circuit cellar Inspiring the Evolution of Embedded Des! SMART BUILDINGS AND CITIES D PC/104 Boards P AWS IoT Custom App | Introduction to FPGAS | iy, .91 Evolution of TV Technology | Level Switch for Non-Conductive Liquids D Potentiostat for Performing Electrochemical Experiments | Keeping Your Memories Secret—SRAM Read-Back Attacks | Radar Speed Monitor—Using Raspberry Pi ) The Future of Private LTE 00us $10.0 0 W74470'75369"" 0Imagine what you will circuit cellar ‘circuit cellor circuit cellar circuit cellor EMBEDDED PCs SUIT UP FOR fH EMBEDDED SOLUTIONS LIFT UP [MM EMBEDDED SYSTEMS ENABLE DRONE DEVELOPMENT KITS SMART TRANSPORTATION SMART CITIES J} CONDITION MONTTORING EMPOWER HANDS ON DESIGNSeer-11 nS complete Circuit Cellar issue pa PR el Metre Rel Ce] *_ stylish, durable and portable USB flash drive? You can easily keep your CC a Vault archive up to date by purchasing subsequent issues from our webshop, or by downloading issues with a Circuit Cellar Digital Subscription. Issues F c appear in searchable PDF format. ret Mery] circuit Cellar Circuit cellar ‘circuit cellar circuit cellar ADVANCES IN THE HYBRID AND ELECTRIC INNOVATIONS are VEHICLE SOLUTIONS SF WearAaut Devi DEWIcES2 Gieuhase ‘A New Feature for a New Year appy New Year! I hope 2023 will bring you exciting projects, successful designs, and nary asingle bug in your code. To mark this season of making—and promptly forgetting— resolutions, we have made a few small changes to Circuit Cellar as wel. Namely, we are excited to introduce @ new monthly section of our magazine entitled “Technology Feature.” Helmed by industry insider Michael Lynes, Tech Feature will shine alight on the emerging trends and technologies most critical to developing microcontroller- and embedded processor-based systems and design topics that are driving today’s embedded electronics industry. Check out his article this month on smart buildings and smart cities, and what it takes to transition your business to a smart building today. Remember to check out David Tweed's section “Test Your EQ!” in the back of each issue. Init, he poses questions that challenge your embedded systems knowledge, with answers published the following month eld-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are an essential technology that can offer more power and flexibility than a typical microcontroller, although they can be more difficult to work with, Thus, Nishant Mittal provides a primer on FPGA basics. He covers topics ranging from their architecture to some aspects of FPGA-based design. Read his piece “An Introduction to FPGAS" on page 1. ‘Alex Pozhitkov and Brian Miller both write up their experiences in building tools for research, this month. Alex wrote a piece focusing on a component of a gas conditioner used for fuel cell research that his company built. They needed to repurpose a liquid level probe designed for conductive liquids to work with non-conductive liquids. Read more in “Level Switch for Non-Conductive Liquids” on page 23. Brian, meanwhile, discusses the design details of building a potentiostat for electrochemical experiments, something he was tasked with im his time as an instrumentation engineer in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University, His piece, part of his Picking Up Mixed Signals colurmn, can be found on page 36. Faiz Rahman and Jeff Bachiochi both revisit the past, albeit in different ways. Faiz goes in depth in covering the development of flatscreen TV technology, in “The Evolution of Flat Panel TV Technology” on page 18. As a follow-up to his last piece, Jeff builds a second radar speed monitor, now using a different MCU—the popular Raspberry Pi Pico. Check it out in his column From the Bench, on page 52. ‘And Colin O'Flynn writes about SRAM read-back attacks in his Embedded ‘System Essentials column. These can occur because many debug lock or security features in microcontrollers allow read-back of SRAM. He demonstrates the attacks themselves, as well as some possible countermeasures, It's an insightful piece. I, for one, am excited to see what new technologies the new year will bring, and what's on the horizon for embedded systems. Thanks for joining me on the path of discovery. I hope 2023 brings you success in all your embedded systems endeavors. we usu 390 Dune 2023 | 1554 1528-0608 ORCI CELA (158-0508 pute ot by ‘One-year (12 ue subseronan rate US acl poseestane 180 caaca$ fert RON SA erp ers Peal mney re orchec drawn on ak mal rsa Boatercon (sds any reser for hate and rope frcton Te inertia pried in Cre Clr by KK MiaOUR NETWORK LISS. CCS, Inc, 61 Datakey 3, 61 DesignCon 2023 B Digi ConnectCore 62 Micro Computer Control Corp. 61 PCBWay 41 Technologic Systems, Inc. C4, 61 NOT A SUPPORTING COMPANY YET? Contact Hugh Heinsohn [email protected], Phone: 757-525-3677, Fax: 888-980-1303 to reserve space in the next issue of Circuit Cellar, THE TEAM FOUNDER Steve Ciarcia PUBLISHER KC Prescott ‘CONTROLLER Chuck Fellows EDITOR-IN-CHIEF __ Sam Wallace ‘SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Shannon Becker TECHNICAL COPY EDITOR Carel Bower ‘CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Brian Miller PROJECT EDITORS _Ken Davidson David Tweed GRAPHICS Grace Chen MARKETING MANAGER Tori Zienka ADVERTISING SALES REP. Hugh Heinsohn ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Heather Childrey COLUMNISTS Jeff Bachiochi (From the Bench) ‘Stuart Bal (Start to Finish) Joseph Corleto (The Magic Smoke Factory) Bob Japenga (Embedded in Tin Slices) Brian Miller (Picking Up Mixed Signals) Colin O Flynn (Embedded Systems Essentials) 52 65 59 : Product News Cc Build a Custom App with AWS IoT Part 1: Embedded IoT Device By Rau varez-Torrico An Introduction to FPGAs From Flip-Flops to Applications The Evolution of Flat Panel TV Technology From CRT to OLED and Beyond Level Switch for Non-Conductive Liquids By Alex TECHNOLOGY FEATURE ‘Smart Buildings and Cities Proactive Planning for Your Business DATASHEET PC/104 Boards Vital in Harsh Enviorments Picking Up Mixed Signals A Potentiostat for Performing Electrochemical Experiments Embedded System Essentials Keeping Your Memories Secret SRAM Read-Back Attacks From the Bench A Radar Speed Monitor This Time Using Raspberry Pi Pico Bachic TECH THE FUTURE The Future of Private LTE Private Cellular Networks in Buildings By St 62 : TEST YOUR EQ phen Kowal @editor.cc @ciruitelar 3[ORCUTT CELLAR « y 2023 4390 Using the Amazon Web Service (AWS) IoT Edul AWS Te as a starting point, I will show you how to build a custom system to monitor the air quality of an electronics workspace. This is the first of a two- 1 a previous article, “Build Iof Secure Apps with AWS Services” (Circuit Collar issue #383, June 2022) [1], | introduced Amazon Web Service's (AWS) ToT EduKit learning program, advertised by its creators as an easy and costeffective way to learn how to build secure Internetof-Things (IoT) applications usingthe AWS IoT Creservice. The Edukit learning program uses as a reference hardware the Core? ESP32 IoT Development Kit, developed and manufactured by M5Stack. Ik offers a software framework and sample code in the form of learning tutorials, along with some community-developed projects for addtional reference. The Edukit learning program aims to help developers easily get into building secure Tor applications. Part of the idea behind itis to streamline the process of writing, compiling and testing embedded [oT firmware, t0 help developers focus on creating real- world applications. Secure communications at the embedded hardware level isnot ‘overlooked within the framework, This could help facilitate its adoption for commercial, industrial, medical and other safety-critical applications. in my previous article [1], I discussed the Edukit learning program's workflow, the reference hardware specications, cloud services, libraries, and development tools. T also made a walk-through of the first three examples presented in the program, explaining key ideas regarding the hardware, software, and cloud services. In the present two-part article series, T take the EdvKit learning program's “Smart Thermostat” example as a starting point for building @ custom system to monitor the air quality of an electronics workspace, where soldering fumes typically pollute the air. The system will monitor the room air quality and control an air extractor to automatically clean the air when needed. The solution I give is somewhat trivial, because the project is not intended for real-world use. Its main aim is to showcase the interfacing of off-board sensors not supported directly by the Software Development Kit (SDK) and the implementation of custom hardware driver code. T will also discuss the required embedded firmware project configurations to include the new hardware and the build of a custom, serverless application to support the system. To follow the topics discussed here, you must be familiar with the AWS Edukit platform. If that's not the case, please first read my previous article [1], or check the first three examples on the Edukit learning program's website [2]. In Part 1 of this article series, I discuss the interfacing of the off-board sensors selected for this project, the development of custom hardware drivers for them, the required project configurations to include the new hardware for a successful compilation, and a basic testing with the AWS IoT Core server. In Part 2, Iwill discuss the inclusion of actuators, particularly an air extractor, and the build of a custom, serverless application to support the system on the AWS ToT Core Cloud. ‘The block diagram for the Smart Air Cleaner system is shown in Figure 1. The Core2 ESP32 ToT Development Kit (from now on, *Core2device” for shor) is the embedded controller used for the IoT device in this project. It is based on the Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWDQ6-V3 microcontroller (MCU), featuring dual Xtensa 32-bit LX6 cores that run at 240M. The Core? device comes with a Microchip ATECC608B Trust8&GO_pre-provisioned, secure element (SE) integrated circuit (IC) that facitates network authentication and the use of secure connections. The proposed system will use a carbon dioxide (CO,) sensor and a particle-density sensor to monitor air quality. An air extractor will clean the air if it becomes too polluted. Sensor measurements will be sent to the AWS Tot Core server via the Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. A serverless application in the same server will generate and send back commands to the Core? device to control the air extractor. ‘Amazon's AWS ToT Core platform uses the MQTT protocol to exchange data with IoT devices. MQTT is great for interconnecting remote devices with small code footprints (such as MCUs) and low network bandwidth. MOTT is designed around the publish/ subscribe messaging madel, where message types are defined as “topics.” In this model, some devices publish to topics to send data, and others subscribe to topics to receive data. Data exchanged between publishers ‘and subscribers can be text, numbers, binary data, JSON strings, and other data. JSON data format is recommended for interacting with [AWS ToT Core platform. The Edukit learning program showcases the use of the “AWS Iof Device SDK for Embedded C" libraries for writing firmware for the Core? device. We will be using the same SDK here. With this SDK iis possible to write embedded applications that securely connect tothe AWS lot Core platform via authenticated TLS connections (3). It also greatly simplifies access to the platform’s MQTT broker to publish and subscribe to topics. The SDK was built with resource-constrained devices in mind—typically MCUs—and facilitates the interaction with the Core2 device's SE for easy security authentication. The AWS IoT Core platform has a feature called “device shadows” that’s used to exchange and synchronize data between MQTT clients. A device shadow is just 2 JSON document that the platform stores in the cloud and contains current state information of the ToT device (for instance, the Core?) This JSON document is published on a special MQTT topic, and contains “key:value” pairs that store the latest state of the mirrored ToT device. Any system that has access to the device shadow can obtain real-time status updates from the mirrored device. Other systems can even push their own key:value pairs to the device shadow, so the mirrored device can receive data from them as well. For this project we will use a device shadow to mirror the state of a number of key:value pairs in the Core2 device. Some of them will be “reported” state values—for instance, the readings obtained from the CO, and particle-density sensors. Some of them will be “desired” state values, such as commands coming from “topic rules” and the “detector model” (serverless application) running on the AWS IoT cloud platform, Topic rules are an AWS IoT Core feature that allows reported state variables to be received from an MQTT client (for example, the Core2 device), via its shadow device. It then generates new, desired state values using SQL queries with conditional logic. Those generated state values are then inserted back into the shadow device, so the MQTT client can automaticaly receive them when a synchronization action is performed. These new, desired state values could be, for ‘example, commands to control actuators. ‘A detector model is another AWS IoT feature that helps easily implement a serverless. application. A detector model is just a Finite State Machine (FSM) with conditional logic capable of receiving input from topic rules, compute state changes, and publish them back to the device shadow as ia 23 AWS loT Core FIGURE. Black diagram for the Smart Ar (eaner system 5CIRCUIT CELLAR » JANUARY 2023 4390 PREE ST Uwe 2 ‘cnooe f yout ta 21 tcocno. il HO 2 7 & ; , aon Great lagram for the Smart Ar Geaner system acue 3 Hardware prototype forthe Smart ir leaner sytem desired states. The behavior of the detector ‘model is defined by using JSON syntax. HARDWARE Figure 2 is the circuit diagram for the ‘Smart Air Cleaner system without the air extractor. The system is composed of a ‘CIMCU-811 sensor module carrying an ams OSRAM CCS811_ultra-low-power, digital ‘gas sensor. This sensor uses a metal oxide (MOX) gas detector to sense a wide range ‘of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and it is recommended for indoor air quality monitoring. The sensor uses an 1°C port to interface with an application MCU. The CCS811_ implements _ internally intelligent algorithms that process raw measurements and output values for the Total VOCs (TVOCs) and the equivalent CO, (eC0;) detected in the air. The computed eC, value fairly represents the real CO, concentration, as long as the detected VOCs come from humans. This sensor also implements multiple optimized measurement modes for low power consumption, and an “idle” mode for extending battery lif in portable applications. The CCSB1LJ is connected to the Core2 device's Port A, which exposes pins GPIO32 (SDA) and P1033 (SCL) from the ESP32 processor (see Figure 2), The SHARP/Socle Technology GP2Y1010AUOF is a compact optical dust sensor capable of detecting smoke and other very fine particles. Tt is an analog-output sensor composed of an infrared (IR) LED- phototransistor pair, diagonally arranged in the device. The sensor detects reflected light from dust or smoke particles in the air, and provides a voltage output level that corresponds to the particle density in g/m. The GP2V1O10AUOF sensor interfaces with ‘an MCU via two pins: a digital LED input pin ‘and an analog Vo output pin, Through the LED input pin, the sensor receives @ short pulse that turns on the internal infrared LED. After 280us, the Vo output pin provides an ‘analog voltage proportional to the air particle density. To read this sensor, the Core2 device must provide first the short digital pulse, and then sample the analog output voltage with an ‘analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input. Next, by applying a transfer function provided by the device's datasheet, the corresponding wo/ rm® particle density value can be calculated. I connected this sensor to the Core2 device's Port B, which exposes pins GPI026 (DAC) and GPI036 (ADC) from the ESP32 MCU. P1026 is used as a digital output to generate the required digital pulse, and pin GPIO36 is configured as an ADC input to sample the output voltage. The hardware prototype for the system is shown in Figure 3. In Part 2 of this article series, Port ¢ from the Core2 device, which exposes pins GPIOL3 (RXO2) and GPIO14 (1X02), will be used to Connect the air extractor. SOFTWARE T took the Smart Thermostat project from the Edukit learning program as a starting point for this project [4]. Then, I added and modified source code and configurations for the custom sensors and actuators. Because 1 couldn't find any suitable CCS811 ‘and GP2Y1010AUOF driver libraries readily available for the platform, I had to port custom ones myself, using libraries from other platforms as references. The AWS oT Edukit development environment is based on the FreeRTOS real-time operating system.Any driver/library must be thread-safe in that context, to avoid race conditions and other synchronization issues. The driver library I ported for the CCS811 is very simple with no-frills. It implements the minimum requirements to get readings {from the sensor. It is composed of a ‘ccs811.c’ file located inside the project's “..\Core2-for- AWS-IoT-EduKit\Smart-Air-Cleaner\main” folder and a ‘ccs811h’ file inside the “... Core2-for-AWS-IoT-Edukit\Smart-Air-Cleaner\, main\includes" folder. To compile the drivers without errors, the project's ‘CMakelists.txt’ file, also located inside the “main” folder, must be edited to include the new library modules. In that file, the first configuration line must be edited to include the libraries as et(COMPONENT_SRCS “main.c” “Ftc” “wifi.c” “ecs81l.c 14 void ccs811_Init(void) “gp2yl010.c"). The last two parameters are the libraries for the two sensors in the system. Source code from the CCS811 driver library is given in Listing 1. Lines 14-51 define the cesB11_Init() function that initializes the sensor. With line 21, a handle to the IC communications port is created specifying the °C address and baud rate. With line 24, a “software reset” is performed in the sensor by writing a reset code to the corresponding register in the device. Line 33 switches the sensor to “application mode" by writing to it a specific code. According to the datasheet, a destination register is not required for this transaction; hence, the *12C_NO_RFG" value as the second argument. Line 43 sets the sensor's default measurement mode as “mode 1s" (constant power mode, measurements every 1 second). 15 1 16 const static wint32_t sw_reset = Ox8a72e511; // Software reset code 17 static uint&_t app_start = CCSB11_REG_APP_START: // App start register 18 static vint8_t mode_is ~ CCS811_NODE_IS: 7/ Mode 1S code 19 esp_err_t err: // SP error type 20 21 my_port_A_peripheral = Core2ForAWS Port_A_I2C_Begin(CCS811_I2C_ADDRESS_1, PORT_A_IZC_STANDARO_BAUD); 22 23/7 Perform a software reset 24 err = Core2ForAWS_Port_A_12C_Write(my_port_A_peripheral, CCS811_REG_SW_RESET, &swreset, 1): 25 if(lerr){ 26 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “----- >> sw_reset OK"); 27 | else T 28 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “-~ >> sw_reset Error”): 2 | 30 vTaskDelay(100); // Wait 100 ms after the reset 31 32 ‘// Switch to sensor's application made 33 err = Core2ForaWS_Port_A_I2C_Write(my_port_A_peripheral, I2C_NO_REG, &app_start, 1): 34 if(lerr){ 35 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “-~ ssss7=>> app_start Ok 36 | else | 37 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “ <+->> app_start 38 39 40 vTaskDelay(100); // Wait 100 ms after starting the app 4 42 ‘// Set default measurement mode to “Is' 43 err = Core2ForAWS_Port_A_I2C_Write(my_port_A peripheral, CCSB11_REG_MEAS_MODE, &mode_ls, 1): 44 if(lerr){ 45 ESP_LOGI(TAG, ==> CCS811_MODE_1S 0K"); 46 | else T 47 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “----- >> €CS811_MODE_IS Error”); a) 49 50 vTaskDelay(100); // Wait 100 ms after setting the meas. mode 51) usmine 1 Here ore tines 14 to 51 of the source coe forthe ams OSRAM CCSEI1 ultralow-power, dtl 98s Sensors diver Horary. (he complet tng i vallble onthe Circuit Cala acti materials webpage.)CIRCUIT CELLAR «JANUARY 2023 4390 For the following code line references, please refer to the complete listing available on the Circuit Cellar article materials webpage. Lines 54-81 define the ccs811_Readata() function that reads the eCO, and TVOC values from the sensor. Lines 60- 668 can be used to troubleshoot the IC communications with the ‘sensor, in case the obtained values appear to be incorrect. This code block reads the hardware ID from the sensor and prints it to the terminal window in hexadecimal format. According to 10 void gp2y_init(void) 17 ADC input 47 Turn on IR LED *>>p>9900>> adc_reading.mv : 2d", adc_reading_av); // Just for debugging particle concentration + adc_reading_mv/1000.0; ets_delay_us(9680); // Wait 9680 us (GP2Y101DAUDF’s reading period is >= 10 ms) particle_concentration = particle_concentration/NUM_ADC_READS: // Compute average 71 GP2Y1010AUOF runs with 5V. We are using a voltage divider to downscale the reading / Upscale reading to a OV-5¥ range particle_concentration); 4.2 ut 12 ff Initialize GP10 pins for GP2Y1010AUOF particle sensor 13 Core2ForAWS_Port_PinNode(PORT_8_ADC_PIN, ADC) 14 Core2ForAWS_Port_PinNode(GPIO_NUM_26, OUTPUT): // IR LED output 15 } 16 17 void gp2y_Read(float* part_con_val) 18 | 19 static double particle_concentration; 20 static int adc_reading_mv; ai 22 particle_concentration ~ 0; 23 adc_reading_mv = 0; 24 25 for (int x = 0; x < NUM_ADC_READS; x++) 2 | 27 17 GP2Y1010AUOF reading sequence 28 Core2ForANS_Port_Write(GPIO_NUM_26, false: 29 ets_delay_us(280); 30 31 17 Read ADC input 32 adc_reading_ny = Core2ForAWS_Port_B_ADC_ReadMi11{Volts( 33 17 ESP_LOGI (TAG. 34 35 1/ Sum readings to calculate an average (convert mV to V) 36 particle_concentration 37 38 ets_delay_us(40); // Wait 40 us 39 Core2ForAWS_Port_Write(GPIO_NUM_26, true): // Turn off IR LED 40 cn) 42 3 44 45 // to an equivalent voltage between 0V-3.3V 46 float rdiv_ratio = 3.3 / (3.3 + 1.6); // Voltage divider resistor ratio 7 48 particle_concentration ~ particle concentration/rdiv_ratio: 49 ff ESP_LOGI(TAG, “>>>>>>>>>>> GP2v10: Voltage LV 17 dust for debugging 50 51 {1 Linear equation: http://www.howmuchsnow.com/arduino/airquality/ to convert read voltage to ug/m*3 0.15 52 // Chris Nafis (c) 2012 53 particle concentration ~ 170 * particle concentration 54 55 // The equation is not adjusted for this particular sensor, so sometimes 56 // negative values of particle concentration are seen when it is near zero: 57 if particle concentration < 0) ( 58 particle_concentration = 0: 59} 60 61 *part_con_val = particle_concentration; 62 ff ESP_LOGI(TAG, “>>>>>>39>>> particleCon: %.2f*, particleCon); // Just for debugging 631 sme 2 Source code for the SHARPSocle Technology GP2VIO0AUOF compact optical dus sensor's ver Ubcarythe datasheet, the sensor's ID is ‘0x81, Line 71 reads four bytes from the sensor. The first two bytes must be combined to get the ‘C0, value, and the last two bytes to get the TVOC value (not used in this project). Lines 79-80 combine the corresponding bytes into 16-bit numbers by using bit-shift and “OR" logic operations. Reading the GP2V1010AUOF sensor is also straightforward, The basic procedure is to generate a digital pulse, sample ‘an analog voltage, and apply a transfer function equation. Listing 2 shows the driver code for this sensor. Lines 10-15 define the 9p2y_Iit() function that initializes the required ADC input and digital output. Lines 17-63 define the gp2y_ Read() function that samples the sensor's analog voltage ‘output and computes the particle concentration value. The ‘for’ loop in lines 25-41 samples the analog voltage ’NUN_ ADC_READS' times, and computes an average. This helps to filter some high-frequency noise in the sensor data The suggested reading sequence in the datasheet is as follows: First, turn on the sensor's internal IR LED. The IR LED it works with negative logic, hence the writing of a ‘false’ value in line 28. Wait 260ps (line 29), and then sample the 31 void aws_iot_task(void *param) | 32 static double particle concentration = 33. static int adc_reading_mv = 0: 34 static uintl6_t eco2 = 0: 35 static uintl6_t etvoc = 36 37 38 // My custom sensor and actuators structs 39 jsonStruct_t eco2Handler; 40 ecodHandler.ch ~ NULL: 41 ecodHandler.pkey = “roomCo2”; 42 ecodHandler.pData ~ &roomCo2; 43. ecodHandler.type - SHADOW_JSON_UINT16 44 eco2Handier-dataLength = Sizeof(uintl6_t) 45 46 Il ar 48 jsonStruct_t airExhaustActuator: 49 airExhaustActuator.cb = airExhaust_Cal 1ba 50 airExhaustactuator-pkey = “airExhaust” 51 airExhaustActuator.pData = dairexhaust: 52 airExhaustActuator.type ~ SHADOW_JSON_BOO 53 airExhaustActuator-dataLength = sizeof (bo 54 on 56 57 // register delta callback for airExhaust 58 re ~ aws_iot_shadow_register_del ta(&iotCo 59 iF(SUCCESS I= re) | 60 ESP_LOGE(TAG, “Shadow Register Delta 61} 6} 62 ce 64 65 // loop and publish changes 66 whi e(NETHORK_ATTEMPTING_RECONNECT = re | 67 Wa. 6} use 3 Source code added in the projects ‘ain.’ for the custom sensors an actuators sensor's analog output voltage (lines 32-36). After waiting for 40s (line 38), turn off the IR LED and wait for at least 9,680ys before repeating the reading procedure (lines 39-40). The datasheet recommends a sampling duty cycle of no less than :10ms. That's the obtained period after adding the three delays. The ESP32 ADC works with voltage inputs between OV to 3.3), but the sensor's maximum output voltage is around 4V. To avoid overloading the ADC input, a voltage divider is implemented for the ADC input at GPIO36, with two resistors of 3.3k0 and 1.60 (see Figure 2). Line 46 computes the resistor divider ratio, and line 48 divides the averaged voltage by this, ratio to obtain the voltage value in the sensor's original output scale. I hard-coded the ratio calculation here for practicality, because my goal was to obtain a working driver as soon as possible. Line 53 applies the transfer function (a linear equation) to the sampled voltage to obtain the particle density value. DATA SYNCHRONIZATION ing 3 contains the most relevant source code I added in the project’s ‘main.c’ file for the custom sensors and ks Ls al): reClient, &airExhaustActuator): Error”): | NETHORK_RECONNECTED == re || SUCCESSCIRCUIT CELLAR » JANUARY 202: actuators. For simplicity, I excluded the rest of the code from the original Smart Thermostat project, but full source code and schematics are available on the Circuit Cellar article material webpage. Please download the complete listing to check all code line references mentioned. Lines 31-82 in this listing define the aws_iot_task FreeRTOS task function that handles all sensor readings and communications with the AWS IoT Core server. To include the custom sensors and actuators, structs of type ‘jsonStruct_t” ‘must be defined for each one of them. For instance, ines 39-53, define those structs for the CO, sensor and the air extractor. The first line in each block defines a handler name for the device. The second line defines a callback function that will execute when 2 value change in the handler’s data member (‘eco2Handler. pData’) is detected—for example, after receiving an update from the shadow device on the AWS IoT Cloud. We don’t need a callback function for the CO, sensor, because that data is being generated locally (see line 40). For the air extractor we do need a callback function that will execute commands received from the device shadow (see line 49). Those commands will arive in its hhandler’s data member (‘airExhaustActuator.pData’) whi Te(NETHORK_ATTEMPTING_RECONNECT == rc || The third line in each code block (lines 41, 50) define key names for the key:value pairs in the shadow device containing state data for this device. Lines 42 and 51 set the local variables used to store values for the key:value pairs. For these handlers, those variables are defined in lines 26 and 22, 'roomCo2! is the integer variable that will store the CO, readings in parts-per-million (PPM) from the CCS811 sensor. ‘airExhaust’ is the Boolean variable that will store “true/false” ‘commands received from the AWS IoT serverless application, to activate/deactivate the air extractor. Lines 43, 44, 52 and 53 set the type and size for those variables. Next, for each actuator, you should register the corresponding, callback function that will execute when a delta (a difference) in an incoming value is detected. Lines 58-61 register the air extractor callback function, and lines 7-14 define the callback function in question. For now, in this callback we are just printing the received command or state to the terminal window. For the particle sensor, a similar set of steps is repeated. I ‘omitted those lines in the listing for simplicity. Open the ‘main.c’ file in the Smart-Air-Cleaner project folder to see the complete ‘source code (on the Circuit Cellar Article Materials webpage). NETWORK_RECONNECTED == re || SUCCESS = rc) ( 1 2 rc = aws_iot_shadow_yield(&iotCoreClient, 200); 3 if(NETWORK_ATTEMPTING RECONNECT == rc || shadowUpdateInProgress) { 4 rc = aws_iot_shadow_yield(&iotCoreClient, 1000); 5 // If the client is attempting to reconnect, ar already waiting on a shadow update, 6 // we will skip the rest of the loop. i continue; 8 4 9 10 // START get sensor readings noo 12 13. // Read the C02 sensor 14 ccsB11_ReadData(&eco2, &etvoc); // read the data from sensor; 15 roomCo2 ~ eco2; 16 17 /J Read the particle density sensor 18 gp2y_Read(&partcon); 19 particleCon ~ partcon; 20 21 // END get sensor readings 22 23 _ESP_LOGTCTAG, “Shane n aera eaarrariaa aaa anno onan a EES aad 24 ESP_LOGICTAG, “On Device: roomdccupancy %5”, roomOccupancy ? “true” : “false”): 25 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “On Device: hvacStatus %s”, hvacStatus); 26 —-ESP_LOGI(TAG, “On Device: temperature %f", temperature 27 ESP_LOGICTAG, “On Device: sound td”, reportedSound); 28 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “On Device: roomCo2 2d", roomCo2); 29°“ ESP_LOGI(TAG, “On Device: particleCan %f", particleCon) 30 ESP_LOGI(TAG, “On Device: airBlow 4s", airBlow ? “true” : “false"); 31 ESPLLOGI(TAG, “On Device: airExhaust fs", airExhaust ? “true” : “false") 32 33 re = aws_iot_shadow_init_json_document(JsonDocumentBuffer, size0fdsonDocumentBuffer); 34 ff(SUCCESS == re) | 35 r¢ = aws_iot_shadow_add_reported(JsonDocumentBuffer, size0fJsonDocumentBuffer, 8, AtemperatureHandler, 36 &soundHandler, &roomOccupancyActuator, &hvacStatusActuato 37 Beco2Handler, &particleConHandler, &airExhaustActuator, &airBlowActuator): sme 4 These are the deals of avs jot task infrite while ep rom Listing 3. (The compet litng i avalable onthe Cut Calla article materials webpage)Lines 66-68 show the place where the infinite while loop for this task is defined. Lines 70-79 show code for printing meaningful debugging messages, in case the infinite loop breaks due to any irrecoverable error—such as any persistent network communications error, or if some data buffer exceeds its capacity. The contents of the while infinite loop from Listing 3 (available on the Circuit Cellar article materials webpage) is shown in detail in Listing 4. Lines 1-8 ensure that the main body will execute as long as the Core? device is still connected to the AWS oT Core server, and there’s no shadow device update currently in progress. If there's aupdate in progress, the while loop will be skipped. If the device fails to reconnect to the server, the loop will be terminated. Line 14 reads the CO, and TVOC values from the CCS811 sensor. Line 18 reads the particle concentration value from the GP2Y1010AUOF sensor. Lines 23-31 print the current sensors’ values and current actuator states to the terminal window. I'm keeping the Smart Thermostat's original sensors and actuators in the project for a comparative reference with the implementation of the new ones. MQTT test client mw Line 33 initializes the JSON document that will contain the key:value pairs to be sent to the AWS ToT Core broker. Those values will then be stored in the corresponding device shadow. Particularly, in lines 35-37 we choose which values ‘we want to send to the cloud. The third argument inside the function contains the number of values we are sending, and the rest of the arguments, from the fourth onwards, are the handles of the values themselves. DEVICE SHADOW TEST To test the system so far, we follow the same procedure outlined in the EduKit tutorials for testing the Smart- ‘Thermostat project. 1. Log into your AWS account. 2. Navigate to the AWS IoT console. 3. Go to the “Test” section in the navigation pane and click the ‘option "MQTT test client” (see Figure 4). 4. Confirm that the "Subscribe to a topic” tal “MQTT test client” window. 5. Enter the following topic filter: active in the $aws/things/0123E238C0517EC701 | /shadow/update/accepted You canine the MT cer foment he MOT mage ig pied your AS account Deve blah GIT mesiage Hut are ered ope to communcate kote e AS WT AWS ho ues TT ‘message to inform dese an apo of hangt andere Yuta serie to MOT sage tos Se PN TT mesa o ope bys the MOTT est cen Subscribete atopic Publish toa topic Top ar te 3 setae » pasion coanaratan FrouRe 4 [MQTT test cent—subscrbe to topic ‘Subscribe toa tople ‘Publish toa topic (eared (acta HEATING aombcpaney tm Saitou tne })} + (hin ‘/shadow/update/accepted September 29, 2022, 00:19:03 (UTCZ) { state": ( "reported": { “temperature”: 64531212, sound": 7, “roomoccupancy": false, “particlecon": 35.744244, “airexhaust": false “temperature”: { "timestamp": 1664410743, sound": ( “timestanp": 1669410743, FIGURES MOTT test clent—publish to top FIGURES IMQTT test clent—shadow updateFIGURE? VS Cade terminal window updste shadow “$aws/things/<>/shadow/ update/accepted”. Replace <> with your device ID and choose “Subscribe.” After a few seconds you should see in the lower part of the window new messages arriving in JSON format (see Figure 5). 6. Go to the “Publish to a topic” tab (see Figure 6). 7. Enter the following topic filter “Saws/things/<>/shadow/ update” Replace <> with your device 1D. 8. Replace the "Message payload” window with the following JSON string: vacStatus” wairExhaust” ABOUT THE AUTHOR esired”: ( STeATiNast cupancy’ tru Raul Alvarez-Torrico has a BEng in electronics and is the founder of TecBolivia, a company offering services in physical computing and educational robotics in Bolivia. In his spare time, he likes to experiment wit and artificial intelligence, He is also committed sensor networks, robotics wireless to publishing articles and video tutorials about embedded systems and programming in his native language (Spanish), at their company's site wwww.TeeBolivia.com. You may contact him at raulé ‘Additional materials from the author are available at: wonw.circuiteellar.com/article-materials olivia.com, References [1] to [5] as marked in the article can be found there. RESOURCES MQTT | wnw.matt.org Sparkfun | www.sparkfun.com Visual Studio Code de visualstudio.com Click on “Publish.” The Core2 device's LED bars should go red for “HEATING,” blue for “COOLING,” and off for “STANDBY” values in “hvacStatus”. In the VS Code terminal window, you will also see the JSON string you just sent as part of a larger device shadow JSON string (see Figure 7). Please don’t mind the weird line endings in Figure 7, it's just a configuration issue in my VS Code installation. 9. Change the JSON string published before to an “airExhaust" value of “false,” and publish again. Verify that change appears in the terminal window after a few seconds. Change the other values as well, if you want. CONCLUSION One of the first challenges I faced with the implementation of my custom sensors was the lack of readily available drivers for them in the AWS Iof Edukit environment. Because this platform is relatively new, few driver libraries are available for sensors and actuators. Chances are you won't find drivers available for a particular set of sensors and actuators. So, you will probably have to write or port your own. For people with little experience on embedded systems firmware, sure enough, that’s a downer—especially if the platform aims at helping people with litte such experience. There's an “EduKit Content Library” [5] webpage with some projects from the AWS team, and some others contributed by community developers. The last time T checked, there were only around 24 projects available. Nevertheless, they can provide an additional reference if you are interested. In Part 2 of this article series, 1 will explain how to set up the cloud solution that completes the rest of the system. In particular, I will discuss the configuration of topic rules and a detector model suitable for this application. I will also elaborate further the use of the air extractor and the logic involved in controlling it. ©DesiGNCon: Santa Clara Convention Center Sone ee The Nation’s Largest Event for Chip, Board & Systems Design Engineers Created by engineers for engineers, North America’s largest chip, board, and systems event, DesignCon 2023, returns to Silicon Valley. This annual event brings together designers, technologists, and innovators from the high-speed communications and semiconductor communities for three jam-packed days of education and activities. DesignCon is a must-attend opportunity to share ideas, overcome challenges, and source for designs. Join DesignCon at the Santa Clara Convention Center Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2023! Education Expo * DesignCon's 14 Track + Keynote Presentations open to Technical Conference all attendees + Drive World Conference + Free Education at Chiphead Theater Track + Expo Hall with Leading Suppliers Expert Speakers: + Interactive Demos aS oie AmphenolFPGAs are popular with de: and reprogrammability. In this article, I will cover some of the basics of FPGAs—from their architecture to some aspects of FPGA-based design. jeld-programmable gate arrays, (FPGAs) are semiconductor devices that contain an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) which are connected via programmable interconnects. They were developed in the late ‘80s to address processing, industrial, automotive, and even aerospace applications. Since then, the number of applications centered around FPGAs hhas increased exponentially. In this article we will explore the architecture of FPGAs, as well as some aspects of creating an FPGA design. FPGAs are categorized based on t different end-user applications, such as those in automotive, defense and space. Table 1 shows some examples of devices for each of those industries. FPGA resources are categorized by the following parameters: ‘+ Number of Available 1/0's (Differential and ‘Single-Ended). ‘+ Amount of Internal memory (RAM) ‘© DSP Slices (Complex Multipliers) © Connectivity Ports (Serial Interfaces, Memory Interfaces, etc.) Pin-compatible devices with more resources than are needed should be ‘considered while choosing an FPGA for a new design, to allow for enough design margin. ‘As a basic rule, 60% to 75% utilization of an FPGA's logic resources—like slices and LuTs—can be considered a higher limit, beyond which congestion and timing issues can arise, FPGAs are used in a broad range of applications in technologies like 5G wireless, embedded vision, industrial _Internet-of- Things (JoT), and cloud computing. This is made possible by the availability of ARM processor cores and C-based compilers for a given FPGA platform. ‘Another important application of FPGAS is in the field of platform engineering, an increasingly in-demand discipline in the industry. In platform engineering, SoCs ‘and ASICs can be prototyped on FPGAs and validated even before the tape-out of the final device. Let's now try to understand FPGA architecture and its workflows. ARCHITECTURE ModernFPGAscomewith their programmable logic integrated with the processor system core in the same chip—converting an FPGA into a programmable SoC. Figure 4 is the various logic components inside a Zynq Ultrascale+ FPGA. Typically, these consist of a configurable logic block (CLB), digital signal processing (05P), a transceiver, inputfoutput (1/0) blocks, memories, and Federal Development and Certification Environment (FDCE) blocks. CLBS: A CLB's logic function is defined and configured by the FPGA user. A typical CLB contains a set of lookup tables (LUTs) and Detype flip-flops with clock enable (FDCE). When the logic is programmed into the FPGA, each CLB takes a part of the logic and configures itself to perform that function. Figure 2s a typical CLB contained in an FPGA. DSP Slices: Many algorithms, such as Al, require a lot of math and signal processingto handle a specific scenario. DSP broadens the scope of the overall FPGA structure, so that complex algorithms such as filtering or matrix multiplication are performed with significantly greater efficiency than they would be using many CLBS. Transceivers: Several__transceivers available in complex FPGAs can transmit and receive data at ahigh data rate via a Serializer/ Deserializer (SERDES), pair of functional blocks which can rapidly send thousands of signals through @ single transceiver path. ‘A set of high-speed transceiver blocks can be connected using a GT cable to transmit and receive data at a rate of tens of Gbps. Figure 3 is a block diagram of a SERDES. 1/0 Blocks: 1/0 blocks are a vital part of ‘an FPGA—they are where the FPGA's data connects to external circuitry. 1/0 ports are defined in a Xilinx Design Constraints (XDC) file with the extension .xdc. In an XOC file, one needs to provide a pin number along with a logic level voltage (such as LVCMOS or LVTTL) based on the external device to which it's connected. It's important to refer to the 1/0 bank voltages of the 1/0 ports to select the correct port. Consider the Zynq UltraScalet+ device ‘as an example. Each 1/0 bank contains 52 SelectIO interface pins. In some devices, there are high-range (HR) 1/0. mini-banks 19 26 Selectl0 pins, each with their fries Petes Xilinx Automotive (XA) XA Artixe7_ Kintex XA Zynq UltraScale+ XA Zynq-7000 Artix-7Q intex-7Q Virtex-79 Xilinx Defense-Grade Xilinx Space-Grade Virtex-SQV Virtex-aQy ranuea ‘own independent power supply and VREF pin. The SelectIO pins can be configured to various 1/0 standards, either single-ended or differential. Single-ended 1/0 standards are, for example, LVCMOS, LVTTL, and POD. Some examples of differential 1/0 standards are LVDS, SLVS, and LVPECL. Certain’ rules must be obeyed while combining different input, output, and bidirectional standards in the same bank: ‘Output standards with the same output VCO requirement can be combined in the same bank. ‘© Input standards with the same VCO and REF requirements can be combined in the same bank. Input standards and output standards Some FPGA sevies, organized by three of the major industries in ich they ae cammeniy Found Conigurabl) fay Feo eas] | uo —| este GPU Mali-400 = Programmable logic a fe § ) a a a) 7006 5] imteranen 1008. Gry || aH Quad || uss Vou __][ PC H.2647.265]|_ Gena Frcune Here san FPGA Block Digram Otic). Note: Itersken fan interconnect protocol to tackle high-speed signaling between chips in network applications. 8CIRCUIT CELLAR » JANUARY 2023 4390 Carry in Figure2 (1B representation diagram [1] ¥ Carry out + Pos Pos cameo || Chane fare || Pert senpes || ScRDES Gnamaio || Chama Pes || Rese peut Figure3 Representation block agra of SERDES [2] (@ Duatpor opm. 0) Doaw.-401 DOPE, BoB for ©) Snglegort Figure 4 FPGA inferred BRAM ‘RESOURCES Xiling.com | wwwn.arrow.com with the same VCO requirement can be combined in the same bank. Block Random Access Memory: There are various types of memory available which can be interfaced with an ASIC. But in FPGAs with limited die area, memory is more constrained. The dedicated memory on the chip itself is referred to as block RAM (BRAM). There are other types of RAM, like unified RAM (URAM), or distributed RAM (DRAM), which is part of SLICEM. While each individual block is a fixed size (36Kb for Xilime 7 series chips), these blocks can be subdivided or cascaded to make smaller or larger BRAM blocks as needed. They can also be configured to support special functionality such as error-correction. RAMs are a major component of FPGAS, and 2 high percentage of utilization can result in congestion and non-routable scenarios. So, BRAM usage must be planned efficiently to prevent this. Atypical FPGA BRAM instance is somewhat different from the hard memories found in an ASIC. When writing code for a BRAM to be inferred, the ports mapping and instantiation must be correctly implemented in the HDL code to ensure it's synthesized. properly. Figure 4 shows a typical FPGA-inferred BRAM. BRAM can be either synchronous or asynchronous. When we say that BRAM is synchronous, we mean that reads and writes fare synchronous with the clock. Listing is a small snippet of Verilog code defining synchronous BRAM. FOCE: FOCEs are the flip-flop blocks present in an FPGA. These are limited in number, and they play @ major part in the overall FPGA utilization, FOCE blocks play a critical role in logie design, as well as in timing constraints ‘and placement, An efficent FDCE placement promotes an accurate timing design. FPGA DESIGN FLOW FPGA design flow is typically spread across four major stages: elaboration, synthesis, routing, and device programming. In the elaboration stage, the design is compiled, checked for any syntax errors, and converted into circuitry. During elaboration, behavioral simulations can be performed to assess if the design meets the logic requirements. A test bench can be added, and the design assessed. Once the design meets the logic requirements, it's parsed in the synthesis stage, where it’s converted into a flattened netlist. This netlist file then translates, maps, land finally performs placement inside the FPGA. If the design over-utilizes the FPGA's resources in the synthesis stage, it remains tunplaced and throws an error in the design tool.module singleportram( oe. address, we. clk, dout d parameter DATA_WIDTH = 8 ; parameter ADDRESS WIDTH = 8 input COATAWIDTH-1:03 dins input input oe: input we: ‘input CADORESS_WIDTH-1:0) address; input. clk: output [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] dout; reg [DATAIDTH-1:0] memoryelement [ADDRESS_WIDTH reg [DATALWIDTH-1:0] d_out(ADDRESS_NIOTH- 1:0]; always @(posedge clk)begin if (cs && We && !0e) begin memoryelementCaddress] sate nae ——— a ee Doves programming sting 1 FPGA BRAM code Figure 5 FPGA desig flow ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nishant Mittal is a hardware engineer in Bangalore,The Evolution of Flat Panel TV Technology From CRT to OLED and Beyond By Faiz Rahman are not far from the centenary of one of the most important inventions in modern history— fone that brought moving pictures to living rooms all across the world. On October 2, 1925, the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird, often called "The Father of Television,” succeeded in demonstrating the first proper television. It was a truly groundbreaking invention that laid the foundation for the British Broadcasting Corporation (B8C) in the years that followed. Recognizing the impact of his invention over the course of nearly a hundred years, the UK Royal Mint recently released a coin celebrating this achievement (Figure 4) Baird’s original invention was an electromechanical device that was not really suitable for long-distance TV transmission. In later years, with the advent of valve-based electronics, Baird and others re-invented the TV in a form that could be beamed through radio waves to reach audiences over large geographic areas. Later still, the technology embraced solid-state electronics, and even the ability to transmit and display images in color. Thereafter, up until the 1980s TV technology remained relatively stagnant, before another wave of innovations took it by storm. TV display technology changed dramatically from the late 1980s to the early 1990s when the so-called flat panel displays (FPDs) started to appear. Prior to that, the venerable cathode ray tube (CRT) had served that role since the emergence of TVs, themselves, in the 1930s. Flatscreen TVs are ubiquitous, but even tech-savvy readers might not know of some of the engineering feats that continue to push this technology forward. Here, I cover the history of their development, and look at what's ahead. The FPDs were immediately perceived as a disruptive technology, because of the several clear advantages they offered over the old CRT displays. The main benefit was easy scale-up of display dimensions. Before the advent of FPDs, increasing the size of CRTs was challenging, because of their complicated construction and method of operation. This is easy to understand if one keeps in mind that CRTs are basically oversized vacuum tubes. Just like any vacuum tube, CRTs are made from fragile materials, painstakingly assembled together into a heavy and bulky image-display device. Flat displays—not based on the use of accelerated electron beams (cathode rays)—are inherently easier to construct, transport, and use. As it happened, the FPD revolution brought a proliferation of display technologies as the years went by. In what follows, I examine the main features of FPD technologies, focusing on both their operating principles and attendant benefits. NEON STARTS A REVOLUTION The first FPD technology was based on plasma display panels (PDPs), which are essentially an array of miniature neon lights. A PDP consists of a two-dimensional array of tiny chambers, each coated with a red, green, or blue phosphor, sandwiched between two thin glass sheets. These dielectric sheets are printed with a pattern of parallel conductive lines, with lines on one sheet running orthogonal to lines on the other sheet. These tracks are called “address‘and display electrodes.” This assembly is enclosed between a pair of glass sheets and hermetically sealed all around. During the panel sealing process its filled with a mixture of neon and xenon gases and mercury vapor, at a low pressure. ‘As shown in the schematic cut-away diagram in Figure 2, the chambers or cells ‘are formed by rib’ partitions, and each is coated with a thin red, green, or blue phosphor layer: A trio of RGB cells forms a single color pixel, where each R, G, and B sub- pixel is individually addressable. To make any sub-pixel light up, its corresponding row and column tracks are energized, such that a glow discharge takes place at their intersection. The gas composition and pressure are chosen so that most radiation in the discharge is emitted in the UV region. The UV photons strike the phosphor, and visible red, green, or blue light is emitted. TI lar to the way fluorescent neon lamps operate. The intensity of emitted light can be varied by controlling the voltage on the display electrode, through a technique called pulse width modulation. By controlling the intensities of the red, green, ‘and blue sub-pixels, any desired color can be displayed. The entire display is scanned at high speed to show video frames at 50 or 60 frames per second, Plasma displays were the leading television display technology during the 1990s. POPs can be made in very large screen sizes and have many advantages over other display technologies. Perhaps the most important is the extremely high contrast exhibited by plasma panels. Since any pixel can be completely dark when not addressed, PDPs have especially high contrast values. PDPs are also “fast,” because their pixel cells can be switched between lit and un-lit states quickly. For this reason, they do not show any motion blur in high-speed action scenes. POP screens don't rely on polarization of light to switch pixels on and off, and thus, can be viewed from any angle. While PDPs offer all these benefits, their sealed, gas-containing construction makes them heavy, fragile, and difficult to assemble. These issues caused their ultimate demise, when other displays that were easier to manufacture started to be commercialized in later years. LIQUID CRYSTALS ENTER THE SCENE During the late 1990s, PDP technology began to be supplanted by a different FPD technology. It was based on a light valve or switch that could be made transparent or opaque under electrical control, and relied on control of the polarization of light. Light consists of oscillating electric (and magnetic) fields that are oriented at right angles to the direction of light propagation. These oscillating fields can be oriented at any angle around the light’s propagation direction. If the oscillations take place along only a certain direction perpendicular to the light's travel direction, then the light is sai to be “plane polarized.” This can be easily achieved by passing ordinary unpolarized light through a polarizing material, such as a sheet of Polaroid plastic, which has a well- defined polarizing direction, Another Polar sheet placed close to the first sheet will either allow light to pass through it or get blocked, depending on whether the polarization directions of the two Polaroid sheets are parallel or perpendicular to each other. Figure 2 Schematic structure ofa television pasmardsply panel FacuRe 1 UK Royal Mint 50p coin celebrating TY pioneer John Logie Baird (Image courtesy of The Royal Mir)ET CIRCUIT CELLAR » JANUARY 202: This basic principle can be used to construct a display device, by using a Polaroid sheet together with an electrically- controllable, polarization-inducing device. Such a device is made by sandwiching a material called a “liquid crystal” between two sheets of electrically-conducting glass plates. Liquid crystals are materials with long, rod-like molecules that can twist under the action of an applied electric field, and rotate the plane of polarization of light passing through them. ‘A liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel consists of a two-dimensional grid of liquid-crystal cells that can be controlled individually. Applying a voltage to any cell causes the plane of polarization of light passing through that cell to align with the polarization direction of the Polaroid sheet. This allows the arrangement of the liquid- crystal cell and the Polaroid sheet to become locally transparent to the passage of light. A flat, uniformly-lit white screen placed at the back then becomes visible at that point, displaying a picture element (pixel). If the voltage is removed from a chosen liquid- LED Bactigh ‘lass Fits wi Cover Gass FIGURE Schematic diagram showing the basic contruction of an LCD pal (mage courtesy of Tyo Ink Group, ks) ABOUT THE AUTHOR Faiz Rahman, PhD, is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Ohio University, Russ College of Engineering and Technology. Dr. Rahman's research interests are in semiconductor materials and devices for electronics and photonics, in particular in the development of novel radiation ‘emitters and detectors. He also conducts research on various ‘semiconductor manufacturing processes. Email: [email protected] crystal cel, then light is not able to pass through, and that pixel becomes dark. By selectively turning pixels on and off, both still and moving images can be displayed. Color pictures can be displayed by using red, green, and blue plastic filters, uniformly distributed on the LCD panel so that the pixels appear colored (Figure 3) LCD technology has now matured to the extent that LCD-based TVs have become commodity products—manufactured in large numbers and sold at affordable prices. Early LCD TVs exhibited problems with LCD cell- switching speeds, which caused “motion streaks" to appear in scenes where moving bright lights were shown. This issue was overcome by the use of better liquid-crystal materials and optimized liquid-crystal cell design. These advances also helped to increase the viewing angle of the displays, so that people not seated directly in front of the screen can also see a normal, undistorted image. The one problem that has taken longer to solve is the limited image contrast delivered by LCDs. This arises because “off” LCD pixels are not completely opaque, and some light passes through them. Thus, black pixels are not entirely black, but are rather a deep shade of gray. Better materials and device design and optimization have greatly improved image contrast in modern LCD panels, but there is still room for improvement. Traditional LCD technology has spawned a number of more advanced offshoots that feature better image reproduction. While these are still based on the basic LCD panel, the innovations lie in the construction of the backlight, which differentiates various derivative technologies. This fact has been somewhat cleverly exploited by TV ‘manufacturers by advertising them as distinct TV technologies—LED, QLED, Nanocell, and others. Nevertheless, itis a fact that these are definite improvements over the traditional simple LCD technology. So, let's explore these more modern variants of the LCD technology. TVs WITH LED BACKLIGHTING The original LCD TVs made use of a backlight that was basically just a sheet of diffuse white plastic, lit by slim, cold cathode fluorescent light (CCFL) tubes from the sides. CCFL edge-lit backlights were mass produced in several sizes for the TV industry. With the arrival of high- brightness, white LEDs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, fragile CCFL tubes were replaced by lighter, cheaper, and more controllable white LEDs. Thus began the era of LED backlights— with LEDs first positioned around the edges, and later directly behind the light diffuser screen, as shown in Figure 4.In this role, LEDs offer several advantages. Low power consumption is at the top of the list. LEDs consume only a fraction of the power dissipated by CFLs. LEDs also provide better color balance, which makes colors more realistic. But perhaps the biggest advantage offered by LED-backlit TVs is the ability to provide local dimming. These devices can be individually controlled, and their brightness can be made to mimic the dark and bright locations of the image being displayed. LEDs behind dark parts of an image can be dimmed appropriately. This greatly enhances the perceived image contrast. Today, most LCD TVs make use of this feature. Because LED brightness can be modulated at high speeds, this works well with modern image displays with high frame rates. During the past four years, a new ‘generation of TVs has started using dense, two-dimensional arrays of small LEDs to illuminate their backlights. These “mini- LED" TVs offer the ultimate in local contrast control that is possible with LCD technology. This feature, together with their competitive pricing, has made it one of the best-selling TV technologies of recent times. UANTUM DOTS AND NANO ARTICLES STEAL THE SHOW The RGB color combination scheme lies behind all color display systems. This is how it works. Narrow wavelength spread (high color purity) in the red, green, and blue light components enables ‘the creation of a wider palette of displayed colors, or a “wide color gamut.” Traditional white LED TV backlight technology does not allow narrow wavelengths to be selected by simple filtering ‘of white light. However, TV manufacturers have found a way to achieve primary color sources with narrow wavelength spread by ithe use of quantum, dats Quantum dots are very pure, nanometer- sized crystals of substances such as cadmium sulfide, cadmium selenide, indium phosphide, and other binary compounds, synthesized through techniques that produce crystals of precise dimensions. By irradiating quantum dots with blue or ultraviolet light, one can ‘obtain other visible colors that depend on the size of the crystal. The smaller the dimension ‘of the quantum dot crystal, the longer its emitted wavelength. Thus, with increasing size, quantum dot emission shifts toward the red end of the spectrum, The same material, grown in different sizes, can produce a range of emission colors, as shown in Figure 5. Quantum dots have been used in ‘quantum-dot LED (QLED) displays that benefit from the narrow wavelength emission from ‘quantum dots. These displays use a plastic FlouRe 4 White LEDs positened ina 20 array bein the backlight iffse fan LCD TV film containing red- and green-emitting {quantum dots. The film is placed in front of a backlight illuminated by blue LEDs. Quantum dots absorb blue light and convert it into red and green light. Together with the residual blue light from the backlight, the combination produces white light with narrow red, green, and blue spectral peaks. The QLED light source thus produces the ideal spectral emission for color image reproduction. QLED TVs, popularized by Samsung, are renowned for their excellent color rendering, They produce shades that are close to natural, for the rendition of challenging colors, such ‘as skin tones. A comparable technology is that of “Nanocell” displays, developed by LG Electronics. Here, too, a polymer sheet with dispersed nanoparticles is used, but in this case the particles are used for filtering light from a white backlight. This produces a spiky RGB spectrum that can be used for more accurate color rendering than is possible from a simple LED-Iit white backlight. Both QLED and Nanocell TVs produce exceptional color reproduction, and have gradually become highly successful products, FaGuRE 5 Serpensions of quontam dos of diferent size gloning under ukrailt ightFICURE 6 ‘OLED THs produce the depest locks of any current TV teehelogy RESOURCES ice lectronics | wwn.g.com Samsung | wwrw.samsung.com Polaroid | wanw-polaraid.com TV BECOMES ORGANIC All FPDs based on the LCD technology utilize a backlight as the source of display illumination. It light from the backlight that is visible at the location of lit pixels. The LCD panel simply acts as a matrix of light valves that make the backlight locally visible, or not. In contrast, a self-emissive display has a point source of light at each pixel location that can be selectively turned on or off to display brightness or darkness at that point. Widely used LED matrix boards are examples of self-emissive cisplays, where each pixel location is an LED, or 2 trio of RGB LEDs. Implementing this scheme in TVs requires much tougher engineering, because of the need to produce miniaturized, light-emitting elements at individual pixel locations. This approach has been successfully developed through the technology of organic, light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), to make a new breed of selfemissive TVs. OLED TVs make use of special panels manufactured by LG Electronics. The panels are constructed from electrically ‘conducting sheets of organic, light-emitting semiconductors patterned into arrays of ‘organic LEDs—each paired with a driving transistor that can switch the corresponding LED on or off. Using a so-called "thin film transistor” (TFT) to control each OLED is called an “active matrix approach.” This strategy allows fast scanning of the entire OLED panel, leading to high image-refresh rates. The OLEDs can be made from different materials that can emit red, green, or blue light. The most outstanding advantage of this design is that, when not lit, pixels can be completely dark, and thus can reproduce perfect black levels in scenes being displayed. OLED TVs are, therefore, renowned for their high dynamic contrast levels—something that even the best LCD-based TVs cannot match (Figure 6). The near-perfect black levels, combined with rich color reproduction, wide viewing angles, high frame-rate capability and the possibilty of making thin and lightweight curved screens, all have contributed to the widespread popularity of OLED displays. Quantum dots are also being integrated with OLED displays, to further enhance color reproduction accuracy. Q-OLED displays could be made from a single blue-color, active-matrix OLED array, with red-, green-, and blue-emitting quantum dots printed on adjacent pixels to provide full-color capability. Compared to LCDs, OLED TVs command a price premium, due to the involved nature of their production and their somewhat low manufacturing yield. Nevertheless, these displays have grown in popularity, and have become available in ever-larger screen sizes— currently approaching 100 inchest THE ROAD AHEAD The television industry thrives on introducing new display technologies through continuous technological innovations. Commercially successful technologies are improved and re-marketed, while new technologies are developed and promoted on a regular basis. This is now a well- established trend, and has resulted in ongoing improvements to display picture quality and related performance metrics Micro-LED,_ self-emissive displays based on tiles of gallium nitride LEDs are the most advanced alternative technology at this time. Beyond it, several new technolagies are being investigated in corporate and academic R&D labs, These include the use of laser diodes ing blue illumination for QUED ts. Replacing blue LEDs with blue laser diodes can improve the spectral characteristics of light by narrowing down the blue component, too. New luminescent materials for generating colored light, such as charge transfer compounds, are also being investigated for electronically altering colors produced at each pixel location, instead of Using filters to produce component colors. There is no doubt that we will continue to see more exciting TV display technologies in years to come—some with capabilities that are hard to imagine today. ©ET Col col Non-Conductive Liquids SUM ac (o (me Ms re om Sree eects ie liquid level probe intended for Patent) aries non-conductive liquidsjas well. ft too long ago, our company developed and built a gas. conditioner for fuel cell research. Before supplying hydrogen and air to the fuel cell, the gases had to be humidified and warmed up to a controlled level. Humidification was performed using a_membrane-based, flow-through system, which required distilled or deionized water. As a result, the level of distilled water had to be monitored throughout the operation of the gas conditioner, and the water had to be replenished automatically to compensate for the water carried away with the gas. The task seemed to be quite simple, and there was no shortage of various level sensors and switches available at Grainger or McMaster- Carr. Unfortunately, they did not fit one way or another—either too big, or too expensive, or outside the temperature range. Therefore, we came up with our ovin solution. It is important to understand that distilled water is not conductive, but rather “polar.” This means that a water molecule is a dipole having partial positive and negative charges. Other molecules, including ethanol, ammonia, and acetic acid (vinegar) are also. polar. Figure 1 shows the distribution of charges across the water and ammonia molecules. The dipole characteristic of these molecules is going to be very useful for us. When a polar liquid is placed into an electric field, the molecule dipoles orient themselves along the field lines, effectively reducing the electric feld within the liquid. This phenomenon is described through a dielectric constant, €. For water at 20°C, Ly eT aL 10; for liquid ammonia at -34°C, €=22. If such liquid is placed into a capacitor, its capacitance would increase € times, compared to an air-filled capacitor. Our level switch utilizes this phenomenon according to the diagram shown in Figure 2, which is effectively a voltage divider. The voltage on the resistor part of the divider is applied to the sensor, whose capacitance depends on the liquid level. As the liquid reaches the sensor's rod, the capicitance increases, and the voltage drops. A good candidate for an airtight sensor is the Dwyer CLP-1 liquid level probe (Figure 3). Contrary to our requirements, the probe is specifically designed to work with conductive liquids! But as we will see, our solution makes it perfectly suitable for bot conductive and non-conductive liquids. (Although Dwyer is not producing such sensors anymore, there is a wide variety of similar products at Grainger under the category "Conductivity Level Probes.” For example, item ‘#6EJP7, Liquid Level Probe: Industrial, 1/2 in NPT, 304 Stainless Steel.) FiguRe ‘This iso schematic recesentation of electron density dsttaion ia water (ft) and amma (gh) roleaies. lve tore inceaes the transition fom negative to postive partial cheges24 CIRCUIT CELLAR « JANUARY 202: FicuRE2 Outer shall and 9 sensor rod rake a iui capac, which i the iui lve sensor The capactanceinereases asthe Fed is being immerse tic Cd Air 8.80 14.0 Distilled water, 1-2 mm immersion 0.72 1288.0 City water, 1-2 mm immersion 0.13 7592.0 raat 1 with ond without dstiled water or ey water FIGURE 3 23) Dwyer Instruments CLP-1lgud level probe (age adapted fram dnyer-instcom); b) The prabe placed int the 935 contioner The ests of our experiments with a sine wave generator to determine the capacitance of cur system We did not know the capacitance of our system with and without the distilled water Therefore, we conducted initial experiments with a sine-wave generator, S00H2, U=10Vp-p,, 00pF and R-re0 (removed). Capacitor and the liquid level sensor with capacitance emake a divider: y,-U, Measurements produced the results shown in Table 4. These findings are quite revealing. First, our physical model seems correct. Indeed, the distilled-water-filled capacitor is about 80 times higher than the air-filled capacitor! Second, as a side note, the capacitance in the case of distilled water is quite high—1.3nF—which explains why any digital electronics should not be turned on wet, even if the wetness is due to non-conductive distilled water or dew. Such capacitance at the megaHertz-scale frequencies presents itself as low impedance of a few hundred ohms. Knowing the order of magnitude of the capacitance in our configuration, the final design for a two-channel liquid level switch was created and tested. The schematic for it is shown in Figure 4. A sine-wave oscillator is built around Ut.1, which produces approximately 3kHz. The oscillator is followed by the buffer U1.2. The signal is split into two identical channels built around U2.1 and U2.2. (In our design we had to humidify two different gases. In principle, there may be fone, two, or more channels). Let's focus on one of the channels in Figure 4 ‘outlined with a red-dashed rectangle. The 100pF capacitor, as explained above, is a part of the voltage divider. The 390k® resistor shunts statics and electromagnetic noise that may occur in the ssensor and wires leading to it. The outer shell of the sensor is tied with ground (GND_COMMON). ‘Measured amplitudes on the sensor with respect to ground were 0.18V and 2.88V, with and without distilled water, respectively. The U2.2 digitizes the sine-wave signal such that when water is present, the output of the ‘comparator becomes high impedance. In this ‘case, this is because the voltage on the inverting input is below that of the non-inverting input. Diode DS acts as a very high-impedance device, preventing any significant current flow into the base of transistor Q3. Hence, the transistor Q3 is not conducting, resulting in low voltage at the gate of the FET Q4. Thus, the Q4 is blocking the current through the solenoid. When water falls below the sensing rod, the output of the comparator produces negative voltage pulsing. These pulses are integrated with the 470kQ resistor R9 and the 22nF capacitor C7. The integrated voltage affects (lowers) the voltageinput of the comparator through R14, 05, thus providing a hysteresis. Hence, the transistor Q3 turns on, resulting in increased voltage at the gate of the FET Q4. Thus, the Q4 opens and the current is flowing through the solenoid. The current through the Q4 energizes the solenoid, and water begins filing up the system, Note that the solenoid is fed with unregulated pulsing voltage "VBR" (20V). The power source forthe level switch was 2 J4VAC transformer with a center tap. The liquid level switch has been shown to work well with distilled (and city) water. But how will it perform with other liquids, and what is the appropriate frequency range? Let us theoretically analyze the divider in Figure 2 and make some predictions. Simple manipulations of complex math reveal the voltage on the sensor as shown in the equatic uc(c+c,) 1(C¥C,) BP where w is angular frequency (w=2nf), and G, is the capacitance of the sensor, which depends on the presence or absence of liquid and its dielectric constant. For a system being designed, one has to experimentally determine C, in air and in liquid. After that, it is possible to come up with optimal C and w, such that the voltage on the sensor is within reasonable limits, and the difference between LU. and Uziis greater than noise. R should be at hundreds of kilohms. Detecting the level of conductive and non- conductive (but polar) liquids was ‘accomplished by utilizing the difference in the dielectric constants of air and the liquid. There is a wide variety of liquid level probes fon the market, which may be labeled “for conductive liquids.” But fear not—our solution will repurpose them for the non-conductive liquids as well! © ABOUT THE AUTHOR FIcuRE 4 Schematic of a two-channel qu level sen Dr. Alexander Pozhitkov, PhD, ias an MSc degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Genetics from Albertus Magnus University in Cologne, Germany. His expertise is in interdisciplinary research involving molecular biology, physical chemistry, and electrical engineering. Alexander has worked in academia (University of Washington and Planck Institute) and in the private sector (MidNite Solar). He owns a small family business, Buddy Engineer, which specializes in the design and manufacturing of research equipment. He Is @ researcher at the City of Hope Medical Center in Los Angeles CA. RESOURCES Buddy Engineer | wwww.buddyengineer.com Dayer Instruments | wow.dwyer-inst.com Grainger | www.grainger.com6 Saad Smart Buildings and Cities Proactive Planning for Your Business. By Michael Lynes Cater Pla WHO LET THE ROBO-DOG OUT? ‘Sure, you're thinking, smart buildings...that’s just what humanity needs. We can't figure out how to postpone Windows updates, so let's add cybernetic warehouse workers with a penchant for somersaults, and fido-droids with killer frisbee skills into the mix. In fact, what we really need is a whole new dystopian cyborg breeding ground, ala I Robot by Isaac ‘Azimov (one of my favorite sci-fi stories, though it was ruined in the movie adaptation, in my humble opinion, by Will Smith and that lady that played Doctor Calvin, but I digress). The concept of a smart city, comprised of many interconnected smart buildings, isn’t new, but has evolved significantly over the last couple of decades. And, whether it was brought into existence by intention, or from one-too- many wireless sprinkler systems accidentally short-circuiting with discarded fit-bits during a thunderstorm, it seems lke it’s here to stay. All the same, ifthe thought of a billion-ton steel land glass behemoth looming over you as you stroll down the street listening to your favorite techno, and using the Bluetooth signals bouncing off of your head to calculate if its window washer-bot could dump a bucket of grimy suds on you as you pass doesn't send a chill down your spine, then maybe this is the wrong article for you. (ust kidding. You can see I've been thinking about this alot.) Anyway, nightmare scenarios aside, the proliferation of smart buildings—and their big brothers and sisters, smart cities—is an undeniable trend in our modern, ever-more- coupled society. Over the past several years the need for diversified, highly connected, and efficient workspaces has grown exponentially. Recent events like the global pandemic cannot be entirely blamed for this, but it certainly threw saltwater onto the already raging smart building lithium fire~— which brings us to the knub of this article. ‘So, there you are one fine Monday morning in November, basking in the cool glow of your twin twenty inch LED monitors, need to move to the smart city of tomorrow? Learn how to avoid and traffic jams, and navigate confidently into your smart building today. scrolling through Twitter as you think about changing this ‘week's line-up for your fantasy football team, and wondering if Doordash is up for delivering lunchtime nachos, when your boss casually pauses in the doorway of your cube-world happy place and says, “Hey, you're an IT guy—what do you think it would take to make our building ‘smart’? The big boss asked ‘me to figure it out, so now it’s your problem. Do some research ‘and get back to me with an executive summary, and a biz case by say, ah, Friday. That would be gr-r-reat. ..” ‘And then she takes 2 sip of her triple-mocha-half-skim- half-soy latte, and wanders off in the direction of the break room as the panic sets in. Fortunately for you, you're reading this comprehensive guide on just that subject. So, sit down, my Padawan, and let me edu-ma-cate you. THE IOT—TWENTY YEARS ON Twenty years? Can it really be that long? Yes, believe it or not, the term ToT (or Internet of Things), is more than twenty years old. According to Wikipedia [1], the term Internet of Things first appeared in a speech by Peter T. Lewis in September 1985. Lewis defined it as “[the] integration of people, processes and technology with connectable devices ‘and sensors to enable remote monitoring, status, manipulation ‘and evaluation of trends of such devices.” The term was even re-coined independently by Kevin Ashton of Procter & Gamble in 1999, though he prefers the phrase Internet for Things, because prepositions, or something, Even further back, before it was called the Internet (and way before the Things), legend has it that the primary neural node of this IoT-powered proto-Matrix was born in the late nineteen-seventies within a lowly soft-drink vending machine located on the campus of Carnagie Mellon University HAL, as he prefers to be called, became the first ARPANET connected appliance, able to report the weight and the pimple density of his college-age patrons, as well as to monitor thecontents and temperature status of his soft- drink inventory. And, as HAL would remind you, the value of any network increases as a function of the number of nodes that are connected to it. Fast forward from that lowly beginning to today and IoT class devices have become legion. They are the worker bees of the Internet, whether wired or wireless, and include everything from key fobs to kitchen sinks. With the advent of IPv6, the number of things that can be linked together using IoT is almost without limit. All modern building systems—HVAC, water, sewer, solar power, telephones, lighting, emergency notification and recovery, maintenance, electrical, IT, fire, safety, access management, and maintenance —can be controlled and monitored by ToT. These devices are the fundamental components for ‘our smart building, and their utility has grown in proportion to their ubiquity. ‘The push to add intelligence to the corporate environment is no longer a question of why, but rather how, when, and at what cost versus benefit? And, since you've been tasked with planning out your company’s migration into this smarter world, the first question becomes: build ‘new, or retrofit? There are business cases to be made for both scenarios, and a savvy Industrial ‘Systems Engineer (ISE) can be a good source of advice on the finer details, There are consulting firms whose sole focus is smart building roll- out planning, and even a modicum of research will turn up a slew of choices. Rather than dive into the gritty depths, however, the rest of t article will be devoted to important points of the decision tree, references to the players in the space, and potential partners. TO RETROFIT OR GREENFIELD?: THAT IS THE QUESTION Okay, we've decided that we want a Smart Building, but before we start mapping out the plan, there are a couple of major decision points to navigate. First, we need to understand the scope of our project. Buildings, ike homes, have ‘one incredibly difficult component that must be dealt with—namely, people. People are awful full stop. The most terrible thing about them is that they all have an opinion, Getting the people in your arganization to agree on how their office space is going to be configured can be a thankless task. As every facilities manager can attest, no one is ever happy, ever. No matter what you propose, someone is going to want it a different way, so the recommended attitude to cultivate is a flexible and calm one. That said, there are some techniques which can smooth the process. Getting management to buy-in is key. ‘Another important pre-consideration is to make your proposal fit-to-purpose. Simply pout, this means that although you can find IoT devices that will track the CO; levels and heat signatures of every person in the building, or will manipulate the exterior lights to display Pac-Man, it may not be appropriate for your ‘organization, nor add anything to the bottom line. As with any project, identifying the major points of pain—the issues that need to be ‘addressed versus those which can be—will point yu in the right direction. Next, what level of disruption will be ‘acceptable? Is this an actively occupied building, and ifso, how critical to the company workflow is the activity in the space? An in-place upgrade ‘can be implemented in incremental steps, but will the retrofitting and time spent in systems cutover be offset by the productivity boost and energy savings? If that answer points you towards a greenfield approach, then the cost ‘of moving from one space to another must be ‘added into the mix, Moving costs—especially the often-underestimated cost of packing and un- paacking—can be significant, and the disruption moving causes can be equivalent to that from in-place upgrades. Careful calculation, with plenty of leeway built in, is @ crucial part of planning your smart building project. Most organizations, and very likely your boss, are happier if potential snags and cost overruns are identified early in the process. Late-breaking delays can undermine the success of the project and negatively affect morale, especially if they are perceived by management as something that should have been foreseen. They can also make you the target of people's frustration when things go sideways. Again, a flexible and calm attitude, combined with proactive and frequent ‘communication with all the stakeholders, is ‘going to make your smart building project, and your people, happier. Back to the greenfield versus retrofit ‘question. Both paths have benefits and rawbacks, and since there is no exact right answer, it’ may come down to philosophy. A smaller organization which is more tolerant of upheaval may prefer to upgrade and retrofit ‘an older space, saving on the cost of new construction, pacing the budget burn rate, and scaling as needed. A larger organization may elect to take the hit and pay upfront for the latest tech in a brand-new space, 50 as to avoid the maintenance and recurring costs of {an incremental approach in an older building ‘There are arguments to be made on both sides. Let's explore two real world scenarios. Greenfield—Duke Energy Center: The Duke Eneray Center, located in Charlotte North Carolina, was a brand-new construction, cating north of $800 million (Figure 4). In this case the building was purpose-built to. showcase the latest energy efficiency modalities, and to have a low carbon footprint, IoT devices were‘employed to add intelligence to almost every aspect of the building ‘As you can see in Figure 2, 16 separate building systems were integrated into one seamless net, reducing operational expenses land energy consumption by 22% overall. One Of the most intriguing features is the intelligent levator bank system called "Destination Dispatch.” This system assigns elevators to ‘occupants with common destinations, making the fewest possible stops while transporting passengers. In addition, the building's ‘emergency systems, irrigation and water use, ‘access control, and disaster recovery and lighting equipment were all integrated in this new construction. RetrofitEmpire State Building: | The barriers that seem to be in the way of retrofitting—for example equipment cost, ‘workflow disruption, time, and rewiring—have INTELLIGENT BUILDING EUROPE DUKE ENERGY CENTRE Charlotte, North Carolina, United States FIGURE 1 Duke Energy Center, North Carolina (Image Source: Ineligent Building Europe (2) Chighydeagnd ac ateplscenant a Wachovls WHAT MAKES IT SMART? reac Ceme Migr nro. yep dng ote eet on ‘Aoi a vise na abet, bng was tadenergycanumpcny 278 Aging corr arte aces ener) commer geen Sec citer ny ese aops arog 29 anes tote wit ocoued ‘Strasons wach water ep om ee ing ewe ores tos romp 60% ole cota te tt Figure 2 Duke Energy Center Project (image Source: Inteiget Building Europe (2) all been reduced with the newer generation Of Io and networking technologies. The case ‘study below from Building Engines Blog [3] ‘shows how an iconic building, the Empire State Building, was converted to a smart operation (Figure 3). ‘As you can see in Figure 4, even a high- rise built almost 100 years ago with little to no consideration of networks or modern connectivity canbe retrofitted without destroying its gothic 1930s charm. In this case wireless IoT devices and networking technology were used, connecting the disparate building systems together in one seamless high-speed net. Employing these technologies, the old building realized 2 38% reduction in overall energy consumption, saving over $4 million dollars a year in energy costs (Figure ‘SMART BUSINESS: MAKING THE CASE In this section we'll go over the value proposition of smart buildings. Critical to any final decision will be the return on investment (ROD). Management will want to see how your proposal wil affect the bottom line, and more importantly, how long it will take to recoup the required investment (Figure 6). Once you've spent the time to identify what must be done and at what cost, 2 key selling point for the Project will be an estimate of the duration of this recovery period. Traditionally, one of the greatest incentives to invest in a smart building isthe increase in asset value. A smart building can be a great seling point for a future owner, and the overall energy savings provide a year-over-year boost to the bottom line. According to commercial real estate (CRE) industry metrics, building automation and integrated control systems can realize anywhere from 10% to 40% energy cost savings for the building occupants. However, there is another, even greater factor that iS often overlooked, and it can seal the deal Ina. typical pre-pandemic working environment, employees spent around forty hours per week in the office. This adds up to around two thousand hours on an annual basis. {As any HR manager will ell you, human capital ‘makes up the lion's share of operating expense in any business, and can be upwards of 90% of recurring costs in some tech-heavy industries. As a rule of thumb, JLL [6], a Canadian commercial real estate firm, has developed the 3-30-300 rule. Simply put, this equates to $3 per square foot per year for utilities, $30 for rent, and $300 for payroll. Using this rule, JLL claims that the greatest financial savings that result from optimizing @ workplace do not le in energy but in productivity ‘According to their model, smart buildings provide direct benefits to the people who occupythem, increasing morale, which in turn produces significant positive impacts on the company’s bottom line. In numbers, they estimate that 43% of the total value of a smart building project ‘comes from enhanced employee productivity, ‘and another 41% from increased employee retention. In addition, they say that another 7% results from improved employee wellness, 7% from utlity cost savings, and only 2% from maintenance savings! This surprising result is, because there is a 100-fold factor weighting the bottom-line cost reduction on the company’s human capital expenses. Basically, having happy ‘employees equates to business success. ‘As per JLL [6], “[the] productivity gains can be achieved by making workplaces physically comfortable, enabling fewer distractions land the ability to concentrate fully on tasks. Furthermore, it has been proven that there ‘are direct ‘links between human-focused, intelligent building systems and a company's ability to recruit the brightest talent. Not to forget, active participation and signed consent ‘of the employees are vital to a system's success. However, if all things are considered, the promise of energy efficiency, better access control, greater comfort and environmental responsibilty all come down to a high return on investment (ROI) for smart buildings.” PLANNING IT OUT: A SAMPLE WORKSHEET ‘As we can now see, the question of how to plan your smart building project has many moving parts. Losant has a comprehensive ‘quide on their website (Figure 7) [4]. Some of the tangibles are cost and time. These can be further broken down into: Upgrade old + Planning and Logistics ‘© Equipment Acquisition + Labor/Installation ‘+ Disruption to normal workflows (Opportunity/ Productivity losses) ‘+ Incremental Upgrades/Maintenance ‘© Ongoing Maintenance iding Site Acquisition * Financing + Consultant/Design Partner ‘= Construction Costs and Time Packing/Moving/Unpacking Disruption to normal workflows (Opportunity/ Productivity losses) Each of the above need to be estimated, and it helps tremendously to have a partner who ‘can assist in getting you the proper numbers, ‘and who has the experience to avoid common pitfalls. So, let's look at some partners. PARTNERS Whether you're going to build a whole new facility, or just upgrade the one you are in, the partner you choose for assistance is important. Depending on which way you go, you may have ‘a monolithic turnkey solution from a single large Fi BuikdingEngines rotor soution » pormers» Reources» About Those Smart Building Barriers? Now Falling Down igure 3 (ld to SMART (Image Source: Bulding Engines [3)) Tate he example of one ofthe worlds mos! conic oder baldings the Empire Slote Budi, But in 193, inthe past decade two rlrofited with smart technology. Ithas ance seen 0 38 percent decrease in energy consumption and enjoyed $4.4 milion n every yeor, according to Jones Lang LaSelle aw. \Whe ten years ago retrofting @ bulding may have been prohibively expensive formes thats not necessonly stl he cose, You can connec! modern sensors ‘wireless, wthout isting expensive hard-wring. Many sensors ore low energy Cond ow moinenance, wih some horvesting energy trom the light ond movement ‘round them, ond others being wla-Jow power, long bate ite. igure « Retrofiting Grandpa (Image Source: Building Engines (3) The uz0 ofthe global smart buking market wo $673 bllonn 020, and projected o grow fo 076 mor According to Forture Business Insights # 's forecast o reach $265 37 bilon by 2028 o © compound annual growth role of 216 percent ‘Some more old school CRE professionals rea itie more skeptical of smart ‘buldings however And for uraerstandobse masons icure s Market Size (Image Source: Building Engines [3))supplier, or a collection of equipment sources that will interconnect using a specified standard protocol to a unified management center. Here ‘are some of the vendors I found, along with a synopsis oftheir capabilities. Ths list is far from exhaustive, but it represents a cross-section of the market space. Gisco: As the saying goes—no one ever got fired for choosing Cisco. Known worldwide for their networking and productivity solutions, Cisco is a natural player in this market. AS you can see on their website [9], they have a whole division called Spaces, which is focused on building and supporting the smart modern workplace (Figure 8). Their eBLE line of IoT devices are a rock-solid way to move your Project forward. And they offer consulting services to help scope and identify your best- case solution. 2 mae on eee Value Propesition of Smart Buildings FIcURE 6 Making the Biz Case Image Source: Lacatee(4)) FIGURE 7 Lasant Comprehensive Smart Environment (Image Source: Locate [4]) Additional materials from the author are available at: wrw.circultcellar.com/article-materials References [1] to [12] as marked in the article can be found there. Siemens: Siemens is 2 global player in a wide variety of industries (Figure 9). They too have a full suite of products and solutions for the workplace of tomorrow (Figure 10). They have a very informative video that explains their philosophy: "Building the Future Today" [7]. More information is also available on their website (8). Cohesion: On a different level there are companies like Cohesion [10]. Cohesion’s product is a state-of-the-art management and integration suite, allowing the integration of many types of IoT devices and systems under a single platform. For a more incremental and standards-based system, especially one where a phased rollout is desired, Cohesion, and other similar vendors, is a good option to explore. TotaComm: Another player inthe integration space is Jota Communications. Their value addis 2 comprehensive integration and management platform called Delphi360. More information is available on their website (Lt) ‘Aurecon: International in scope, this Singapore-based design and _ construction company has a global presence, with a strong focus on the Asian and Oceania marketplaces. Aurecon can provide a soup-to-nuts contract, including consultancy, design, architecture, building and site development and more. For the greenfield experience they are a great partner. Locatee: Locatee is a Swiss company that specializes in consulting and optimizing your workplace and efficiency. They are a great resource to use to scope out your project and arrive at the rightsize solution that meets your company's needs. Locatee's website offers whitepapers, business case studies, partner references and more [5]. RISK FACTORS Okay, things are looking good! You've got a plan and it's only Wednesday afternoon. You can kick back and put your brain in neutral, right? Hold on there Anakin, you forgot one more thing about people. People hate change. ‘Assuming your organization has not been exposed to a smart building in the past, all the things you are about to propose are going to be viewed with a range of suspicion. You may have the most logically thought-out proposal, but nevertheless be prepared for a few curveballs. Not least will be the fear of the unknown, as outlined in the Smart CRE website [12]. There they list a few of the most common concerns and objections that you may run into. Cyber security: Connecting nearly every device ina building to the Internet hasan obvious. risk. Cheap ToT devices are not equipped with the best security software, and can potentially bbe hacked. To fight this problem, many countries and organizations are implementing regulations or laws to force companies to make their ToT devices more secure. However, as every parent