-Malicious Code
Session Hijacking
HTTP Response Splitting
Attacker
Web Server
Firewall
Web Browser
Legitimate User
Fig. 2: Security testing
customers WHERE custNAME=’” +
request.getParameter(“name”) + “’”;
Scenario #2: Vulnerable query in
Hibernate Query Language
Query HQLQuery = session.
createQuery(“FROM customer
WHERE custNAME=’“ + request.
getParameter(“name”) + “’”);
In both scenarios, the attacker
modifies the ‘name’ parameter value
to send: ‘ or ‘1’=’1.
http://testexample.com/app/
customerView?name=’ or ‘1’=’1
This changes the meaning of que-
ries to return all the records from the
customer table. More dangerous at-
tacks could invoke stored procedures
or modify data.
Broken authentication and ses-
sion management. It includes all form
of handling user authentication and
management of active sessions. A site
may be vulnerable if:
1. User authentication credentials
aren’t protected when stored using
hashing or encryption
2. Session IDs are exposed in the
URL
3. Session IDs aren’t rotated after
successful login and passwords
4. Session IDs and other credentials
are sent over unencrypted connections
To impersonate a user, an attacker
use leaks or flaws, such as exposed
session IDs, accounts and passwords,
in the authentication or session man-
agement. When attack is successful, an
60 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Client Server Applications
SOA Interfaces
Application Server
Databases
Legacy Systems
attacker may have the same privilege
level of the system as that of a legal
authorised user. An attack scenario is
given below as an example:
Scenario #1: Ticket reservations ap-
plication supports URL rewriting:
http://Testexample.com/sale/ite
msjsessionid=2P0OC2JSNDLPSKHCJ
UN2JV?destn =Delhi
An authenticated user of the site
mails the above link to his friends
without knowing that he is also giving
away his session ID. When his friends
use this link, they will use his session
and credit card information.
Cross site scripting. It is a web
vulnerability in which malicious
script is injected into the system in
the form of input. Three major types
of cross-site scripting exist. The first
one is Reflected XSS, in which attacker
injects browser-executable code within
a single HTTP response. It is non-
persistent. Second type is Stored XSS,
which occurs when some malicious
user-submitted data is stored in a data-
base to be used in the creation of pages
that will be served to other users later.
Thus, visitors of the web page fall vic-
tim to this attack. The third, Local XSS,
targets vulnerabilities that occur in the
source code itself. It is a type of XSS
vulnerability which does not originate
from the local software of the user.
Fuzzing testing. Fuzzing is a type of
negative testing that involves injecting
unexpected, random data as an input to
the application, to test the behaviour of
application under random data. Fuzz-
ing is used to find security loopholes
in operating system, software, web ap-
plication and coding errors.
Cross-site request forgery. Also
known as a one-click attack or session
riding, and abbreviated as CSRF or
XSRF, it is a type of malicious exploit
of a website whereby unauthorised
commands are transmitted from a user
that the website trusts.
Insecure direct object reference. It
occurs when an application exposes
an internal implementation object to
the user. Some examples of internal
implementation objects are database
records, URLs or files. An attacker can
modify the internal implementation
object in an attempt to abuse the access
controls on this object.
Comparison of security
testing tools
In order to compare the representative
testing tools, we consider the sample of
web application Jammu and Kashmir
Employment System. The system aims
to immediately provide the facility
for citizens to submit online form for
the services identified by the state of
Jammu & Kashmir. Subsequently, the
citizen must be able to check the status
of his/her application online. These
submissions and status tracking can
be done through the Common Service
Centres (CSCs) or through the J&K
State Portal directly.
Jammu and Kashmir Employment
System will help the government of
Jammu & Kashmir in creating an inte-
grated information infrastructure that
will expand, integrate and enhance the
utility and reach of the services provid-
ed by the government by utilising the
network of the CSCs. The state-portal
is envisioned as an informative, inter-
active, integrated and trusted service
delivery channel for the government to
citizens (G2C) and government to busi-
ness (G2B) services of the state and the
government’s constituent departments.
The SSDG acts as hub (standards-based
messaging switch) for all the interac-
tions and seamless interoperability
www.efymag.com

across service seekers (the citizens and
businesses) and various service provid-
ers (government departments) and even
among government departments.
To test the representative tools, we
configured each tool to run the test.
The configuration included installa-
tion, setting up test parameters, test
data, result analysis, etc.
We ran the test on the machines.
Configuration for the machine was
Intel core i3-3110M 2.40GHz proces-
sor with 2GB RAM, running Microsoft
Windows. The tests were conducted
two times a day to minimise the ef-
fect of the Internet connection on test
results and to obtain accurate meas-
urements.
Overview of tools
Wapiti. Wapiti is a web application
vulnerability scanner that was created
in 2006 by Nicolas Surribus. It does
not scan the source code of the appli-
cation but scans the web pages of the
launched web application. Wapiti acts
like a fuzzer and injects payloads to
see if a script is vulnerable. Wapiti can
detect lots of vulnerabilities, such as
file-handling errors, database injection,
cross-site scripting, LDAP injection
and CRLF injection. Wapiti is easy to
use, open source and the user does not
need security knowledge. But it is not
able to find all the vulnerabilities.
OWASP ZAP. OWASP ZAP is a
penetration-testing tool which comes
with plenty of features. Its main fea-
tures is active scanning which is used
to find certain kind of vulnerabilities,
including XSS and others, except some
logical vulnerabilities that can never be
found by any automated security test-
ing tool. Another interesting feature of
ZAP is fuzzing. ZAP provides a list of
fuzzers with the help of which we can
fuzz any part of the application. This
tool is open source, easy to use, well
organised and up-to-date. High false
positive factors and zero support for
multiple scanning profiles are its main
disadvantages.
Netsparker Community Edition.
Netsparker is a free web application se-
curity scanner. It helps the developers
www.efymag.com
Vulnerabilities report—Wapiti
Summary
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2
SQL Blind SQL
Injection
(1)
Injection (2) Handling Scripting (4)
High 1 1
Medium 0 0
Low 0 0
Fig. 3: Wapiti test results
who want to scan their web applica-
tions instantly and find the vulnerabili-
ties. Netsparker Community Edition
scans for SQL injection, XSS, Boolean
SQL injection, backup files and static
tests. It scans all types of web applica-
tions without limiting itself to technol-
ogy or platform they are built on. It
supports Javascripts/AJAX, can show
impact of vulnerabilities or remedy for
that vulnerability.
Tools results and analysis
The web application was tested using
the three tools OWASP ZAP, Wapiti
and Netsparker Community Edition.
The test results obtained using these
tools were:
Testing results with Wapiti. Using
Wapiti, the following four vulnerabili-
ties were discovered in the Jammu &
Kashmir application (the number in
brackets refers to the number of occur-
rence of the vulnerability):
SQL injection (1): SQL injection is a
technique that exploits a vulnerability
occurring in the database of an applica-
tion. It is a code injection that can allow
the tester to read sensitive information
from database and to modify it. SQL
Injection occurs when input contains
escaped characters, or user input is not
strongly typed.
Blind SQL injection (1): Blind injec-
tion occurs when SQL injection is al-
ready present in the application but its
result is not visible. Escaped characters
Technology Focus
3 4 5 6 7 8
File Cross Site CRLF (5) Commands Resource Htaccess Backup Potentially
(3)
execution (6) consumption
(7)
Bypass (8) file (9) dangerous file
(10)
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
should be handled properly to protect
an application from SQL injection.
File handling (1): The attack is
known as path traversal or directory
traversal. Its aim is to access files which
are stored outside the web root folder.
The attacker tries to explore the direc-
tories stored in web server.
Command execution (1): This attack
consists of executing system com-
mands on the server. The attacker tries
to inject this command in the request
parameter.
Test results with
OWASP ZAP
Using the active scanning feature of
OWASP ZAP, 17 potential vulnerabili-
ties were found, as mentioned below
(the number following the vulnerabil-
ity refers to the number of occurrence
of the vulnerability):
Cross site request forgery(2). Also
known as one-click attack or session
riding, and abbreviated as CSRF or
XSRF, it is a type of malicious exploit
of a website whereby unauthorised
commands are transmitted from a user
that the website trusts.
Cookie set without HttpOnly flag
(1). If a cookie has been set without the
HttpOnly flag, it means the cookie can
be accessed by JavaScript. If a mali-
cious script can be run on this page
then the cookie will be accessible and
can be transmitted to another site. If
this is a session cookie then session
Electronics For You | August 2014 61
 Technology Focus
hijacking may be possible.
X-Content Type Options header
missing (7). The script and styleSheet
elements will reject responses with in-
correct MIME types if the server sends
the response header ‘X-Content-Type-
Options: nosniff’. This is a security
feature which prevents MIME-type
confusion based attacks.
X-Frame-Options header not set
(7). In this case, X-Frame-Options
header is not included in the HTTP
response to protect against ClickJack-
ing attacks. The X-Frame-Options
HTTP response header can be used
to indicate whether or not a browser
should be allowed to render a page in a
<frame> or <iframe>. Sites can use this
to avoid clickJacking attacks by ensur-
ing that their content is not embedded
into other sites.
Fig. 4: OWASP ZAP test results
Fig. 5: Netsparker Community Edition test results
62 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Testing results is due to server-side error. Reasons
with Netsparker may vary.
Using the scanner feature of Netspark- Version disclosure. This informa-
er Community Edition, we discovered tion can help an attacker gain a greater
five potential vulnerabilities in the understanding of the systems in use
example site: and potentially develop further attacks
Password transmitted over HTTP. targeted at the specific version of ap-
When a password is transmitted over plication.
HTTP, it is vulnerable in many ways. Our study shows that Wapiti works
As the password is transmitted over like a fuzzer. It detects database injec-
HTTP, network analyser and packet tion, cross-site scripting, file handling,
sniffers can easily monitor the traffic etc. The web scanning, fuzzing, crawl-
and intercept password. HTTP is not ing, report generation, etc features of
considered to be a secure method of OWASP ZAP are very useful for web
user authentication as stated by HTTP application testing. Its Web Spider func-
specification. tion automatically discovers the hidden
Cookie not marked as HTTPOnly. links. It allows the tester to understand
If a cookie, which is not marked the structure of the web application.
HTTPOnly, sent by the application, The active scanning feature of OWASP
is manipulated by the client side ZAP reports some main vulnerabilities,
code (JavaScript, Java, etc), it could such as directory browsing, external
leave the site to redirects, session ID in URL rewrite
XSS vulnerabili- and SQL injection. From all the features
ties. HTTPOnly that OWASP ZAP offered, fuzzer is
cookies cannot the best due to lots of fuzzing plugins
be read by cli- that can be used. Also, the process of
ent-side script, fuzzing is pretty optimised and fast.
so marking a The thing that is weird about OWASP
cookie as HTT- ZAP is that, when we scanned web ap-
POnly can pro- plication twice, we got different results.
vide additional Netsparker community edition offers
layer of protec- nice grouping of results and great detail
tion against XSS per vulnerability.
attacks. Our comparison shows that differ-
Internal ent tools show different results for the
server error. The same web application. Wapiti found
server responded SQL injection and Blind SQL injection
with an HTTP in the application. Several studies show
status 500. This that Wapiti has highest percentage of
SQL injection detections. Netsparker
does not have Blind SQL Injection
module, but is prone to less false posi-
tive factors as compared to other tools.
OWASP ZAP found cross-site request
forgery vulnerability in the web ap-
plication. OWASP ZAP is prone to high
false positive factors as compared to
the other tools. It reported SQLi vulner-
ability as cross-site scripting. So we find
that no tool is perfect but each can help
to find some basic vulnerabilities. 
The author is working as a project engineer at
CDAC, Mumbai in automation testing. Her research
interests are in software engineering, particularly in
software testing and reliability, and software metrics
www.efymag.com
 embedded design
Wireless Charging is the Future
Wireless charging is no more inferior to wired charging. Better standards, integration
methods and components have evolved over the past few years to make wireless charging
a better technology. And it need not be confined to charging cell phones. Find out how
Sneha Ambastha
T
he multimedia-rich portable
electronic devices available
now end up consuming a lot of
energy just to keep the device’s graph-
ics processing unit juiced up. Let us
take a cell phone for instance. The tra-
ditional approach is to look for a wall
socket and push in the wired charger’s
plug to charge the battery.
Though a cell phone can also be
charged wirelessly, most people
are wary of the time it takes to
charge the phone wirelessly.
No one wants to wait for
hours to charge a phone’s
battery wirelessly, espe-
cially when you need to
use the device in next
15-20 minutes. But does
wireless charging still take
a long time to power up a
device?
Although called wireless, wire-
less charging is not totally without
wires. The primary coil in the charger
needs current from AC mains to pro-
duce magnetic flux, which produces
current in the charger’s secondary coil
by induction for charging the device.
So the primary coil is plugged into an
AC socket using wires, though called
wireless. Wireless charging, when
started, was based on Qi inductive
power standard that was produced in
2008 by WPC (Wireless Power Con-
sortium).
The low-power Qi specification
limits the draw of power to just 0W to
5W, which limits the current available
to the device for charging. But newer
wireless chargers available in the mar-
ket are much better and can transmit a
higher amount of current. A few years
ago, Qi began to extend its specifica-
64 August 2014 | Electronics For You
tion to medium power to deliver up
to 120 watts.
Chips like Broadcom’s BCM59350
let gadgets use any wireless charging
standard. What’s more, it is not stran-
gled by the previous 5W limit and can
go up to 50% higher levels without
breaking sweat. This results in a charg-
ing speed that can finally compete
with what your travel charger gives
you through its wire. Modern wireless
charging allows transfer of upwards
of 1A current.
Resonance charging
The new wireless charging standard
A4WP (Alliance for Wireless Power)
is changing the concept of inductive
charging from magnetic induction to
resonance. Magnetic induction requires
the two coils to be placed very closely,
whereas with this technique a large area
is covered so the device’s position is not
very critical. In fact, multiple devices
can be charged wirelessly with this
technique by placing them all within
the wide resonant field. And charging
is not affected by the position of the
device being charged. No matter how
you position the device on the charging
pad, maximum amount of power gets
transferred to the device to charge it
easily and fast.
The chargers based on A4WP
standard transfer power wirelessly
at a frequency of 6.78 MHz, which
is internationally available for such
applications. The frequency used for
control and management is within
the 2.4GHz band, which is ideal for
use with smartphones and with other
electronics devices globally.
Itay Sherman, CTO, Power
Matter Alliance says, “Al-
though both inductive and
resonant charging are
based on the same prin-
ciple, the main differ-
ence between the two
is the coupling factor.
It defines how the two
coils will be aligned to
transfer maximum flux.
When measured on a scale
0 means less coupling factor
and 1.0 means high coupling factor.
Devices based on inductive charging
technology have a coupling factor of
0.3 to 0.8 whereas devices based on
resonance charging can also have a
coupling factor below 0.3.” 
Charger-receiver alignment
Quick and proficient charging is
possible only when the primary coil
(transmitter) identifies the secondary
(receiver). If the transmitter works ef-
ficiently but the receiver does not, the
wireless charger loses its significance.
Texas Instruments has recently
come up with two 5W receivers
(bq51020 and bq51021) focussed
around the Qi 1.1 standard. They offer
a programmable yield voltage of about
8V, reducing the power loss and the
rise in temperature by 35% compared
www.efymag.com
 embedded design
to other charging solutions. The I²C in-
Table I
terface in bq51201 enables designers to
implement the pad detection feature,
Technical Analysis of Standards
EPC PMA A4WP
an easy way to align receiver with the
charger and the foreign object detec- Freq 100-205 kHz 250-400 kHz 6.78 MHZ
tion to allow faster and efficient charg- Range of coupling K-0.4 to 0.7 K-0.6-0.8 K-0.1 to 0.5
ing of all the Qi-compliant gadgets. Q of Coils 6-10 6-10 40-100

Lesser components Communication In Band (detailed) In Band (simple) Out of Band-BLE

Alignment Magnet on TX (retired)/ Magnet on TX and RX No alignment needed
Texas Instruments also came up with Multi Coil
bq500412 that allows designers to de-
Coil size/cost Med/Med Small/high Small/small
velop charging stations with half the
Thickness 0.3-1.0 mm 0.8-1.3 mm 0.2-0.5 mm (Est)
number of components used in other
charging solutions. This transmitter, Semiconductors RX <20V <20V 40V-60V
featured on foreign object detection Architecture of RX Rect + Reg + internal Rect + Reg + internal Rect + Buck _ BLE
though created for 12V charging pad, COMM COMM
can also be used with a boost converter Heating of metal Med (FOD implemented) Med (will need FOD in Low
to create a 5V USB charging pad with future)
three coils to limit power loss. Form factor flexibility Med Low Med-High
PowerbyProxi brings a fully inte- Efficiency 70%+ 70%+ ~50%
grated receiver circuit that fits easily Courtsey: Texas Instruments
into a smartphone to charge its battery
wirelessly. You can place at least three
Table II
devices on its pad for simultaneous
charging. It charges a device at the
Market Analysis of Standards
speed of a wired charger without over- WPC PMA A4WP
heating its components. Member companies 154 + members 86 + members 55 + members
Active consortium Yes Yes, formal technical Yes
Comforting power
Specification published Yes WPC 1.1, public Yes PMA 1.1, members only Yes V1.0, members only
Charging has moved on from what
Approved Tx types 20 1 N/A (3 in development)
has hitherto been a utility to one
Test houses established 9 None None
that comes with an aura of comfort.
Though the modules integrated in fur- Certified products 231 None None
niture are based on Qi technology they IC Solution available Yes (~5 Suppliers) None public None public
can also charge the devices that are not Magnetics Solution avail- Yes Yes, limited No
based on Qi technology. To accomplish able/understood
this they use an adaptor with the mod- Regulatory approvels Yes Yes No
ule. C+P Furniture Systems is work- Infrastructure play Japan, Europe US, Rurope None
ing to bring the whole new Cegano
Active carriers Verizon and Docomo ATT Tmobile
smart table and Prefino locker system
Current shipment vol 15M+ <1M N/A
with the wireless charging facility for
smartphones. Comments Well established, Dominant US player, Strong push by SS and
products in market, Strong ATT support, early Qcom, Active develop-
Leggett & Platt have come up with wide design flex- stage ment ongoing
Helios, an inductive charging system ibility
that is available in puck shapes or Courtsey: Texas Instruments
low-profile designs. It is an intelligent
system that communicates with the de- lessly, Helios has to be plugged into a existing technology with surroundings.
vice to be charged. That is, the primary socket to power the primary coil. Either way, it will soon be ready to jolt
coil communicates with the secondary “Wireless charging furniture tables, the interior decoration and furniture
to identify its power requirements chairs and desks—is not very far. In market,” explains T. Anand, Knewron.
and charges it accordingly. Once He- fact, many of us (including Knewron)
lios identifies that the device is fully are already in design phase of these New standards
charged, it cuts off charging and turns things. However, these are not out- Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) is
on the LED indicating full charge. of-the box solutions either; just being a wireless charging standard that came
Although the device is charged wire- manifestation and augmentation of up recently. Although the products

66 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 embedded design

Table III
Wireless Charging Solutions for Design Engineers
Manufacturer Solution Feature Advantages
Freescale MWCT1000CFM 5W single-coil transmitter • Robust foreign object detec-
tion algorithm to meet latest
safety requirements
• Transfer efficiency exceed-
ing 75%
NXP NXQ1TXA5 Qi low-power A5/A11 • Extremely small PCB size
transmitter according to • Safe operation with FOD and
specification version 1.1.2 optional NTC
Active-Semi EVK-PAC5220WP- Single-IC based wireless • Built-in surge protection
Qi-xxA11-V1 power transmitter • Scalable MCU based solu-
tion to enable products with
multi-coils, multi-modes, and
medium or higher power levels
up to 150W
NXP NXQ1TXA6 12V multi-coil wireless • Low standby power and NFC-
charging transmitter enabled zero-power standby
• Optional smart NFC features
like Bluetooth pairing
Active-Semi PAC5220WP Power application control- • 28 GPIOs for MCUs
ler • Interface type: SPI, I2C,
UART, SWD
PowerbyProxi Proxi-Ring 480W A wireless slip ring • Transfer power through any
non-metallic material including
liquids, solids and gases
• Dual channels provide 480W
with no redundancy or 240W
with dual redundancy
PowerbyProxi Proxi-Point A wireless connector • Reduces high-installation and
on-going maintenance costs
• Simplifies implementation/
installation processes
Texas Instruments bq51020EVM-520 Wireless power receiver • Inductor-less receiver for
evaluation module lowest height profile solution
• Adjustable output voltage
(4.5V to 8V) for coil and ther-
mal optimisation
Texas Instruments BQ51221 Dual-mode, 5W (WPC and • Fully synchronous rectifier
PMA) single-chip wireless with 96% efficiency
power receiver • 79% system efficiency at 5W
STMicroelectronics STEVAL-IDS002V1 Autonomous wireless mul- • User-friendly software GUI for
ti-sensor node powered by system configuration
PV cells • PV module soldered on top
Broadcom BCM59350 A wireless charging PMU • Up to 88% AC-to-DC efficiency
• Ensures acceptable NFC
performance

based on Qi and Power Matter Alli-
ance (PMA) standards are already in
market, the products based on A4WP
are yet to be seen.
Verizon and DOCOMO are using
Qi standard, AT&T has chosen PMA
standard and T-Mobile wants to use
A4WP. Power Matters brings various
PMA-based wireless charging options
like Power snap kit, travel mat, power
mat and access kit for high-end mobile
devices.  innovative utilisation problem for the
Anand says, “While there are
adequate tools and resources avail-
able from various chip manufacturers
for designing the wireless charging
devices, on-going battle and unstable
standards are restrictive. It is difficult
for the designers to neglect one or two
particular standards that in turn would
add to the cost of product and design
activity. Having said that, it is still less
of a design problem and more of an

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 67

 embedded design
majority of us.”
On the contrary, Srivasta Raghunath,
technical lead - Analog Systems, Texas
Instruments restricts himself to the new
standards. He says, “Since A4WP is still
evolving, there has been no standardisa-
tion and no particular tools developed
yet. This is still in R&D stages and will
be evolving in the coming years.”
Future: Industrial use
Although the main focus of wireless
charging has been small portable de-
vices, it cannot be limited to these de-
vices alone. The main aim of this type
of charging technology is to transfer
maximum power to the receiver in a
wire-free environment.
All electric transport buses that
have been introduced on a trial basis,
on the streets of Milton in UK for five
years, use the wireless charging tech-
nology on a larger scale. Although the
buses are completely charged at night,
they need top up charges after every
route. The buses receive the top-up
charges from the top-up stations that
appear as plates on the road.
After completing one route, the bus
is parked on that plate where the driver
lowers the receiver plate from the bottom
of the bus to 4 cm below the road surface.
The bus is charged only for ten minutes
before starting on the next route. It fol-
lows the same magnetic flux technology
for wireless charging. Though these buses
are currently being used on a trial basis, it
is not long before wireless charging will
come to the mainstream.
“We envision a world in which wire-
less charging would accelerate the adop-
tion of clean, green electrified vehicles,”
says WiTricity CEO Eric Giler in one of
the reports. With Toyota deciding to li-
cense intellectual property from WiTricity
to offer wireless charging on both hybrid-
The cost of the product is mainly due to the testing
and compliance efforts that go into the product. The
semiconductor content does not increase price of the
product but the R&D that goes into developing the product
increases the price.” —Srivasta Raghunath, TI
68 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Strike 100 in a few minutes
The development of high-rated, electro-chemical batteries is making wireless charging more
practical and more useful. Its high-rate capability charges the battery completely within few
minutes. Stu says, “In fact, even with today’s well-known battery chemistries, you can ‘tune’
the design of the cell to give up a little in energy density in order to support a high charge rate.”
Two-in-one
MOCREO shifts the electrical charging contacts from the socket to the back of the device. It is
a portable charging pad that weighs only 240 grams and plays a double role in the family of
wireless chargers. It has two USB ports that facilitate wired charging of two devices even when
it is wirelessly charging the third one. It also acts as a portable power bank and stores about
10000mAh power that can be used to power the devices using the USB plug-in port.
Driving wireless charging technology forward
A4wp is accepting the inductive charging solution pioneered by PMA, leaving behind no
working groups to develop another inductive charging standard. While on the other hand,
PMA is accepting the resonant charging solution pioneered by A4WP (called Rezence) as
the industry standard for resonant charging. This way even A4WP is no longer going to have
working groups that would develop another resonant charging solution. Itay says, ”The whole
point of this is to harmonise the various recognised industry standards that enable consumers
to power up wirelessly.” They have developed a common certification to accelerate the
use of wireless charging in more devices and have collaborated on their API (application
programming interface) for network service management. Qualcomm joined this group two
weeks after joining WPC, leading the roles of three different bodies for wireless charging.
A technology can never improve with just one merger or collaboration. There has to be
continuous improvements along with partnerships and investments to make the technology
widely known and acceptable. Samsung’s Electro-Mechanical division recently partnered
with PowerbyProxi to develop new charging devices. Samsung, being a member of the
A4WP consortium, is looking forward to promote the Qualcomm’s WiPower standard based
on resonance.
electric and fully-electric vehicles, Eric the reports, John Perzow, vice president
adds, “To have Toyota, the world’s lead- of Market Development for the Wireless
ing carmaker, licensing our intellectual Power Consortium said that, Qi is con-
property, underscores the importance of stantly enhancing to give away the best
the technology.” wireless charging experience.
In future we will not only see the Stu Lipoff, IEEE fellow, said in a
extensive use of wireless charging conference, “One vision is to have NFC
technology but also see some enhance- RFID in the phone that provides the local
ments in the standards enabling this power company with billing informa-
technology. Although Qi is typically an tion so that they can charge your credit
inductive charging technology, WPC is card for power purchased as you walk
developing a resonance extension to its by the public outdoor wireless charging
specifications. Resonant extension to Qi infrastructure.” He added, “With the
is expected to be backward compatible development of extended distance wire-
with more than 40 million products and less charging, it even becomes possible
devices globally, including the 60 mod- to charge the devices by walking outside
els of Qi-compatible devices. In one of on the street in proximity to public port-
able power infrastructure.”
Itay says, “PMA is already working
to globalise this wireless charging by
integrating more technologies at physi-
cal layer. We are working on to provide
networking standards and to deploy
public hotspots for wireless charging.” 
The author is a technical journalist at EFY
www.efymag.com
 ANTENNAE DESIGN

Differential Solvers in
Computational Electromagnetics
“Computational electromagnetics, computational electrodynamics or electromagnetic
modeling is the process of modeling the interaction of electromagnetic fields with
physical objects and the environment. It typically involves using computationally efficient
approximations to Maxwell’s equations and is used to calculate antenna performance,
electromagnetic compatibility, radar cross section and electromagnetic wave propagation
when not in free space,” according to Wikipedia

VISHNU GAUTAM computer implementations (see Fig. 1). would be unacceptable.

The CEM implementation should Flexibility. Generally, one method

R
emember yourself calculating
electric field intensity, current
density or vector potential
in idealised cases during your 12th
standard. Those problems really gave
a summary of the electromagnetics
(EM) working in different situations.
Advancing further you may recall
having calculated the field quantities
in case of dipole antennae (standard
case). Well these problems were easy
to analyse because of the symmetry
existing in those situations: Just apply
the Maxwell equations and symmetry
will do its work.
But what if the problem’s geometry
is not symmetric, what if there is an ur-
gent need to find the parameters with-
out going much into the mathematics,
what if a practical situation (for exam-
ple, studying effects of mobile phone
on pacemaker) needs to be analysed in
a couple of hours?
Surely calculating each Maxwell
equation and approximating them will
not be a fast solution to the situation
from industry point of view. In these
situations we use electromagnetic
modelling or, precisely, computational
electromagnetics.
Computational electromagnet-
ics (CEM) is a very challenging and
multidisciplinary science that aims at
finding solutions of Maxwell equations
at boundary conditions (broadly the
material boundaries of geometry). It
involves numerical methods, efficient
(not effective) algorithms and their
have following characteristics: produces best result for one type of
Accuracy. The results should be ac- problem. The implementation should
curate to the real situations. be made flexible so that it would pro-
Stability. Results should be stable, duce stable results for other type of
which means, if the parameters and problems as well.
excitation are changed then its output Parallelisation. For fast results,
should be pre- one computer is not enough. So it must
dictable, that offer parallel computing.
is, it should The computing cost depends on
not become size of the solution and time required
unstable. to find the solution. It should be as
Scalabil- low as possible. At the core of com-
ity. It should putational electromagnetics is the
be scalable numerical method used for a specific
in te rms o f problem. Broadly, there are two types
the computer of methods for solving EM problems:
memory. If it Analytical method. This gives an
consumes a insight into the process but is generally
Fig. 1: Block diagram of
CEM implementation
large memory limited to idealised processes only.
(basic abstraction) then surely it Numerical method. This gives an
approximate solution of any type of
problem and structure. With numerical
method the analysis and prototyping
of complex systems is easy. It also al-
lows investigation of material proper-
ties without performing any experi-
ment, besides easy optimisation and
modification for its implementation.
Presently, simulators use a combina-
tion of both the methods to reduce the
computational cost.
Implementation of CEM (Fig. 2)
efficiently is not an easy task. There
are various problems associated with
their implementation, such as the type
of material to be analysed (homoge-
neous/inhomogeneous, isotropic/
Fig. 2: CEM process anisotropic, etc), type of geometry

70 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


(regular/irregular, large/small, etc),
undetermined problems like those
when there are resonating structures
within the geometry or when the mate-
rial contradicts in the problem.
Many advanced concepts, such
as iterative solvers, preconditioned
algorithms, domain decomposition
methods and parallel computing, have
been developed and implemented in
present solvers.
CEM implementation has several
disadvantages with the major one be-
ing the theoretical model results. The
process is purely theoretical with no
resemblance to experiments. So it
would definitely need a validation
with the practical results. Second, there
will be numerical method error and
mesh error that would go unnoticed, if
not validated.
Numerical methods
The Maxwell equation can be written
in two forms: integral and differential.
Literally, integration means joining
things and differentiation means di-
viding them. This literal definition of
the two basically helps in determining
which type of geometry can be applied
with which type of Maxwell equation.
If the geometry is planar and complex
then the numerical method using
integral Maxwell equation would be
preferred.
The material boundaries in com-
plex geometry cause discontinuities
in the electric and magnetic fields. The
type of Maxwell equations are then
applied to these discontinuities, thus
reducing the problem to algebraic
expression (integral ones) and differ-
ence expressions (in case of differential
Maxwell equation). Numerical meth-
ods employing differential Maxwell
equation discretise the geometry by
volumetric mesh (hexahedrons and
tetrahedrons) and require an extra
absorption boundary condition (ABC)
type boundary over the geometry. In
these methods the computations are
done for the EM fields.
The numerical methods employing
integral form of Maxwell equation dis-
cretise the geometry by surface mesh
www.efymag.com
(triangular, quads) and do not require
extra boundary over the geometry.
Computations are done for the current
and charge although the 3D patterns
can be generated.
What determines the choice
of numerical method
Apart from the planar and 3D type
geometry the numerical method is cho-
sen on the basis of required accuracy
of the result, the memory limitation of
method, what different type of mate-
Fig. 3: General steps involved in a numerical method
Fig. 4(a): Electrical length factor by which a
particular type of method is used
Fig. 4(b): Electrical size vs complexity of materials (courtesy:
FEKO-EM Simulation Software)
ANTENNAE DESIGN
rial properties it can handle, whether
the results have to be in time domain
or in frequency domain, what would
be its operating frequency, etc. These
are secondary factors. The primary fac-
tor that determines the type of numeri-
cal method is the electrical size/length
of the structure itself.
Electrical length is defined as ratio
of physical length of device to the op-
erating wavelength. As the electrical
length increases or decreases, method
to be used will also vary, as shown in
Fig. 4.
Domains in which
solvers works
Like time and frequency domains in
the signal analysis, the CEM tech-
niques are also domain-specific and are
optimised for those. For CEMs there
are basically five domains, namely,
static, time, frequency, Eigen and ray
tracing, as depicted in Fig. 5.
Static. In this domain there is no
time variation of the equations and it
is mostly used for DC bias field con-
figuration of low field approximation.
Time. In this method the unknown
field quantities are real-time varying in
nature. This method does not use tra-
ditional matrix method, instead nearest
neighbour interaction is calculated and
interpolated. The applied source is
impulsive in nature.
Frequency. This is a good choice
if we need to calculate results all over
the bandwidth of the centre frequency.
The excitation is sinusoidal
in nature and broadband
results are transformed into
time domain by inverse Fou-
rier transform. However, for
low frequency this method
is unsuitable, so in that case
we need to use static do-
main methods. Also, each
frequency needs separate
computation, so frequency
sweep should be selected
appropriately. Otherwise, it
would take a lot of memory.
Eigen. In this domain no
excitation source is applied.
This method is used to find
Electronics For You | August 2014 71
 ANTENNAE DESIGN
Fig. 5: Methods classification
Fig. 6: Wire-frame MOM model of a cellular
telephone handset with an antenna connected to
the mesh (Courtesy: Book by Thomas A. Milligan)
the resonant frequencies and propaga-
tion modes of the waveguide, cavity,
propagation constant, etc. The results
are field configurations that would be
preferred to be excited by real environ-
mental sources.
Ray tracing (or optics). As the elec-
trical size increases, the integral and
differential methods become useless.
72 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Fig. 7: Typical tetrahedral mesh used in FEM simulation
(Courtesy: Agilent Technologies)
Then the optics method combines the
Green’s function to calculate fields by
current and then uses the boundary
conditions to determine current in-
duced on the objects. This domain has
two methods: PO and UTD.
Methods using integral
Maxwell equations
Method of moments (MOM). Also
known as 3D planar method, it uses
Green’s function over the planar
structure, thus reducing the Maxwell
equations to algebraic expressions.
Layered stack up-structures can also
be analysed as the Green’s function can
be applied, thus x-y plot is established
as in planar structure. It actually ap-
proximates the current distribution as
sum of basic functions. In this method
the calculations are required only at
boundary values and not throughout
the space, as shown in Fig. 6.
MOM creates a surface mesh over
the modelled surface. MOM solutions
are typically limited to objects that are
only one or two wavelengths in size,
for example, to calculate and extract
detailed multiport s-parameter of all
the interconnects on PCBs. Analysis of
large structures becomes difficult be-
cause of the large amount of memory
and time required to compute.
Some disadvantages of the MOM
method are:
1. As the geometry
increases, the storage re-
quirement and comput-
ing time increase as the
square of the size of ge-
ometry.
2. It can be applied
only to those problems for
which the Green’s func-
tion can be calculated.
3. Different frequen-
cies require different for-
mulations (due to fre-
quency domain).
4. It does not satisfy
boundary condition at
every point; satisfies only
over an integral average
of boundaries.
Multilevel fast multi-
pole method (MLFMM). It is an al-
ternative approach to the MOM as it
requires less memory. It is suitable for
analysis of very large problems, such
as RCS and reflector antenna. Accord-
ing to emfieldsolution.com, “The object
is placed in a box which is then split
into eight smaller boxes. Each of the
boxes is then divided again recursively
until the size of smaller boxes contains
few basic functions.” It also illustrates
that, if a particular MOM solution re-
quires 150GB memory then MLFMM
would require only 1GB.
Partial element equivalent circuit
(PEEC). In this method the integral
equations are interpreted as Kirch-
hoff’s voltage law applied to basic
cell. So, overall, the geometry in this
www.efymag.com
 ANTENNAE DESIGN
method would result in a complete
circuit, and it also allows some circuit
elements to be added easily—an edge
over the other solvers. This type of
solver allows analysis both in time and
frequency domain.
Methods using the
differential Maxwell
equations
Finite-difference time domain (FDTD).
It is a time domain technique and
thus a single simulation can cover a
wide frequency range. This method
allows easy computations for each cell
made of different materials. After the
process, the time domain results are
converted to frequency domain by the
use of DFT techniques.
Consider a large structure. This
method will not produce dense mate-
rial matrices (as done by others); it will
include only the nearest neighbour
interaction. This method can cover fre-
quencies from near low to microwave,
and up to visible light frequencies. The
discretisation grid used is rectangular
(usually) and separate grids are used
for E and H calculations.
A disadvantage of the method is
that, although one simulation will
work for a wide frequency range, this
is not the case with the ports. A single
simulation has to run for each port
placed on the geometry. So, if there are
N ports in a structure, N simulations
would be required.
Some applications of the method are:
1. Time domain reflectrometry
(TDR)
2. Antenna placement on cars,
trains, etc
3. Simulation of phone with SAM
head to calculate SAR value
4. When the module is electrically
large and ports are less
THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE ON OPEN SOURCE
74 August 2014 | Electronics For You
The other side of the story
Although CEM results are quite accurate for the complex problems but they cannot be
relied on completely. A particular method is used to solve particular type of problems.
Fig. 8: Validating gain pattern of horn antenna. Mark the differences between CST (left) and
HFSS (right)
These methods also have errors associated with them. Thus there is a strong requirement
for validation of the results. Validation is done to answer the question “How much does
the result obtained by numerical method resemble the reality?”
Validation techniques
In validation process, basically a comparison is done between the patterns, values, etc.
There are four approaches to validating the results of a numerical method:
Validating using other numerical solution. Different numerical methods with proper
modelling of problem can be used to validate, as shown in Fig. 8.
Validating using analytical solution. If the analytical theory behind the problem is
known then that can be used to validate the results of the simulation.
Validating using experimental results. By performing the experiment of the problem
under the same condition.
Validating using intermediate results. Intermediate results of the simulation and the
experimental results are cross-checked to save the length of validation.
Finite element method (FEM). It is trically large geometries, the mesh may
defined as an approximation technique become very complex. And that would
to discretise geometric objects. Each result in large matrices which would
part of discretised structure is called a require huge memory resources.
finite element. It is a frequency-domain Its advantages are:
flexible method for geometrical and 1. It is most suitable for high ‘Q’
material handling of closed structures. circuits
It generates a sparse matrix of un- 2. Useful for analysis of filters, cavi-
known field quantities. This method ties, resonators, etc
requires meshing of entire space and 3. Provides good results for ge-
needs additional ABC boundary over ometries with large number of ports,
the structure to be analysed. The such as IC packages and multi-chip
unknown field quantities are approxi- modules.
mated over each mesh as sum of func- Apart from these, several other
tions, as shown in Fig. 8. methods like FIT (finite integration
Its disadvantage is that, for simula- method) over FEM, TLM over FDTD,
tion of structures of complex and elec- MLFMM over MOM have been de-
Your favourite Magazine on
Open Source is now on the Web, too.
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www.efymag.com

veloped, but their basic functioning is
based on the methods described above.
High frequency methods
For computing field quantities of
Maxwell equation at electrically large
structures, optical methods have been
developed. These methods can be di-
vided into (a) field -based methods like
UTD (uniform theory of diffraction)
and (b) current-based methods like PO
(physical optics).
In PO method the current distribu-
tion is calculated by the use of Green’s
function (MOM) and then this distribu-
tion is applied to the boundary condi-
tions of the structure. Then calculations
are performed on the structure by
inducing that current distribution and
updating the main results. The inci-
dent wave on the structure continues
or passes through it as if the structure
was not present.
The UTD method employs a dif-
ferent strategy. Here also the current
www.efymag.com
distribution is applied to the bound-
ary condition but the structure blocks
the incident waves on each part of the
structure. The field quantities are then
determined from the diffracted waves.
Consider a reflector antenna with ex-
citation as a dipole antenna placed in
front of it. The pattern and quantities
will be calculated by PO in the front
region while the backside region will
be computed by UTD.
CST, HSS, FEKO solver
overview
Computer simulation technology mi-
crowave studio (CST MWS) is one of
the most comprehensive tools for RF
designers and engineers. It provides
the maximum of six solvers, namely:
1. Time domain solver. It uses
hexahedral mesh and is very efficient
for high frequencies. It provides two
alternative methods: transient solver
(FIT) and TLM solver (for better simu-
lation of EMC/EMI models). It calcu-
ANTENNAE DESIGN
lates transmission of energy between
various ports and open structures of
the model. Typical applications include
TDR, RCS and dispersive materials.
2. Frequency domain solver. It uses
hexahedral and tetrahedral mesh.
3. Eigen mode solver. It is recom-
mended strongly for loss-free struc-
tures.
4. Integral solver. It uses MLFMM
technique.
5. Multilayer solver. For planar
structures as it is based on MOM.
6. Asymptotic solver. It uses opti-
cal techniques for electrically large
structures.
Apart from CST, HFSS and FEKO
are also widely used softwares for
CEM applications. HFSS provides two
solvers: FEM and HFSS-IE (MLFMM
based). FEKO provides five solvers:
FEM, MOM, PO, UTD and MLFMM. 
The author, a B.Tech in EC, has contributed some
other interesting articles as well in the past
Electronics For You | August 2014 75
 EFY Plus DVD
This Month’s DVD Contents
This month’s DVD brings you GPU machine learning library and simulators along with an
automation and measurement software for optical systems. If you are an enthusiast, there is
a robotic research tool-kit for you. The top ten software in the DVD are mentioned below
pankaj V.
1. GPUMLib
GPUMLib is a C++ and CUDA-based
high-performance GPU machine-learn-
ing library. It includes various machine-
learning algorithms and components
like back propagation (BP) and multi-
back propagation (MBP), matrix fac-
torisation and radial-basis function
networks. It also provides machine-
learning researchers and practitioners
with an autonomous training system
for creating BP and MBP networks. Sup-
ported OS: Windows. Size: 227MB
2. itom
itom is a lab-automation and measure-
ment software designed for developing
and running optical systems, but it is
not limited to this field of application.
itom is a versatile tool which can be
used for building the control software
for any measurement setup and features
easy integration of different hardware
like cameras or actuators through vari-
ous plugins. itom is an open source free
tool but you will find its functionality
comparable to the commercial software
packages like MATLAB or LabView.
Supported OS: Windows. Size: Windows
32-bit: 118MB, Windows 64-bit: 168MB
3. Magic VLSI
Magic is an easy-to-use VLSI layout tool
which has been popular with universi-
ties and small companies. It is an open
source EDA alternative to commercial
tools which will provide you with vari-
ous useful features for your product de-
sign flows. The all new interactive maze
router will allow you to specify hints to
control routing. Also, with the multiple-
window feature, you can view several
portions of a circuit at the same time, or
even portions of different circuits. Sup-
ported OS: Linux. Size: 3.6MB
76 August 2014 | Electronics For You
4. Liquid PCB
Liquid PCB is an open source CAD
application for designing PCBs. This
simple tool has a unique interface with
all the functionality and features avail-
able in just a few clicks. Also, it has a
large, powerful file dialogue where
all the recently visited directories are
automatically remembered. Addition-
ally, the one-menu system allows you
to have all the functions in one menu.
Supported OS: Windows. Size: 1.3MB
5. Mobile Robot
Programming Toolkit
The Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit
is an open source and extensive tool
which can be used for performing robot-
ics research to design and implement
algorithms about simultaneous localisa-
tion and mapping, navigation and com-
puter vision. It includes portable and
well-tested applications with libraries
covering data structures and algorithms
employed in common robotics research
areas. Supported OS: Windows, Linux.
Size: Windows 32-bit: 102MB, Windows
64-bit: 112MB, Linux: 20.9MB
6. SVEditor
SVEditor, an Eclipse-based IDE writ-
ten in Java, can be used for Verilog
and SystemVerilog development. The
interface is a colourising editor for Sys-
temVerilog with support for content
assist, source navigation, SystemVer-
ilog source templates, source indent
and auto-indent, and context-sensitive
viewing of source documentation.
Supported OS: Windows, Linux. Size:
Windows 32-bit: 78.3MB, Windows 64-
bit: 78.4MB, Linux: 77.3MB
7. QsapecNG
QSapecNG is an easy-to-use, Qt-based
program for symbolic analysis of linear
analogue circuits. Its two independent
parts, SapecNG and QsapecNG, are the
framework and the gui of the applica-
tion, respectively. This tool allows you to
draw, solve and analyse analogue circuits
and manage them as well. Supported OS:
Windows, Linux, MacOSx. Size: Windows:
4.6MB, MacOSx: 15.9MB, Linux: 1.6MB
8. Gerber2PDF
Gerber2PDF is a simple command-
line tool which converts Gerber files
to PDF. It can convert multiple Gerber
files at once and allows you to place
the resulting layers on different pages
within the PDF. Also, you can combine
different layers onto a single page and
render them with custom colours and
transparency. Supported OS: Windows.
Size: 311kB
9. gpsim
gpsim, a software simulator for PIC
microcontrollers from Microchip, is
fast with a simulation speed of about
20MHz. It allows real-time simulation
to test PIC the same way as in a tan-
gible universe. Gpsim’s accurate design
makes it comparable to a real PIC from
the core to the I/O pins, including all
their internal peripherals. Supported OS:
Linux. Size: 2.4MB
10. CPUSim
CPU Sim is a Java application that al-
lows users to design simple computer
CPUs at microcode level and to run ma-
chine-language or Assembly-language
programs on those CPUs through simu-
lation. It is a useful tool for instructors
who want their students to get hands-on
exposure to a variety of architectures
and a chance to design and implement
their own architectures. Supported OS:
Windows, Linux, MacOSx. Size: 7.3MB 
The author is a technical journalist at EFY
www.efymag.com
 buyers’ guide

RF Modules to Suit Your Application

Everything is going from wired to wireless, owing to clutter associated with the wired
systems. RF (radio frequency) communication technology is the one making this change
happen. RF modules with different protocols are now used widely in electronic designs to
enable wireless communication. Let us take a look at different RF modules available and
some parameters to select a right one for your application

Ankit Gupta

A
n RF module is nothing but a
small electronic device which
is used to communicate be-
tween two devices, wirelessly, using
radio waves. This is one of the most
preferable methods of wireless com-
munication as it does not require line
of sight. Radio circuit design is a com-
plex field and the performance highly
depends on accuracy of components, a
perfectly designed layout and carefully
monitored manufacturing process.
Also, the design needs to be then certi-
fied after conformance testing, as radio
circuits are subject to limits on radiated
emission. Due to all these, designers
prefer to use off-the-shelf RF modules
which save a lot of money and reduce
time-to-market to a great extent.
These RF modules come with dif-
ferent carrier frequencies allowed by
national and international regulations, Wireless communications and networks (Courtesy: http://eng-cs.syr.edu/research/wireless-
such as 315MHz, 433.92MHz, 868MHz, communications-and-networks)
915MHz and 2400MHz. Other than
frequency, these modules are also standards, which make both these These parametric filters will allow you
differentiated based on the protocol terms a synonym for each other. to refine your search results to find the
standards they use for communication, Wireless revolution enters its next most suitable part for your application.
such as Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth or phase of deployment with recent ad- Below are some parameters and their
other proprietary protocols. vent of the Internet of Things (IoT). brief description. Table I shows some
Now WLAN capabilities have been manufacturers of Wi-Fi modules.
Wi-Fi added even to the consumer prod- Protocol standards. The original
Wi-Fi and WLAN have been inter- ucts, which give users the comfort of version of the standard IEEE 802.11
changeably used in general English. controlling these devices with a smart was released in 1997 and clarified in
Wi-Fi is a local area wireless technol- phone or over the Internet. To achieve 1999, but it stands obsolete today. The
ogy that allows electronic devices to WLAN capabilities, of-the-shelf avail- wireless LAN standards in use these
exchange data or connect to the Inter- able Wi-Fi modules are the best solu- days include 802.11 a/b/g/j/n/p/ac/
net using 2.4GHz UHF and 5GHz SHF tion for the reasons stated above. ad. Each protocol standard has differ-
radio waves. Wi-Fi Alliance defines There are different kinds of Wi- ent data rate, frequency, modulation
Wi-Fi as any wireless local area net- Fi modules available. The vendors scheme, range and power consumption.
work (WLAN) products that are based normally categorise the modules by The newer modulation methods and
on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Most parameters such as data rate, range, RF coding rates are generally more efficient
modern WLANs are based on these band, certification and packaging type. and sustain higher data rates, but older

78 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


methods and rates are still supported
for backwards compatibility.
Operating frequency band. Table
II shows operating frequency bands
for different Wi-Fi protocol stand-
ards. Some Wi-Fi modules support
dual frequency bands. For example,
while 802.11n solution supports both
the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, 802.11g
supports only 2.4GHz band. Each
range is divided into a multiple chan-
nels. Countries apply regulations on
number of channels as well as users
and maximum power levels within a
frequency band.
Data rate. Each Wi-Fi standard
is rated according to its maximum
theoretical data rate. Different stand-
ards have different data rates due the
technology used for each standard.
Practically, these data rates are never
reached. These are only the theoreti-
cal maximum value for a particular
technology. The theoretical maximum
data rate of a Wi-Fi module could be
from 1Mbps (802.11b) to 6.75Gbps
(802.11ac). You need to decide the re-
quired data rate for your application.
Higher data rate would not always be
the best choice as sometimes high data
rates would not even be sustainable
with large number of clients.
Transmit range. The range of
a Wi-Fi network is always limited
and majorly depends on the specific
protocol used and the transmission
power. Interference and obstruction
from environment also plays some
role. For example, approximate
maximum indoor range for 802.11g
is around 38 metres.
OS support. It is highly desirable
that the module quickly gets connected
and configured with Android, iPhone,
Linux and other embedded OS. If you
need to build in this feature into your
product, you need to check the driver
level support, and configuration and
management support from the Wi-Fi
module carefully.
Antenna. Both omni-directional
and directional antennae are available
in Wi-Fi modules. Omni-directional
antennae are typically used for wire-
less coverage providing connectivity
www.efymag.com
buyers’ guide
Table I
Different Manufacturers of
Wi-Fi Modules
Redpine Signals Digi International
Rabbit Semiconductor Wi2Wi
Lantronix Rabbit Semiconductor
Laird Technologies Silicon Laboratories
Microchip Infineon
Murata Freescale
B&B Electronics Atmel
Table II
Standards and Corresponding
Frequency Bands
Frequency Band Standard
2.4GHz (2.4 - 2.483 GHz) 802.11b/g/n
5GHz (5.15 - 5.725 GHz) 802.11a/h/j/n/ac
5.9GHz (5.85 - 5.9 GHz) 802.11p
to Wi-Fi devices inside office, home,
warehouse, etc. Directional antennae
on the other hand are used for focus-
ing the wireless signal in a specific
direction, resulting in a limited cover-
age area. The typical applications are
wireless connection from one building
to another. Through use of directional
antennae, the connection can be ex-
tended with many kilometres between
stations.
Secure Wi-Fi authentication
schemes. In 2001, a group from the
University of California, Berkeley pre-
sented a paper describing weaknesses
in the 802.11 Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP) security mechanism defined in
the original standard. The IEEE then
set up a dedicated task group to create
a replacement security solution. The
Wi-Fi Alliance announced an interim
specification called Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA) based on a subset of the
then current IEEE 802.11i draft. WEP,
WPA, WPA2, WPA2-Enterprise, WPS,
WMM, WMM-PS are typical Wi-Fi
security types these days. Each type
has different advantages and disad-
vantages. These security schemes help
protect information from Wi-Fi devices
on a network.
Packaging type. Both surface-
mount (SMT) and through-hole pack-
Electronics For You | August 2014 79
 buyers’ guide
ages are available for these modules.
SMT packages are mostly used for
their known advantages, but through-
holes are more suitable for testing and
prototyping purpose.
Zigbee
These are tiny blue chips that can com-
municate wirelessly with each other.
They can do simple things like replac-
ing a couple of wires in serial com-
munication. There are lots of different
modules available but all of them
come with similar pin-outs. Power,
ground and TX/RX lines are in the
same place, making the chips pretty
interchangeable for most of the simpler
applications.
You will encounter two terms
XBee and Zigbee while working with
these modules. XBee is nothing but
Digi’s (a company) own Zigbee-based
protocol. These modules use the IEEE
802.15.4 networking protocol for fast
point-to-multipoint or peer-to-peer
networking. They are designed for
high-throughput applications requir-
ing low latency and predictable com-
munication timing. To select the right
module for your application you
need to understand things like dif-
ference between Series1 and Series2,
different antenna types available and
what Pro models are.
Series.
Series1 (XBee 802.15.4). A Series1
module does not indicate series on it.
Other series modules do indicate it on
the chip. So if nothing is mentioned,
your module is Series1. Note here that
Series1 and Series 2/2.5/ZB hardware
are not compatible with each other.
Series2 (Znet 2.5). Series2 modules
require configuration unlike Series1
modules. These modules are not com-
patible with Series1 modules and are
not sold any more in the market.
Series2 replacement (ZB). With
Znet2.5 discontinued, ZB is often called
Series2 module. Though this is not
technically correct, it does distinguish
these from Series1. ZB is nothing but
Znet2.5 with a new firmware which al-
lows it to run in a transparent mode or
work with API commands. You also do
80 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Table III
Some Manufacturers of
Zigbee Modules
 Atmel Corporation
 California Eastern Laboratories
 Digi International
 Microchip
 Murata
 NXP
 Panasonic
SMART READY
Fig. 1: Bluetooth Smart Ready, Bluetooth and
Bluetooth Smart logos
this upgrade yourself with a conver-
sion kit available on the internet.
Latest Series2 (2B). These modules
come with improved hardware as
compared to ZB modules with better
power usage. These modules run the
ZB firmware itself.
Antenna. Antennae available in
these modules are chip, wire, u.FL
and RPSMA antenna. Chip antenna
is nothing but a small chip that acts
as an antenna. It is being replaced by
trace antenna that is directly printed
on the PCB. Wire antenna is just a
wire sticking out of the module. u.FL
and RPSMA on the other hand are
both connector-based antenna systems
where your own antenna can be con-
nected through a connector. These are
very useful when your object is en-
closed in a chassis and you want your
antenna outside the enclosure.
Regular vs Pro. The Pro normally
consumes more power which directly
improves its range. Use the Pro version
only when you require better range.
But this is a trade-off when it comes
to a battery-operated device. So select
wisely for the application at hand.
Table III show some manufacturers
producing these modules.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is another technology stand-
ard for connecting devices wirelessly.
The radio-frequency range for Blue-
tooth is between 2.4GHz and 2.48GHz.
Table IV
Some Manufacturers for
Bluetooth Modules
 Abracon
 Amp’ed RF Technology
 Microchip
 Multi-Tech Systems Inc
 Panasonic
 Semtech
 STMicroelectronics
It is mostly used for transmitting data
SMART in a secured way over short distances,
wirelessly. Bluetooth uses a radio
technology called Frequency-Hopping
Spread Spectrum (FHSS). The transmit-
ted data is divided into packets and
each packet is transmitted on one of
the 79 designated Bluetooth channels.
Each of these 79 channels has a band-
width of 1MHz, starting at 2402MHz
and continuing up to 2480MHz in
1MHz steps. Bluetooth 4.0 uses 2MHz
spacing, which allows only 40 chan-
nels.
Bluetooth LE
Bluetooth LE, marketed as Bluetooth
Smart, is intended to provide consid-
erably reduced power consumption
and cost while maintaining a similar
communication range as compared to
Bluetooth classic. Bluetooth 4.0 specs
allow devices to implement Bluetooth
LE, Bluetooth classic or both. The de-
vices that implement both the systems
are known as Bluetooth 4.0 dual-mode
devices. Bluetooth Smart is v4.0 LE
only and Bluetooth Smart Read sup-
ports dual mode (refer Fig. 1).
The parameters for selection are
more or less the same, as already dis-
cussed for Wi-Fi and Zigbee. These
are data rate, range, power consump-
tion, package and certifications.
Table III show some manufacturers
for Bluetooth modules. With all the
above information, you can easily
decide on the wireless protocol and
select the best module for your ap-
plication. 
The author is a technical editor at EFY
www.efymag.com
 Career
Plenty of Jobs Unfold for PCB Designing
Lack of quality designers and preference for VLSI and embedded bring many new
opportunities to the field of PCB designing. In this article, we cover the kind of opportunities
available in India, the skills expected and pay packages offered, plus some suggestions
from industry experts
Abhishek A. Mutha
A
printed circuit board (PCB)
designer uses software tools
to design circuit boards, which
are integrated into machines and de-
vices that are as trivial as a toy to as
serious as an aircraft. As a result, job
requirements vary from industry to
industry.
A PCB designer,
typically, works ei-
ther at a manufac-
turing facility or at
an engineering firm
in front of a computer,
in an office or cubicle,
designing the boards
using specialised soft-
ware tools. Each board
must be created to accu-
rate specifications, and he
or she has to justify that it
will function under diverse
set of conditions.
Preference for VLSI
and embedded
“IC design industry attracted the best
talent from IITs and PCB design in-
dustry was the younger brother. But
since last two decades, the issues that
were to be addressed at the chip level
have moved to the PCB area due to
miniaturisation and ever-increasing
frequency requirements,” informs
O.J. Sathish, CEO, SIENNA ECAD
Technologies Pvt Ltd. Hence career
opportunities in the PCB designing
industry have grown tremendously in
the last ten years. The need for good
PCB design engineers is felt across all
major electronics companies.
It is a well-known fact that PCBs
are the heart of electronic systems. Ex-
82 August 2014 | Electronics For You
panding horizons in electronics market
has brought tremendous demand for
trained and experienced PCB design-
ers, informs Dhiraj Kumar, director,
Systems Engineering, Argus Technolo-
gies. He says, “There are significant job
opportunities in India for
professionals
with
PCB design exper-
tise.” However, the industry is
currently running short of qualified
designers in the area of electronic sys-
tem design at all the levels. He adds,
“Most freshers in electronics opt for
VLSI design/verification and embed-
ded software, creating a vacuum for
core electronics designing jobs. On the
flip side, this can be seen as an oppor-
tunity for freshers looking to get into
PCB designing.”
Begin with testing and
verification
In order to meet the growing demand
for engineers, most electronic system
design companies put freshers through
an extensive training program of, typi-
cally, three months before allocating
them to entry-level engineering pro-
grammes. Kumar informs, “Currently
most engineering colleges have digital
and analogue electronics labs as part of
their curriculum, which is an
advantage as compared to
VLSI design area where a
specialised training of one
year is a must in order for
them to be job-ready.”
A fresher, typically,
starts his career with
footprint preparation
and design verifica-
tion. Later his work
slowly moves into
module designing,
library creation and
two-layered board
design. Dhananjay
Kulkarni, COO,
Maven Systems
says, “At an ad-
vanced level, the designer can
build multilayer (six to eight) PCBs
with mixed-signal, high-speed board
design. And last stage is when he also
starts analysing and contributing to
thermal analysis, design for fabrica-
tion, assembly, testability and manu-
facturing–design for manufacturability
(DFM), design for test (DFT), design
for assembly (DFA) and design for
fabrication (DFF).” In short, “There is
value addition for the PCB designer
right from the start of his career until
he becomes a super-expert after 20
years.”
There is good scope in this indus-
try for electronics hardware engineers,
believes Amit Gohel, founder, Eleics
Design. For freshers, he says, “Entry-
level roles will be inclined towards
PCB design verification, quality analy-
www.efymag.com

Various entry-level positions in PCB industry post training
 Circuit design engineer for product/services organisations
 PCB CAD design engineer for product/services organisations
 Test engineer
 Process engineer in electronic manufacturing companies
 Supply-chain management roles
 Field application/customer support engineer
sis and quality control initially. It will
be a good learning curve for them
to verify their seniors’ designs.” He
adds, “Once they are design-ready,
they would later be assigned to design
small circuit boards and customer
PCBs.”
Remuneration
Printed circuit boards are fundamental
components of all electronics and the
field is well entrenched in India, which
is one of the top global manufactur-
ers of PCBs today. Vivek Madhukar,
COO, TimesJobs.com explains, “While
starting salaries for freshers may be
low, much like good programmers are
in high demand, good PCB designers
can also command salaries upward of
1.5 million (15 lakhs). Most careers for
these skills are in the manufacturing,
IT and engineering sectors.” Talk-
ing about locations for jobs, he says,
“The golden triangle of Bengaluru,
Hyderabad and Chennai account for a
majority of jobs in the field, so freshers
should be open to relocate.”
Kulkarni informs that a fresher’s
pay package is typically 150,000 rupees
per annum. At Argus Technologies,
Kumar shares, “A fresh graduate
would be offered a starting salary of
216,000 per annum whereas an expe-
rienced professional with two to three
years of experience would get 360,000
per annum.” “We do hire fresh can-
didates from engineering colleagues
and have no preference to IITs/NITs
as such. Selection is based on a writ-
ten test and personal interview. In
the written test, our focus is mainly
on basic electronics, mathematics and
problem-solving skills.”
At another PCB designing firm
SIENNA ECAD Technologies Pvt Ltd,
Savita R. Ganjigatti, VP engineering -
PWB Design informs, “Yes, we recruit
www.efymag.com
Career
freshers and offer them training for a
year. During the training period, a sti-
pend of 10,000 per month is provided
and, on confirmation after a year, they
are offered a minimum of 200,000
per annum.” “We recruit from other
engineering institutions and focus on
skill-oriented candidates rather than
the institute. But for signal/power
integrity and EMI analysis, we recruit
masters degree holders particularly,”
complements Satish.
Going by the statistics provided
by TimesJobs.com, a massive 44% of
the jobs in the PCB industry are in
the salary range of 100,000 to 250,000
rupees per annum. Around 28% jobs
for junior-level professionals pay
anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000
rupees per annum, while 18% jobs for
mid-level pay between 500,000 and
1,000,000 rupees.
Demand areas
According to TimesJobs.com, the
manufacturing and engineering in-
dustry tops the list of industries hiring
engineers to work in the PCB design
domain with about 34% share of jobs,
followed by the IT industry with a
share of 26%. IT-hardware/semicon-
ductor and networking industries offer
14% of the jobs.
Apart from Bengaluru with 27%,
the list of top locations for jobs in PCB
design field indicates Hyderabad,
Chennai and Mumbai sharing 12%,
10% and 9% of the pie, respectively.
Remaining jobs are scattered in other
locations.
Skills required
Printed circuit board designers utilise
computer-aided design (CAD) tools to
create circuits that are accommodated
on these boards. They must also be
able to specify how the connections
Electronics For You | August 2014 83
 Career
Preferred educational
requirements
Diploma/BSc/BE/BTech in Electronics
& Communications or Electrical &
Electronics
will be shown. Some designers perfect
themselves in digital or analogue de-
signs while others work on the routing
layout. They make sure that the final
design works as expected and meets
industry requirements, before it is sent
to the manufacturing facility for PCB
fabrication.
EFY is opening training centres
all over India where hands-on PCB
designing is a favourite course among
the engineering students and trainees
from the industry. Mentioning about
the 3-day introductory course, Ramesh
Chopra, editor of EFY magazine and
executive chairman of EFY Enterprises
says, “Our objective is to introduce the
students to PCB designing by teaching
them the fundamentals using an open
source software like gEDA. Since the
trainees are from electronics field, they
learn the skills quickly. Of course, they
need to practice thereafter if they wish
to become experts in the field,”
Usually, each PCB designer works
as part of a team whose members are
responsible for different portions of the
design. With large, complex boards,
several designers can be assigned to
each board and each person made
responsible for a different set of func-
tions. Even though a designer works
independently, the team usually com-
municates through frequent meetings
and thorough documentation. There-
fore each designer is expected to com-
municate ideas verbally and explain
84 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Skills expected
Freshers
Technical skills
1. Strong fundamentals in basic electronics
2. Basic understanding of electronic components
and their package information
3. Basic understanding of PCB design tools such
as Proteus, Eagle, Altium and ORCAD
4. Good aptitude
Soft skills
1. Continuous learning drive
2. Communication skills
Major contributors to this article
 Amit Gohel, founder, Eleics Design
 Dhananjay Kulkarni, COO, Maven Systems
 Dhiraj Kumar, director, Systems Engineering, Argus Technologies
 Ramesh Chopra, editor of EFY magazine and executive chairman, EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
 Sathish, CEO, SIENNA ECAD Technologies Pvt Ltd
 Savita R. Ganjigatti, VP Engineering - PWB Design, SIENNA ECAD Technologies Pvt Ltd
 Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com
the PCB design in detail as well.
Near future
Though there has been a steady pro-
gress in the level of engagement
between academia and industry, still
there is a lot to be done suggest indus-
try experts. Industries need to come
forward and set up labs (with respect to
DSP, FPGA, wireless technologies, EDA
tools) for engineering colleges, which
requires investment both in terms of
engineering resources as well material
(cost of development kits, tools). Kumar
says, “But, at the same time, engineer-
ing colleges should be willing to accom-
modate industry-sponsored courses as
Experienced
1. EDA tool knowledge
2. Exposure to manufacturing and PCB materials
3. Preference to CID qualification (certified intercon-
nect designer from IPC)
4. Should be strong in transmission line theory.
5. Should be capable of designing different types of
PCBs (designing for RF communication is different
from designing for power and control applications)
6. Capability of designing more than two-layer PCBs
7. PCB troubleshooting in case of any track/via
shortage or open
well as labs in their curriculum, which
at times might look like brand building
tools for sponsoring companies with
one-sided views.”
Industry and educational institutes
should work together to identify and
train employable graduates in this
field, as there is a tremendous need for
such niche activity. “PCB designing
is a stable industry as development
never ceases and growth is assured
at the rate of more than 20% if the
performance is excellent and there is a
proven track record,” believes Satish. 
The author is a senior technical correspondent
at EFY
www.efymag.com
 test & Measurement

What’s New in In-Circuit Testing

In-circuit testers are transforming into all-in-one electrical test controllers. The latest ICTs
can be used for not only manufacturing defects but also to test functional failures, and
even parametric testing
Pankaj V. have different forms of ICT including automatic press for PCB testing along
automated probing, optical inspection with large automated ICT systems.

I
n-circuit testers (ICTs) have be- and boundary scan combined with However, all these systems contribute
come more versatile and efficient functional testing of circuit assemblies. to an inefficient use of factory space and
as these now come loaded with Let us take a look at the latest low machine utilisation due to size of
additional electrical test capabilities changes in ICT systems, and what they conveyors and speed of travel. Moreo-
and functionalities. The most capable deliver to the users. ver, the additional cost of moving the
ones have in-circuit test, boundary product from one equipment to another
scan, functional test as well as pro- Small-footprint automated is always a concern.
gramming techniques integrated into systems moving to ‘zero’ The newer inline ICT systems intro-
a single platform.
footprint duced last year come with small foot-
With the introduction of zero-footprint print and there is no manual handling
What drove these changes designs incorporating multi-core test ca- involved. You can integrate your ICT
The inability of any single test meth- pability combined with automated ma- into the assembly line and there is no
odology to completely test circuit as- terial handling, the latest inline systems need of any operator handling.
semblies is one reason. In addition, the have taken a step forward in reduction The small footprints in inline systems
constant drive from circuit assemblers in the cost of tests. These systems are are realised by using compact test heads
to reduce test costs is driving tradi- a boon to manufacturers that want to relocated closer to the device under test
tional ICT systems to take the shape of increase their capability but do not have (DUT). This enables ICT to fit easily
more holistic test systems. the additional real estate to do so. within the narrowest automated lines,
Newer ICT systems can be better The industry’s previous solution without the need for any additive storage
described as generic all-in-one electri- to this has been use of many discrete bay or incremental factory space, thus
cal test controllers rather than just ICT automation methods including robotic saving additional cost as well as labour.
systems. This is because many of these helps, automatic probes and semi- Teradyne’s TestStation Multi-Site
Inline ICT system uses a
Latest ICT Solutions novel ‘zero-footprint’ test
head design, which fits
Module Manufacturer Key features
entirely within the narrow-
Teststation Teradyne • ‘Zero-footprint’ design using up to 70% less factory space and power provisioning
est automations. Teradyne
Multi-Site • Delivers full parallel test of multiple boards
• Equivalent productivity of two or more conventional MDA/ICT systems also has offline counter-
QTouch QmaxTest • Able to probe 2 test points as close as 20 mils/500 microns with unique angular probing
parts with sub 1 m2 foot-
1248 • Learn and compare VI curve including Automatic ‘best fit curve’ print and 2560 test-points
• Electrical measurements of components capability which help PCB
TR5001T Test & • Compact and lightweight full-featured ICT solution manufacturers free up fac-
SII TINY Research India • Parallel testing using multiple USB-connected units tory space.
Pvt Ltd • Programmable DUT power supplies Agilent’s i1000D ICT
Focus Kyoritsu • Fastest manufacturing defect analyser (MDA) system is another small-
2000 Electric India • Ultra-advanced solid-state switching technology footprint design that uni-
Pvt Ltd • Easy maintenance
fies offline and inline sys-
Flying Acculogic • Full-function double-sided system
tems onto the same design.
Scorpion • Programmable probe angle +6º to -6º degrees
FLS980Dxi • Closed-loop AccuFast drive system with ±0.1 micron resolution Agilent offers easy up-
grades to convert offline to
Flying Spea • Manual + automated + in-line board loading combined into the same system
Probe S2 • Highest measurement performance and accuracy (0.1pF) inline systems so you can
• 4x parallel fast on-board programming re-use the same system.
Medalist Agilent • Small-footprint’ design unifying offline and inline systems Spea’s 3030 system is
i1000D • Low-cost fixturing requirements and superior signal quality another true multi-core
• Control path for board alignment verification ensuring board safety tester offering up to 4x

86 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


throughput. The true per pin archi-
tecture in this system makes all the
analogue and digital resources always
available on each system channel.
Multi-core testing and
higher throughput
With the increased competition and
demanding markets, it is certain that
PCB OEMs and the other electronic
manufacturing services need to boost
their throughput and yield.
“In India, labour costs are increas-
ing day by day and the cost of space
has also increased over the last few
years. So, if you use one operator, one
fixture, one PC, you can save your cost
as well as space. And mathematically
speaking, previously we were having
one tester and one fixture but now
we are having two testers or more in
one fixture, thus the throughput is
increased by at least two times,” says
Ravi Richaria, manager sales & service
support, Test & Research India Pvt Ltd.
The newer parallel and multi-core
testing architectures available from
vendors solve this problem. These
parallel test architecture ICT systems
deliver true multi-core test capabilities
to test multiple units concurrently,
thereby eliminating test time bottle-
necks and increasing your testing pro-
ductivity as compared to the previous
ICT systems. Using the multi-core test
systems minimises your system size
and cost as these utilise common cool-
ing, power and other infrastructural
elements. In addition to system size
and density, smaller physical configu-
rations and short signal paths help to
deliver high parallel test efficiency.
Integrated test
methodologies
Testing of current complex circuit
boards requires separate analogue, dig-
ital and other test workflows. So each
test workflow accounts for individual
test systems, multiple test fixtures, and
separate operators. As circuit boards
become more advanced, the traditional
ICT technologies are becoming less
effective in achieving reliable test cov-
erage. The advent of SMT IC technolo-
www.efymag.com
test & Measurement
gies with IC packages like BGA
Key advantages of integrated
ball grid array (BGA) has made
it difficult to directly access the
boundary scan
pins using the traditional ‘bed  Extended test channel. Taking an example, if you have
a 50-pin device, you can drive the boundary scan devices
of nails’ tester.
through the JTAG ports, which are only five-pin ports, and
To solve this, ICT systems the 50-pin device now becomes your extended test channel.
now integrate multiple test  Bi-directional testing. Apar t from the forward
methods, where some points direction, you can also test in the reverse direction, that
make contact through bed of is, from the edge connector till the boundary scan device.
nails and the others use edge
connectors or JTAG ports or
in-circuit emulators, thus us-
Design for testability (DFT)
ing three or four test methods According to the experts, selection of a suitable ICT
system for your product depends upon the type of
in parallel. your product. A design should have some testability
Ganapathy from QmaxTest associated with it. DFT adds certain testability features to
says, “You should not depend the product design, making it easier to develop and apply
too much on one test method- manufacturing tests for the designed hardware.
Ravi explains, “We study what DFT the board is
ology or a particular approach. having. For example, it can be a network board or a
Integrated ICT solutions are communication board. But first we have to study what
a boon. Combinational ap- kind of components are used, and whether there is any
proach has an advantage of DFT or not. If it does not have DFT, we have to make
the analysis and then ask the design team to get that
two or more techniques so that assembly ready for testing. If there is no DFT then no
yield is more and efficiency is testing can be done.”
increased.”
TR5001T SII TINY from Test & nents on the circuit board, reduces the
Research India is the compact version amount of wiring while keeping similar
with just 640 test points but it supports test coverage. Apart from the vector-less
extended coverage with boundary scan testing you can also perform on-board
in a compact and affordable solution. programming of the components using
This desktop ICT offers parallel testing JTAG ports.
using multiple USB-connected units, High-density channel cards with hy-
audio analyser and data acquisition brid test points. But now we have single
modules. integrated systems with high-density
Vector-less testing with JTAG channel cards, combining various test
boundary scan. JTAG allows vector-less flows into a single, full-test performance
testing of the PCBs using only the five insertion. These can dramatically reduce
universal end ports to test these compo- your production test times, recurring
nents. So, instead of having the higher test costs and improve time to market
number of test points you can test those significantly.
components with those five points. The new LX2 system from Teradyne
Assemblies are getting more com- having 128 channel cards can test com-
plex day by day; you cannot have the plex boards which require up to 15,360
test point on each and every point. hybrid test points in a single insertion.
Moreover, all the complex components It has full analogue, digital, boundary
in the latest PCBs are boundary-scan scan and in-system programming ca-
enabled. In this context, methods like pability. Each 128HD card delivers 512
JTAG boundary scan make it more hybrid test pins, doubling test system
convenient to access the I/O pins of pin counts of the existing systems.
the JTAG-compliant ICs present on the Parametric testing. Parametric
circuit board. measurement units (PMUs) are inte-
Even if you have a multiple chain grated with the latest ICT systems. Usu-
of components that are boundary-scan ally these come with 4 PMUs, capable
enabled, these can be tested all togeth- of measuring voltage and current with
er in one chain. This ability to daisy respect to reference current and voltage,
chain all the JTAG-compliant compo- respectively. This makes them very use-
Electronics For You | August 2014 87
 test & Measurement

Major contributors to this article
Arun Rajanna Ganapathy Ravi Richharia Raviteja S. Datta
system and Santhanam manager sales & Chivukula Chowdhury
application engineer, manager training, service support, Test technical marketing managing director,
electronic QmaxTest & Research India rngineer, National DVS Group
measurement,
Agilent Technologies
Pvt Ltd Instruments
ferent angles, thereby allowing
What to look for? you to go very close to the ad-
Your test system should be based on open measurement jacent pins and increasing the
platforms which have the following characteristics: testing accuracy.
 Wide I/O connectivity options for integrating multiple
QTouch 1248 Flying Prob-
test techniques like Flying Probe ICT, Boundary Scan,
Optical Inspection & Functional Test into one system. er from QmaxTest is based on
 Modularity to meet the ever-changing test requirements the technology of hands-free
 Open standards for third-party connectivity probing which can probe both
 High channel count for probing high-component- sides of the board due to its
density circuit card assemblies (CCAs)
 Efficient test management software for increased vertical design. It provides
throughput and test reuse scalability from one to eight
probes with a maximum of
ful for analogy testing as well. Since four probes on each side of the board.
these are integrated in the same digital Apart from X, Y and Z axes, probes can
platform, you are able to effectively move in theta direction up to an angle
test digital, mixed logic, analogue or of 36 degrees.
mixed-signal assemblies. Acculogic’s Flying Scorpion FLS-
Integrated intelligence. Integrated 980Dxi offers programmable probe
intelligence is taking ICT to a whole angles of +6º to -6º with ±0.1 micron
new level. There are learn and compare resolution for testing.
features included where the system
learns from the golden board and then Software Help
compares the results. Also, some can With the latest software tools, appli-
learn from past test results and perform cation engineer’s job has been totally
a few additional tests, if needed, to pro- reduced. With graphical user interface
duce useful and comprehensive reports. (GUI), you perform all the tests in a
graphical way. There is no need to
Increased precision with write codes for complex circuits. The
rotational movement of GUI provides flexibility to the system
flying probes and assists test environments for dif-
The robotic testers have added a lot of ferent production cycles.
automation. These testers, or the flying You can also define your own test
probes or the automated probes in ICT program by creating different steps
systems, can go as close as 20 mils/500 that can be sequenced in an automated
microns between two pins. Complex sequence. You can give your own con-
PCBs sometimes have components ditions and put conditional jumping
that are soldered at certain angles to between different steps. For example, if
the PCB plane. So, for high accuracy, a particular test is passed then jump to a
the probe should also be able to move specific step, otherwise to the other one.
at an angle. Also, you can protect your test
Previously probes could move only conditions with passwords and ensure
in x-y direction, but now systems include another user cannot change them; he
range expansion rotational movement can only run the test. You can maintain a
where you can rotate the probe at dif- record of how many boards were tested
and how many failed, and have all the
relevant reports of yield rate or efficiency.
For quick debugging and diagnos-
tics, where you want to quickly test any
particular area of the PCB, software
allows you to perform these localised
tests without writing any test sequence.
T. Anand
co-founder, Knewron So, if you want to test any particular IC
or a few ICs or any other component,
you can just make interface for the de-
vice under test using interactive GUIs
and perform the required tests.
Drawback. The only drawback of
the ICT software tools is that they are
unique and proprietary for each system.
Ganapathy of QmaxTest says, “Every
tester has its own driver and capabilities,
and so every tester should be directly
sequenced with a set of instructions. If
someone is thinking of developing a soft-
ware, they can see the software function
and develop one but, however, when
you buy any ICT system, the proprietary
software only will work.”
Life of an ICT system
Testing at component level will remain
for years, but with technological advance-
ments these components are getting
smaller and making the circuits more
and more complex. These advancements
have caused older techniques to fail, and
will continue to do so with the coming
systems as well. Is there a solution?
Ganapathy explains, “An impor-
tant consideration while selecting any
solution should be the number of test
points and the associated scalability. A
manufacturer should first analyse how
many board types are to be tested, and
how many maximum test points are
required, and then, finally, what scal-
ability is available with the solution.”
He adds, “Today you might not
require a certain number of test points,
but at least the equipment should have
the capability to add more in future
when there is a requirement. For these
reasons there are more of open archi-
tecture systems coming up, so that as
the requirement increases you are able
to increase the channel capacity or add
new test methodologies as well.” 
The author is a technical correspondent at EFY

88 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 dIy: project

Sequential Tilt-Motion Lock

Rai
Abhijeet

Akhil Kaushik board (Board1), accelerometer module with an AC-to-DC adaptor or battery to
(ACC.1), solenoid lock/electric strike get started. The microcontroller on the

H
ere is a project for locking and
unlocking with a tilt sensor by
tilting it in a defined sequence.
It uses an accelerometer module to
detect the tilt motion. If the sequence
matches with the predefined motion
sequence, the lock opens. You can build
this lock for a briefcase, ballot box,
portable cashbox or even as a door-lock
using suitable mechanical arrangement.
Circuit and working
Fig. 1 shows circuit diagram of the
sequential tilt-motion lock. The cir-
cuit is built around Arduino Uno
Parts List
Semiconductors:
BOARD1 - Arduino Uno board
ACC.1 - ADXL335 3-axis
accelerometer module
LED1 - 5mm LED
T1 - BC548 npn transistor
D1 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
Resistors (all ¼-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1, R2 - 1-kilo-ohm Test point Details
Miscellaneous:
CON1, CON2 - 2-pin terminal connector
S1 - On/off switch TP1 12V
BATT.1 - 12V battery
- 12V electric strike (solenoid
lock)
and a few other components.
Arduino Uno board. Arduino is an
open source electronics prototyping
platform based on flexible, easy-to-use
hardware and software. It is intended
for artists, designers, hobbyists and
anyone interested in creating interac-
tive objects or environments.
Arduino Uno is a board based on
ATmega328 microcontroller. It con-
sists of 14 digital input/output pins,
six analogue inputs, a USB connection
for programming the on-board micro-
controller, power jack, an ICSP header
and a reset button. It is operated with
a 16MHz crystal oscillator and contains
everything needed to support the mi-
crocontroller. It is very easy to use as
the user simply needs to connect it to a
computer with a USB cable, or power it
Test Points
TP0 0V
TP2 High
TP3 Low
board is programmed using Arduino
programming language and Arduino
development environment.
Pins A0, A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 of
Board1 are connected to pins ST, Z-axis,
Y-axis, X-axis, GND and Vcc of the ac-
celerometer module, respectively. Pin
10 of Board1 is connected to solenoid
driver transistor through which the
solenoid lock is connected.
Accelerometer module. An acceler-
ometer is an electromechanical device
that measures acceleration. The accel-
erometer module used here is based on
ADXL335 triple-axis accelerometer from
Analog Devices. The sensor has a full
sensing range of ±3g.
The microcontroller in Board1 re-
ceives data at pins A1, A2 and A3 for z, y
and x axes, respectively, from the accel-
erometer. This data is continuously com-
pared by Board1 with predefined values
for each axis. If the received sequence
matches, Board1 unlocks the lock, which
is either a solenoid lock or any other
suitable magnetic lock. (We used a 12V
electric strike for testing.) Glowing of
LED1 indicates that the lock is open.

Software
The software for this project is
TP1
BATT.1
written in Arduino programming
12V POWER USB language. The Arduino Uno is
INPUT
programmed using Arduino IDE
SCL
SDA TP0
DRIVER AREF
software. ATmega328 on Ardui-
S1 GND
RST 13
R1
no Uno comes with a boot loader
ARDUINO

ON/OFF 3.3V 12 GND

ACC.1 5V 11 1K that allows you to upload new
GND 10 T1
ADXL335
GND 9 BC548
code to it without the use of ex-
Vin 8
ternal hardware programmer. It
ATMEGA328

ACCELEROMETER
CON1 communicates using the STK500
7
Vcc R2
protocol. You can also bypass
GND X Y Z ST
6
DIGITAL

6 5 4 3 2 1
A0 5 1K
A1 4 the boot loader and program the
ANALOG

D1
TP3
A2
A3
3
2
LED1 1N4007 microcontroller through in-cir-
OPEN
A4 TX 1 cuit serial programming (ICSP)
A5 RX 0
TP2 header, but boot loader program-
SOLENOID LOCK ming is quicker and easier. Select
BOARD1
the correct board from ‘Tools →
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of sequential tilt-motion lock Board’ in Arduino IDE and burn

90 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


Fig. 2: An actual-size PCB layout for the
sequential tilt-motion lock
the program (sketch) through standard
USB port in the computer.
Construction and testing
An actual-size (Arduino shield type),
single-side PCB for the sequential tilt-
motion lock is shown in Fig. 2 and its
component layout in Fig. 3. Assemble
www.efymag.com
Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB
the circuit on the recommended PCB to
minimize assembly errors.
To test the circuit for proper func-
tioning, switch on S1 and verify correct
12V supply for the circuit at TP1 with
respect to TP0.
The neutral position of accelerom-
eter module is parallel to the earth’s
surface. The +Y and +X axes are
dIy: project
efy Note
The source code of this project is
included in this month’s EFY DVD
and is also available for free down-
load at source.efymag.com
marked on the accelerometer module.
The default tilt sequence of this circuit
defined in the source code is -X, -Y, -X,
+Y, -Y. If the tilt sequence is correct,
you can observe the glowing of an in-
built LED (not shown here) connected
to pin 13 of Arduino board. If you want
to change the sequence, change it in the
source code, recompile the program and
burn into the microcontroller.
To open the lock, switch on S1 and
tilt the circuit sequentially, as men-
tioned above, within one minute. If
correct action is not completed within
one minute, you need to repeat the tilt
sequence from the start to unlock it. To
close the lock, just switch off the circuit
using on/off switch S1. 
The author is a third-year student of B.Tech (CSE)
at the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Alwar
(Rajasthan)
Electronics For You | August 2014 91
 dIy: project
Mini Rechargeable Power Supply
Abhishek Kumar
P
resented here is a robust, com-
pact and hand-held power sup-
ply that delivers 9.2V and 5V up
to 1A (approx.) and 3.3V up to 500mA.
It also includes a female A-type USB
connector so you can power and
charge other equipment such as mobile
phones. Four white LEDs are included
to enable its use as a torch-light as well.
The circuit uses a single recharge-
able 3.7V Li-ion battery pack (normally
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype
Fig. 2: Block diagram of the mini rechargeable power supply
used in mobile phones and MP3 play-
ers). It uses dedicated Li-ion charging
IC which monitors undercharge and
overcharge conditions to safely charge
the Li-ion battery pack. The circuit not
only indicates the charging status but
also shuts off the load when the battery
is discharged to a certain level.
The power supply is so versatile
that it accepts input from various
power sources like DC wall adaptors,
USB or a solar panel to charge the 3.7V
92 August 2014 | Electronics For You
battery. Even if the battery is fully
discharged, it can power the load from
external power source without disturb-
ing the output regulation and charging
of the battery.
Generally, a power supply derives
power from the 230V AC mains and
then, using step-down transformer
along with circuitry for rectification,
filtering and regulation, provides the
regulated DC output. The disadvan-
tage is that such power supplies are big
and not so portable. The one described
here is a battery-based portable power
supply. The author’s prototype is
shown in Fig. 1.
Circuit and working
The block diagram of the mini re-
chargeable power supply is shown in
Fig. 2 and its circuit diagram in Fig. 3.
Charging input source. The charg-
ing input source for the power supply
can be anything from 5V to 10V, which
can be harnessed using a DC power
Rai
Abhijeet
adaptor, USB port or solar panel. This
DC input goes to the battery charge
management circuit to which a 3.7V
single-cell Li-ion battery is connected.
It is to be noted here that Li-ion bat-
teries are very sensitive to charging
voltage and current, and need a stable
charging source. Directly charging
Li-ion batteries using any source may
reduce the capacity of the battery and
degrade it soon.
Battery management. At the heart
of the Li-ion battery charge manage-
ment circuit is the Li-ion battery charg-
er IC BQ24074 from Texas Instruments.
It is an integrated Li-ion linear charger
and system power path management
device for space-limited portable appli-
cations. The device operates off either
a USB port or a DC adaptor and sup-
ports programmable charge currents
up to 1.5A. That is, we can charge up
to 3000mAh batteries at 0.5C, where C
is the battery’s capacity.
The BQ24074 features dynamic
power path management (DPPM) that
powers the system while simultane-
ously and independently charging the
battery. It supports reverse current,
short circuit and thermal protection.
Its input voltage supports unregulated
adaptors.
The battery is charged in three
phases: conditioning, constant cur-
rent and constant voltage. In all these
phases, an internal control loop moni-
tors the IC junction temperature and
reduces the charge current if the inter-
nal temperature threshold is exceeded.
All the current settings like charging,
input-limiting and termination for the
IC are programmable by selecting the
right resistor values at appropriate
pins.
www.efymag.com
 dIy: project
CON3
R1 R2 4 GND
220E 220E C7 3
R7 2
S1 R9 0.1u
MAIN 1M 1 +5V
LED2 R8 1M
LED1 SWITCH 390K USB−A
VALID CHARGING 1 8 IC5 3
TP1 +IN +V 1
SOURCE 7 TP2 R15
9 11
2 IC2 REF 7 220E UA78M33
−IN
PGOOD CHG OUT
DC JACK C1 13 10 LMP7300 2
C6
IN OUT 3 HYSTP 6
22u GND
5 − 10V 0.1u TP5
25V 8 Vss 5 LED7
EN2 R10 4 5
CON1 IC1 OUT HYSTN
1 C2 IC6
TS EN1 6 4.7K 1 3
LOW C8 = 0.1u
2
BQ24074 47u
R11 7805
BAT 14 BATT.
TMR 25V
C4 2 CON4
3 C3 10n C8
BAT 4 8.2K 4 +3.3V
CE C5 TP6
ITERM ILIM ISET R12 0.1u 3 +5V
TP3 1
GND R1/C1
6 2 +9.2V
15 12 16 1
IC3 470K 100u ,25V
GND
TS + − 2 VOUT ON/OFF 5
R4 R5 R6
TPS27082L OUTPUT
R3 6K 3
VOUT VIN
4 S2
3.7V 10K TP4 LED SWITCH R14
LI−ION
68E
BATTERY CON2 1W
1 4
GND IC4 VO

R5, R6 = 1.5K PTN04050C R13

THERMISTOR 2 3
VI VOADJUST
BYPASS TP0
4.2K LED3 LED4 LED5 LED6
JUMPER
GND
LED3−LED6 = WHITE LED
Fig. 3: Circuit diagram of the mini rechargeable power supply

The charging input source is con- Since 1200mAh battery is used

nected to pins 13 (IN) and 8 (Vss) of
IC1 through the DC jack. Most of the
Li-ion battery packs have at least three
pins—positive, negative and NTC ther-
mistor out. The NTC thermistor is built
into the battery pack itself to monitor
the battery temperature. The three pins
of the Li-ion battery are connected to
the TS (pin 1), BAT (pins 2 and 3) and
ground pin of IC1.
The IC BQ24074 supports only
batteries with 10-kilo-ohm thermis-
tors. If your battery does not have
this thermistor option, you attach a
10-kilo-ohm from ground to pin 1(TS)
of IC1 by shorting the thermal bypass
jumper to bypass the thermal monitor-
ing feature.
As shown in the circuit (Fig. 3),
LED1 is connected to pin 7 (PGOOD)
which glows if the input charging
source is valid and acceptable for charg-
ing the battery. LED2 is connected at
pin 9 (CHG) which glows to indicate
that the battery is in charging mode.
BQ24074 IC works on linear topology,
so a 22µF (C1) electrolytic capacitor at
the input and a 47µF (C2) at the output
is required for stability purpose.
in this power supply project, let us
go through the designing steps for
BQ24074 IC. First, for setting the charg-
ing current at 0.5C, we have to find the
value of Rset that will be connected at
pin 16 (Iset) to ground. For 1200mAh of
battery capacity, 1C=1200mA and thus
0.5C =600mA. So, for Iset =0.5C=600mA,
the formula for calculating Rset (as per
datasheet of BQ24074) is:
Rset = (Kset / Iset )
Value of Kset = 890
Thus, Rset = (890/600mA) = 1.48-ki-
lo-ohm
The value of 1.48-kilo-ohm is not
a standard value, so we choose the
nearest standard value of 1.5-kilo-ohm.
It will set the charging current Iset to
about 593mA, which is acceptable for
the purpose. Thus Rset=1.5-kilo-ohm
(which is resistor R6 in the circuit).
For setting the charge termination
current at 0.1C = 120mA, we find out
the value of Rterm that is connected from
pin 15 (Iterm) to ground. The formula
for calculating Rterm (as per datasheet
of BQ24074) is:
Rterm = (Iterm x Rset)/0.03
Thus R term = (120mA x 1.5k)/
Test Points
Test point Details
TP0 0V
TP1 Charging source voltage
TP2 4.4V if charging source is connected
TP3 Battery voltage
TP4 9.2V
TP5 3.3V
TP6 5V
0.03=6-kilo-ohm (which is resistor R4
in the circuit).
Now let us calculate the Rlim value
at pin 12 of IC1 that will set the maxi-
mum input current consumption limit
for IC1, which includes the battery
charging current plus the current sup-
plied to the load. We select a nominal
value of about 1A for the purpose in
our project.
So, for Ilim = 1A
Rlim = (Klim / Ilim)
Klim = 1610
Thus, Rlim = (1610/1 A)=1.610-kilo-
ohm
Here, 1.61-kilo-ohm is not a stand-
ard value, so we choose the nearest
standard value of 1.5-kilo-ohm. It will
give us Ilim=1.073A, which is accept-

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 93

 dIy: project
able for the purpose. Thus, Rlim = 1.5k
(which is resistor R5 in the circuit).
We can also manipulate the inter-
nal charge timer’s expire values for
IC1 by calculating the value of a resis-
tor that will be connected from pin 14
(TMR) to ground. If resistor is not used
at this pin, it selects the default value
of 1800 seconds for pre-charge and
18,000 seconds for fast charge. We used
the default timer values in this project.
Here we complete the setup for our
battery charging circuit.
The output (positive rail) from
this section is taken from pins 10 and
11 (OUT) of IC1 and given to the next
section via main switch S1. It is this
switch which will be used to switch on
the power supply.
Battery protection unit. This cir-
cuit deploys a low-power comparator
LMP7300 (IC2) and a 3A PFET load
switch TPS27082L (IC3) from Texas
Instruments. It is basically an over-
discharge or deep-discharge protection
circuitry that continuously monitors
the battery voltage levels. The battery
should not be discharged beyond 2.7V.
The over-discharge protection circuit
not only shuts off the load connected to
it but also alerts the user through LED
indication that the battery is exhausted
and needs recharging.
Voltage monitor. The LMP7300 is a
combination comparator and reference
with ideal specifications for precision
threshold detection. The precision
2.048V reference comes with a 0.25%
maximum error. It is mostly used for
precision threshold detection, battery
voltage monitoring and management
system, and zero-crossing detectors.
The inverting input pin 2 of
LMP7300 comparator is connected to
reference voltage pin 7 (REF) while its
non-inverting pin 1 is connected to a
potential divider network comprising
resistors R7 and R8. This potential
divider is so designed that its output
goes low when the input decreases
to 2.8V (slightly higher than the 2.7V
standard, to be on the safe side).
When the positive rail (which is
the battery voltage) decreases to 2.8V,
the voltage at pin 1 goes lower than
94 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - BQ24074 Li-ion battery
charger and power-path
manager
IC2 - LMP7300 precision
comparator and reference
IC3 - TPS27082L PFET load switch
IC4 - PTN04050C adjustable boost
converter
IC5 - UA78M33 positive-voltage
regulator
IC6 - 7805, 5V regulator
LED1, LED2,
LED7 - 5mm LED
LED3-LED6 - 3mm white LED (high
intensity)
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated
otherwise):
R1, R2, R15 - 220-ohm
R3 - 10-kilo-ohm
R4 - 6-kilo-ohm
R5, R6 - 1.5-kilo-ohm
R7, R9 - 1-mega-ohm
R8 - 390-kilo-ohm
R10 - 4.7-kilo-ohm
R11 - 8.2-kilo-ohm
R12 - 470-kilo-ohm
R13 - 4.2-kilo-ohm
R14 - 68-ohm, 1W
Capacitors:
C1 - 22µF, 25V electrolytic
C2 - 47µF, 25V electrolytic
C3 - 10nF ceramic disc
C4 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic
C5-C8 - 0.1µF ceramic
Miscellaneous:
S1, S2 - On/off switch
CON1 - 3-pin connector
CON2 - 2-pin connector
CON3 - USB A-type connector
CON4 - 4-pin connector
- DC Jack connector
- 3.7V Li-ion battery
- Shorting jumper
- Heat sinks for IC5 and IC6
reference voltage at pin 2, which re-
sults in output of the comparator go-
ing low, thus stating under-voltage/
over-discharge condition. The glow-
ing of LED7 at output pin 4 of IC2
indicates the over-discharge or low-
battery status.
Load switch. IC3 TPS27082L is a
PFET load switch which switches on if
its pin 5 (on/off) is given voltage great-
er than 1V. Pin 5 is directly connected
to the output pin 4 of LMP7300. So
whenever the battery output rail goes
below 2.8V, the output of LMP7300
goes low, which switches off the load
switch. Thus the load connected to this
circuit is disconnected, hence no further
discharging of the battery takes place.
Pull-up resistor R11 is provided to
turn on the load switch IC3 normally
because the output of the comparator
is open-drain. Resistor R12 and capaci-
tor C3 in IC3 provide the slew rate of
the load switch. The output from IC3
is taken from pins 2 and 3 (Vout) and
then given to the boost converter sec-
tion.
Boost converter. We used PT-
N04050C (IC4) boost converter module
from Texas instruments. It provides
high-efficiency, step-up voltage con-
version for loads of up to 12 watts. It
is a DC-DC converter that steps up the
low-voltage DC to a higher-voltage
DC. It can take any voltage of 2.95V to
5.5V and step up to 9.2V. In fact, the
boost converter can be configured to a
maximum step-up voltage of 15V but,
in our case, we step it up to 9.2V only,
as that is sufficient for most portable
power applications.
The positive rail taken from the
previous section goes to pin 2 of IC4.
Resistor R13 sets the output voltage of
the converter to 9.2V, which is acces-
sible at pin 4 (Vo) of IC4.
Regulator outputs. The 9.2V from
IC4 is given to input pins of positive
voltage regulators LM7805 (IC6) and
UA78M33 (IC5) to obtain 5V and 3.3V,
respectively. Some capacitors are pro-
vided at the input and output of these
regulators for stability purposes.
Thus, from a 3.7V Li-ion battery,
we get regulated DC output voltages of
9.2V, 5V and 3.3V. These three voltages
are routed to an external connector for
the convenience of connecting to your
projects.
The regulated (but not current-lim-
ited) 5V also goes to a female USB-A
type connector so that you can power
and charge most of your USB-powered
products.
Torchlight. We have four white
LEDs (LED3 through LED6) connected
to 9.2V rail through resistor R14 and
switch S2, serving the function of a
torchlight/flashlight. A 68-ohm resis-
tor (R14) is used as current limiter and
switch S2 is used as on/off switch for
the LEDs.
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB for
the mini rechargeable power supply
www.efymag.com
 dIy: project
them conveniently
for torchlight.
On switching S1
on the power sup-
ply should provide
9.2V, 5V and 3.3V at
the output terminals
(CON4). It is safe to
draw about 800mA
from the 9.2V and
5V terminals while
3.3V terminal is able
to provide 500mA
of current only.
Switch S2 turns on
the torchlight (pro-
Fig. 4: Actual-size PCB layout for the power supply vided switch S1 is
on).
You can con-
nect Li-ion battery
up to 3000mAh ca-
pacity to the cir-
cuit but you have
to recalculate the
current-setting re-
sistors as described
in the previous sec-
tion. When the bat-
tery voltage reaches
below 2.8V, LED7
glows to indicate
the ‘end of capacity’
of the battery and
the loads are auto-
matically turned off.
Fig. 5: Component layout for the PCB To recharge the
battery, you can
circuit is shown Fig. 4 and its compo- connect the circuit to an adaptor pro-
nent layout in Fig. 5. IC1, IC2 and IC3 ducing anywhere from 5V to 10V DC.
are SMD components which are to be You can also charge the battery by
mounted on the solder side of the PCB. connecting it to a solar panel provid-
Suitable heat sinks should be used for ing anywhere from 5V to 10V. If the
IC5 and IC6. Connect the Li-ion battery charge input source is a valid source,
at CON1 and set the thermal bypass green LED1 glows. LED2 glows to in-
jumper at CON2 in the circuit, as ex- dicate that the battery is being charged
plained under ‘battery management’ and goes off after the battery is fully
section. charged. LED2 also flashes at the rate
Check that the voltages at various of 2Hz if the IC’s internal safety timers
points in the circuit are as per test have expired, an error state which in-
point table before powering it for the dicates that your battery is not in good
first time. Enclose the power supply condition. 
circuit in a suitable box. Fix DC jack,
The author is a B.Tech in electronics and
CON1 through CON4, switches S1 and instrumentation. His interests include embedded
S2 appropriately on the box. Fix LED3 systems, software programming and instrumen-
through LED6 such that you can use tation

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 95

 dIy: circuit

Wireless Door-Opening Alarm s.c. dwiv

edi

Pradeep G. timer and CD4013 ICs. NE555 (IC1)

timer is configured in astable mode to

T
his wireless door-opening alarm generate a frequency of 80 kHz. CMOS battery. To reduce current consump-
works with ultrasonic waves. flip-flop CD4013 (IC2) generates a tion, NE555 may be replaced with 7555
Its transmitter is installed near 40kHz square-wave signal to drive ul- CMOS IC.
the door and the receiver at some trasonic transmitter transducer (TX1). Fig. 2 shows the circuit of receiver
distance. There is no wire connection Reed switch is fitted on the door which uses 40kHz transducer (RX1) at
between the two. When the door is frame and a magnet on the door such the input. The 40kHz signal reaches
opened, the transmitter emits 40kHz that, when the door is closed, the the receiver through RX1. Signal from
ultrasonic signal which sounds an magnet comes very close to the reed transducer RX1 is amplified, rectified
alarm through the receiver. switch, making the reed switch close and filtered. DC voltage obtained is
its contacts. This means, reset pin 4 of given to DC amplifier to drive LED1
Circuit and working IC1 is pulled to ground. NE555 stops
Fig. 1 shows circuit diagram of the oscillation and so there is no output Test Points
transmitter, which employs NE555 from ultrasonic transducer TX1.
Test point Details
W h e n
the door is TP0 0V
C3 C4 opened, the TP1 9V
VR1 TP1 TP2 80 kHz when reed switch is open
20K
R3
100u, 25V 0.1u
magnet moves
5.6K
away from the TP3 40 kHz when reed switch is open
14
R1 7 DIS 6
Vcc
reed switch TP4 40 kHz when reed switch is open
RESET 4 SET1
Q1 2
5.6K 5
D1 FF1 1 CON1 and contacts Across TP5
Q1
6
TH Vcc 8 3 CLK1 R1
9V
of reed switch and TP6 9V -12V
IC1 TP2 4
R2
2
NE555 IC2 open. As a re-
TP3
18K TRI O/P 3
CD4013 sult, NE555 Parts List
8 TX1
1
GND CV
5 SET2 Q2 12
oscillates at 80 Semiconductors:
C2 9
D2 FF2 13 IC1 - NE555 timer
0.01u 11
CLK2 R2
Q2
kHz and the IC2 - CD4013 dual D-type flip-flop
C1
10 GND 7 transducer TX1 D1 - 1N4148 switching diode
RS1 T1 - BC549 npn transistor
330p REED emits 40kHz T2-T4 - BC547 npn transistor
TP4
TP0 SWITCH
TX1 = 40kHz ULTRASONIC signal. LED1 - 5mm LED
TRANSDUCER Transmit- Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1, R3 - 5.6-kilo-ohm
GND ter can be pow- R2 - 18-kilo-ohm
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the transmitter ered from a 9V R4, R8 - 4.7-kilo-ohm
R5 - 470-kilo-ohm
R6, R11, R12 - 1-kilo-ohm
R7, R9 - 22-kilo-ohm
R10 - 100-kilo-ohm
C6 R14 R13, R14 - 680-ohm
R4 VR2 680E R11 R13
100u 680E TP6 VR1 - 20-kilo-ohm preset
4.7K 2.2M 1K
25V VR2 - 2.2-mega-ohm preset
GND PZ1
R8 Capacitors:
PIEZO C1 - 330pF ceramic disk
R5 C5 4.7K
BUZZER C2 - 0.01µF ceramic disk
470K 4.7n LED1
C3 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic
R7 C4 - 0.1µF ceramic disk
22K D1 R9 T3 C8 C5 - 4.7nF ceramic disk
1N4148 22K BC547 100u C6, C8 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic
T1
R6 BC549 25V C7 - 47nF ceramic disk
1K Miscellaneous:
T2 T4
C7 CON2 RS1 - Reed switch (N/O type)
BC547 R12 BC547
R10
47n 9V −12V TX1 - 40kHz ultrasonic transducer
RX1 1K
100K (transmitter)
TP5
RX1 - 40kHz ultrasonic transducer
(receiver)
GND CON1, CON2 - 2-pin terminal connector
RX1 = 40kHZ ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER RECEIVER PZ1 - Piezo buzzer
- 9V battery
Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the receiver

96 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 dIy: circuit
After assembling
the transmitter and
receiver units on
two separate PCBs,
enclose them in sep-
arate plastic cases.
When the door
is opened, TX1 emits
Fig. 3: An actual-size PCB layout for the transmitter Fig. 5: An actual-size PCB layout for the receiver 40kHz signal, which
RX1 receives and
activates the buzzer
wirelessly. Trans-
mitter TX1 must be
directed towards
receiver transducer
RX1 for proper func-
tioning. Adjust VR1
in the transmitter
to obtain maximum
Fig. 4: Component layout for transmitter PCB Fig. 6: Component layout for receiver PCB range. The range
was found to be
and buzzer PZ1. Power supply for the transmitter is shown in Fig. 3 and its around 1 metre. In case of any prob-
circuit can be from 9V to 12V. component layout in Fig. 4. Similarly, lem, verify voltages at the test points
an actual-size, single-side PCB layout given in the table. 
Construction and testing for the receiver is shown in Fig. 5 and
An actual-size, single-side PCB for the its component layout in Fig. 6. The author is a regular contributor to EFY

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 97

 dIy: circuit
Battery-Discharge Measurement Circuit
Bhaskar Pandey
B
attery-life measurement for
a portable system is a time-
consuming task and many
methods used for it do not give reliable
results. Presented here is a circuit using
which you can measure the battery-life
very easily. Here, an analogue clock
tracks the discharge time of the bat-
tery used in battery-powered portable
devices.
Circuit and working
The circuit for battery-discharge meas-
urement is shown in Fig. 1. It is built
using low-power single-/dual-supply
comparator MAX921 (IC1), MOSFET
VN0300L (IRF1), an analogue clock
and a few other components.
IC1 monitors the life of the BUT
C1
CON1 0.1u
BUT*
7 −
V+
6 REF
5 IC1
HYST
MAX921
4 IRF1
IN−
V− GND
TP0 2 1
BUT* = BATTERY UNDER TEST
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram for battery-discharge measurement
Fig. 2: An actual-size PCB pattern for the circuit
98 August 2014 | Electronics For You
(battery under test) and controls the
power supply for the analogue clock.
When the BUT voltage falls below
the threshold value set by VR1, IC1’s
output becomes low, which turns off
MOSFET IRF1. This means, power sup-
ply for the analogue clock is cut off and
so the clock stops running. The reading
on the clock at this point gives the dis-
charge time of the BUT, provided you
had set the clock to 12:00 before testing
started. The circuit can test 2.5V to 11V
batteries.
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB for
the circuit is shown in Fig. 2 and its
component layout in Fig. 3. After as-
sembling the circuit on PCB, enclose
it in a suitable plastic box. Connect
positive terminal of the analogue clock
ANALOGUE CLOCK
TP1
CON2
+
VR1 CON3
3 100K 1.5V
IN+ AA SIZE
D
OUT
8
TP2 VN0300L
G
S discharge time of a 6V battery (BUT),
GND
Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB
edi
s.c. dwiv
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - MAX921 single-/dual-
supply comparator
IRF1 - VN0300L MOSFET
Resistor:
VR1 - 100-kilo-ohm potmeter
Capacitor:
C1 - 0.1µF ceramic disk
Miscellaneous:
CON1, CON3 - 2-pin terminal connector
CON2 - 2-pin connector
- 1.5V AA-size battery
- Analogue clock
Test Points
Test point Details
TP0 0V
TP1 Voltage of the battery under test
TP2 High to low at threshold setting
using VR1
to positive terminal of a 1.5V AA-size
battery and negative terminal to the
drain of MOSFET IRF1. Before using
the circuit, verify that voltages at the
test points are as per table.
For setting the threshold voltage,
you need a variable DC power supply
at CON1. For example, to measure the
first decide its minimum threshold
voltage, say 4.5V. Connect variable
supply to CON1 and set it to 4.5V.
Vary VR1 till the clock stops running.
Now, remove the variable power sup-
ply, set the clock to 12:00 and connect
the 6V battery at CON1. Connect the
load across the battery. As the battery
power is being consumed by the load,
voltage level begins to drop. When
BUT voltage drops below 4.5V, the
clock stops running. The time shown
on the analogue clock at this point is
the discharge time. 
The author is an electronics hobbyist
www.efymag.com
 dIy: circuit

Perfume Vaporiser Adaptor s.c. dwiv

edi

T.K. Hareendran heating element and thereby the rate

of vaporisation and level of fragrance

A
n electric perfume vaporiser delivery. As a rule, the fragrance in the TRIAC1. This allows the vaporiser
slowly vaporises liquid per- bottle should last for at least 30 days. to connect to 230V supply through
fume in a bottle using an elec- Fig. 1 shows the author’s prototype. TRIAC1, thus allowing the heating ele-
trical heating module. A wick trans- ment to heat up.
ports the liquid from the bottle into the Circuit and working The 500-kilo-ohm potentiometer
heating zone on top by capillary action. Fig. 2 shows the circuit diagram of (VR1) provides a smooth continuous
The heating is done at a temperature perfume vaporiser adaptor. It is an control of power to the heating element
maintained within a narrow range suit- inexpensive solid-state heat controlling of the vaporiser. By varying it, you can
able for the perfume, so that its release circuit built around the commonly- get different levels of fragrance output.
is neither too fast nor too slow. available triac BT139 (TRIAC1). Working of the circuit is simple.
This circuit helps in controlling the Phase control is one of the most On closing switch S1 the 3mm red
temperature of the liquid vaporiser’s common forms of triac control. A basic LED1 glows, indicating that circuit is
phase-control circuit includes resistors, switched on. Turning VR1 increases or
Parts List
a capacitor and a diac. Resistors R1 and decreases the release of perfume.
Semiconductors:
TRIAC1 - BT136 triac
R2, potentiometer VR1 and capacitor This circuit can also be used as an
DIAC1 - DB3 diac C1 provide a phase shifted AC signal adaptor for insect repellent vaporisers,
D1 - 1N4007 rectifier diode to diac DB3 (DIAC1). When the voltage air fresheners, etc.
LED1 - 3mm red LED
on C1 exceeds the break-over voltage
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1 - 10-kilo-ohm of DB3, it breaks down and triggers Construction and testing
R2 - 2.2-mega-ohm An actual-size, single-side PCB for the
VR1 - 500-kilo-ohm potentiometer
perfume vaporiser adaptor is shown
Capacitor:
C1 - 150nF, 400V polyester
Test Points in Fig. 3 and its component layout in
Miscellaneous: Test point Details Fig. 4. After assembling the circuit on a
CON1 - 2-pin terminal connector
CON2 - 2-pin connector Across TP0 and TP1 230V AC PCB, enclose it in a suitable plastic case.
S1 - On/off switch Across TP2 and TP3 Output depends on Connect the two wires from CON2 to
position of VR1 the 2-pin plug of the vaporiser.
Across TP0 and TP4 Around 1.1V AC Fix VR1 on the front side of the
cabinet and connect it to PCB using
wires. Fix 2-pin connectors for
power supply and the vaporiser.
A small heat sink should be
provided for TRIAC1. But the
heat sink should not be allowed to
come in contact with any external
metallic object.
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype Before connecting the vaporiser
to the circuit, verify that the volt-
Fig. 3: An actual-size PCB for perfume vaporiser
ages at various test points are as
adaptor per table.
R1
CON2
TP3 10K
R2
2.2M
Caution. Since the circuit is
VAPORISER VR1
500K directly operated from 230V AC
TP2 TRIAC1 MT2
S1 BT136
mains, only experienced persons
ON/OFF MT1 G
C1
should assemble it. To avoid lethal
SWITCH DIAC1
TP1 DB3 150n shock, take necessary precautions
TP4 400V
L CON1 while handling the AC mains volt-
230V AC
N
POWER IN
TP0
D1 LED1
age. 
1N4007 POWER

The author is a freelance writer and circuits

Fig. 2: Perfume vaporiser adaptor circuit Fig. 4: Component layout for the PCB designer

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 99

 dIy: circuit

Speed Controller s.c. dwiv

edi
ally between 3% and 15% of the resist-
ance of the thermistors at +25°C.

for Small Cooling Fans

LED1 is used as power on/off indi-
cator for the circuit. LED2 indicates the
speed of rotation of the fan. If speed of
Petre Tzv Petrov their power dissipation. the motor is high, LED2 glows brightly,
Usually you cannot find low-cost and vice versa. Diode D1 is used to pre-

S
mall cooling fans are used in some NTCs with enough power dissipation. vent back EMF when power supply is
equipment for cooling semicon- Therefore four of them in parallel are removed.
ductor devices. The circuit given used here. This way power dissipa- Connector CON1 is used for the
here is of a simple automatic speed con- tion and self-heating of the NTCs are power supply. It is better to have power
troller for a 12V, 0.6W (or 1.2W) cooling reduced. It is better to use NTCs with supply 10 to 25% higher than the nomi-
fan that increases the fan’s speed when tolerance of ±2%. The NTCLE100E3 nal working voltage of the fan to com-
temperature rises, and vice versa. are available with nominal values of pensate for the voltage drop across the
3.3-ohm to 470-kilo-ohm and have resistors and the thermistors.
Circuit and working maximum power dissipation of 0.5W Voltage drop across resistor R8 is
Fig. 1 shows circuit diagram of the speed at +55°C. proportional to the current in the motor.
controller for a small cooling fan. Resis- Table I shows easily-available NTC Connector CON2 is used to connect a
tor R1 limits the initial current for the thermistors that can be used in the digital voltmeter to measure the voltage
motor and lowers the speed of rotation, circuit. The drop.
if needed. The temperature control is Table II resistors R2
done with one or more NTC (negative Test Points through R5 Construction and testing
temperature coefficient) thermistors con- Test point Details are equalisa- An actual-size, single-side PCB for the
nected in series with the electrical motor. tion and lim- circuit is shown in Fig. 2 and its compo-
TP0 0V
The number of thermistors depends on iting resistors. nent layout in Fig. 3. After assembling
TP1 12V
These resis- the circuit on a PCB, enclose it in a suit-
Table I TP2 0.08V to 1.35V
tors are usu- able plastic box.
Different Thermistors with Fix all the four NTC thermis-
Resistance Values tors (NTC1 through NTC4) at
T°C NTC NTC NTC NTC
R1
390E
NTC1 NTC2 NTC3 NTC4
TP1 appropriate locations, within the
470E 470E 470E 470E
(ohm) (ohm) (ohm) (ohm) equipment whose heat is to be
25 150 220 330 470 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 C1 dissipated, for temperature sens-
10E 10E 10E 1K 100u
10E
35V ing. On front panel of the speed
30 123.7 181.5 272.2 387.7
controller fix switch S1 for power
40 85.54 125.5 188.2 268.0 R7 +
1K CON1
on/off, LED1 for power on/off
50 60.30 88.84 132.7 188.9 M1 D1 12V −
LED2 1N4007 15V _ indication and LED2 for fan-
60 43.28 63.48 95.23 135.6 FAN ON
speed indication. Before using
70 31.60 46.35 69.52 99.01
+ TP2 LED1
the circuit, verify that voltages at
80 23.43 34.37 51.56 73.43 R8
CON2
1E, 1W
POWER TP0 various points in the circuit are as
VOLTMETER
90 17.63 25.86 38.80 55.26 _
per Table II.
GND
100 13.45 19.73 29.59 42.15 M1 = COOLING FAN
EFY note. All the four thermis-
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the speed controller tors should be of same type. 
Parts List
Semiconductors: The author was
D1 - 1N4007 rectifier diode a researcher and
LED1, LED2 - 5mm LED assistant profes-
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated
sor in Technical
otherwise):
R1 - 390-ohm University of So-
R2-R5 - 10-ohm fia (Bulgaria) and
R6, R7 - 1-kilo-ohm exper t-lecturer
R8 - 1-ohm, 1W in OFPPT (Casa-
Capacitor: blanca), Kingdom
C1 - 100µF, 35V electrolytic
of Morocco. Now
Miscellaneous:
CON1 - 2-pin terminal connector
he is working as
CON2 - 2-pin connector an electronics
NTC1-NTC4 - 470-ohm, NTC thermistor engineer in the
M1 - 12V, 0.6W (or 1.2W) cooling Fig. 2: An actual-size PCB for the Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB private sector
fan speed controller Bulgaria

100 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 diy: tips & technique

Oscilloscope as an Image Viewer vivek panc

habhaiya

Vineet Nayak loscope. Fig. 1 shows ‘EFY’ image on The code is written such that it ac-
the oscilloscope. cepts byte codes in pages and columns

C
athode ray oscilloscope (CRO) format. The byte codes of the image
is a versatile laboratory instru- Circuit and working is in the intel[] array which is stored
ment which is used to display, The heart of the project is ATmega16 in Flash memory. The myte[] array
measure and analyse electrical signals. microcontroller—a low-power CMOS stores the pixel data of 32 pixels along
It is nothing but a fast x-y plotter that 8-bit chip based on AVR enhanced a column, indicating the on/off states.
displays an input signal versus anoth- RISC architecture. It has 16kB in- On state is represented by a value of 1
er signal or time. There is a luminous system programmable Flash memory, to 31 and an off state by 0. The vertical
spot which moves over the display 512 bytes of EEPROM and 1kB SRAM. trace movement is synchronised by
area in response to the input volt- A 16MHz crystal is connected across the 20µs delay from one column to the
age. But displaying a monochrome its pins 12 and 13 to provide basic next. The details are given in comment
bitmap image on an oscilloscope is a clock. An R-2R ladder network DAC lines of the code.
challenging yet interesting task. Here (digital-to-analogue converter) is used The loop is repeated continuously
we present a project where you can to convert digital (8-bit) values from as there is no DDRAM (data display
display any image or multiple images the microcontroller to analogue values RAM) to store the pixel information.
(monochrome) on an analogue oscil- that are input to the oscilloscope. So, for persistence of vision, the trace
is repeated continuously for a certain
Software number of cycles (50 here in the code).
The software is writ- More than one image can be stored
ten in C language and in new arrays until the Flash memory
compiled using Pro- saturates.
grammer’s Notepad of The trace of the oscilloscope runs
WinAVR software. The with internal trigger set at 10ms (time/
hex code is burnt in the div). The trace is set at this value for
microcontroller using a proper persistence of vision and in
suitable programmer. synchronisation with the timing of the
The fuse settings for code for proper display.
ATmega16 are: The analogue values are applied
lfuse-0xef to the y-input of the scope. Each of
Fig. 1: Image display on an analogue oscilloscope hfuse-0x99 the 32 pixels across a single column in
the screen is assigned a par-
ticular voltage level (digital
5V
10 30
values from 0 to 31) as seen
GND
Vcc AVcc in the code. By switching the
1 PB0 PA0 40
GROUND OF CRO PROBE
2 PB1 PA1 39
values from 0 to 31 very fast,
3 PB2
4 PB3
PA2 38 we form a pixel of 32 dots
R1 − R8 = 100K PA3 37
5 PB4 PA4 36 across a single column. As
6 PB5 PA5 35
7 PB6 PA6 34 the trace moves horizontally,
8 PB7 PA7 33
9 RST
IC1
AREF 32
it forms an array of pixels
14 PD0 ATMEGA16 PC7 29
15 PD1
across the screen having 32
PC6 28
16 PD2 PC5 27 rows. This is how the pixel
17 PD3 PC4 26
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 18 PD4 PC3 25
array is generated on the
R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R9
19 PD5
20 PD6
PC2 24 screen. The 32 pixels across
PC1 23
56K 56K 56K 56K 56K 56K 56K 100K 21 PD7 PC0 22 a single column constitute 4
11 GND 31
bytes. By individual switch-
GND
XTAL2 XTAL1

12 13 ing of the pixels across a

OUTPUT TO CRO PROBE X TAL1
16MHz
column till the trace moves
to the next column, an image
Fig. 2: Circuit for oscilloscope as image viewer can be displayed.

102 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


Fig. 3: GLCD bitmap editor
Fig. 4: Loading the BMP image to get the byte code
Fig. 5: Copying byte code of the image in the program
www.efymag.com
diy: tips & technique
efy Note
The source code of this project is
included in this month’s EFY DVD
and is also available for free down-
load at source.efymag.com
Construction and testing
The below-mentioned settings must
be made in the oscilloscope for proper
display of images (any deviation in
values will lead to distorted images):
1. Volt/div knob set to 50mV
2. Time/div knob set to 10ms
3. Trigger source set to internal
trigger
4. Trigger mode set to auto
5. Trigger slope set to negative
(may be neglected)
Now resize the image to 84×32
(width×height) size. Convert the image
to monochrome BMP format by sav-
ing the resized image as monochrome
BMP format in MS-Paint.
Download microC PRO for AVR
from http://www.mikroe.com/down-
loads/get/299/mikroc_pro_avr_v600.
zip. Install the software and run it.
Open GLCD bitmap editor from the
tool menu as shown in Fig. 3.
Get the byte code of the BMP image
by directly loading the image in the
Nokia 3310 tab as shown in Fig. 4.
Copy the 504 bytes of byte code of
the image and paste it in the source
code as shown in Fig. 5.
Compile the code and burn it in
the microcontroller using a suitable
programmer. Connect the oscilloscope
probe to the circuit as shown in Fig. 2
and the stored image will be displayed.
The code is optimised and properly
synchronised with time for proper dis-
play of images on the oscilloscope. Any
changes in the code (addition of time
delays, lines), clock frequency, crystal
value, changes in settings of oscillo-
scope may lead to a distorted image.
The code is written so that no external
trigger signal is required. The image is
displayed with proper synchronisation
with the internal trigger signal. 
The author is currently working as GET at Maruti
Suzuki India Ltd, Gurgaon
Electronics For You | August 2014 103
 diy: tips & technique
Use of I²C for Extension of GPIOs
Somnath Bera
R
aspberry Pi has a total of 26
pins on the GPIO header, out
of which only 17 can be inter-
faced with external hardware. But to
further extend the interfacing you can
connect an additional microcontroller
and increase the GPIO capability by
any number. Even the regular LCD
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype
Fig. 2: Adding the lines in /etc/modules
Fig. 3: Editing the raspi-blacklist.conf file
Fig. 4: Commenting the code
Fig. 5: Installing python-smbus and I2C tools
Fig. 6: Installing Python packages
104 August 2014 | Electronics For You
panel, which eats away half a dozen
of GPIOs, can straightaway be shifted
to the additional microcontroller, con-
suming only two pins of Raspberry Pi
to control all these countless GPIOs
precisely yet very economically.
In July issue we had shown how
to interface dot-matrix LED displays
using I2C pins of Raspberry Pi and I/O
expander MCP23017. Here we will fur-
ther extend the GPIOs of the Raspberry
Pi using I/O expander MCP23008 to
interface multiple devices, such as digi-
tal temperature sensor DS18B20 and
16x4 LCD. The LCD will display the IP
address, temperature, date and time.
Here I2C communication is used.
I2C is a serial communications protocol
which allows chips to swap data on
the same bus. The I2C is just two wires,
SDA and SCL (pin 3 and pin
5), which control all the I2C
devices connected on Rasp-
berry Pi computer.
System set up
To use I2C on Raspberry Pi,
you need to enable a few
things in Raspbian Wheezy
operating system, as by de-
fault it is not enabled. This
is a fairly easy process. First
you need to edit the mod-
ules file using the command:
$ sudo nano /etc/modules
Then add the following
two lines (also refer Fig. 2):
i2c-bcm2708
i2c-dev
Save the file and exit
nano. Next, open the raspi-
blacklist.conf file by writing
the following command
(also refer Fig. 3):
$ sudo nano /etc/
modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.
conf
Comment out the code
by putting # symbol at the
beginning of the two lines as
vivek panc
habhaiya
shown below (also refer Fig. 4) and then
save and exit.
#blacklist spi-bcm2708
#blacklist i2c-bcm2708
Now install the necessary software
to manipulate the I2C bus using follow-
ing commands (also refer Fig. 5):
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install python-smbus
i2c-tools
Once the software is installed, re-
boot your Raspberry Pi so that these
effects take place permanently. Also
install Python and python-dev on Rasp-
berry Pi using the following commands
(also refer Fig. 6):
$ sudo apt-get install python
python-dev
For testing whether the I2C is suc-
cessfully enabled, refer article ‘Interfac-
ing Dot-Matrix LED With Raspberry Pi’
published in July issue.
Circuit and working
Make the connections as shown in Fig.
7 to interface 16x4 LCD (LCD1) and
temperature sensor DS18B20 (IC2). Fig.
8 shows pin configuration of the tem-
perature sensor.
Wire up the LCD panel as shown
in Fig. 7.
The temperature sensor is connected
directly to the Raspberry Pi whereas
the LCD panel is connected through
MCP23008. Apart from Ground and
5V, only two more wires, SDA and
SCL, have gone to the MCP23008 chip
as shown in Fig. 7.
Software
The program uses Adafruit_MCP230xx.
py and Adafruit_I2C.py GPL librar-
ies which are taken from Adafruit.
com. The source code has two other
efy Note
The source code of this project is
included in this month’s EFY DVD
and is also available for free down-
load at source.efymag.com
www.efymag.com

files, lcd23008.py and iptalk2mcp.py,
which are for running the 16x4 LCD
panel and displaying date, time, day
and temperature on it. Download
PIN5
diy: tips & technique
the source code from the DVD or the The LCD will start showing the IP
website and run the code using the address, day, date and time along with
command: ambient temperature as shown in Fig. 1.
$ sudo python iptalk2mcp.py To make it run every time it boots,
add the above line somewhere
near the top in /etc/rc.local
1
Vss
K file.
16
R2 VO LCD1
1 18 3

PIN3 2
SCL VDD

16
1K
2
VDD
16X4
A/VEE
15
WebIOPi
SDA GP7

3 15
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 EN R/W RS
WebIOPi has a beautiful in-
DS18B20

1 A2 GP6
GND 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
2 terface with MCP230XX. Once
IC2

DQ 4
A1 GP5 17
3 IC1
VDD
5
A0 GP4 14 you add it in /etc/webiopi/
PIN2 6
MCP23008
GP3 13
config file in the [Devices]
RESET
RASPBERRY PI

7 12
section, MCP230XX will start
R1 NC GP2

4.7K 8 11
showing all its GPIOs in the
PIN7 INT GP1

PIN6 9 10
Explorer. By clicking them in
Vss GP0 GND
the Explorer window you can
make them on or off as shown
Fig. 7: LCD interface with MCP23008 in Fig. 9. Refer WebIOPi article
published in June issue
for more information. 

The author is an avid user

of open source software.
Professionally, he is a thermal
power expert working as an
additional general manager at
Fig. 8: DS18B20 temperature sensor interfacing Fig. 9: WebIOPI NTPC Limited

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 105

 dIy: software

Understanding Digital Camera

Histograms Using MATLAB
o
sani the

Ahlad Kumar and Vijeta Khare help in clicking better pictures. Apart Image is stored in a computer in
from a general discussion on histo- the form of a matrix. Each pixel of

T
his article discusses the impor- gram, a MATLAB implementation of an image denotes the intensity value
tance of histograms generated the same is provided for the hard-core at that point. This intensity value is
by high-end cameras, which programmers. known as its gray level. So, if a point is
Histogram is an excellent dark, its intensity (gray) value is zero.
feature available in most of the If it is the brightest possible, its inten-
modern-day cameras from Nikon, sity value is 255. So an image stored in
Canon, etc. Unfortunately, very a computer in the form of matrix has
few people know how to make its values ranging from 0 to 255. For
good use of histograms. By un- example, a typical image (refer Fig. 3)
derstanding histograms we can is stored in a computer in the form of
predict how good the picture is matrix shown in Fig. 4.
going to be even before clicking it. The values present in the matrix
Fig. 1 shows a typical LCD shown in Fig. 4 are the gray values of
screen of a high-end camera. The an image. For example, 9 being close
Fig. 1: Typical screen of a camera control menu of the camera is to zero its contribution to an image
shown in Fig. 2. On the top right will be dark. But 133 is a much higher
corner of control menu is a black value, so its contribution to an image
AF mode
Picture style
Histogram box marked as histogram, which will be bright.
Focusing frame
White balance
Drive mode
(Quick mode) shows a waveform that most Histogram plots the occurrence
Magnifying
Image-recording quality
AE lock
frame camera-users think is useless. (frequency) of these gray levels on
AEB
Flash-ready FEB
Exposure simulation
But if we understand this wave- y-axis while x-axis plots the value of
Shutter speed Battery check form we can click our pictures gray levels from 0 to 255. We observe
Aperture Highlight tone priority
Exposure level ISO speed perfectly, without later realising that gray values 64 and 45 occur twice
Flash exposure compensation Shots remaining
that the lightening or illumination each while value 121 occurs thrice, and
Fig. 2: Control menu on the camera was poor. rest of the pixels occur once only. Ac-
cordingly, the histogram of this image
Histogram is shown in Fig. 5.
Histogram of an image is the graphi- It can be observed from the histo-
cal representation of the frequency of gram that y-axis corresponds to the
occurrence of each gray level in an number of times a specific gray value
image. To understand this statement shown on x-axis occurs. If we general-
clearly, the meaning of gray level must ise this discussion further, we arrive
be understood first. at the conclusion that, if an image is
3
almost dark then its histogram will
be towards the left side of the graph,
2.5 while for a very bright image it will
2 be towards extreme right side. But if
Fig. 3: A typical image an image is uniformly bright, its histo-
Frequency

1.5
gram will be uniform throughout from
64 133 112 121 1 left to right.
92 121 23 45 To understand it clearly, let us take
0.5
three different cases of bright, dark and
84 32 64 90 0 uniform images.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
45 21 9 121 Gray values Bright image. Fig. 6 shows a bright
Fig. 4: Matrix representation of Fig. 3 Fig. 5: Histogram of the image seen in Fig. 4 image of a globe and its histogram

106 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


discussed earlier.
Dark image. Next, we take
the example of a very dark im-
age as shown in Fig. 8.
It can be observed from Fig.
8 that dark image corresponds
to the pixel values close to zero,
hence it can be seen from its
histogram (refer Fig. 9) that
most of the pixels are close to
zero, resulting in a histogram
towards the left side.
Uniform image. For the
third example, a uniform bright
image is shown in Fig. 10. The
Fig. 6: A bright image image is well captured with
2.5
×105
efy Note
The source code of this project is
2
included in this month’s EFY DVD
and is also available for free down-
1.5
load at source.efymag.com
1 y=imread(‘Path of image to be
0.5
dIy: software
means all the gray values have nearly
equal contribution to create a good and
clear image.
So, if you want to capture an im-
age of high quality, just look at the
histogram of the image generated by
the camera and try to adjust the light-
ing or position of the camera in such
a way that the histogram is uniformly
distributed.
Software program
MATLAB program is used here to cre-
ate histogram of an image. Though we
have an in-built function in MATLAB
to do this job, but the whole idea is to
understand the concept of histogram in
detail. It is only then we can optimise
the code to make it work faster for the
coming generation of high-end cam-
eras. The MATLAB code is as listed
below:
inserted’);

[m,n,num_colors]=size(y);
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 if num_colors> 1
Fig. 7: Histogram of bright image x1=rgb2gray(y);
x=double(x1);
else
x=double(y);
end

counter=zeros(256,1);
for i=1:size(x,1)
for j=1:size(x,2)
Fig. 8: Dark image Fig. 10: Uniformly bright image for k=0:255
if(x(i,j)==k)

×105 counter(k+1)=counter(k+1)+1;
4500
3
end
4000
2.5 end
3500
end
2 3000
end
2500
1.5
2000
1500
bar(counter,0.00001),title
1
1000 (‘HISTOGRAM’);
0.5
500 Before compiling the code, you
0 0 need to provide the path of the image
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 in the code. When you compile and
Fig. 9: Histogram of dark image Fig. 11: Histogram of uniformly bright image run the code in MATLAB, you will get
the histogram of the image file. 
in Fig. 7. Bright image means all its uniform lighting condition.
pixels have a value close to 255. As By looking at the histogram in Fig. Both the authors are M.Tech from ABV-Indian
can be seen from Fig. 7, most of the 11 it can be seen that for a good image Institute of Information Technology and Manage-
histogram is towards the right side as it is nearly uniformly distributed. This ment, Gwalior

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 107

 dIy: software
Building Image Processing
Embedded Systems Using Python
Jayneil Dalal
T
his project describes a technique
to capture human faces using
image processing and turn on
an LED on the Arduino board. With
some modification it can be used to
detect intruders and set an alarm.
Embedded system
components
Five basic components required to
build an embedded system using Py-
thon are described below briefly.
Operating system (OS). The OS is
the heart of an embedded vision sys-
tem. Many dependencies that are re-
quired to run software are provided by
Fig. 1: Block diagram of different modules in OpenCV
the OS, which is the interface between
the hardware and the application soft-
ware. There are various Linux distribu-
tions, such as Ubuntu and Fedora, to
choose from. I prefer Ubuntu as it is
easy to learn.
Image processing (IP) software.
There are many software and libraries
available for image processing, such
as MATLAB and OpenCV. I prefer
OpenCV as it is free, fast, has good
documentation, tutorials, user groups,
forums, etc. There are a lot of pre-built
functions and algorithms to get a head
start. There is active development on
interfaces for other languages like
Ruby, Python, MATLAB, etc. Fig. 1 is
a block diagram showing the different
modules in OpenCV.
108 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Arduino. To control peripheral de-
vices, we need a hardware circuit with
a ‘brain.’ This role can be played by
any microcontroller or microprocessor.
A microcontroller cannot be directly
used in a circuit as it is. A full devel-
opment circuit board has to be made,
providing access to different pins of
the microcontroller. Here, Arduino
development board is used due to the
following reasons:
1. It is open source, so all schemat-
ics are available and you can design
the same board on your own.
2. It is based on the concept of
breadboard prototyping, which en-
courages the use of hook-up wires and
breadboard, to make a circuit which
can be easily modified
later. This avoids the has-
sle of soldering.
3. There are a number
of tutorials, tons of code,
forums, etc, to help begin-
ners.
4. The design of the
board and IDE is so simple
that one does not have to
be an engineer to use it.
5. It is pretty cheap compared to
other available development boards.
There are various versions of Ar-
duino to choose from, such as Uno,
Mega and Lilypad. I prefer the Ar-
duino Mega, which is a microcontroller
board based on the ATmega1280. It
contains everything needed to support
the microcontroller; simply connect
it to a computer with a USB cable, or
power it with an AC-to-DC adaptor or
battery, to get started.
Pyserial. This is a library that pro-
vides Python support for serial connec-
tions (RS232) over a variety of different
devices: serial COM ports, Bluetooth
dongles, infra-red ports, and so on. It
also supports remote serial ports via
t rai
abhijee
RFC 2217 (since v2.5). We use this for
communication with the external hard-
ware (Arduino). This library is easy to
use and it has good documentation.
Python. Python is a general-
purpose, high-level programming
language whose design philosophy
emphasises code readability. Python
claims to combine remarkable power
with very clear syntax, and its stand-
ard library is large and comprehensive.
OpenCV installation
Let us now proceed to OpenCV instal-
lation. All commands are meant to be
run in a terminal.
1. Install all pre-requisites as shown
below:
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential
$ sudo apt-get install cmake
$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config
$ sudo apt-get install libpng12-0
libpng12-dev libpng++-dev libpng3
$ sudo apt-get install libpnglite-dev
libpngwriter0-dev libpngwriter0c2
$ sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dbg
zlib1g zlib1g-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libjasper-dev
libjasper-runtime libjasper1
$ sudo apt-get install pngtools
libtiff4-dev libtiff4 libtiffxx0c2
libtiff-tools
$ sudo apt-get install libjpeg8
libjpeg8-dev libjpeg8-dbg
libjpeg-prog
$ sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
libavcodec-dev libavcodec52
libavformat52 libavformat-dev
$ sudo apt-get install
libgstreamer0.10-0-dbg
libgstreamer0.10-0 libgstreamer0.10-
dev
www.efymag.com

$ sudo apt-get install libxine1-
ffmpeg libxine-dev libxine1-bin
$ sudo apt-get install libunicap2
libunicap2-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libdc1394-22-
dev libdc1394-22 libdc1394-utils
$ sudo apt-get install swig
$ sudo apt-get install libv4l-0
libv4l-dev
$ sudo apt-get install python-numpy
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential
libgtk2.0-dev libjpeg62-dev libtiff4-
dev libjasper-dev libopenexr-dev
cmake python-dev python-numpy libtbb-
dev libeigen2-dev yasm libfaac-dev
libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-
amrwb-dev libtheora-dev libvorbis-dev
libxvidcore-dev
2. Install Python development
headers with ‘sudo apt-get install
python-dev.’
3. Download the source code from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/
opencvlibrary/files/opencv-unix/2.3/.
It is recommended that you move the
downloaded OpenCV package to your
/home/<user> directory. With that
as your current directory, extract the
archive, as follows:
$ tar -xvf OpenCV-2.3.1a.tar.bz2
cd OpenCV-2.3.1/
4. Make a new directory called
‘build’ and change directory into it
(that is, mkdir build; cd build).
5. Run Cmake as given below:
$ cmake -D WITH_TBB=ON -D BUILD_NEW_
PYTHON_SUPPORT=ON -D WITH_V4L=OFF-D
INSTALL_C_EXAMPLES=ON -D INSTALL_
PYTHON_EXAMPLES=ON -D BUILD_
EXAMPLES=ON ..
6. Follow this with ‘make’ and
‘sudo make install’ (to install the li-
brary).
7. Next, configure the system to use
the new OpenCV shared libraries. Edit
a configuration file with sudo gedit /etc/
ld.so.conf.d/opencv.conf. Add the follow-
ing line at the end of the file (it may be
an empty file, which is okay) and then
save it:
/usr/local/lib
Close the file and run sudo ldconfig.
8. Open your system bashrc file (for
me, that is sudo gedit /etc/bash.bashrc)
and add the following code at the end
www.efymag.com
Fig. 2: Reading and displaying Fig. 3: Gray scale image
the image
of the file:
PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$PKG_CONFIG_PATH:
/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH
9. Save and close the file, then log
out and log in again, or reboot the
system.
Examples of
image processing
Now let us see how to use the OpenCV
library via the Python interface to per-
form image processing-based tasks.
Here is an explanation of OpenCV
syntax and how to use it, along with
a few examples. We need not go into
the basics of Python code and syntax
since that is extensively documented;
see http://www.python.org/doc/ for more.
Reading and displaying an im-
age. Our first example named ‘test.py’
is written in Python (refer EFY Note
about the source code of this article).
Open the terminal, navigate to the
directory that contains the test.py file
and run it with ‘python test.py’ com-
mand. Here, 12.png is the name of the
image file stored under home/jayneil/
folder. You can change the name of the
folder if you wish, but you will have to
change it in the source code too. The
output is as shown in Fig. 2.
The functions in test.py code can be
explained as given below.
The ‘Import’ function imports the
OpenCV module ‘cv’ so that you can
use it, then call the ‘LoadImage’ func-
tion (passing the full path to the file,
dIy: software
which is needed) to
load the image into
the variable src.
The ‘Named-
Window’ function
creates a window to
display the loaded
image. The first pa-
rameter is the name
for the window,
and the second sets
the sizing mode to
automatically resize
the window to the
size of the image.
‘ShowImage’ is
used to display the
image in the window, passing it the
name of the window and the image
variable.
‘WaitKey’ is used so that you can
see the image for a sizeable period of
time (similar to a delay function).
Finally, ‘DestroyWindow’ destroys
the window and frees the resources it
used.
Converting an RGB image to gray
scale format. Most digital images use
the RGB colour model, in which every
pixel has three components—red,
green and blue. By varying the amount
of each component, a pixel gets a
unique colour.
Grayscale is another popular colour
model, with only one component that
varies from 0-255; 0 represents black,
and 255 white (for an 8-bit image). The
rgb2gray.py code converts an image
from RGB to gray scale, which is es-
sential for image detection.
Running this code will give out-
put as shown in Fig. 3. In the eighth
line, we have created our own image,
similar to the source image (src). The
‘GetSize’ returns the properties of the
source image—so our new image has
the same dimensions as the source.
‘CreateImage’ takes three parameters:
the image dimensions, the colour
depth of the image (8-bit or 16-bit) and
the number of channels (which, for
gray scale, is one). We used the ‘Cvt-
Color’ function to convert the image
to gray scale. This function has three
parameters. The first one is the source
Electronics For You | August 2014 109
 dIy: software
Fig. 4: Circle in the image Fig. 5: Laplacian edge detection
Fig. 7: Still images
image which we want to convert and
the second denotes the destination
variable. The third parameter performs
the type of conversion desired. In this
case it is from RGB to gray scale.
Drawing a circle on an image. You
can also edit or manipulate a given
image, for example, by drawing a cir-
cle in or around it. The circle.py code
does this.
After running the code you will
get output as shown in Fig. 4. From
the ninth to the 11th line in circle.py
code, we have described the param-
eters of the circle—its thickness, line
type and co-ordinates. In line 12, the
‘circle’ function is used, which has six
parameters: the target image on which
to draw the circle, the coordinates, the
radius of the circle, the colour of the
circle, the thickness and the line type.
The Laplacian of an image. Often,
the Laplace operation is performed on
110 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Fig. 6: Edge detection using
Canny filter
Fig. 8: Face detection output
an image to get the edges. The laplace.
py code does this.
Fig. 5 shows the output of the
code given above. The ‘print’ function
outputs the properties of the image.
In the 10th line of laplace.py code, the
Laplace function is used to obtain the
edges. It takes two parameters—the
source image and the variable in which
to store the processed image. You can
use ‘SaveImage’ to save the resultant
image, supplying the path, the file-
name and the variable containing the
image. Then load the saved image and
display it.
The Canny filter. This is a very
popular filter, which is used to very ac-
curately detect the edges in an image.
The canny.py code does this.
Run the canny.py code and you
will get output as shown in Fig. 6. Con-
vert the input image to gray scale first
(see the ninth line), before applying the
Canny filter in the 15th line. This
function takes five parameters:
the source image, the variable in
which to store the processed im-
age, and the rest are the threshold
values for this filter.
Face detection
Now, let us detect faces from still
images (refer Fig. 7) using a Haar
classifier. The Haar classifier is a
pre-made program, which you
can train to do operations based
on your needs. The more you run
the program, the more the Haar
classifier learns and trains itself.
All Haar classifiers are located
in OpenCV-2.3.0/data/haarcas-
cades. The face.py code does this.
Run the face.py code and the
output is as shown in Fig. 8. In
the ninth line of face.py code the
Haar classifier is stored which
you may use in a variable, as
given below:
hc=cv.Load(“/home/jayneil/
haarcascade_frontalface_
default.xml”)
In the 11th line, the ‘HaarDe-
tectObjects’ function is used to
detect the features you want. This
function has three parameters.
The first one is the source image, the
second the Haar classifier that you
want to use and the third one creates
a memory storage. Then there is a ‘for’
loop to draw a rectangle around the
portion that you may have identified
in the previous stage, using the ‘rectan-
gle’ function. ‘Rectangle’ function takes
four parameters: the image on which
to draw, followed by the two opposite
corners of the rectangle, and the last
one denotes the colour.
Serial communication
This section will show you how to use
the pyserial module, Arduino and,
finally, how to build a full-fledged
embedded system for image process-
ing. Pyserial is a library that provides
Python support for serial communica-
tion.
Now, let us explore how to use
pyserial and send data to other devices
www.efymag.com

via serial communication. First run
Python in a terminal. Then import the
pyserial module (import serial). If this
gives no errors, we are ready—else you
may have to install the package with
the module. Now, since laptops do not
have serial ports, you may use a USB-
to-serial converter (db9) for this demo.
Short the Data Transmitting (pin 3) and
Data Receiving (pin 2) pins of COM
port, so whatever information you
send via the pyserial module would
come back. The pyserial.py code il-
lustrates this.
The first line of pyserial.py code
opens the desired serial port and sets
the baud rate. The second line writes
the data to the serial port, the third
reads the data from the serial port and
stores it in a variable, and the last line
displays the value of the variable. If
everything goes well, the output on
your screen should be the same string
written to the serial port—EFY\n. If so,
your serial communication system is
working well. Use this to communicate
with Arduino board.
Setting up Arduino
Let us use the Arduino IDE (Fig. 9)
to write the code. You can install it
via Ubuntu Software Centre by just
searching for ‘Arduino.’ After the
installation, launch it. Connect your
Arduino to your computer via the USB
cable. Then select the target board—go
to Tools->Board option and make the
choice. Next, configure the serial port
via Tools->Serial option and select the
available port. Connect an LED with
current-limiting resistor between pin
13 and ground. Now, write the first
Arduino_LED.ino code to get an LED
to flicker.
Click the Verify button to check for
errors in the program, and then click
the Upload button to dump the code
to the Arduino. If everything is fine,
you will see the LED toggle on and off
(Fig. 10).
The comments have been included
on right side in the Arduino_LED.ino
code for explanation. There are basi-
cally two modules in Arduino—setup
and loop. The first module runs once,
www.efymag.com
Fig. 9: Arduino IDE
Fig. 10: Controlling the LED
efy Note
The source codes of this project are
included in this month’s EFY DVD
and are also available for free down-
load at source.efymag.com
while the latter runs infinite times. In
the fifth line is defined a variable for
the pin number to connect the anode
of the LED. Then in setup module, it
has been declared that the pin would
be used as an output pin. Then serial
communication was initialised with
a baud rate of 9600. Now in the loop
module, the value of pin 13 was first
set as ‘low’ (0, because the pin is digi-
tal). This will turn off the LED. After a
delay of one second, the pin value was
set to ‘high’ (1), which will turn on the
LED, followed by another one-second
delay. This loop will run forever, hence
dIy: software
the LED will continue to turn on
and off.
Controlling the LED
with image
The buildinges.py OpenCV
code will detect faces from a
given image, and if the opera-
tion is successful, it will trigger
the Arduino via pyserial.
The buildinges.py code is
quite similar to the face.py code.
Basically, the pyserial module
has been imported, which will
trigger the Arduino. When
we perform face detection, all
detected contours are stored in
the ‘faces’ variable (this means
a non-zero and non-negative
value if the operation is successful). So
we do a basic condition check, and if
face detection is successful, it triggers
Arduino and sends letter Y to the serial
port—else it sends letter N.
Now let us look at the buildinges.
ino Arduino code, which will respond
to the above OpenCV code.
In the ‘if’ condition under void loop
( ) in buildinges.ino code, we used Se-
rial.available ( ), which detects if any
data has been sent to the serial port.
If true, then Serial.read ( ) will read
the incoming character and store it in
‘incomingBit.’ Then the data received
from the serial port will be printed on
the screen. If the value of ‘incomingBit’
is ‘Y,’ program turns on the LED else
LED is off.
Application
The LED can be replaced by any elec-
tronic appliance in your house, like a
fan, refrigerator or TV. (Obviously you
will need a relay to control these appli-
ances.) Look at this from the security
point of view. We can design an em-
bedded system that uses OpenCV for
image-processing to detect an intruder,
and trigger an alarm via the pyserial
module and Arduino. 
The author is a FOSS advocate and loves to explore
different open source technologies. His areas of
interest include OpenCV, Python, Android, Linux,
Arduino, BeagleBoard and other open source hard-
ware platforms
Electronics For You | August 2014 111
 useful websites

Solar Energy: Stay Up-to-Date

Our planet Earth receives a huge amount of energy from Sun in the form of radiant light and heat.
Solar photovoltaic cells and the panels built around them are becoming extremely popular source
for harnessing these energies. Here are some of the sites which can enlighten you on the topic
niraj sahay

freesunpower.com
The website provides a good tutorial for setting up a solar power system for producing electricity
from sunlight. The tutorial covers solar panels, charge controllers, power inverters, storage batteries,
AC generators, wires & cables, meters & monitors, and more. Complete system wiring diagrams plus
interactive online design tools are also featured with a point-and-click interface. The site can work as
a place to learn and have fun with solar power.

http://www.freesunpower.com/index.php

indiasolarmarket.com
The website aims to be a one-stop portal for everything on solar energy in India. It provides daily
updates on the Indian solar market in the form of news, developments, market and policy, upcoming
events and expert opinions. The site also has an active jobs portal which provides a platform for both
candidates and employers to connect with one another.

http://indiasolarmarket.com

builditsolar.com
The website has plans, tools and information to help you build different solar projects. It has hundreds
of projects ranging from lighting an electric bulb to building solar homes. It also has design information
and tools for building renewable energy projects. The website offers a monthly newsletter which can
be subscribed to by anyone to stay updated on such projects.

http://www.builditsolar.com

solarpaneltalk.com
The site is a discussion board on solar panels and solar power products. Currently, the forum has
about 18,600 members with 106,500 posts and 12,000 threads. Anyone interested in solar panels
and other related products can register for free and take part in discussions. The topics for discussion
on the forum include solar panel systems on the grid, solar industry, off-grid solar, solar thermal, solar
power lighting, do-it-yourself solar panels and other general discussion on solar energy.

www.solarpaneltalk.com

sourceguides.com
The site is a comprehensive buyers’ guide and business directory to more than 27,000 renewable
energy businesses and organisations worldwide. Its source guides have been providing
comprehensive up-to-date information on renewable energy businesses worldwide since 1995.
It adds more than 100 new renewable energy businesses each month. It has a section for news on
the latest in renewable energy which gets updated daily.

http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byP/solar/solar.shtml
112 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com
 industry FOCUS

Aerospace and Defence Industries:

Offering Further Opportunities
With changing policies and focus of the Central government to indigenise defence
equipment, the opportunities for domestic players are gradually increasing. Read on to
find out the trends in this sector

Anagha P. 60000

A
50000
ccording to the Military Ex-
40000
penditure Database main-
tained by think tank Stock- 30000

holm International Peace Research 20000

Institute (SIPRI), India is the ninth 10000

biggest spender on defence in the 0

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
world. The Interim Union Budget for
2014-15 allocated ` 2290 billion Indian Fig. 1: Chart of Indian defence spending in US$ showing gradual increase (Data sourced from SIPRI)
rupees for defence, around 10% more
than outlay of ` 2040 billion in 2013- 4
2014. With this enhanced allocation, 3.5

the defence/strategic electronics could 3

2.5
become one of the largest sectors in
2
India over the next ten years. It is also
1.5
likely to grow at an average compound
1
rate (CAGR) of 20-30 per cent. The sec- 0.5
tor accounts for around 6-7 per cent of 0
the overall Indian electronics market. 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

The Global Strategic Trends - Out to
2045, a publication by Britain’s Defence
Ministry, forecasts the acceleration
of India’s defence expenditure over
the next three decades to rival that of
China and the USA.
Indigenisation and growth
of the private sector
Earlier, major defence projects in In-
dia were done through collaboration
with the Russians and Europeans for
products like the Jaguars and Mirages,
where nothing much was done here
except the assembling of aircraft. India
didn’t develop indigenous products in
this sector except for the Light Combat
Aircraft, probably because the volumes
were not there.
The government of India (GOI)
now welcomes domestic private par-
ticipation in the fields of research,
development and manufacturing in
Fig. 2: Chart of Indian defence spending as a % of GDP showing reduction (Data sourced from SIPRI)
aerospace sector. Private companies
have a lot of involvement and play
an important role along with PSUs.
The big firms, such as Tata, L&T and
Mahindra, are aiming to become al-
ternatives to the PSUs. The PSUs sub-
contract the projects, mainly because of
the expertise and manpower available
with private players.
The private sector is estimated to
have a relatively small share (just 5%)
of the defence equipment market as
of now. Over 70 per cent of India’s
defence equipment needs are still met
through imports.
The amount spent on India’s
imports of defence equipment was a
massive ` 400 billion in 2013. Now that
Indian government has stressed on
the need for indigenisation in design,
private companies in our country can
also tap this huge market. Between
2004 and 2013, the government issued
licences to 209 Indian companies for
manufacturing defence equipment
domestically. The pace of granting
licences has comparatively increased
over the last five years.
Sunil Kottarathil of Mistral Solu-
tions is of the opinion that the vision of
indigenisation by the new government
will lower dependence on imports,
and this would boost Indian indus-
tries. The government is expected to
invest on new programmes like intelli-
gence, surveillance and reconnaissance
technologies, electronic warfare and
network-centric warfare technologies.
“The focus will be on the ability to
know, process and react in real-time
to events occurring on the ground,
air and sea, which will be a strategic

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 113

 industry FOCUS
aircraft. They stick to fabrication, paint-
Growth in civilian aerospace sector
ing, limited machining or making small
There are several macro and micro factors, such as India’s economic growth, driving parts. So the direct participation of MS-
growth in India’s aerospace industry. An Airbus report projects that India will need around
MEs in the defence sector is far-fetched,
1290 aircraft over the next 20 years. Safety and maintenance concerns of the government
and citizens, which lead to push for domestic firms, liberalisation of civil aviation policies, unless MSMEs work as a group, like one
well-educated and specialised talent pool, ability to leverage IT competitiveness, and firm doing the machining, another fabri-
development of special economic zones are a few among these. cation and yet another assembling, and
As a support service to the aviation industry, the maintenance, repair and overhaul together creating a complete product.
(MRO) sector is also growing with aerospace and defence (A&D) industry, and would Also, defence contracts take a long time
make India a potential global/regional MRO hub. India’s MRO segment is estimated to to execute—even two years or more. It
grow at 10% and reach US$ 2.6 billion by 2020.
becomes difficult for an MSME to wait
At the moment, airlines send their planes to Singapore, Paris and Dubai for preventive
maintenance as OEMs have not yet set up MROs in India. This is because the volume, that long.
or the size of the fleet, is not currently justifiable. “Executing MRO operations is difficult, “We see an increased role for MS-
especially with stocking the parts, regulators’ approvals, and hiring and maintaining the MEs in the defence sector with out-
skilled workers needed for such a very technically-strong business. The moment there sourcing of production by defence pub-
exist 600-650 airplanes flying in India, OEMs will definitely set up in India. MRO, when it lic sector undertakings (DPSUs). They
happens, will definitely be a big one,” adds Chris Rao, vice president of UTAS. work with the big players and, some-
times, they even directly participate in
Ministry of Defence tenders, competing
Amendments in Industrial Licensing Policy with these global players,” says Nasser
The Ministry of Defence has come up with major amendments in the industrial licensing Jariwala of Rohde & Schwarz. 
policy with a liberalised list of equipment and products that require industrial licensing in
defence sector.  Business opportunities
Released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on 26th June, the new list has over
The increased budget allocations for the
50% of items removed from the previous mandatory licensing policy.
Previously, all defence-related products required licensing. Furthermore, the items listed armed forces, army’s plans to replace
under dual use—products that have both military and civilian use—created much confu- old equipment and introduce cutting-
sion in the licensing constraints. edge technology, and the ambitious
The new framework clearly lists four categories of products specifically designed for projects taken up by the research and
military application that will require compulsory licensing: development teams in the aerospace
• Tanks and other armoured vehicles and defence sector have created im-
• Defence aircraft, spacecraft and parts
mense opportunities in defence sector.
• Warships of all kinds
• Arms and ammunition and allied items of defence equipment, parts and accessories The government is planning to create
Companies that produce items that are not included in the list (such as sub-assemblies, additional opportunities worth US$ 150
castings, components, night-vision instruments and surveillance gadgets) would not re- billion in defence electronics over the
quire industrial licensing for defence purpose. The dual-use items are also exempted from next 10 years, and out of this, over US$
licensing, unless specified in the new list. 100 billion would be open to Indian
firms. DRDO is developing products
advantage in conflict (or avoiding MEs still do not have the technology, for orders worth 160 billion rupees,
conflict),” he adds. The policies have investment and infrastructure to make many of which are nearing the comple-
generally changed to giving priority complex equipment like guns, tanks or tion stage. Hence, DRDO is looking for
to the Indian vendors for procurement
of defence equipment. However, the Union Budget 2014-2015: What’s in for Defence Sector
delay in awarding contracts and tax The Union Budget for 2014-2015 announced on 11th July and passed in Lok Sabha on
issues can still be an inhibition. 18th July looks favourable for the aerospace and defence sector in the country. Following
are the highlights of the liberalised budget:
Meagre contribution • Defence allocation pegged to 2,290 billion rupees, which is about 12% more than
from MSMEs that of the previous fiscal year.
• FDI cap was raised from 26% to 49% for domestic defence industry. This is expected
The amended Defence Procurement to attract foreign investment.
Procedure policy has enhanced the • As a part of military modernisation, an additional 50 billion rupees was allocated for
potential for micro, small and medium tendering and eventual purchase of military equipment for all three services. This in-
enterprises (MSMEs) to be part of the cludes 10 billion rupees for accelerating the development of railways in border areas.
indigenisation drive, and to broaden the • Technology Development Fund of 1 billion rupees was set up to aid MSMEs in the
research and development base of the development of defence system.
• The GOI has also set aside 10 billion rupees under the ‘One Rank One Pension’ policy,
country. In spite of this, the contribution
to address pension disparities of ex-servicemen.
of the MSMEs remains meagre. MS-

114 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


companies that have the capability to
supply these to the organisation.
Realising the immense options
opening up with modifying govern-
ment policies and tenders, domes-
tic companies that made only small
parts have started developing in-house
capabilities. While a large number of
foreign companies have already made
their presence in this space, Indian
giants like Tata Motors, Larsen & Tou-
bro, Bharat Forge and Ashok Leyland
are also trying to get established in this
domain. The government is committed
to cutting down on imports for two
reasons—import is expensive, and the
products and systems are really strate-
gic in nature.
Many of the PSUs lack the capabil-
ity to serve this huge demand. For in-
stance, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) does not have design capabili-
ties and does licensed production, but
only HAL has aerospace capabilities.
This creates a lot of space for the pri-
vate companies to step into.
As already mentioned, the mainte-
industry FOCUS
State initiatives by Karnataka
Almost 70% of aerospace operations are based in Karnataka. Perhaps this is what helped
Karnataka to drive itself and become the first in India to come out with an aerospace policy,
which was inaugurated by the then defence minister A.K. Antony in 2013. The state plans
to attract investment of ` 600 billion over the next 10-year period in two phases, i.e.,
2013-18 and 2018-2023.
“This policy went off to quick implementation, and was released immediately after the
inaugural function. It includes incentives for the aerospace sector, and formation of an
aerospace park stretching 938 acres. Presently, not only has it been set up, 47 units have
already been allotted in India. Two companies, Wipro and Swiss-German group Starrag, have
completed setting up the infrastructure and even started production. Of the remaining 45, five
firms have started construction, while the rest 40 are mobilising resources,” explained M.N.
Vidyashankar, president, India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA).
Currently, there is also a proposal to set up common facilities like Centre of Excellence
(CoE), which can train people required by the aerospace sector. To ensure that this doesn’t
get concentrated in Bengaluru, training is also going to be done in north Karnataka in Hubli.
Supporting organisation
Defence Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (DEMA) is an organisation that was
formed by 38 small and medium enterprises in and around Pune region that manufacture
and/or supply defence-related products. Founded under the leadership of late admiral Mud-
holkar in 1989, the association now covers defence-related organisations and government
departments like the DRDO, defence production units, PSUs in defence (HAL, BEL, etc)
and the Directorate General of Service Tax and Directorate General of Quality Assurance.
nance, repair and overhaul (MRO) for OEMs. Most major equipment remains
aerospace and defence equipment is a in service for two to three decades.
big opportunity for private firms and Though the potential for MROs is

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 industry FOCUS
the MSMEs to configure systems as per
Government policies relating to A&D sectors
the parameters prescribed by buyers.
The various policies initiated by the government of India have definitely had their own Many of the upcoming projects require
impact on manufacturing, and the sector as a whole. Dr Akhilesh Saurikhia, advisor, Ernst
integration of multiple technologies.
& Young says, “Indian government is trying to support domestic manufacturing through
policy initiatives. Mapping of domestic capacities on supply side at assembly level with Hence, vast opportunities exist for
that of demand will help boost local manufacturing. Product-specific initiatives will yield domestic and foreign MSMEs.
better results.” In order to develop advanced mili-
Let’s take a look at the policies for this sector: tary products there is a need for high-
Industrial Licensing Policy (2012). With the objective of promoting small-scale indus- performance, state-of-the-art test and
tries and new entrepreneurs, a compulsory licensing system for manufacturing defence measurement (T&M) equipment that
equipment was introduced by government of India under the Industries (Development and
satisfies military (MIL) standards in the
Regulation) Act 1951. Any Indian company or partnership can apply for this licence. The
application submitted to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) would strategic electronics segment. “T&M
be considered by inter-ministerial committee. Though the process supposedly takes about equipment and solutions for aerospace
six months, currently it takes almost a year for approval. and defence are based on advanced
This policy has faced criticisms due to numerous conditions, conflicting objectives (cre- technology for use in radar instal-
ated with an objective of increasing industrial production in the economy, but restricting lations, electronic warfare, military
activities of industrial units like substantial expansion, production of new articles, etc) and communications, satellites, guidance,
poor follow-up. Also, there was little clarity on the definition of the terms ‘defence equip-
avionics, intelligence, surveillance
ment’ requiring industrial licence and ‘dual-use’ items for civil and defence application. The
list of defence items for licensing is currently under preparation by a joint committee of the and beyond,” says Gautam Awasthi,
DIPP and the Department of Defence Production (DDP). general manager of marketing, elec-
Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014). Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) or Export Import tronic measurement group, at Agilent
(EXIM) Policy is a set of guidelines and instructions established to govern the import and Technologies India Pvt Ltd. Hence it is
export of goods in India. An export or import can be made by any person only against an a boost for T&M sector too. 
import-export code (IEC) number, unless specifically exempted. Exports and imports are
free except where they are specifically regulated by the 8-digit ITC-HS code (Indian Trade Challenges
Classification based on Harmonised System of Coding). The ITC-HS has two schedules:
rules and regulations for importing are provided by Schedule-I and that for exporting by Procurement procedures. One major
Schedule-II. The drawback here is that the definition of licensing requirements is not clari- issue faced by domestic companies
fied, specifically in the case of software exports. (including government firms) for get-
Defence Procurement Procedure (2013). Defence procurement is governed by the ting involved in the A&D sector in our
Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), which was first enumerated in 2001, and is being country is the qualification require-
periodically reviewed and revised. The latest policy was released in May 2013. It lays out ments put forth by the GOI towards
a transparent procedure for capital acquisitions by the Ministry of Defence, and has signifi-
domestic firms. Local hardware com-
cantly liberalised and enlarged the avenues and products for discharging offset obligations.
Defence Offset Policy (2012). Defence offset policy was introduced in 2005 in order panies face a tough time to join de-
to leverage the buying power of the country and to achieve greater self-reliance in defence fence projects. The best example is the
production. The revised version is effective from August 1, 2012 and specifies that foreign Network for Spectrum (NFS) project
armament companies that get an arms deal of over three billion rupees must reinvest at by Department of Telecommunication.
least 30% of contract amount into India as offsets. The mandatory criterion for bidding
National Cyber Security Policy (2013). Until 2013, India had no cyber security policy. eligibility in financial front is a turno-
The government of India has started to seriously consider cyber security, which led to the
ver of 25 to 40 billion rupees over the
introduction of National Cyber Security Policy on July 2, 2013. The Department of Electron-
ics and Information Technology (DeitY) is working on setting up co-ordination centres to past three years. On the technical side,
establish both offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities, and these are being very the companies must have deployed a
well funded to the extent of ` 10 billion over a period of next four years. The government specified quantum of equipment over
has also decided to recruit 4500 to 5000 experts to be deployed at independent organisa- a defined period of time.
tions that would take care of India’s cyber security infrastructure. With the kind of expertise Both these prerequisites make lo-
that private players have, the government would definitely want to use it, and hence “this cal companies ineligible even to bid,
policy helps a lot of private players,” says Sunil Ross of Wind River. says Indian industry and business as-
sociations including the Confederation
huge, the government still has to sort sourced components and sub-systems of Indian Industry (CII). This is ironic
out the certification issues related to is a viable business option in A&D seg- as India has been very keen to promote
training the required workforce. The ment. About 50% of the manufacturing local electronic device manufacturers
Directorate General of Civil Aviation opportunities will comprise compo- in order to save on import bill, and
is now in the process of making its cer- nents and sub-systems manufacturing. to avoid any possible security threat
tification equivalent to the European Major defence contractors are usually that may come up when using foreign
Aviation Safety Agency. integrators who procure components, equipment.
Systems integration with out- sub-assemblies and sub-systems from However, as a part of the NFS pro-

116 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


ject, Indian Air Force has developed
Air Force Network (AFNet) at a cost
of 10.77 billion rupees in collaboration
with HCL Infosystems Ltd and Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). This gives
hope for better involvement of domes-
tic firms in the future.
Capital investment. Establishing a
firm in strategic electronics industry
requires huge capital expenditure dur-
ing initial years, which is a hurdle for
start-ups, small and medium compa-
nies. Time delay in approval processes
increases the cost further.
Technology. The inherent ecosys-
tem of India doesn’t support the fast
adoption of cutting-edge technology.
Hence, we have to depend on the ex-
pensive technologies and machines
from abroad.
Slow tender process. The closure of
tender cycle in Indian defence contracts
sometimes takes too long—about 18
to 24 months. In order to encourage
private players’ active participation
in defence opportunities, this should
be kept to within a reasonable ‘start-
end’ period.
Testing. Lack of good test infra-
structure for strategic electronics is an
issue. Quality labs are limited, which
makes them always occupied. The
government should set up a number of
testing centres.
Tax issues. Duty-free imports and
high taxes on indigenous products
make the vendors prefer foreign equip-
ment over Indian brands. There is a
need for elimination of indirect taxes
in defence field.
Ambiguity of policies. Though the
government is coming up with policies
and tenders to promote A&D indus-
try, many of these do not have a clear
framework. For example, in the case of
dual-use equipment, there arise issues
like whether or not they require an in-
dustrial licence. The recently modified
industrial licensing policy is expected
to solve this matter.  posites in India. No ‘end-use’ restric-
Recommendations of
industry
Despite the positive approach of gov-
ernment towards developing A&D
www.efymag.com
industry FOCUS
Major contributors to the story
 Chris Rao, vice president, United Technologies Corporation Aerospace Systems (UTAS)
 Gautam Awasthi, general manager of marketing, electronic measurement group, Agilent
Technologies India Pvt Ltd
 M.N. Vidyashankar, president, India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA)
 Nasser Jariwala, head of business development, Rohde & Schwarz
 Sunil Kottarathil, regional vice president (Defence), Mistral Solutions
 Sunil Ross, account manager, Aerospace & Defence, Wind River India
industry, we still face many limitations industrial licence. The huge delay
and roadblocks. The following are in granting and renewing of licence,
some of the recommendations of the the complex procedures involved
industry. and corruption negatively affects the
Raising FDI. The previously 26% growth of industry, as a lot of extra
foreign direct investment (FDI) cap was costs are incurred due to the time
a major turn-down for foreign players overrun. ELCINA association had
to enter this industry. This has been requested the government to ensure
increased to 49% in the latest budget that the decision-making process be
approved on 18th July. made faster, as MNCs are unable to
Ecosystem development. The gov- wait for too long.
ernment has to aid the creation of
infrastructure and adoption of latest The future
technologies required for manufac- According to Gautam Awasthi of Agi-
turing high-quality components that lent, “Globally, aerospace and defence
would cater to domestic as well as for- markets are in a growth phase primar-
eign markets. They should encourage ily due to investments by countries like
and provide opportunities for Indian India, Russia, China and South East
design and manufacturing houses to Asia. USA and Europe markets have
compete with foreign players. This been consolidating to meet their strate-
can be achieved by providing govern- gic defence guidance.”
ment incentives or preferences, such as Aerospace and defence market is
waivers in taxes and duties. expected to reach US$ 248.2 billion
Reducing import. Though imme- globally by 2018 as per Aerospace-De-
diate reduction in imports is quite fence Electronics-Global Trends, Estimates
difficult, channelised imports are and Forecasts, 2011 to 2018. Geographi-
important to boost self-reliance in cal analysis shows that the highest
strategic electronics. A clear road- CAGR of 14.2% is anticipated from
map should be created for import Asia-Pacific region during the analysis
reduction by the Ministry of Defence, period, 2011- 2018. 
which should be published and au- We foresee that electronic warfare
dited by the Comptroller and Auditor will continue its growth and more in-
General (CAG) of India, with aggres- vestment would be made in building
sive targets for the information and a robust communication backbone.
communication technology in educa- Satellite technologies will also trigger
tion (ICTE) sector. growth for the sector. RF surveillance is
Investments in components and a growing trend in keeping the country
composite. It is important to invest in safe. Radars will continue to evolve and
and promote components and com- within that there will be subsidiary
trends like transmitter-receiver mod-
tion should be imposed so as to ensure ules. 
more participation of Indian firms in
strategic electronics.
The author is a technical correspondent at EFY. This
report from her is based on inputs from a recent
Speed up decision-making: It of- article on defence electronics published in EFY’s
ten takes up to five years to get an Electronics Bazaar magazine
Electronics For You | August 2014 117
 industry nEWS
 corporate news  new ventures  calendar  new appointments
Central budget encourages
indigenous manufacture
In the Central government’s budget
announced recently, there was no
change in the customs and excise
duties applicable for electronic com-
ponents, except for the removal of
(a) the special additional duty (SAD)
on components used in manufactur-
ing PCs and (b) the customs duty on
LCD/LED panels of 48.26cm (19-inch)
and below and on cathode ray tubes
(CRTs). But to create a level playing
field for domestic electronics manufac-
turers, taxes have been imposed on the
import of some telecom and IT prod-
ucts. According to ELCINA president
Subhash Goyal, this will encourage the
manufacture of telecom products.
With the exemption of colour
picture tubes from basic 10 per cent
customs duty to make cathode ray TVs
cheaper, domestic production of these
TVs may grow significantly, giving
better opportunity to domestic compa-
nies like Videocon, Weston India, Mirc
Electronics and Salora International,
which manufacture CRT and LCD
TVs. The duty concession will also
revive manufacturing of TVs in the
SME sector.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on his way to Parliament to present Budget 2014
118 August 2014 | Electronics For You
In Focus
Rakesh Garg is the new DoT secretary
Rakesh Garg has been appointed as the new secretary of the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT). He was earlier serving as the principal secretary in Uttar
Pradesh. In his Central deputation, Garg served as the additional secretary in the
Ministry of Tourism and joint secretary at the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
GE appoints Munesh Makhija as new MD, GE India Technology
Munesh Makhija has been appointed as the managing director of GE India Technology
Center and chief technology officer. Effective immediately, he takes over this role from
Dr Gopichand Katragadda. Munesh will be based at the John F. Welch Technology
Center in Bengaluru and will lead GE’s R&D efforts in India.
Manmohan Handa becomes the new director of BEL, Bengaluru
Manmohan Handa has been appointed as the new director of the defence PSU, Bharat
Electronics Limited, Bengaluru complex. Prior to this, he was working as the general
manager of BEL’s missile systems strategic business unit.
Vishal Sikka becomes the new CEO of Infosys
Infosys named Vishal Sikka, a former board member of Germany-based software
multinational SAP, as its next managing director and CEO. He is a PhD from Stanford
University. He is the first MD and CEO from outside the group of seven founders of
Infosys in its 33-year history.
Opening the doors further for for- in the defence sector is sure to have
eign investors in the defence sector, a percolating effect in electronics
the level of foreign direct investment manufacturing,” says T. Vasu, direc-
has been raised to 49 per cent from tor, Tandon Group.
the existing 26 per cent. “Increas-
ing foreign participation but with Electronics sector getting
Indian management control and a investment proposals
thrust to indigenous manufacturing At a time when the Indian government
is striving to push electronics manu-
facturing in the country, here is some
encouraging news. The government
has received investment proposals of
` 800,000 million till the month of June.
This includes fresh proposals worth
` 50,000, according to the Department
of Electronics and Information Tech-
nology (DeitY). The total number of
investment proposals by the end of
June stand at 41.
The government has also provided
its consent for setting up of an incuba-
tion centre in Delhi, which will work to
support the start-ups in the electronics
design and manufacturing sector. Soft-
ware Technology Parks of India (STPI),
in collaboration with industry body
www.efymag.com
 industry nEWS

Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics

Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events
Name, Date and Venue Topics to be covered Contact address for details
IPCA-EFY Expo 2014 Exhibition for all OEM Indian Printed Circuit Association, Bengaluru
August 6-8, 2014 manufacturers, LED, solar, Phone: (080) 25210109, 25210309
Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre automobile, medical, defence E-mail: ipca@ipcaindia.org
Pune and R&D material suppliers
and end-users

NEPCON South China 2014 sourcing platforms for Tim Wang

August 26-28, 2014 South China’s electronics Phone: +86-21-2231-7016
Shenzhen Convention & manufacturing industry E-mail: tim.wang@reedexpo.com.cn
Exhibition Center, China Web: http://www.nepconchina.com/ehome/

IFA 2014 A global trade show for Messe Berlin GmbH, Messedamm 22
September 5-10, 2014 consumer electronics and Phone: +49-30-3038-2217
IFA Exhibition Grounds, Berlin home appliances, presents E-mail: vonderropp@messe-berlin.de
the latest products and Web: http://b2b.ifa-berlin.com/
innovations

ELCINA-EFY Awards Awards for excellence in EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd

September 12, 2014 electronics hardware Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi manufacturing and services E-mail: efyexpo@efyindia.com

3rd Electronics Rocks 2014 A platform for design EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
October 10-11, 2014 engineers, R&D engineers, Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213
Nimhans Convention & Exhibition entrepreneurs, academicians, E-mail: electronicsrocks@efyindia.com
Centre, Bengaluru hackers and hobbyists Web: www.electronicsrocks.com/
including talks, workshops,
discussions, product launches
and design challenges

ElectronicAsia In Conjunction with ‘HKTDC Hong Kong Trade Development council (HKTDC)
October 13-16, 2014 Hong Kong Electronics Fair Phone: (852) 2584 4333
Hong Kong Convention and (Autumn Edition)’ highlights E-mail: exhibitions@hktdc.org
Exhibition Center, Hong Kong solar, displays and key Web: http://electronicasia.com/ex/05
components for smart devices

OSI Days 2014 Open Source conference in EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
November 7-8, 2014 Asia that aims to nurture Phone: +91-088000 94211
NIMHANS Convention Center and promote the open source E-mail: atul.goel@efyindia.com
Bengaluru ecosystem in the sub-continent

Electronica/Productronica 2014 Electronic components, MMI India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai

November 11-14, 2014 production equipment, Phone: (022) 42554700, 42554723
Munich, Germany systems and applications E-mail: Andrea.dsouza@mmi-india.in

Intersolar India Exhibition and conference for MMI India Pvt Ltd
November 18-20, 2014 the solar industry featuring Phone: (022) 42554700
Bombay Exhibition Centre, photovoltaics, PV production E-mail: brijesh.nair@mmi-india.in
Mumbai technologies, energy storage
and solar thermal technologies

2nd EFY Expo- Western India For manufacturers, EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Edition 2014 engineers and traders to Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213
November 26-28, 2014 source electronics components, E-mail: efyexpo@efyindia.com
Bombay Convention & Exhibition products and services and to Web: www.west.efyexpo.com
Centre, Mumbai find latest offerings and dealers
and distributors for products

LED Expo 2014 Exhibition and summit on MEX Exhibitions Pvt Ltd
December 5-7, 2014 LED lighting products and Phone: +91-9312285142
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi technology E-mail: info@themediaexpo.com

2015 International CES A mega consumer electronics Consumer Electronics Association

January 6-7, 2015 event where new innovations Phone: +1 703-907-7605
Las Vegas Convention Center and technologies are Web: www.cesweb.org
Las Vegas, USA showcased

Electronics For You Expo 2015 Covering complete electronics EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd
February 26-28, 2015 ecosystem, including Phone: 26810601/2/3, E-mail: efyenq@efyindia.com
Hall 7 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) innovation, manufacturing, Web: www.efyexpo.com
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi design and sales

EFY Awards To give recognition to the EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd

March 13, 2015 leading enterprises and Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213
Bengaluru individuals in the Indian E-mail: efyawards@efyindia.com
electronics field Web: www.efyawards.com

International CES Asia, 2015 Tech powerhouses to Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC),
May 25-26, 2015 innovative startups, Shanghai, China
Shanghai New International 3D printing, robotics, Phone: 703.907.7603
Expo Center (SNIEC), China sensors, the Internet of E-mail: afried@ce.org
Things and wearables
Look up under ‘Events’ section in www.electronicsforu.com for a comprehensive list

Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised
to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.

www.efymag.com Electronics For You | August 2014 119

 industry nEWS

Snippets positive changes coming in as the new

government headed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi settles down to tackle
Tata launching solar plans with new financial model issues affecting economic growth of
Tata Power Solar, an Indian solar manufacturer and developer, is all set to launch the country. Issues like high inflation
a nationwide initiative, which may open the access to solar finance for residential and soaring prices due to rupee fluc-
use. Tata has collaborated with one of the largest loan and finance companies, Bajaj
tuation is also a constant worry for the
Finance, to offer a monthly instalment payment option for solar power users, without
interest. This national finance programme will be rolled out across 20 cities in the first industry.
phase and slowly expanded to other parts of the country. Manufacturing of electronic hard-
ware in the country has suffered on
India explores desert renewable energy strategy account of high cost of power and
The Indian government is exploring the possibility of the country’s deserts finance, high transactional costs and
providing the ideal location for a new wave of wind and solar energy projects. poor base of supply chain, thereby
Reportedly it has started to work on assessing the viability of mega-scale increasing dependence on imports.
renewable energy projects in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, Rann of Kutch in
At present, around 65% of the current
Gujarat and Ladakh in J&K.
demand for electronic products is met
Philips to set up standalone LED company by imports and the remaining, mainly
Royal Philips will soon start the process of combining its Lumilets (LED low-end products, are manufactured
components) and automotive lighting businesses into standalone company within locally. According to IESA-Frost &
the Philips Group. This company will explore strategic options to attract capital Sullivan’s Indian ESDM Market report,
from third-party investors for this business. It intends to remain the shareholder the ESDM (electronic system design
and customer of the new company, and will continue the existing innovation
and manufacturing) industry was es-
collaboration.
timated to be US$ 68.31 billion in 2012
and by 2015 it is expected to touch US$
India Electronics and Semiconductor through a drive called ShodhYatra 94.2 billion.
Association (IESA), will set up the (search trip) and brings rural innova-
incubation centre. According to DeitY, tion to light to help mankind, besides Foreign direct investment
“The total project cost approved for mobilising ideas of technology stu- policy clarified
assistance is ` 211 million. STPI will set dents from hundreds of colleges across As per extant FDI policy, FDI up to
up an incubator facility of 930 square India through techpedia.in 100% under the automatic route is
metres (10, 000 square feet) as part of Through this unique relationship, permitted in B2B e-commerce activi-
this project. At least 50 start-ups will NIF will emphasize complete product ties. The present policy does not permit
be supported over a period of 5 years.” development, while ST will validate retail trading, in any form, by means of
and develop electronic solutions for e-commerce, for companies with FDI
Plans to boost technology some of the innovative ideas and engaged in the activity of single/multi-
innovation in rural India convert them into value-added tech- brand retail trading. The following
STMicroelectronics, a global semi- nologies/products that can potentially announcement in respect of FDI with
conductor company, has announced make a difference to the masses. STMi- reference to manufacturing sector was
a strategic cooperation with India’s croelectronics and the National Inno- made by finance minister during his
National Innovation Foundation (NIF) vation Fund urge talent to come across recent Budget speech:
under the aegis of the Department of geographical barriers and encourage “FDI in the manufacturing sector
Science and Technology, government formation of innovation clusters across is today on the automatic route. The
of India, to support technological in- the country. manufacturing units will be allowed
novation in remote areas of India and to sell their products through retail
create a marketplace for the result of Inverted duty, infra issues including e-commerce platforms
that innovation. affecting IT hardware sector without any additional approval.”
The close relationship with ST will Facing challenges like inverted duty Total FDI equity inflows during April
help NIF and other network members structure and infrastructure bottle- 2000 to April 2014 in e-commerce into
convert technological inventions con- necks, IT hardware industry has urged India is at US$ 37.10 million, being
ceived within the ‘Honey Bee’ network the new government to take correc- 0.02% of the total FDI equity inflows
of like-minded individuals, innovators, tive measures to bring back growth of US$ 219,286 million. No targets
farmers, scholars, academicians, policy in the sector that has been witnessing are fixed for FDI inflows, nor is an
makers, entrepreneurs and NGOs, flat growth in the last few years. The assessment of future inflows possible,
into the mainstream business. Honey existing players are now hopeful of as FDI is largely a matter of private
Bee collects ideas from all over India business decisions.
Check efytimes.com for more news, daily
120 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com
 new products
Recently introduced in India, From near and far
TEST & MEASUREMENT
Vector signal generator
Rohde & Schwarz presents its new
R&S SGT100A, the smallest and fastest
vector signal generator that covers the
frequency range from 80MHz to 6GHz.
Specially optimised for use in produc-
tion test systems, it is equipped with
an integrated baseband generator that
supports a maximum bandwidth of
160MHz. Using the R&S WinIQSIM2
PC software, the generator can quickly
and easily deliver test signals for all
major digital standards such as LTE,
3GPP and WLAN IEEE 802.11ac.
Featuring frequency and level
switchover times of typically 240μs, the
R&S SGT100A is the fastest instrument
of its type on the market. The short
switching times of just a few micro-
seconds between the various digital
test signals speed up test sequences. In
addition, the instrument has been op-
timised for minimum operating costs.
Rohde & Schwarz India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Phone: 011-42535400
E-mail: customersupport@rohde-schwarz.com
Vector network analyser
Anritsu introduced the MN469xC test
set for its VectorStar MS4640B vector
network analyser (VNA) family that
comes with the inherent advantages
of the VectorStar platform, including
one of the industry’s best frequency
coverage, True Mode Stimulus (TMS)
accuracy and performance, and 4-port
measurement applications. The 4-port
VectorStar provides active device engi-
neers with signal integrity and best-in-
class measurement results for improved
simulation tools and greater confidence
in differential device designs. Engi-
www.efymag.com
neers can use the
4-port VectorStar
to conduct de-
tailed TMS dif-
ferential analysis
from 70kHz up
to 145GHz in a single sweep using
Anritsu’s proprietary DifferentialView,
which offers the ability to provide a
calibrated TMS signal to differential
devices and has the capability to sweep
phase for full analysis of devices.
Anritsu Corporation, Bengaluru
Phone: 09310666466
Website: www.anritsu.com
Inspection system
Omron launched a new inspection
system using 3D measurement, called
VT-S500, which is Omron’s solution to
providing next-generation, 3D inspec-
tion capability at minimal cost. With
good 3D image processing, the VT-S500
accurately analyses the topographical
features of solder fillets to ensure PCB
quality and reliability. Advanced soft-
ware, capable of absorbing production
inconsistencies and noise, creates adapt-
able and stable inspection programs.
By minimising program teaching and
tuning times, the VT-S500 greatly
reduces the inspection costs tra-
ditionally associat-
ed with automated
optical inspection
(AOI). With ultra
high-speed inspec-
tions and dual-lane
availability, cycle
times have reduced
and productivity
has increased. The VT-S500 is available
with camera magnifications of 10 or 15
microns, and is capable of processing
PCBs up to 510 mm×610 mm (in single-
lane applications) or 510 mm×300 mm
(in dual-lane applications).
Omron Electronics, Mumbai
Phone: 022-71288400
Website: www.omron-ap.co.in
High voltage insulation testers
Metrel has launched the MI 3200 Tera
Ohm 10kV, a digital diagnostic insula-
tion tester. It enables high insulation
resistance measurements up to 10TΩ,
step voltage tests, PI, DD and DAR
calculation, capacitance measurement
and withstands voltage tests. The large
LCD screen enables real-time graphs to
be displayed. Results can be stored and
downloaded to a computer via USB
or RS232 connection with
the help of the optional
software. Major applica-
tions include testing in-
sulation resistance of
rotating machinery,
cables, transformers,
HV generators, surge
arresters, and effective meas-
urements in high-noise environments
such as charged sub-stations and
switchyards.
Rishabh Instruments Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Ph: 0253-2202202/028
E-mail: tmi@rishabh.co.in
COMPONENTS
Coil driver ICs
Intelligent coil-driver ICs for mono-
and bi-stable EM actuators with 8V
to 36V supplies launched by iC-Hauz
GmbH are available through its India
sales partner Omniscient Electronics.
The 32-bit output driver, iC-DY6818,
features a serial SPI interface for the
controls via a 3.3V or 5V microcon-
troller. The integrated 32-bit shift regis-
ter performs the conversion from serial
to parallel. A received 32-bit data word
is uploaded to an internal register,
which then operates the 32 push/pull
Electronics For You | August 2014 121
 new products
output drivers. The output drivers’
separate supply VBB can range from
8V to 36V. The adjustment to typical
industrial 24V signal levels is thereby
provided. Further, mono- and bi-stable
relays, valves, solenoids, small DC mo-
tors, as well as LED chains can easily
be controlled.
Omniscient Electronics Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru
Phone: 080-28611874/950
E-mail: info@omniscientelectronics.com
Data converter
Maxim Integrated launched a flexible
data converter, which is ideal for base
stations, industrial control and auto-
mation. Engineers can mix and match
20 ADCs, 20 DACs or 20 high-voltage
digital I/O pins in any order using the
MAX11300 with the new mixed-signal
PIXI technology. It is the industry’s
first configurable 20-channel, -10V
to +10V high-voltage mixed-signal
data converter. It is ideally suited
for complex applications requiring
multiple mixed-signal operations like
base stations, and industrial control
and automation. Graphical user in-
terface software that comes with the
MAX11300 PIXI allows rapid drag-
and-drop configuration of the device.
Maxim India Integrated Circuit Design Pvt
Ltd, Bengaluru
Phone: 080-79415800
E-mail: sales@maximintegrated.com
Buck converters
Texas Instruments has introduced
18V, 20A and 30A synchronous DC/
DC buck converters with the PMBus
interface. The SWIFT TPS544B20
and TPS544C20 converters feature
small QFN packages and integrated
MOSFETs to drive ASICs in space-
constrained and power-dense appli-
cations in various markets, including
wired and wireless communications,
enterprise and cloud computing, and
data storage systems. The converters
simplify power conversion and speed
the power supply design process. The
highly integrated converters feature
0.5% reference voltage accuracy and
fully differential remote voltage sens-
ing to meet voltage requirements of
122 August 2014 | Electronics For You
deep sub-micron
processors. The
20A and 30A
SWIFT DC/DC
buck converters
feature current and temperature
monitoring also.
Texas Instruments, Bengaluru
Phone: 080-25586277
Website: www.ti.com/ww/in/
Backplane connectors
FCI announces the
ExaMAX high-
speed backplane
connector family.
These high-speed
connectors are de-
signed to deliver superior 25Gb/s
electrical performance while offering a
migration path to 40Gb/s. These also
feature a revolutionary beam-on-beam
contact interface. They minimise the re-
sidual stub for improved signal integ-
rity performance, compared to typical
blade-on-beam contact structures and
provide exceptionally low mating force
while maintaining excellent contact.
The ExaMAX portfolio is available
in 2-pair, 3-pair, 4-pair and 6-pair ver-
sions with various column counts.
Interface Connectronics Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru
Phone: 080-23374772, 23374773, 23374774
E-mail: sales@icpl.co.in
Diode arrays
Littelfuse has introduced the SM24CA-
NA series of 200W TVS diode arrays
for protecting the automotive controller
area network (CAN) bus from damage
due to electrostatic discharge (ESD),
electrical fast transients, and other
over voltage transients. These arrays
absorb repetitive ESD strikes above
the maximum level specified in the
IEC61000-4-2 international standard
without performance degradation. They
safely dissipate 3A of surge current
with very low clamping
voltages. These AEC-
Q101 qualified devices
help to maximise the
reliability of automotive
electronics applications
like drive-by-wire (CAN
BUS) systems, engine control modules,
powertrain electronics, anti-lock brakes,
airbags and other safety circuits. They
are also suitable for use in industrial
CAN bus applications that are suscepti-
ble to damage due to lightning-induced
transients or ESD.
Littlefuse, Noida
E-mail: nvinaik@littelfuse.com
Super pulse capacitors
EVE Energy launched its super pulse
capacitors that can store and discharge
pulse current within a temperature
range of -40ºC to +85ºC. It is the ideal
power source for long-term standby and
high cur-
rent pulse
applica-
tions. EVE’s
unique de-
sign is based
upon the
latest technology to ensure safety and
reliability.
SM Electronic Technologies Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Phone: 011-25101136
E-mail: sales@mysmindia
SOLAR
Multi-purpose solar lantern
Gautam Solar launched its unique solar
multi-purpose lantern across India. De-
signed for urban users, the product is a
trailblazer, and can be used as a torch,
a hanging light, a
study lamp and
a mobile charger.
The lan-
tern is fit-
ted with
3W LED lights, a 3W solar panel and
6 V-4.5AH battery that requires four to
five hours of charging. Once charged,
the lantern can effortlessly run for eight
hours on single brightness, six hours on
medium brightness and four hours on
full brightness. The lantern is available
in two trendy colours—yellow and
red—to spruce up any corner of your
home or office.
Gautam Solar Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Phone: 1800-532-0800/ 09313314063
E-mail: solarlights@gautampolymers.com
www.efymag.com

RC Helicopter
I need a small remote-controlled heli-
copter/drone project. Let me know the
issue if this project was published in
EFY.
Soory Shakti Kushwaha
Through e-mail
EFY: You may see ‘RF-Controlled Air-
craft’ project published in May issue.
EFY Directory
I want to know the details of India’s
leading home automation companies
including their names and contact
details. I am planning to set up a busi-
ness in modular switches, video door-
phones and home automation and
security systems. Do you have any di-
rectories or portals to get these details?
Sumon
Through e-mail
EFY: Yes, we have EFY directory
available in print version (called EFY
Yellow Pages) as well as online portal
(www.eleb2b.com). You can find rel-
evant information from the portal by
typing the exact product name in the
search box and clicking Search button.
For the print version, contact info@
kitsnspares.com
Digital Image Processing
I have been reading EFY for the last
few months. I want some articles on
digital image processing using MAT-
LAB and Arduino.
S.K. Khaja Vali
Through e-mail
EFY: Please see ‘Colour-Sensing Ro-
bot with MATLAB’ project published
in February issue besides ‘Building
Image-Processing Embedded Systems
Using Python’ project in this issue.
Robotics Projects
I am a newbie to robotics and trying
to learn the basics by myself. It would
be a great help if you could publish an
article providing step-by-step guidance
for robotics using Arduino, Raspberry
Pi or embedded system.
Shubham Jain
New Delhi
www.efymag.com
LETTERS
From Facebook: EFY’s Electronics Design Community
Very good customer care service! I just informed Customer Support team that
the magazine I purchased from the market had missing pages. I got a new EFY
magazine totally free with no shipping charges. Thank you EFY team!
Prasad Kirkire
EFY: Thanks for the appreciation!
 I noticed a typographical error on your cover page. The pound sterling sym-
bol is £ and not # as shown.
Ajay Rao
EFY: Thanks for pointing out the error! We appreciate your eye for detail.
 Let me know the availability of any good books on batteries.
Subhadip Ghosh
EFY: We published some time ago a book titled ‘Batteries’ which includes
carbon-zinc, lithium, lead-acid, fuel and nuclear-cell batteries, along with some
charger circuits. Please contact info@kitsnspares.com or visit www.kitsnspares.
com
 Please suggest me some projects based on MATLAB, LabView and micro-
controllers for my final-year project.
Mak Mali
EFY: A list of MATLAB-based projects in EFY was published in Letters section
of June issue. Please look up ‘Dual-Priority Encoder Using LabView’ published
in July issue. Almost every issue of EFY now covers microcontroller-based
projects. Contact info@kitsnspares.com for back issues.
‘Spot An Error’ Award Winners
In eStyle First Look section published in June issue, ThinkCentre E73z is
introduced, which is currently not available in India and the specs are of
ThinkCentre M73z instead of E73z. Also, the image shown is different from
the one present on the Lenovo website.
Sridhar Bukya
Through e-mail
In ‘Quiz Game Controller’ project published in July issue, the value of RNW2
is wrongly printed as 100E instead of 200E in the schematic Fig. 2.
Bhaskar Pandey
Through e-mail
In eStyle buyers’ guide, published in June issue, under Asus Gaming laptop,
it’s wrongly printed as 3GD DDR5 Nvidia GeForce graphics card instead of
3GB DDR5 Nvidia GeForce graphics card.
Arjun
Through e-mail
EFY: You may look up Arduino-based
robotic projects ‘Namaste Robot With
Errata
Voice’ (April 2014), ‘Soccer Robot’ In ‘USB LED Light Cum Battery
(January 2014) and ‘Arduino Android Charger’ circuit published in July
Robot’ (December 2013). You can issue, please read the part number
of T1 as IRF820A in Fig. 2 and
purchase digital versions of these EFY
parts list instead of IRFZ820A.
issues from www.efy.in or the print
versions from www.kitsnspares.com ment. Can you help?
Kokane Vivek
Remote for Electrical Through e-mail
Equipment EFY: Please see ‘31-Channel RF Remote
I want a remote control circuit that can Control’ project published in March
control all domestic electrical equip- 2013 issue.
Electronics For You | August 2014 123

Q. We have been able to assemble
the Prusa-Mendel 3D printer. The
bootloader and firmware are also burnt
in the Sanguinololu board. But we could
not print anything using Pronterface soft-
ware. Please help us with complete steps.
Yogesh
Through e-mail
Fig. 1: Setting COM port and baud rate
Fig. 2: Successful connection to 3D printer
Fig. 3: Manual control of 3D printer
A. If you have done the Fig. 4: Setting the temperature temperature in the console
mechanical assembly for nozzle and heat bed
and software upload, major
task is over. Now you just have to use
Pronterface software to print any 3D
object, which is straight-forward. Start
by connecting your 3D printer to a com-
puter that has Pronterface software in-
stalled already, via USB cable. Connect
the ATX power supply to the 3D printer
and switch it on.
124 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Run Pronterface software. Once
the software is up, it will look like as
shown in Fig. 1. Select the COM port
your 3D printer is connected to and
then set the baud rate to 250000 (as Fig. 5: Slicing settings
shown in Fig. 1). Next, click
on the Connect button. You
will see message in the right
column of Pronterface indi-
cating that the printer has
successfully connected, as
shown in Fig. 2.
Once connected, you can
use Pronterface to manually
control the x, y Fig. 6: Draging .stl file
and z axes, as
shown in Fig.
3. You can also
manually con-
trol the extruder
motor using
Pronterface, but
be sure that the
heater is turned
on before doing
so. The distance Fig. 7: Loading G-code file
and speed of the
manual control is set right Drag your .stl file of the object you
below the Extrude button. want to print in the box shown in Fig. 6
To set the temperature and click on the Export G-code button
of the nozzle or heat bed, and your G-code will be ready to load.
use the pull-down menu Your 3D printer uses G-code to know
and select the temperature what to print. The slicing program will
and then press Set button, convert a stereolithography (.stl) file of a
as shown in Fig. 4. To turn 3D model into the necessary G-code that
the heating off, simply your printer can understand. Once the
press respective Off but- file has been exported into the needed
ton. You can monitor the G-code format, you can open that file in
temperature of the nozzle Pronterface for printing.
and bed by selecting the Open the G-code by navigating File
Watch option and then menu and then clicking Open. Browse
viewing the graph of real- the folder you exported the G-code file
time temperature value. into and select that file and then press
Or, you can press Check OK. When Pronterface loads the file it
Temp to view the actual will appear on the graph in the graphi-
on the right of Proterface.
cal user interface, as shown in Fig. 7.
Now you just have to click on Print on
Now, from the pull- the Pronterface toolbar and your printer
down menu in the toolbar, select Set- will start printing the 3D object, layer
tings and then choose Slicing settings, by layer.
as shown in Fig. 5. This will open the
program Slic3r. Answers compiled by EFY technical editor, Ankit
Gupta. Letters and questions for publication
If this is the first time you are open-
may be addressed to Editor, Electronics For You,
ing Slic3r then you will be prompted D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New
with the Slic3r configuration wizard. Delhi 110020 (e-mail: editsec@efy.in) and should
Select Cancel on this wizard. include name and address of the sender
www.efymag.com
 interview
There is also a major shift in the
software controls happening in T&M
Sudhir Tangri, country general manager, Keysight Technologies India Pvt Ltd,
speaks with Rahul Chopra and Pankaj Vashisht of EFY on what transforms test
and measurement equipment. On September 19, 2013, Agilent Technologies
announced plans to separate into two publicly traded companies through a
tax-free spin off of its electronic measurement business. The new company,
Keysight Technologies, began operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agilent
on August 1, 2014 with a full separation anticipated in early November 2014
Q
What changes do you see from the measurement side in
the industry?
An important change that we see in the industry is the
transition of measurement algorithms into software. Earlier
many of these measurement algorithms were in the hardware.
Now we are transitioning them into software in order to make
them more versatile and flexible. As more new applications
emerge, algorithms in software will allow us to easily accom-
modate those applications and their platform measurements
by simply making some changes in that algorithm.
Q
Which is preferable: traditional PC environments or FPGA-
based platforms?
There are certain specific areas where we cannot work
with FPGAs, like in cases where codes must be closed and
hidden for security reasons. Another example is in industrial
automation, where there is not much need for complex algo-
rithms, but these need to be fine-tuned based on the require-
ments. In these cases, you can program the FPGA for the
measurement algorithm and use the open FPGA.
Q
What challenges do growing technologies like Internet of
Things present before the T&M industry?
Looking from a technology standpoint, IoT fundamentals
are composed of two major concepts. One concept focuses on
devices, while the other focuses on communication between
them. Whether it is wire-line or wireless communication, there
is a very clear phenomenon happening worldwide, that the
amount of data will continue to grow. The amount of data
may go up over a million times in the coming years, which
will create the requirement for tools that can simulate this
data and thus allow you to design your networks accordingly.
Second, there are complex intelligent IoT devices coming in.
These devices have a lot of material science going into them.
These require a set of state-of-the-art characterisation tools
and measurement instruments.
Q
Till what level do you see touch-screen integration in
equipment and in industries?
Our S-series oscilloscope is the first instrument on the
planet with a capacitive touch, just like our smartphones today.
126 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Sudhir Tangri
country general manager,
Keysight Technologies
India Pvt Ltd
You can actually do a dual-window zoom and all other nice
user interface we are accustomed to in consumer electronics.
The interesting thing is that, this same instrument was being
sold ten years ago with a monochrome screen and a keyboard.
Today it only has a screen with few buttons here and there.
Q
What top key technology shifts today define the future of
T&M equipment or products?
One definitely is the increase in the wireless data being gen-
erated, which will continue. In aerospace and defence industry,
the wireless data is very critical. It is becoming even more
prominent from a real-time scenario. From material or devices
stand-point, new materials are getting invented, like curved
glasses. There is a major inflection point that is happening in
the industry because so much research is happening in mate-
rial science at an accelerated rate. This was not the case earlier.
Then there is the trend of systems that are instrument-
aware. This means that you have a built-in instrument in the
system to do a health check with a satellite above. So this is one
shift where you need miniaturised and very versatile instru-
mentation. There is also a major shift in the software controls
happening in T&M. When we say software control, it is not just
algorithms, because there are a few algorithms that cannot be
implemented in software. They are very material specific, and
you have to have that algorithm implemented in hardware, like
millimeter wave algorithm, depending upon the frequency.
Q
What kind of T&M products are designed for markets like
India?
Agilent has various products for emerging markets. For
instance, in cases where you do not have the physical instru-
ment, you can virtually connect instruments that can take
measurements and then move on to solve them. We have a
product called Benchview, which creates a virtual instrumen-
tation setup on your desktop. It has special significance in
emerging markets where customers are cost-sensitive.
Let us take a typical example of a college with 20 students
who have to do a practical. Now, it might not be prudent for
a college to invest in 20 boxes. They can probably go for one
or two boxes and then use Benchview to provide access to
everyone. 
www.efymag.com
 interview

Limitations are paving the way for

ultrasound-based sensors
The way people interact with the computer in a natural way has led to
the evolution of natural user interfaces such as gesture, motion and
touch. Sneha Ambastha of EFY spoke to Anup Tapadia, the founder Anup Tapadia
founder,
of TouchMagix, on the subject TouchMagix

Q
What are the fundamentals of gesture recognition?
From the physical point of view, there is an input to the
system and the resulting output from the system. The input
become possible only due to these. These use reflective light
to compute the depth of information. There is a new range of
sensors coming up where people are using ultrasound, which
can be in the form of a person being tracked completely, a can actually allow low-power gesture sensing for very simple
person’s hand, a person’s fingers or tracking the special emo- gesture recognition applications.
tions of a person to capture what the user is trying to do. The
output can be in the form of a display, sound or interface like
the actuators. Nowadays, there are dispensers or smell creators
which trigger another dimension of a human gesture interface.
Q
What are the limitations to the use of different types of
new sensors?
The structured light-based 3D sensors cannot operate
under high infrared light conditions, because they do infra

Q
What are the major components that help enable gesture
control and motion sensing?
elimination that needs to be visible to the capturing sensors.
That is why these sensors cannot be used in an outdoor envi-
The first type of sensor is what is inside the device and ronment or a mobile kind of platform.
allows the motion of the device itself to be used as a gesture.
These are primarily accelerometers, 9-way or 12-way, etc. The
second are optical systems or non-optical gesture tracking
systems like the front camera of a mobile phone or something
Q
How can we overcome the limitations to make better sensors?
In the MotionMagix sensor we have a photo diode which
does ambient light detection, correction and elimination.
like what Microsoft is using, a Kinect-ware. This helps us ensure proper control of the camera under
different lighting conditions. Also, we have a coating on the

Q
What are the other techniques for gesture tracking?
There are ultrasound wave sensors and radio-frequency
surface of these sensors to resolve the dust prevention issues.
TouchMagix sensors are engineered for industrial use and are
space-gesture sensors. There is an experiment that uses the not much affected by humidity or temperature.
Wi-Fi signal and the change in Wi-Fi signal to recognise what
gesture a user is performing.
Q
What kind of challenges an engineer would face while
designing a component?

Q
What is referential gesture interaction?
Consider using the reference of the screen in order to in-
teract with the screen. For example, if I move my hand, there
would be a cursor that would move on the screen and, when
I move my body, there would be a virtual person mimicking
my gesture. This is a referential gesture tracking system.
The key challenge is definitely to know how a sensor would
work in different environments. MotionMagix sensor can not
be used in a night club as the adaptation time for the sensor is
not built for flashing lights. Adding a photo diode and an opti-
cal illumination correction or feedback loop allows us to have a
better control over the ambient illumination and lighting.

Q
What is immersive gesture interaction?
In this type of gesture recognition technology there is no
cursor or reference. Imagine a projection on the floor with a
football in that projection. You just have to go and kick that
football. So there is no reference on the screen, however, your
foot itself acts as a reference to the football on the screen. So
the system would respond to my gesture even when it is
performed right next to the screen.
Q
Apart from gesture and motion sensing what other tech-
nologies do you use?
Other than the features enabled through sensors, nearly 70-
80% of the features like projection scheduling, projection correc-
tion, remote management, etc are the software enabled features.
Q
What are the resources that can help the young engineers
know about these new technologies and the components?
There is an online global research community, called NUI

Q
What new sensors have been introduced in recent years?
Time of flight sensors and structured light-based sensors
are the two most popular types of sensors. 3D sensing has
Group. Then there is Open NI framework (now discontinued)
which people can use to learn the different algorithms used on
3D cameras for gesture tracking. 

128 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com

 interview
Embedded forms of USB
will be very important for
connecting modem chips
to baseband processors
Some time ago, Dilin Anand from EFY spoke to Terry Moore,
CEO, MCCI, a system engineering company which specialises
in delivering USB system software to tier-1 silicon or semiconductor firms. MCCI chaired the
committee that set up Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM) specification and they also
helped set up NCM specification, besides being principle author of the WMC family specifications
Q
Where is USB positioned in the embedded wireless com-
munications space?
The modem is almost all there’s going to be as a separate
module from the application processor. For most of the Internet
of Things (IoT) applications, like the smart power meter and
personal medical equipment, the volumes of individual products
will be lower, and they want to ship international and they don’t
want to have to redesign and recertify it for every different mar-
ket. Thus, they’ll design a modem with a separate module where
there will be communication through different variants of USB.
Q
How should engineers select a solution for their USB
implementation?
Typically they should start by selecting the required de-
vice controller or host controller driver from our library and
then use a framework to produce a full-on USB solution. Next,
on top of this framework they can add device-class protocols
and class drivers to do the particular function that they want.
Q
What is the most exciting aspect of USB Technology?
The exciting thing right now in consumer market is Media
Agnostic USB (MA-USB), and in the embedded market it is
SSIC-USB.
Q
What are the major differences between MA-USB and the
old wireless USB?
First of all it’s based on Wi-Fi, the radio here is a Wi-Fi radio
and is not something that’s specially developed for USB. It is
very fast and there is no or much less cell-to-cell interference.
The second important thing is that, instead of trying to
model it on a packet-by-packet basis, they do it at the transfer
level. In USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, each piece gets individually ac-
knowledged; with MA-USB the acknowledgements are done
at the same level and not at the level of the host controller.
This makes it much more efficient.
Also instead of using their own pairing technique, they just
leverage existing technology like Wi-Fi’s P2P. Finally, they also
leverage much cleaner Wi-Fi Max power management.
130 August 2014 | Electronics For You
Terry Moore
CEO, MCCI
Q
What would be the advantage of selecting this technology
in consumer electronics design?
This is possibly a superior connectivity technology to
something like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct. It will work on any
device, as long as the lower MAC has the right capability.
With this software module, you can either appear as a device,
or as a USB host, or even both.
Q
What about the inter-chip solutions available with USB?
For LTE modems, the speeds are currently 150mbit/s. The
USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has invented the Super-
speed inter-chip USB, which is a chip-to-chip connection.
One of the things that they developed was a very-low-power
physical layer (PHY), called the M-PHY, which runs at speeds
from 1 gigabit/s to 5 gigabit/s. However, SSIC-USB is ahead
because, a lot of deployment of USB in mobile devices has
already happened while there is no deployment of the others.
But the speeds are naturally different since this is at an IC
level. While Super-speed can achieve 5 gigabit/s, SSIC-USB
is variable between 1 gigabit/s and 4 gigabit/s.
Q
How is HSIC-USB different from conventional USB?
HSIC-USB is a specialised version of high-speed USB, opti-
mised for low-power chip-to-chip applications. Conventional
USB 2.0 devices use low-level signalling that works for 5-me-
tre cables but is very power hungry; HSIC-USB uses low-level
signalling that is extremely low-power, but only operates over
10cm distances on a PC. As a side effect, HSIC-USB is substan-
tially more difficult to measure than normal USB.
Q
Where will the most significant growth occur in emerging
technologies?
There are two very important trends: the rise of the tablet,
and the deployment of IoT. With respect to connectivity for
tablet and mobile computing, the big area for growth right
now is in ‘wireless tethering’ technologies. In the area of IoT,
it’s clear that embedded forms of USB will be very important
for connecting modem chips to baseband processors. 
www.efymag.com
 product categories index

advertisers’ product category index

Products Page No. Products Page No. Products Page No. Products Page No.

Miscellaneous
Mr. Pathak......................................................... 132
Indus Industries................................................. 136
Shidore Microsys Electronics Pvt Ltd................ 143
electronicsforu.com............................................. 34
Automation & Robotics
Indus Robotics & Automation Research
Pvt. Ltd. ......................................................... 132
Avionics & Defence Equipment
Electronic Enterprises India Pvt Ltd ...................115
Batteries & Power Supplies
Anjali Power Systems ....................................... 145
Brite Systems ................................................... 144
Concept Electronics .......................................... 142
Elnova Ltd (m) .................................................. 145
Gurukirpa Electronics ....................................... 144
Integrated Batteries India P Ltd (D) .................. 143
J.K. Power ........................................................ 144
Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd ..................... 144
Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology
Co. Ltd ............................................................. 91
Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd ....................... 145
SM Electronic Technologies Pvt Ltd.................... 21
Srishti Electronics ............................................. 144
Stab-Brain Systems .......................................... 143
Upsinverter.com ................................................ 133
Cabinets, Enclosures & Accessories
S K Metal Works ............................................... 145
Shrey Plastic Moulders ..................................... 143
Components (Including Active & Passive)
APC Technologies ............................................ 138
Arham Electronics & Electricals
(Nimra Products) ........................................... 144
Digi-Key Corporation ............................................ 5
Fujitsu Semiconductor Pacific Asia Limited
Singapore ........................................................ 25
Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd ........................... 148
International Rectifier Hong Kong Ltd ................. 81
Jai Mata Electronics ......................................... 145
Laxmi Electronics ............................................. 145
MediaTek India Technology Pvt Ltd................... 139
Microchip Technology Inc. .................................. 59
Millenium semiconductors ...................................11
Millennium Technologies .................................. 134
Mouser Electronics (Hong Kong) Ltd .................. 13
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. ........................... 85
Perfect Radios .................................................. 143
Renesas Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd.............. 69
ROHM Semiconductor ........................................ 27
Rubycon Singapore Pte Ltd (India Liaison
Office) ............................................................ 140
S.M Semiconductors (D) .................................. 143
Sancon India Pvt. Ltd. ...................................... 137
Shavison Electronics Pvt. Ltd. ............................ 15
ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt. Ltd .............. 49
Toshiba India Pvt Ltd........................................... 45
Virginia Panel Corporation .................................. 47
EDA Tools (Including Designing & Drafting Aids)
Embedded Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd.............. 140
MathWorks ......................................................... 65
Temco Electricals & Electronic Industries.......... 132
Educational Training Kits
Minmax Electronics (D) .................................... 145
IT Products
ISOFT ............................................................... 141
Materials (Including Chemicals &
Consumables)
HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd.............................. 57
Persang Alloy Industries Pvt Ltd ....................... 135
Progressive Engineers (R) ............................... 136
YO YO Chemicals ............................................ 134
Optics & Optoelectronics
Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (D)...................... 18
Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd ........................................ 142
Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd (M) ....................... 142
International Corporate ..................................... 145
Sewon Precision & Ind. Co. Ltd......................... 136
PCBs, Assemblies & Sub Assemblies
Circuit Systems (I) Ltd (D) .................................. 97
Mitsutek Electronics (D) .................................... 145
SMD Electronics Pvt Ltd ................................... 143
Toradex Systems (India) Private Limited .......... 149
Plugs, Sockets & Connectors
FCI OEN Connectors Ltd..................................... 77
Reseller and Distributors
Element14 India Pvt Ltd........................................ 1
LWI Electronics Inc. ............................................ 23
Madhu Subtronic Components Pvt Ltd................ 41
Safety & Security Products
Matrix Comsec Pvt Ltd ......................................... 9
Sensors & Transducers
Nilatech Private Ltd. ......................................... 143
PIC GmbH .......................................................... 33
Rhydo Technologies P Ltd ................................ 131
Solar Products
Elektro Power Systems .................................... 142
Hitech Solar Appliances .................................... 142
Nehatronix ........................................................ 143
Raj Electronics .................................................. 144
Test & Measurement Equipment (Including
Indicators & Monitors)
Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd....................... 53
Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd .................... G/F
Anritsu India Pvt Ltd ........................................... 31
Crown Electronic Systems (D) .......................... 142
Dinteck .............................................................. 144
FLIR Systems ..................................................... 29
Max Technology & Co. ........................................ 35
NI Systems (India) Pvt Ltd .................................... 7
Rohde & Schwarz ............................................... 63
Tektronix India Pvt Ltd. (D)................................ 150
Towa Engineering Works .................................. 142
Usart Technologies India Pvt Ltd....................... 134
Trade Shows and Events
IPCA 2014 .......................................................... 14
MMI India Pvt. Ltd (F) ......................................... 43

EFY Magazine Attractions During 2014

Month Technology Focus EFY Report Buyers’ Guide t&m

January Electronics of Things Industrial Automation Electronics Rework Stations Automated Test Equipment (AOI, etc)

Handheld T&M Equipment for Field

February Smart Grid Smart Grid Electronics Thermal Imaging
Engineers

March Smart & Electric Vehicles Automotive Electronics How to Make Your Lab Static Proof Function & Signal Generators

April Smart Homes Inverters & UPS–SOHO & Industrial Digital Multimeters Multimeters

May FPGA (Programmable Chips) Connectors & Terminals FPGA Training Kits Data Acquisition Systems

Desktop Manufacturing Equipment

June 3-D Printers Certification & Quality Labs EMC Test Equipment
(SMT, Reflow Ovens, 3D Printers)

PCB Industry in India: Suppliers &

July Raspberry Pi Budget Friendly Oscilloscopes Oscilloscopes
Manufacturers

August Security 2.0: Latest products Aerospace & Defence Electronics Wi-fi & RF Modules Incircuit Test Systems

September Smart Robos Solar Electronics EDA Tools for Circuit Design Virtual Instruments

Development Boards (Microcontroller

October Open Source Electronics Educational & training Products Analysers (Network, Protocol, Spectrum, etc)
based)

Wireless Communication Technologies

November Security & Surveillance Soldering / Desoldering Stations RF Devices (Wireless Devices)
(Zigbee, RF to 5G & beyond)

December Smart Lighting LED Lighting Programmable Power Source Power Analysers/Power Meters/Supplies

146 August 2014 | Electronics For You www.efymag.com


Client name Page No.
Agilent Technologies India Pvt. Ltd..........................................Gate Fold/53
Anjali Power Systems.............................................................................145
Anritsu India Pvt Ltd..................................................................................17
APC Technologies...................................................................................138
Arham Electronics & Electricals (Nimra Products).................................144
Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.binayLED.com).............................18
Brite Systems..........................................................................................144
Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd (www.flexiblepcb.com)........................................142
Circuit Systems (I) Ltd (www.mycsil.com)................................................97
Concept Electronics................................................................................142
Crown Electronic Systems......................................................................142
Digi-Key Corporation (www.digikey.com)...................................................5
Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd....................................................................142
Dinteck....................................................................................................144
E Rocks 14................................................................................................51
EFY Expo India.......................................................................................129
EFY Expo West.......................................................................................101
EFY Tech Center.......................................................................................73
eleb2b.com..............................................................................................138
Electronic Enterprises India Pvt Ltd (www.eeipl.in)................................ 115
Electronics Yellow Pages.....................................................................38-39
electronicsforu.com...................................................................................34
Elektro Power Systems...........................................................................142
Element14 India Pvt Ltd..............................................................................1
Elnova Ltd (www.elnova.com)................................................................145
Embedded Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd. .................................................140
FCI OEN Connectors Ltd. ........................................................................77
FLIR Systems (www.flir.com)....................................................................29
Fujitsu Semiconductor Pacific Asia Limited Singapore............................25
Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd (www.goodwill.com.tw)...........................148
Gujarat Manufacturing Show 2014.........................................................127
Gurukirpa Electronics (www.gurukirpaelectronics.com).........................144
Hitech Solar Appliances..........................................................................142
EB Times
• Electronics • Trade Channel • Updates
is Becoming Regional
Get East, West, North & South
Editions at you doorstep. Write
to us at myeb@efy.in and get
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and those who head channel business, as it aims to give an impetus to
channel sales
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advertisers’ & organisation index
advertisers’ index
Client name Page No.
HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd...................................................................57
Indus Industries.......................................................................................136
Indus Robotics & Automation Research Pvt. Ltd...................................132
Integrated Batteries India P Ltd .............................................................143
International Corporate...........................................................................145
International Rectifier Hong Kong Ltd (www.irf.com)...............................81
IPCA 2014.................................................................................................14
ISOFT......................................................................................................141
J.K. Power ..............................................................................................144
Jai Mata Electronics................................................................................145
Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd...........................................................144
Kits n Spares...........................................................................................125
Laxmi Electronics....................................................................................145
LWI Electronics Inc. (www.livewireinfo.com)............................................23
Madhu Subtronic Components Pvt. Ltd. Ltd............................................41
MathWorks................................................................................................65
Matrix Comsec Pvt Ltd (www.cognitoindia.com)........................................9
Max Technology & Co. (www.maxtechnoloindia.com).............................35
MediaTek India Technology Pvt. Ltd,......................................................139
Microchip Technology Inc. (www.microchip.com).....................................59
Millenium semiconductors (www.millenniumsemi.com)........................... 11
Millennium Technologies (www.milltech.in)............................................134
Minmax Electronics (www.minmax.co.in)...............................................145
Mitsutek Electronics................................................................................145
MMI India Pvt. Ltd ....................................................................................43
Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Co.Ltd...............................91
Mouser Electronics (Hong Kong) Ltd ......................................................13
Mr. Pathak...............................................................................................132
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd..................................................................85
Nehatronix (www.natashaindia.com)......................................................143
NI Systems (India) Pvt Ltd (www.ni.com)...................................................7
Nilatech Private Ltd. (www.nilatech.co.in)..............................................143
Perfect Radios........................................................................................143
An EFY Group publication
Client name Page No.
Persang Alloy Industries Pvt Ltd (www.persangalloy.com)....................135
PIC GmbH (www.pic-gmbh.com).............................................................33
Progressive Engineers............................................................................136
Raj Electronics........................................................................................144
Renesas Electronics Singapore Pte.Ltd...................................................69
Rhydo Technologies P Ltd (www.rhydo.com).........................................131
Rohde & Schwarz (www.rohde-schwarz.co.in)........................................63
ROHM Semiconductor..............................................................................27
Rubycon Singapore Pte Ltd ...................................................................140
S K Metal Works (www.skmetals.com)...................................................145
S.M Semiconductors...............................................................................143
Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd.............................................................145
Sancon India Pvt. Ltd..............................................................................137
Sewon Precision & Ind.Co.Ltd (www.swpi.co.kr)...................................136
Shavison Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (www.shavison.com)...............................15
Shidore Microsys Electronics Pvt Ltd.....................................................143
Shrey Plastic Moulders (www.shreyplasticmoulders.com)....................143
SM Electronic Technologies Pvt. Ltd........................................................21
SMD Electronics Pvt.Ltd.........................................................................143
Srishti Electronics (www.acedigital.co.in)...............................................144
ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt. Ltd....................................................49
Stab-Brain Systems................................................................................143
Subscription Form.....................................................................................89
Tektronix India Pvt Ltd. (www.tektronix.com/2170)................................150
Temco Electricals & Electronic Industries, (www.temco.co.in)...............132
Toradex Systems (India) Private Limited (www.toradex.com)...............149
Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd................................................................................45
Towa Engineering Works (www.towaengg.com)....................................142
Upsinverter.com (www.upsinverter.com)................................................133
Usart Technologies India Pvt Ltd............................................................134
Virginia Panel Corporation........................................................................47
YO YO Chemicals...................................................................................134
Page numbers subject to final dummy corrections
Electronics For You | August 2014 147