DEVICES
Panthronics | November 25, 2021
Panthronics AG, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high performance wireless technology, and Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced a new design which provides manufacturers of secure mobile point-of-sale (mPoS) contactless payment terminals with a new way to reduce the size and the bill-of-materials cost of their products without compromising performance or security.
The companies are demonstrating the new mPoS design at the Panthronics stand 5.2 B041 at the Trustech exhibition.
The design is based on Panthronics’ PTX100R NFC Reader IC for contactless communication, and the Renesas RA6M4 general-purpose secure microcontroller (MCU). The RA6M4 MCU, which has an Arm® Cortex®-M33 CPU with TrustZone technology and integrated security IP, performs all the cryptographic, key management and other security functions required for compliance with the stringent Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards and the EMVCo Level 2 standard for contactless payments. EMVCo Level 1-compliant software runs in the PTX100R.
This design based on a secure MCU offers substantial cost and size advantages over conventional mPoS terminal designs. Today, mPoS terminals feature either a combination of a general-purpose MCU with a discrete Secure Element, or a dedicated PoS-specific system-on-chip (SoC) with built-in security functions.
The Panthronics/Renesas solution is superior to both:
It eliminates the need for a discrete Secure Element by implementing secure payment functions inside the RA6M4. This reduces bill-of-materials cost and saves space on the board. It also strengthens security, because the vulnerable communications path between a discrete Secure Element and host MCU is also eliminated.
The RA6M4 is a lower-cost component than a dedicated SoC, and is widely available with no security of supply concerns.
“Security, cost and size are the key concerns for manufacturers of the next generation of mPoS terminals, as they battle for market share in a highly competitive market. By proving that an mPoS terminal based on a standard MCU can be fully compliant with all the relevant security and payment industry standards, Renesas and Panthronics have demonstrated a new way for terminal manufacturers to gain a competitive edge while meeting customer demand for security, functionality and performance. We are confident that with this solution, mPoS terminal manufacturers can achieve a BoM cost saving of at least 10% compared to typical designs in production today.”
Markus Vomfelde, European Senior Manager for MCU Business Development at Renesas
Comprehensive design supports rapid new product development
The mPoS solution implements a comprehensive set of payment terminal functions, including EMVCo Level 1 and Level 2 ready software. This means that it provides an effective platform for terminal manufacturers to verify the concept’s compliance with the EMVCo standard, and to complete rapid design integration based on the hardware and software components supplied by Renesas and Panthronics.
The design includes a space-saving antenna which surrounds the display screen, a configuration which is only possibly because of the robust connectivity performance of the PTX100R card reader. The PXT100R’s unique sine wave architecture results in industry-best sensitivity and transmission strength, boosting the terminal’s signal-to-noise ratio and allowing for reliable coupling with payment cards or mobile phones in all usage conditions, and via an antenna placed close to an electrically noisy display.
The solution consists of two boards:
EK-RA6M4 evaluation kit for the RA6M4 MCU
PTX100R reader/display shield board
The design is expected to be available to buy from Renesas as a complete evaluation kit in early 2022. Customers looking to begin designs immediately can contact Renesas sales directly.
About Panthronics
Founded in 2014, Panthronics AG (PTX) is an established semiconductor product company with over 40 staff headquartered in Graz, Austria. It develops differentiated wireless solutions from the ground up for POS, IoT and wireless charging applications.
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future.
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Lumos Controls | January 21, 2022
Lumos Controls launches an all-new mobile application to simplify and redefine smart controls for enterprises. The app is a perfect gateway in making any building smarter in the shortest span of time and meet their sustainability goals. The launch of redesigned Lumos Controls App emphasizes on bringing a great difference to the commercial and industrial lighting experiences along with great savings on energy bills and labor cost.
“While smart controls are a must have for any modern building, the present solutions in the industry compels the user to understand the complexities of underlying technology even for the simplest of tasks. This is a big deterrent for smart technology adoption.”
Vivek Pramod, Senior Vice President & GM - Smart Controls, WiSilica
The app introduces several breakthrough features to simplify commissioning, configuration and automation of smart control ecosystem the way the industry needs it. Users can use this intuitive app without any additional training, thanks to a host of features such as multilanguage support, contextual in-app user tips, and a well-structured user guide. The mobile app provides flexible and easy solutions for lighting automation with multi-option scheduling and daylight harvesting.
“Our new app is collective result of all the feedback from our users over the years and rightly blended with our extensive technology expertise. The outcome is a simple to use mobile app tailor-made for smart enterprises and with a perfect balance of controls and configuration. This is a big step in our long journey ahead to create extensive value for lighting controls beyond its staple functionality and lots more to follow,” Vivek concluded.
The app is a part of a well-rounded smart control ecosystem comprising of fit-to-purpose lighting control devices, multi-mount sensors, switches, gateways, analytical dashboards and more. The smart controls ecosystem is designed to facilitate seamless integration with building management system for a complete green building solution. Beyond the basic functionalities, now the lighting controls can deliver immense value better than ever!
About Lumos Controls
Lumos Controls is a smart controls solution from WiSilica, the leading IoT platform and solutions provider. Built on an IoT platform (ARIXA), this solution features the most advanced lighting control devices, intuitive interfaces, and versatile edge/cloud computing that are brought together to build an intelligent lighting network that’s future ready for smart enterprises. Lumos Controls is on a mission to unlock the extra ordinary potential of light and give lighting controls a life of its own and beyond.
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Telit | November 18, 2020
Telit, a worldwide empowering influence of the Internet of Things (IoT), today declared the LE910S1-EA, another LTE Cat 1 module with single-reception apparatus, intended for IoT applications in the EMEA and APAC districts that need a mix of execution, moderateness, voice uphold, 2G fallback, discretionary GNSS area and a conservative structure factor. The LE910S1-EA is ideal for GPS beacons and other portable IoT applications that need to keep up a solid association over various administrators in a nation, area or different locales.
The LE910S1-EA underpins LTE Cat.1 with single-radio wire gathering, with downlink velocities of up to 10 Mbps and up to 5 Mbps uplinks. This smoothed out arrangement helps the LE910S1-EA essentially decrease cost and unpredictability contrasted with LTE Cat 1 gadgets with two recieving wires. Portable administrators overall intend to keep supporting LTE long after they have conveyed 5G. LTE Cat 1 is additionally ideal for IoT organizations in districts where the new 3GPP low force wide-zone (LPWA) innovations are not yet accessible.
The new module upholds 2G fallback, making it ideal for applications that require full versatility all through the EMEA and APAC districts – including regions that have not moved up to 4G yet. It additionally bolsters both circuit-exchanged voice and VoLTE for those applications that require settling on telephone decisions, similar to caution boards, associated lifts, and medical services portable individual crisis reaction frameworks (mPERS). A discretionary implanted GNSS recipient makes it an ideal across the board answer for following use situations where profoundly exact, quicker reviving, satellite-based situating and route must supplement cell based situating.
The LE910S1-EA is the latest member of Telit's flagship xE910 module family, whose unified form factor, electrical and programming interfaces span 2G, 3G and 4G products. This heritage enables developers to implement a "design once, use anywhere" strategy. One example is quickly porting their existing designs to the LE910S1-EA to pursue new market opportunities in the EMEA and APAC regions.
"The new Telit LE910S1-EA module lets IoT developers quickly leverage the benefits of the well-established LTE Cat 1 standard, including affordability, widespread availability, compact size and seamless roaming throughout the EMEA and APAC regions," said Marco Stracuzzi, head of product marketing, Telit. "The LE910S1-EA is perfect for IoT applications that need a smooth migration path from 2G and 3G as those networks sunset but still need higher performance compared to Cat M1 and NB-IoT in terms of data rate, latency, mobility and voice support."
Samples of the LE910S1-EA are available now with mass production in Q1 2021.
About Telit
Telit (AIM: TCM), is a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) enablement, with an extensive portfolio of wireless connectivity modules, software platforms and global IoT connectivity services, empowering hundreds of millions of connected 'things' to date, and trusted by thousands of direct and indirect customers, globally. With over two decades of IoT innovation experience, Telit continues to redefine the boundaries of digital business, by delivering secure, integrated end-to-end IoT solutions for many of the world's largest brands, including enterprises, OEMs, system integrators and service providers across all industries, enabling them to simplify, connect and manage IoT at any scale.
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