Dev platform for IoT devices with advanced sound and vision - 14 November 2018 - RS Components (SA)

Dev platform for IoT devices with advanced sound and vision
14 November 2018, Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT, Computer/Embedded Technology

RS Components is boosting opportunities to create smarter IoT devices by introducing Sony Spresence, featuring Arm Cortex-M4F performance and extensive sensing, audio and imaging capabilities.

The low-power Spresence platform, comprising a 50,0 x 20,6 mm main board and 68,6 x 53,3 mm extension board, combines the Sony CXD5602 system-on-chip (SoC) for wearable electronics, and the CXD5247 power management and audio IC.

Expansion headers allow users to further extend the rich native features by adding Arduino shields or any of a selection of specially developed add-on boards. These include the Spresence-BLE-EVK-701 Bluetooth Low Energy board and the Spresence-SENSOR-EVK-701 containing a MEMS accelerometer, barometer and magnetometer.

Spresence is compatible with the Arduino development environment (IDE), and comes with a set of extended APIs that give developers the additional option to use the advanced NuttX based software development kit (SDK).

The CXD5602 SoC on the main board contains six 156 MHz ARM Cortex-M4F cores, ensuring generous compute performance and low latency. Peripherals include an 8-bit parallel camera interface, a multi-constellation GNSS receiver, and a sensor-fusion block to simplify movement or context sensing using a combination of external MEMS accelerometer, eCompass, gyroscope or pressure sensor.

The CXD5247 adds a class-D bridge-tied load (BTL) audio amplifier, 8-channel digital microphone and 4-channel analog microphone inputs, as well as DC/DC converters and a low-dropout (LDO) regulator to provide the system power rails. Battery-charging and fuel-gauge peripherals further simplify the design of self-powered, connected, smart objects.

The extension board handles interfacing and user access to signals, featuring level-shifting circuitry, headphone and microphone-input headers, and an SD card slot.

With its multicore compute engine and built-in GPS, Spresence is ideal for next-generation drones. Support for high-resolution audio recording and playback, and the full digital amplifier, also represent a platform for new and more powerful smart speakers. On the other hand, the built-in camera interface can support numerous opportunities for smart cameras and networked-vision applications such as security surveillance or remote time-lapse cameras.