Electronics for You Plus - 2018-01

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4 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you plus www.EFymag.com
71 Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance 
system 
72 Streetlighting: Should you invest in solar?
76 Mission 2030: Where does India’s 
EV ecosystem stand?
77 Kolkata municipality benefits from solar 
streetlights
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
18 FUTURISTIC: Electronic skin: Advance-
ments and opportunities
24 CLOUD SOLUTIONS: From Sensor to 
Cloud: A plug and play approach evolving
28 EMBEDDED: Special processors to drive 
IoT and wearables (Part 1 of 2)
36 DESIGN: The golden rules of electronic 
circuit design
40 INNOVATION: World’s cheapest and 
smallest ventilator made in India
43 INTERVIEW: Peter Carson, Qualcomm: “You 
need to take that L-shaped PCB and figure 
out how to put millimetre wave into it”
44 INTERVIEW: Gaurav Sareen, Sigfox 
India: “The biggest challenge today is the 
lack of hardware” 
62 TECH FOCUS: How smart can your city get
GUIDE
46 TEST & MEASUREMENT: High-speed 
memory testing trends and tips
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED 
TO KNOW ABOUT…
50 TELECOM: How the IoT is revolutionis-
ing telecom industry
52 DISPLAYS: Flexible displays: A revolu-
tionary breakthrough!
54 SENSORS: The latest in sensors and 
applications
 08 Feedback: Your suggestions
 10 Q&A: Things you wanted to know
Regulars
Contents
 95 Arduino-based two-wheel self-balancing Segway
 100 Multifunction rechargeable digital clock
 109 AC lamp blinker using timer 555
 112 Add-on USB power circuit for UPS
 113 Simple multi-sensor fire alarm
115 Door-ajar alert with countdown timer
116 Understanding spectrogram of speech 
 signals using MATLAB program
Do-It-Yourself
58 IMAGING: Image processing using MATLAB: 
Image deblurring and Hough Transform 
(Part 4 of 4)
INDUSTRY
79 MARKET SURVEY: Can India become an 
electronics design hub?
90 PROJECT REPORT: Solar rooftop PV plant 
installation
IEW SUPPLEMENT
139 IEW Supplement 2018
Next 
Issue
• Techn
ologies
 for tak
ing 
Interne
t to rem
ote are
as
• Autom
ation
• Role o
f senso
rs in th
e 
Interne
t of Thi
ngs (IoT
)
NEWS
12 Tech News
83 Industry News
86 New Products
Green Technology
68 Wind power: The global impact
SMART WORLD
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January 2018 
Vol. 06 | no. 09 
ISSn-2454-4426
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8 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Your suggestions
Feedback
Electronics Projects
From electronicsforu.com
I am interested in ‘1kW Sinewave Inverter’ 
DIY article published on your website
https://electronicsforu.com/electronics-
projects/1kw-sine-wave-inverter-circuit.
Can I use the same circuit for 12V but with a 
different Ah-rated battery?
Amit 
The author Dr R.V. Dhekale replies: Yes, 
you can use 12V, 24V or 48V batteries to 
get a higher power output. You have to be 
careful while providing 12V taping for the 
circuit. Also, you have to change the inverter 
transformer specifications accordingly.
In the above inverter circuit, how can I 
change the output frequency of the inverter 
to 240V, 60Hz (instead of 50Hz) for use in 
Québec, Canada?
Sylvain B. 
The author Dr R.V. Dhekale replies: The 
frequency can be changed from 50Hz to 
60Hz by using the preset provided.
The ‘Arduino Based GSM Home Security 
System’ published on your website
https://electronicsforu.com/electronics-
projects/arduino-gsm-home-security-system 
is a nice and easy-to-design DIY project. 
Where can I find its source code?
Also, I could not convert the PCB in PDF to 
Gerber file. Please help.
John Lagos 
The author Joy Mukherji replies: The source 
code is available on EFY website: http://
efymag.com/admin/issuepdf/Arduino%20
based%20GSM%20home%20security%20
system.rar. This link is also provided at the 
end of the article. You can construct the 
circuit on a general-purpose PCB. 
good wiSheS from 
A reguLAr reAder 
Thank you very much for remembering 
me even after my subscription expired! I 
am an amateur electronics hobbyist with 
interest in electronics since I was 16 years 
old. Now I am 62. Throughout these years, 
I have been a reader of EFY. Sometimes 
I read EFY in libraries, sometimes I pur-
chase it from magazine stalls or subscribe 
to it. I used to assemble DIY projects. 
Nowadays DIY projects are based on high-
end technology. I have all the good wishes 
for my alma mater in electronics. 
Purnachandra Rath 
Through e-mail
digitAL trAnSmitterS pLeASe
I am a subscriber to EFY and work for 
Prasar Bharati. In our country where ana-
logue radio and terrestrial TV transmissions 
still exist, a suitable option is required to 
convert the same to digital. I request EFY to 
publish a series of articles on viable options 
and encourage manufacturers to convince 
the government to introduce digital trans-
mission systems. I am sure your contribu-
tion will work as a catalyst.
R.S. Evani
Through e-mail
Audio AmpLifier 
This is regarding ‘30W Audio Power 
Amplifier using NE5534 and Darlington 
Transistors’ DIY project published in 
November 2017 issue. NE5534 IC avail-
able in the local market is made in China, 
which may blow up any time. Similarly, 
almost all ICs used in audio amplifier 
circuits published by EFY, which are 
available in the local market, are made 
in China. These ICs are incapable of sus-
taining 35-40V or higher voltages. What 
should be the maximum safe operating 
voltages for these circuits?
Also, where can I get original ICs like 
TDA2030 and LM1875 used in the circuits 
publishedby EFY?
Anirvan Kule
Kolkata
The author Petre Petrov replies:
Many ICs are produced in Asia (China, 
Taiwan, Malaysia, etc). Most of these 
ICs correspond well to the information 
published in datasheets. 
Consequently, in all cases, you 
should refer datasheets and application 
notes published by the manufacturers. If 
you find that a component or equipment 
is not as per the published technical 
parameters, you can contact its manu-
facturer and ask for compensations 
according to the local law! 
TDA2030, LM1875 and NE5534/A are 
very popular and low-priced ICs, and these 
behave well according to datasheets. I did 
not find significant differences between 
these ICs from different manufacturers.
fAn Speed reguLAtor 
The ‘Fan Speed Regulator Using PIC16F73’ 
DIY project published in August 2017 issue 
is quite useful. Regarding this project, I 
have certain doubts:
1. What is the delay time between 
transistors T1 and T2?
2. Is there power loss during this time?
3. Do we need to remove the start 
capacitor? 
4. Can the circuit be modified for:
(i) Fast over-current detection to cut 
off T1 and T2 in case of cross conduction?
(ii) Use of IGBT for higher power?
Joey Dimaculangan 
Through e-mail
The author Prof. K. Padmanabhan replies:
The time between the conduction of the 
two transistors can be seen in the oscillo-
gram itself (shown in the article). At about 
2ms, it is sufficient to prevent shorting. 
When there is no current flow, there will 
be no power loss. The starting capacitor of 
the fan motor need not be removed. 
As regards modification, fast over-
current detection will make the circuit 
complicated. It is not required for a 
simple fan drive. Higher-power applica-
tion is not possible without more complex 
drive circuitry. To make the circuit simple, 
optoisolator H11D1 is used.
4×4×4 Led CuBe
I want to assemble the ‘4x4x4-LED Cube 
Using AT89c2051’ DIY project published 
in October 2017 issue. I have seen similar 
projects using shift registers, but this 
one is much simpler. What changes are 
required in the circuit to make it an 8x8x8 
LED matrix? 
Christo George 
Through e-mail
The author Pamarthi Kanakaraja replies:
An 8x8x8 LED cube is somewhat com-
plex. A similar project using 512 LEDs is 
available on the following web link:
http://www.instructables.com/id/
Led-Cube-8x8x8 
10 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Q A&
Things You WanTed To KnoW!
Answers compiled by Sani Theo, technical editor. Letters 
and questions for publication may be addressed to Editor, 
Electronics For You, D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 
1, New Delhi 110020 (e-mail: editsec@efy.in) and should 
include name and address of the sender.
Ques. Why is battery 
charging from the Usb 
port of a pc or laptop 
sloW?
suresh D.
ans. This is one of the common 
questions asked by most mobile users. 
Depending on the usage and battery 
capacity of your mobile phone, you 
need to charge its battery at least 
once a day or sometimes more often. 
Most mobile charger cables have USB 
type-A connector on one end. You just 
need a wall adaptor with USB port 
or computer USB port to charge the 
mobile battery. But there is a differ-
ence in charging speed between wall 
adaptor and computer.
The charging speed depends on 
various factors, including the power 
rating of the charging source. The 
power can be determined by multi-
plying the voltage and the current 
supplied by the charger. 
Normally, the USB port of your 
PC gives 5V and up to 500mA (0.5A), 
which means delivers about 2.5-watt 
power. But if your PC has USB3.0 port, 
normally rated at 900mA current, 
you can get higher power. Some wall 
chargers are rated at 5V and 1000mA 
(1A), so their power output would be 
5x1=5 watts. Some wall chargers have 
even higher current rating. Thus battery 
charging from the USB port of a PC or 
laptop is comparatively slow.
Q2. hoW Do mobile phones 
proDUce electromagnetic 
raDiation? 
Kone prasanna narayan
a2. Electromagnetic radiation refers 
to the waves of electromagnetic field 
radiating through space. This radiation 
includes radio waves, microwaves, ultra-
violet, infrared, X-rays and gamma rays. 
A mobile phone has both transmit-
ter and receiver sections. When the 
mobile phone is turned on, it emits 
radio waves that consist of radio fre-
quency (RF) energy—a form of electro-
magnetic radiation moving at the speed 
of light. It works by transmitting radio 
wave signals to (and receiving these 
from) nearby base stations. (Base sta-
tion is an essential part because it links 
the individual mobile phone with the 
rest of the network.) 
When talking on a mobile phone, 
your voice is captured through its 
microphone and a radio signal is gener-
ated from the mobile’s circuitry. The 
radio signal is transmitted through its 
antenna, which radiates through space. 
This transmitted radio wave is picked up 
by the antenna at the base station. Then 
the mobile phone and base station start 
communicating back and forth through 
radio waves transmitted from their 
respective antennae.
Every antenna, either on a mobile 
phone or tower, radiates electromag-
netic waves. Radio waves are the strong-
est near the mobile phone antenna but 
get weaker and weaker as you move 
away from the phone. Similarly, radio 
waves are the strongest at the base 
station antenna. 
The radiated power 
level near a tower 
is high but reduces 
as you move away 
from it. 
Typ ica l ly, a 
base station may 
have several anten-
nae mounted on a 
tower. The tower 
or mast itself does 
not radiate any 
energy; it is radi-
ated from antennae 
mounted on it. 
The maximum 
power near the 
tower is shown in 
the figure on this page. The tower 
should be tall enough, as shown in the 
figure, to avoid high power radiation to 
nearby areas. The cellular or mobile net-
work in a city may have a large number 
of base stations. The more the number 
of antennae, the more is the radiation 
power intensity in the nearby area. 
a base station (Courtesy: http://www.steelintheair.com.au) 
12 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
World’s largest battery built in Australia
Technology UpdaTes
Tech News
Fully self-driving cars are here 
renewable energy company Neoen, and the South Austral-
ian government was signed, the battery was linked to the 
grid. The 100-megawatt/129MWh battery will store power 
generated by a wind farm in South 
Australia, releasing it during times 
of increased demand. It is said to 
be three times more powerful than 
any current competitor. 
The battery has the storage 
capacity to support around 30,000 
homes for over an hour. But, offi-
cials are hoping to further stabilise 
the system and ease power load 
during peak demand. The goal is 
to improve upon the grid to avoid 
such instances as the statewide 
blackout that left 1.7 million people 
without power in September 2016. 
However, the battery may not 
remain the largest in the world for 
long. Currently, Hyundai Electric & 
Energy Systems is building a bat-
tery in South Korea to be activated 
in early 2018 that is 50 per cent 
larger than Tesla’s.
Fully self-driving vehicles from 
Waymo —the autonomous vehicle 
division of Alphabet— are test-driving 
on public roads in Arizona, without 
anyone in the driver’s seat. Till date, 
driverless vehicles have operated on 
public roads with a test driver at the 
wheel. 
 “This is the most advanced vehi-
cle we have developed to date,” said 
Waymo’s CEO, John Krafcik. “Every-
thing in it is designed and built for full 
autonomy. A combination of powerful 
sensors gives our vehicles a 360-degree 
view of the world. The lasers can see 
objects in three dimensions, up to 300 
metres away. We also have short-range 
lasers that stay focused close-up to the 
side of the vehicle. Our radars can see 
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has delivered on his promise 
of building the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery in 100 days. 
Only 63 days after the contract betweenTesla, the French 
Tesla has built the world’s biggest battery in Australia
Waymo’s fully self-driving vehicles are test-driving on public roads in Arizona, without anyone in the 
driver’s seat
Tech News
14 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Las Vegas casino using microwaves 
to keep guns out
The Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino is testing a discreet 
weapon-sensing device called the Patscan cognitive micro-
wave radar. Marketed by Canadian security outfit PatriotOne, 
the Patscan CMR combines short-range radar with machine 
learning algorithms to scan individual guests for guns, knives 
and bombs in real time—without forcing them to line up and 
walk through metal detectors. And unlike the giant, whole-
body scanners you see in places like airports, Patscan units 
are small enough to hide inside existing infrastructure like 
walls and doorways. 
Smart motorways that beam live 
traffic news to cars
Fibre-optic cables running along Britain’s busiest motorways 
will be able to beam live traffic updates into high-tech cars 
under new proposals by Highways England. Messages will 
be transmitted onto dashboards in a move to improve the 
efficiency of how major routes operate while also improving 
road safety. The connected vehicles will also be programmed to 
spot potholes and transmit the information to road operators.
The development is the latest step in upgrading Britain’s 
major roads into smart motorways. The way messages are 
displayed is another step away from using traditional road 
signs. Highways England hopes that improving Wi-Fi and 5G 
connectivity across the UK motorways will help it to prepare 
for driverless cars.
Fibre-optic cables are the latest step in upgrading Britain’s major roads into 
smart motorways (Credit: Dave Thompson/PA)
PatriotOne’s Patscan cognitive microwave radar is small enough to hide 
inside existing infrastructure like walls and doorways
Thumbs down: The average Internet user spends 135 minutes per day on 
social media
Facebook admits that social media 
is bad for us
With people spending more time on social media, many have 
started wondering whether that is good for us. According to 
Statista, on an average, people spent 135 minutes a day on 
social media in 2017.
underneath and around vehicles, tracking moving objects usu-
ally hidden from the human eye.” 
The company plans to bring its cars on the road as a ride-
hailing service, in which riders can hail one of the company’s 
autonomous minivans via an app like Uber or Lyft. “People 
will get to use our fleet of on-demand vehicles, to do anything 
from commute to work, get home from a night out, or run 
errands,” Krafcik said.
While other autonomous vehicle companies are still work-
ing with safety drivers, Waymo has abandoned their training 
wheels in order to rise ahead of the competition.
A system like PatriotOne’s could be the ideal security 
solution for a destination like Las Vegas, where resorts find 
themselves struggling to ensure the safety of their guests, while 
also stoking an ambiance of freedom.
Each radar unit in Patscan consists of a service box and two 
antennae. The first antenna emits 1000 pulses of electromag-
netic radiation per second, at frequencies between 500MHz 
and 5GHz. The second antenna monitors for electromagnetic 
patterns inside that two-metre range. When you hit an object 
with electromagnetic radiation, it resonates according to its 
shape and material composition. 
“We call it an object’s radar signature,” says electrical 
engineer Natalia Nikolova, director of McMaster University’s 
Electromagnetic Vision Research Laboratory. PatriotOne main-
tains a growing database of known radar signatures, which 
Patscan’s onboard computer uses to distinguish weapons from 
benign objects and notify security personnel.
Tech News
16 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Temperature-regulating coffee mug
Beautifully designed to be used in your home or at your desk, 
the Ember ceramic mug keeps your beverages at the perfect 
temperature from the first sip to the last drop for as long as 
you want. For that, you need to choose the exact temperature 
in Ember’s companion app, or pick from a preset.
Spending $80 on a mug could look ridiculous but it’s also 
wonderful, for every beverage has an ideal temperature for 
consumption. For coffee, science says it’s 136 degrees. (Ember 
defaults to 135, which is pretty close to it.) Ember keeps your 
coffee exactly right for hours.
E-mail tracking is in vogue
According to OMC, 19 per cent of all conversational emails are 
now tracked. That’s one in five of the e-mails you get from your 
friends. And you probably never noticed.
E-mail tracking service Streak notifies the sender as soon 
as his message is opened. It can tell him where, when and on 
what kind of device it was read. So with Streak enabled, you 
can easily be caught fooling around with messages like “I read 
your mail just now.”
The technology is pretty simple. Tracking clients embed 
a line of code in the body of an e-mail—usually in a 1x1 
pixel image (which is so tiny that it’s invisible), but also in 
elements like hyperlinks and custom fonts. When a recipi-
ent opens the e-mail, the tracking client recognises that the 
pixel has been downloaded, as well as where and on what 
device. Newsletter services, marketers and advertisers have 
used the technique for years, to collect data about their open 
rates; major tech companies like Facebook and Twitter fol-
lowed suit in their ongoing quest to profile and predict users’ 
behaviour online.
But lately, a surprising—and growing—number of tracked 
emails are being sent not from corporations, but acquaint-
ances.
In fact, a former Facebook executive, Chamath Palihap-
itiya has expressed his regret for being involved in building 
the social media platform that he thinks is negatively affect-
ing society: “I think we have created tools that are ripping 
apart the social fabric of how society works,” he told an 
audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He 
joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president of 
user growth.
“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve 
created are destroying how society works,” Palihapitiya 
claimed. He cites issues of misinformation and mistruth that 
have resulted through social media. For instance, Palihapitiya 
discussed an incident in India where a hoax message about 
kidnappings shared via WhatsApp led to the lynching of seven 
innocent people. 
“That’s what we’re dealing with. And imagine taking 
that to the extreme, where bad actors can now manipulate 
large swathes of people to do anything you want,” Palihap-
itiya explained. And, with the rising issue this year of fake 
news and even manipulated videos, it’s only more difficult 
to monitor and catch misinformation on social media.
Ember ceramic mug keeps your coffee exactly right for hours
E-mail tracking service Streak notifies the sender as soon as his message is 
opened (Image credit: Getty Images)
Heating and cooling things is easy, but doing so uniformly 
poses a challenge. Ember CEO Clay Alexander found the solu-
tion was to create a convection current, like a radiator or a 
pot of water. So Ember uses cooling and heating elements up 
the sides of the mug—it activates the highest submerged ele-
ment, and cools that spot until the cold liquid begins to fall. 
That displaces hotter liquid, moving it up to the top, where 
another element on the other side does the same thing. Alex-
ander says even in his early prototypes, he was able to keep the 
temperature within one degree from top to bottom. With the 
help of design firm Ammunition, Alexander turned his ideas 
into a beautiful mug.
18 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
futuristic
Skin plays an important role in mediat-ing our interactions with the world. Specifically, human skin can sense 
pressure and temperature, stretch, and heal 
itself. Electronic skin is a thin electronicmaterial that mimics human skin in one 
or more ways. Recreating the properties of 
skin using electronic devices could have 
profound implications in various fields like 
robotics, prosthetics and medicine. The 
artificial skin could one day be used on 
robotic hands capable of detecting diseases 
or intoxication of humans via touch. 
The pursuit of artificial skin has inspired 
innovations in materials to imitate skin’s 
unique characteristics, including mechani-
cal durability and stretch ability, biodegra-
dability, and the ability to measure a diver-
sity of complex sensations over large areas. 
New materials and fabrication strategies 
are being developed to make mechanically 
compliant and multifunctional skin-like 
electronics, and improve brain-machine 
interfaces that enable transmission of skin’s 
signals into the body. 
Scientists and engineers have made 
progress toward materials that can detect 
pressure, blend with surroundings, meas-
ure body temperature, and do much more. 
Here is a summary.
Self-healing electronic skin
Stanford University researchers have devel-
oped an electronic skin capable of healing 
itself by combining a self-healing plastic 
and nickel, a conductive metal. Unlike 
self-healing polymers developed by other 
researchers, this skin did not require a high 
temperature or UV light to activate. 
The individual plastic molecules of 
the skin break apart relatively easily, but 
the bonds also easily reform. Cut pieces 
healed to 75 per cent strength within a few 
seconds and fully in less than 30 minutes 
when pressed together at room tempera-
ture. Additionally, the process could be 
repeated many times—in experiments the 
material showed near-perfect healing after 
50 breaks. Other self-healing materials alter 
their structures in the process and thus can 
heal only once. 
In addition to being self-healing, the 
electronic skin was pressure-sensitive and 
very flexible. It was the first material to 
exhibit all these properties at the same time. 
It was also the first conductive self-healing 
polymer. The e-skin could detect both down-
ward pressure and pressure from bending; 
thus, in principle, it could detect both the 
pressure and angle of a normal human 
handshake. 
According to the research team, the 
material could be useful in prosthetics and 
creating self-healing wires for electronic 
devices. 
Lighting electronic skin
Researchers from the University of California 
at Berkeley have created an electronic skin 
that lights up when touched. Pressure trig-
gered a reaction in the skin that lit up blue, 
green, red and yellow LEDs; as pressure 
increased the lights got brighter. 
The material was composed of synthetic 
rubber and plastic, and was thinner than a 
piece of paper. Sandwiched between layers, 
organic LEDs were lit by semiconductor-
enriched carbon nanotubes and a conduc-
tive silver ink. The skin was made up of 
hundreds of circuits, each of which con-
ElEctronic Skin: 
Advancements And Opportunities 
Dr S.S. Verma 
is a professor 
at Department 
of Physics, Sant 
Longowal Institute 
of Engineering and 
Technology, Sangrur, 
Punjab 
Ulsan National Institute’s 
electronic skin that can 
detect changes in both 
temperature and pressure 
The various types of 
artificial electronic skins 
being developed offer 
amazing properties and 
applications 
20 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
futuristic
tained a pressure sensor, a transistor 
and a tiny LED. Pressure changed 
the resistance of the sensor, thereby 
changing the amount of electricity 
flowing into the LED. 
The team suggested that the 
invention could be useful in skin for 
prosthetic limbs and robotics. One of 
the major problems with these kinds 
of light films in the past, though, 
was that these only lasted a matter 
of hours when exposed to normal air. 
Making any piece of ultra-
stretchy electronics often involves 
sandwiching materials together to 
produce something with the right 
properties, whether it’s for a red 
light or a method of sensing pres-
sure. In this case, the researchers 
added a new protective coating, 
called a passivation layer, to various 
kinds of e-skin. The coating kept 
out oxygen and water vapour well 
enough to keep the light working for 
several days. Researchers report that 
this power LED film also produced 
less heat and consumed less power 
than previous efforts. The coating 
they used can also work on e-skin 
that does more than just light up.
Sweating electronic skin
A Northwestern University research 
team has developed a first-of-its-kind 
soft, flexible microfluidic device that 
easily adheres to the skin and meas-
ures the wearer’s sweat to show how 
his body is responding to exercise.
A little larger than a quarter 
and about the same thickness, the 
simple, low-cost device analyses key 
biomarkers to help the user decide 
quickly if any adjustments, such as 
drinking more water or replenishing 
electrolytes, need to be made or if 
something is medically awry.
Designed for one-time use of 
a few hours, the device, placed 
directly on the skin of the forearm or 
back, even detects the presence of a 
biomarker for cystic fibrosis. In the 
future, it may be more broadly used 
for disease diagnosis.
Sensory electronic skin
Researchers at the Ulsan National 
Institute of Science and Technology 
have developed an electronic skin 
that can detect changes in both tem-
perature and pressure. The skin’s com-
posites are made of a polymer as well 
as reduced graphene oxide. Thanks to 
that, the artificial skin can detect not 
only sensory changes created by water 
droplets falling at different pressures 
and temperatures but also the tiniest 
amount of pressure such as human 
hair’s. This makes the skin perfect 
for future caregiver robots. Or, when 
attached to a human wrist, it can also 
be used to monitor pulse pressure by 
detecting the changes in skin tempera-
ture that occur when blood vessels 
dilate or constrict. 
Researchers have created a wear-
able device that is as thin as a tempo-
rary tattoo and can store and transmit 
data about the wearer’s movements, 
receive diagnostic information and 
release drugs into skin. Similar 
efforts to develop electronic skin 
abound, but the device is the first 
that can store information and also 
deliver medicine—combining patient 
treatment and monitoring. Its crea-
tors say that the technology could 
one day aid patients with movement 
disorders such as Parkinson’s disease 
or epilepsy. 
The researchers constructed 
the device by layering a package of 
stretchable nanomaterials—sensors 
that detect temperature and motion, 
resistive RAM for data storage, 
micro-heaters and drugs—onto a 
material that mimics the softness and 
flexibility of the skin. 
Sensing magnetic fields
There are actually several more 
senses than humans’ basic senses 
of touch, sight, hearing, taste and 
smell. One that humans don’t inher-
ently have is magnetoception—the 
ability to perceive magnetic fields. 
Found in certain bacteria, migra-
tory birds, fish and invertebrates, 
it provides them a better sense of 
navigation and orientation. 
Researchers at the Leibniz Insti-
tute for Solid State and Materials 
Research in Germany describe a new 
electronic skin that provides a sense 
of magnetic fields. The electronic 
skin contains an array of magnetore-
sistive sensor foils that sense both 
static and dynamic magnetic fields. 
The sensors are made from layers of 
cobalt and copper, with polyethylene 
terephthalate (PET) film. Informa-
tion about the sensor’s proximity 
to a magnetic field is transmitted 
wirelessly to an external device that 
has LED indicators, giving a visual 
representation of the distance. 
The skin is only about two micro-
metres thick, which is about one-fifth 
as wide as a single human hair. A 
square metre of the material weighs 
only three grams, which makes 
it light enough to rest on a soap 
bubble. It is also incredibly elastic, 
as it is able to stretchover 270 per 
cent in multiple directions over 1000 
Electronic skin that lights up when touched 
Northwestern University’s flexible device 
measures the wearer’s sweat to analyse his key 
biomarkers 
Leibniz Institute’s skin provides a sense of 
magnetic fields 
22 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
futuristic
times before wearing 
out. Conversely, sensors 
are still able to func-
tion properly if the skin 
is crumpled up. This 
makes them well-suited 
for use on the skin.
Multitasking skin
Researchers in Korea 
have developed their 
own compact electronic 
skin that multitasks like 
human skin, sensing 
pressure, temperature 
and sound (which is just 
air pressure, really) simultaneously. 
The scientists took design cues 
from fingertips—home to some 
of the most sensitive skins on the 
human body. Fingerprint ridges help 
amplify vibrations, making sense 
of touch extremely fine-grained, so 
we can tell crinkly from grainy from 
velvety. Plus, the layers of dermis and 
epidermis underneath interlock with 
each other, providing more points of 
contact. 
Colour-shifting electronic skin
The ability of animals like chame-
leons, octopus and squid to change 
their skin colour for camouflage, tem-
perature control or communication is 
well known. While science has been 
able to replicate these abilities with 
artificial skin, the colour changes are 
often only visible to the naked eye 
when the material is put under huge 
mechanical strain. 
Researchers from Tsinghua Uni-
versity have developed a new type of 
user-interactive electronic skin that 
can change colour. The changes are 
perceptible to the humen eye without 
much level of strain. The skin could 
have applications in robotics, pros-
thetics and wearable technology. 
Graphene, with its high transpar-
ency, rapid carrier transport, flex-
ibility and large specific surface area, 
shows application potential for flex-
ible electronics, including stretchable 
electrodes, super capacitors, sensors 
and optical devices. Researchers 
employed flexible electronics made 
from graphene, in the form of a high-
ly-sensitive resistive strain sensor, 
combined with a stretchable organic 
electrochromic device. On exploring 
the substrate (underlying) effect on 
the electromechanical behaviour of 
graphene, they found subtle strain—
between zero and 10 per cent—was 
enough to cause an obvious colour 
change, and the RGB value of the 
colour quantified the magnitude of the 
applied strain.
Powering the electronic skin
Stanford research team has developed 
a stretchable solar cell that could be 
used to power the electronic skin. 
An accordion-like micro-structure 
allowed the cells to stretch up to 30 
per cent without damage. The team 
also added biological and chemical 
sensors to the skin to supplement 
pressure sensors. 
Another research team has 
announced an electronic patch for 
monitoring patients’ vital signs. 
Described as ‘electric skin,’ the device 
was created by embedding sensors 
in a thin film and then placing the 
film on a polyester backing similar 
to those found on temporary tattoos. 
A small coil provided power through 
induction. In tests, the device stayed 
in place for 24 hours without adhe-
sives, relying instead on the Vander 
Waals force, and was flexible enough 
to move with the skin it was placed on. 
Emerging applications
Electronic skins can monitor a per-
son’s heartbeat, brain activity, muscle 
contractions and more without the 
need for bulky conventional electron-
ics. In addition to patient monitoring, 
these could be used to detect speech 
by sensing vibrations in the larynx 
and emit heat to help 
in healing. 
Electronic skin 
is no thicker than a 
human hair and can 
be applied as easily 
as a temporary tattoo. 
It sticks without the 
need for any glue, and 
can flex and stretch 
without breaking. 
In essence, e lec -
tronic skin consists 
of mechanically flex-
ible sensor networks 
that can wrap around 
irregular surfaces, and spatially map 
and quantify various stimuli. 
Long-term vision is to heteroge-
neously integrate a wide range of 
sensor networks (pressure, strain, 
light, temperature and humidity) 
and associated electronics on large-
area plastic substrates using process 
schemes that are compatible with 
conventional silicon or LCD manu-
facturing lines. The sensor elements 
are based on a silicon, oxides, metals, 
piezoelectrics and/or organic materi-
als that are processed at less than 
35°C. The resulting electronic skin 
may find a wide range of applications 
in interactive input/control devices, 
smart wallpapers, robotics and medi-
cal/health monitoring devices. 
Japanese researchers have taken 
a step closer to creating electronic 
skin by employing flexible electronics 
that can be worn as a second skin for 
biomedical and other applications. 
The aim is to make electronic skin as 
much a part of our daily lives as the 
clothes we wear. 
If this happens, athletes will use 
electronic skin to view their heart 
rates, sugar levels and work rate. It 
could provide doctors with continu-
ous data on patients’ vital signs with-
out the need for repeatedly attaching 
and removing medical equipment. 
The rest of us might employ the elec-
tronic skin to monitor body health 
metrics. Meanwhile, engineers could 
put down their tablets when doing 
tricky repair work and instead view 
maintenance procedures displayed 
on their arms. Such is the promise of 
ultra-thin, flexible and non-constrain-
ing electronic skin! 
Chinese researchers’ electronic skin can change colour like chameleons 
24 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Cloud solutions
In a perfect world, connecting devices, machines and systems to the cloud should be as simple as connecting USB 
devices or PCIe expansion cards to a PC. 
Make the connection, open the cloud appli-
cation, recognise devices and configure. 
You’re now ready to make use of all your 
sensor data via a cloud connection, except 
that scenario is today nothing more than an 
application developer’s dream. 
In reality, because sensor data being 
gathered at the field level has any number 
of characteristics—such as size, structure, 
protocol, interface and transmission path—it 
has been virtually impossible to realise a 
direct cloud connection to all those various 
smart sensors with only a few clicks. The 
absence of local logic, required to process 
heterogeneous data into meaningful infor-
mation, is a roadblock to making sense of 
incredibly diverse sensor data. 
Yet the appeal of the cloud’s promise to 
access Big Data and sophisticated analytics 
anytime, anywhere has application devel-
opers inspired to focus on local gateway 
technology to find a functional path toward 
the plug-and-play vision. Today, more pow-
erful, evolved gateways, which can function 
either as dedicated devices or as a virtual 
part of a system, play a new role in receiving, 
translating, processing and transmitting data 
as transparent information to the spectrum 
of cloud interfaces. This is enabled by the 
new cloud API for IoT gateways. It is essen-
tially a middleware and glue logic solution 
to enable simple orchestration of wired and 
wireless sensor networks as well as embed-
ded system configurations. The cloud API 
provides application-ready software modules 
that act as blueprints for original equipment 
manufacturers (OEMs) to develop their own 
applications, removing complexity and creat-
ing a smart path to connect all types of sensor 
networks to any cloud platform.
Amplifying the importance 
of gateways
Gateways are complex devices with excellent 
transcoding and decision-making capabilities. 
Using integrated logic, these collect, analyse 
and transcode sensor data and then deter-
mine whether it goes to the field, the cloud 
or perhaps another gateway. Their secure 
end-to-end encryption further allows them 
to structure and move data consistently, for 
example, enabling bidirectional communica-
tion with a specificcloud solution.
Enabled with the new cloud API, the IoT 
gateway communicates locally with intel-
ligent sensors, now capable of processing 
and converting the received sensor data. 
Embedded driver modules (EDMs) interface 
with hardware and third-party expansion 
cards, providing the glue logic that translates 
received data into the semantics of the appli-
cation-specific IoT gateway logic. This sensor 
engine, with EDM modules incorporated in its 
structure, is among the first software compo-
nents to be standardised as a cloud function 
module. Its critical value is in moving data 
from local sensors to a generic middleware, 
independent of protocols. 
Data is transmitted into the cloud via pre-
defined interfaces and decision processes, at 
the same time normalising data measurements 
and checking that received data is meaningful. 
By using transparently defined modules and 
function blocks, identical logic interfaces can 
be used in each application. 
From SenSor To Cloud: 
A Plug-And-Play Approach Evolving
Zeljko Loncaric is 
marketing engineer 
at Congatec 
Fig. 1: The cloud 
API environment 
Standardised building 
blocks are becoming a 
new imperative in cloud 
system and application 
development 
26 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Cloud solutions
The EDM for the standardised 
EAPI interface of computer-on-
modules provides such an example 
of standardisation. This enables key 
performance information such as 
system temperatures and voltages, 
CPU utilisation or burglary detec-
tion to be easily transmitted in a 
standardised manner to any cloud 
by utilising the new Cloud API logic.
The middleware advantage
Historically, there have been no 
standardised cloud APIs for IoT 
gateways. This created a dead zone 
and gap in compatibility for sensor-to-
cloud communication. It’s a challenge 
that has also driven an industry-wide 
desire to establish smart, efficient 
methods for receiving and processing 
data locally, and then forwarding it to 
the cloud. 
To meet this need, cloud APIs must 
be not only application-ready but also 
standards-based, in order to deliver plug-
and-play integration for the wide range of 
wired and wireless sensor connections. 
With this advantage, even highly hetero-
geneous protocol configurations can be 
integrated with reasonable development 
resources, including wireless options 
such as Bluetooth LE, ZigBee, LoRa and 
other LPWANs, as well as wired protocols 
for building and industrial automation. 
Cloud communications themselves face 
the same plug-and-play challenge, fueled 
by individual requirements for propri-
etary servers or third-party offers such as 
the Microsoft Azure, Telekom or Amazon 
AWS Cloud platforms.
Creating an ecosystem of 
standardised building blocks 
To round out designs based on this type 
of hardware connection and abstrac-
tion, developers also need the flexibility 
of a standardised cloud interface. With 
standardisation of a cloud API for IoT 
gateways, the gateway’s cloud interface 
operates independently of the cloud pro-
vider, at least in terms of the design itself. 
A new kind of communication 
engine developed in response to this 
need enables encrypted communica-
tion with servers or different clouds via 
smart wireless or wired connections. 
It’s a manufacturer-independent, open 
standard approach that ensures sensors, 
gateways and clouds can be readily 
deployed, irrespective of the data type, 
computing environment or end-use 
application.
For real development value, plug-
and-play convenience must also 
extend to the configuration of IoT 
gateways. This is illustrated by the 
People-System-Things (PST) cloud 
framework—a device and data man-
agement system that seamlessly 
integrates with the cloud API for IoT 
gateways. In addition, PST users can 
generate fully-featured web apps 
using only the framework’s drag-and-
drop editing tool. No programming is 
required, and depending on devices 
available to the system, applications 
for mobile end users may even be cre-
ated automatically. 
Simplifying and accelerating 
cloud deployments
In the real world, an IoT appliance is 
characterised differently according to 
who is asked to define it. For example, 
hardware vendors focus primarily on 
functions of the embedded system 
itself, including the device and its 
embedded software. IoT applica-
tion service providers may have 
relatively little knowledge of hard-
ware design, and focus their inter-
ests on user interfaces and experi-
ence, website design, databases, 
middleware and apps. Lastly, 
system integrators or OEMs’ prod-
uct owners focus on configuring, 
deploying, maintaining and sup-
porting products that are flexible, 
customisable and cost-effective 
through standardisation.
To restrain the complexity repre-
sented by all these diverse priorities, 
standardised building blocks are 
becoming a new imperative in cloud 
system and application development. 
A strong standards-based ecosystem 
is critical to forward progress, with 
all major vendors of embedded com-
puter technology, peripherals and 
clouds commiting to support these 
types of cloud APIs. Each hardware 
device demands its dedicated sensor 
engine, and each cloud its correspond-
ing cloud engine. The sensor engine 
quickly and easily reads, translates 
and processes IoT gateway data in 
the particular language of the cloud; 
users view processed information 
on a web application that is created 
automatically, with no need to pro-
gram or develop processes for each 
sensor. Ultimately, this dramatically 
minimises development efforts and 
resources required for connecting to 
the cloud. 
With standardised function blocks, 
supply chains can be flexible and OEM 
migration strategies remain smart. 
Developers pick up tremendous speed 
in time-to-market by designing their 
IoT application only once, even as 
it remains portable to any combina-
tion of sensors, gateways and clouds. 
When OEMs’ individual gateways sup-
port a standardised cloud API, only 
the cloud engine changes with new 
customer clouds. The rest of the solu-
tion can stay as it is, or only needs to 
be configured upon customers’ needs. 
It’s a new and more practical approach 
to cloud connectivity for any sensor 
or device in the industrial fields—for 
diverse interests across the embedded 
value chain. 
Fig. 2: Cloud API schematics
Fig. 3: The congatec IoT gateway
embedded
28 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Globally, there will be over 20 billion connected devices in the next five years, representing $7 trillion dollars 
in revenue. This corresponds to roughly 
three devices for every person and a value 
higher than the year 2016 GDP of all the 
countries in the world, except the US and 
China. Many of these systems including 
implantables, wearables, printed electronics 
and the Internet of Things (IoT) will have 
ultra-low power and area requirements. So 
these applications will rely on ultra-low-
power general-purpose microcontrollers 
and microprocessors, making them the 
most abundant type of processors produced 
and used. 
Two types of processors are available at 
present: Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 
and bespoke. The two have many similar 
features, such as a pipeline and cache. 
Specifically, COTS processors satisfy 
needs of the purchasing organisation with-
out the need to commission custom made, 
or bespoke, solutions. Compared to custom 
processors, these are cheap, flexible (avoid 
binding solution to a single hardware/
software source) and backward-compatible 
with legacy products. These provide current 
technology solutions and shorten design-to-
production cycles, with their large user base 
generally uncovering design defects early. 
While COTS processors are likely to be 
built for optimal average case performance, 
bespoke processors are designed to ease 
the certification process. Typical types 
of evidence required for certification are 
worst-case execution time of instructions, 
hardwarereliability and information on 
systematic design flaws in the processor. 
Bespoke processors are used for applica-
tions with ultra-low area and power con-
straints. Low-power processors are widely 
used and are expected to power a large 
number of emerging applications. Such 
processors tend to be simple, run relatively 
simple applications, and do not support 
non-determinism, which makes symbolic 
simulation-based technique a good fit for 
such processors. 
Power and area efficiency concerns
Microprocessors and microcontrollers 
used in the emerging area- and power-
constrained connected applications are 
designed to include a wide variety of 
functionalities in order to support a large 
number of diverse applications with differ-
ent requirements. On the other hand, the 
embedded system is designed for typically a 
small number of applications, running over 
and again on a general-purpose processor 
for the lifetime of the system. Given that a 
particular application may only use a small 
subset of the functionalities provided by a 
general-purpose processor, there may be a 
considerable amount of logic in the proces-
sor that is not used by the application. 
Cost concerns drive many of the con-
nected applications to use general-purpose 
microprocessors and microcontrollers 
instead of much more area- and power-effi-
cient ASICs, as, among other benefits, devel-
opment cost of microprocessor IP cores can 
be amortised by the IP core licensor over a 
large number of chip makers and licensees. 
Given the mismatch between the extreme 
area and power constraints of emerging 
applications and the relative inefficiency 
of general-purpose microprocessors and 
microcontrollers compared to their ASIC 
counterparts, there exists a considerable 
opportunity to make microprocessor-based 
solutions for these applications much more 
area- and power-efficient. 
One big source of area inefficiency in a 
microprocessor is that a general-purpose 
microprocessor is designed to target an 
arbitrary application and thus contains 
many more gates than what a specific 
special processors To Drive 
IoTs And Wearables 
Considerations when using COTS
COTS components support, maintain and upgrade systems with long life-cycles 
of over ten years. When using these components, the following licensing and data 
right issues need to be kept in mind:
1. COTS software is usually distributed under licence (typically on a per-user fee basis)
2. COTS documentation is normally copyrighted—distribution as part of another 
product usually requires special arrangements and a copy fee
3. Software source code and designs for hardware are usually proprietary and 
protected by copyright or patent—even after these are no longer distributed 
Part 1 of 2
V.P. Sampath is a 
senior member of 
IEEE and a member 
of Institution of 
Engineers India. 
Currently working as 
technical architect 
at AdeptChips, 
Bengaluru, he 
has published 
international papers 
on VLSI and networks 
30 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
application needs. The unused gates 
continue to consume power, resulting 
in significant power inefficiency, too. 
While adaptive power management 
techniques help to reduce power 
consumed by unused gates, the 
effectiveness of such techniques is 
limited due to the coarse granularity 
at which these must be applied, as 
well as significant implementation 
overheads such as domain isolation 
and state retention. These techniques 
also worsen area inefficiency. 
Approaches
One approach to significantly increase 
the area and power effi-
ciency of a microproces-
sor for a given applica-
tion is to eliminate all 
logic in the microproces-
sor IP core that will not 
be used by the applica-
tion. Eliminating logic 
that is not used by an 
application can produce 
a design tailored to the 
application—a bespoke 
processor—that has sig-
nificantly lower area 
and power requirements 
than the original micro-
processor IP that targets 
an arbitrary application. 
Fig. 2: Gates not toggled by two applications—FFT and binSearch—for profiling inputs. Gray gates 
are not toggled by either application. Red gates are unique untoggled gates for each application 
Fig. 3: Gates not toggled by (a) intFilt and (b) scrambled intFilt for the same input set. Red gates are 
uniquely not toggled by that application. Gray gates are not toggled by either application. Red gates 
are unique untoggled gates for each application. Even though the applications use the same set of 
instructions and control flow, the gates that they exercise are different 
(a) FFT (b) binSearch
(a) intFilt (b) Scrambled intFilt
Fig. 1: General-purpose processors are overdesigned for a specific 
application (top). The bespoke processor design methodology 
allows a microprocessor IP licensor or licencee to target different 
applications efficiently without additional software or hardware 
development cost (bottom)
Licensee 1
Viterbi
Licensee 1
Viterbi
Licensee 2
tea8
Licensee 2
tea8
Licensee 3
FFT
Licensee 3
FFT
Core
Core
Viterbi
Core
Core
tea8
Core
Core
Licensor
Licensor
Core
Core
FFT
embedded
embedded
32 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
As long as the approach 
to create a bespoke proces-
sor is automated, the result-
ing design retains the cost 
benefits of a microproces-
sor IP, since no additional 
hardware or software needs 
to be developed. Also, since 
no logic used by the appli-
cation is eliminated, area 
and power benefits come at 
no performance cost. The 
resulting bespoke processor 
does not require programmer inter-
vention or hardware support either, 
since the software application can 
still run, unmodified, on the bespoke 
processor.
Static application analysis repre-
sents another approach for determin-
ing unusable logic for an application. 
However, application analysis may 
not identify the maximum amount 
of logic that can be removed, since 
unused logic does not correspond 
only to software-visible architec-
tural functionalities but also to 
fine-grained and software-invisible 
micro-architectural functionalities. 
For example, consider two differ-
ent applications: FFT and binSearch. 
Since these applications use different 
subsets of the functionalities provid-
ed by the processor, the parts of the 
processor that they do not exercise 
are different. However, a closer look 
reveals that while some of the differ-
ences correspond to coarse-grained 
software-visible functionalities, 
other differences are fine-grained, 
software-invisible, and cannot be 
determined through application 
analysis. 
The two applications use exactly 
the same instructions; however, 
die graphs in Figs 2 and 3 show 
that the sets of unexercised gates 
for the applications are different. 
This is due to the fact that even the 
sequence of instructions executed by 
an application can influence which 
logic the application can exercise in 
a processor depending on the micro-
architectural details. Such interac-
tions cannot be determined simply 
through application analysis. 
Given that the fraction of logic 
in a processor that is not used by a 
given application can be substan-
tial, and many area- and power-
constrained systems only execute 
one or few applications for their 
entire lifetime, it may be possible to 
significantly reduce area and power 
in such systems by removing logic 
from the processor that cannot be 
used by the applications. However, 
since different applications can exer-
cise substantially different parts of 
a processor, and simply profiling or 
statically analysing an application 
cannot guarantee which parts of the 
processor can and cannot be used by 
an application, tailoring a processor 
to an application requires a tech-
nique that can identify all the logic 
in a processor that is guaranteed to 
never be used by the application 
and remove unusable logic in a way 
that leaves the functionality of the 
processor unchanged for the appli-
cation. 
In the next section,we describe 
a methodology that meets these 
requirements. We call general-pur-
pose processors that have been 
tailored to an individual application 
‘bespoke processors’—reminiscent of 
bespoke clothing, in which a generic 
clothing item is tailored for an indi-
vidual person.
Tailoring a bespoke processor 
to a target application
Bespoke processor design tailors a 
general-purpose processor IP to a 
target application by removing all 
gates from the design that can never 
be used by the application. The 
bespoke processor, tailored to the 
target application, must be function-
ally equivalent to the original proces-
sor when executing the application. 
It should retain all the gates from the 
original processor design that might 
be needed to execute the 
application. 
Any gate that could be 
toggled by the application 
and propagate its toggle to a 
state element or output port 
performs a necessary func-
tion and must be retained to 
maintain functional equiva-
lence. Conversely, any gate 
that can never be toggled by 
the application can safely 
be removed, as long as each 
fan-out location for the gate is fed 
with the gate’s constant output value 
for the application. 
Removing constant gates for an 
application could result in signifi-
cant area and power savings without 
any performance degradation. In 
addition, gate removal can expose 
additional timing slack, which can 
be exploited to increase area and 
power savings or performance of 
a bespoke design. On an average, 
bespoke processor design reduces 
area and power consumption by 
62 per cent and 50 per cent, while 
exploiting exposed timing slack 
improves average power savings to 
65 per cent. 
The first step of tailoring a 
bespoke processor—input-independ-
ent gate activity analysis—performs 
a type of symbolic simulation, where 
unknown input values are repre-
sented as X’s, and gate-level activity 
of the processor is characterised for 
all possible executions of the appli-
cation, for any possible inputs to the 
application. 
The second phase of bespoke 
processor design technique—gate 
cutting and stitching—uses gate-level 
activity information gathered during 
gate activity analysis to prune away 
unnecessary gates and reconnect 
the cut connections between gates 
to maintain functional equivalence 
to the original design for the target 
application. 
Input-independent gate 
activity analysis
The set of gates that an application 
toggles during execution can vary 
depending on application inputs. 
This is because inputs can change 
the control flow of execution through 
Fig. 4: The process for tailoring a bespoke processor to a target application 
List of Unused 
(Untoggled) Gates
Gate-level
Netlist
Gate Activity
Analysis
Application
Binary
Cutting and
Stitching
Bespoke Processor
Tailored to Application
embedded
34 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
the code as well as data paths exer-
cised by the instructions. 
Since exhaustive profiling for 
all possible inputs is infeasible, and 
limited profiling may not identify 
all exercisable gates in a processor, 
the analysis technique is based on 
symbolic simulation. This technique 
is able to characterise the gate-level 
activity of a processor executing an 
application for all possible inputs 
with a single gate-level simulation. 
During this simulation, inputs are 
represented as unknown logic values 
(X’s), which are treated as both 1’s 
and 0’s when recording possible tog-
gled gates.
Symbolic simulation has been 
applied in circuits for logic and 
timing verification, as well as 
sequential test generation. More 
recently, it has been applied in 
determination of application-specific 
Vmin. Symbolic simulation has also 
been applied for software verifica-
tion. However, no existing technique 
seems to have applied symbolic 
simulation to create bespoke proces-
sors tailored to an application.
Initially, values of all memory 
cells and gates are set to X’s. The 
application binary is loaded into 
program memory, providing values 
that effectively constrain which gates 
can be toggled during execution. 
During simulation, the simulator sets 
all inputs to X’s, which propagate 
through the gate-level netlist during 
simulation.
After each cycle is simulated, tog-
gled gates are removed from the list 
of unexercisable gates. Gates where 
an ‘X’ propagated are considered as 
toggled, since some input assign-
ment could cause the gates to toggle. 
If an ‘X’ propagates to the PC, indi-
cating input-dependent control flow, 
the simulator branches the execution 
tree and simulates execution for all 
possible branch paths, following 
depth-first ordering of the control 
flow graph. 
This naive simulation approach 
does not scale well for complex or 
infinite control structures which 
result in a large number of branch-
es to explore. So a conservative 
approximation could be employed 
that allows the analysis to scale for 
arbitrarily-complex control structures 
while conservatively maintaining 
correctness in identifying exercisable 
gates. The approximation works by 
tracking the most conservative gate-
level state that has been observed 
for each PC-changing instruction. 
The most conservative state is the 
one where the most variables are 
assumed to be unknown (X).
When a branch is re-encountered 
while simulating on a control flow 
path, simulation down that path can 
be terminated if the symbolic state 
being simulated is a sub-state of the 
most conservative state previously 
observed at the branch, since the 
state (or a more conservative ver-
sion) has already been explored. If 
the simulated state is not a sub-state 
of the most conservative observed 
state, the two states are merged to 
create a new conservative symbolic 
state by replacing differing state vari-
ables with X’s, and simulation con-
tinues from the conservative state. 
This conservative approximation 
technique allows gate activity analy-
sis to complete in a small number of 
passes through the application code, 
even for applications with an expo-
nentially-large or infinite number of 
execution paths.
The result of input-independent 
gate activity analysis for an applica-
tion is a list of all gates that cannot 
be toggled in any execution of the 
application, along with their constant 
values. Since the logic functions per-
formed by these gates 
are not necessary for 
the correct execu-
tion of the binary for 
any input, these may 
safely be cut from 
the netlist as long as 
their constant output 
values are preserved. 
The following section 
describes how unusable gates can be 
cut from the processor without affect-
ing its functionality for the target 
application.
Cutting and stitching
Once gates that the target application 
cannot toggle are identified, these are 
cut from the processor netlist for the 
bespoke design. After cutting out a 
gate, the netlist must be stitched back 
together to generate the final netlist 
and laid-out design for the bespoke 
processor. 
Fig. 5 shows the method for cut-
ting and stitching a bespoke proces-
sor. First, each gate on the list of 
unusable gates is removed from the 
gate-level netlist. After removing a 
gate, all fan-out locations that were 
connected to its output net are tied 
to a static voltage (‘1’ or ‘0’) cor-
responding to the constant output 
value of the gate observed during 
simulation. Since logical structure 
of the netlist has changed, the netlist 
is re-synthesised after cutting all 
unusable gates to allow additional 
optimisations that reduce area and 
power. 
Gates having constant inputs 
after cutting and stitching can be 
replaced with simpler gates. Also, 
toggled gates left with floating out-
puts after cutting can be removed, as 
their outputs can never propagate to 
a state element or output port. Since 
cutting can reduce the depth of logic 
paths, some paths may have extra 
timing slack after cutting, allow-
ing faster, higher-power cells to be 
replaced with smaller, lower-powerversions of the cells. Finally, the 
re-synthesised netlist is placed and 
routed to produce the bespoke pro-
cessor layout, as well as a final gate-
level netlist with necessary buffers, 
etc to meet timing constraints.
To be continued next month
Fig. 5: Method for cutting and stitching a bespoke processor
List of Unused 
Gates 
Gate-level
Netlist
Cut Unused 
Gates 
List of Constant
Gate Values
Set Unconnected 
Gate Inputs to 
Constant Values
Synthesis Place and Route
Bespoke Gate-
level Netlist
Bespoke 
GDSII File
36 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
design
While testing a smartphone, the manufacturer finds a major flaw in the device. Some internal body 
parts have overheated and melted during the 
stress-test. A root-cause analysis indicates the 
designed circuit was not optimised for ther-
mal resilience—a step that should have been 
planned and executed at the start of the design 
process. There are many such instances where 
the solution is simple but gets missed amidst 
the complexity of a design process. That is why 
designers jot down the list of best practices to 
ensure they deliver optimal design with mini-
mal rework and resource. In this article, we 
take a look into some of these best practices 
and understand their importance.
Common struggles in circuit design
Designers often face issues of rework and 
wasted resources. This is mainly due to the 
use of smaller tracks for circuit layout, where 
all components are not able to fit. Another 
reason is the rush to meet timelines. 
The design team from PCB Power Market, 
a PCB design and manufacturing firm from 
India, says, “In a hurry, designers start miss-
ing out some essential components. So they 
start using other objects with simple parts 
and traces and construct replacements for 
components. It works initially. The layout 
looks perfect when they view it. But eventu-
ally, they give out.”
Communication with the manufacturer 
is also critical. If the capacity of the manu-
facturer is not clear, or if the designer has 
not shared all the components and design 
schematic with full clarity, the manufactured 
end product will be flawed. Along with these 
come the technical challenges.
The golden rules
Pre-design and post-design analyses are 
equally important to ensure proper circuit 
outcome. These involve the following con-
siderations. 
Choose the right board spacing. Select-
ing the right spacing can substantially save 
cost and rework. According to PCB Power 
team, “Wherever possible, use wider tracks 
or spacing. If your design permits bigger 
tracks via drill size, use them. A via-aspect 
ratio of 6:1 ensures that your board can be 
The Golden Rules Of 
ElEctronic circuit DEsign 
Paromik 
Chakraborty is a 
technical journalist 
at EFY 
Knowledge of common 
pitfalls in designing 
electronic circuits, and 
how to avoid these, is 
important for producing 
any product 
38 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
design
fabricated anywhere. For most designs, 
a little thought and planning will save 
cost and improve manufacturability.”
Creating a proper digital represen-
tation of the circuit before taking it to 
production is also important. The PCB 
Power team continues, “Define all the 
components and circuit schematic 
properly in the CAD software during 
design. In case you have missed out a 
component, define the component in 
your CAD library in the correct way and 
process all the information from there.”
Ensure protection against elec-
trostatic discharge. Electrostatic 
discharge (ESD) is caused by sudden 
electrical energy, developed by static 
electricity or electrostatic induction, 
flowing from one charged object to 
another. Electronic circuit components 
are highly sensitive to ESD. Manufac-
turing floors and design areas should 
invest in ESD-protected areas (EPAs) 
where high-charge objects are kept out. 
Ionisation is a popular process for 
ESD-proofing of electronic devices 
that cannot be grounded. Use of 
ESD protector materials during cir-
cuit design becomes imperative. 
Some commonly used ESD protec-
tors include metal-oxide varistors, 
transient-voltage-suppression diodes, 
polymer-based ESD suppressors and 
clamping diodes. ESD protection will 
keep electronic devices from getting 
damaged by heavy lightning or any 
kind of charge transfer.
Save the circuit from EMI. Elec-
tromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is 
crucial to ensure the quality of the 
circuit being designed. It ensures that 
electronic circuits are not troubled by 
electromagnetic interference (EMI). 
EMI arises due to radio-emission 
of other nearby electronic objects. It 
impacts electronic circuits by providing 
wrong data or making the system stop 
altogether. EMI shielding can be done 
by using components like ferrite beads 
and capacitor filters. Overall, EMC can 
be controlled using shielded inductors 
to cut down sharp current transients. 
There are also EMI shielding materials 
that can keep the PCB unaffected.
Create resilience to reverse polar-
ity. There is always the chance that 
the two charged ends of an electronic 
device get connected to the wrong ter-
minals. One of the most common exam-
ples is attaching a battery in reverse 
polarity to an electronic device. If the 
circuit is not well-protected against 
reverse polarity, hazardous outcomes 
might follow, including malfunction 
or even frying of the circuit. One pre-
cautionary measure is to connect the 
heavy-load-carrying microprocessor 
output drivers to a large resistor. Using 
a diode bridge is another option that 
rectifies the input and ensures correct 
polarity in the circuit.
Tend to each component separate-
ly for thermal resilience. Electronic 
circuits can lead to disasters if their 
components are not tested for heat 
resistivity.
The process to ensure thermal 
stability at peak temperature differs 
for every component. For instance, a 
resistor’s capacity is determined by 
measuring the de-rating of power at 
peak temperature. Capacitance, on 
the other hand, can be checked by 
evaluating the leakage rate, increase 
in equivalent series resistance capac-
ity and de-rating. For diodes and 
transistors, current gain and recovery 
time under peak temperature can be 
essential determinants.
Evaluate the circuit behaviour 
with power. It is essential to know 
the behaviour of the circuit when 
it is connected to a power source. 
Measuring the pull-up resistors can 
help you know whether the circuit is 
behaving properly during power-up. 
Pull-up resistance on a logic circuit’s 
microcontroller units should be high 
on power-up.
You should also know how your 
circuit will function if there is a sudden 
outage in power while it is processing 
some data. Including a power-down 
detection circuit is very important to 
ensure that the processor is saving the 
information properly during a sudden 
power cut. Power-off detection circuit 
is a network of a diode and a collec-
tion of capacitors, transistors and a 
voltage-generating circuit that keeps a 
circuit running for some time with its 
discharged power during power-cut.
Also take precautionary measures 
for current overshoots and undershoots 
in the circuit. These are basically spikes 
and falls in the current flowing through 
a circuit. Very high overshoots may fry 
the circuit. On the other hand, excessive 
falls can hamper the circuit functioning. 
Use of clamping diodes is a good option 
to ensure safety of circuit terminals from 
such power inconsistencies.
Test points are important. Test 
points are small wired loops placed on 
a PCB board to allow easy anchoring of 
test probes on the circuit. Usually, test 
probes are made of phosphor-bronze 
alloy with copper conductors or silver-
plate coatings. Ground nets, power nets 
and threshold points of circuits should 
be mandatorily assigned test points.
Be clear with your manufacturer. 
As mentioned before, clarity with the 
manufacturer right from the start is 
very essential. To avoidcomplications, 
learn about the manufacturer’s speci-
fications including minimum trace 
width, spacing and number of layers. 
You must have complete transparency 
while sharing the design details. Men-
tion all the components, the schematic 
and the build. In case a custom-build 
circuit is desired, but has not been 
communicated to the manufacturer, 
they would be following the default 
build model, which might create great 
differences from the expected outcome.
Electronic circuit design is not 
easy. Nevertheless, if done well, it can 
do wonders—whether you are doing 
a small-scale project or a large-scale 
business. Thus, keeping the rulebook 
open will keep you a step ahead in the 
game. 
Fig. 1: ESD testing in an EPA
Fig. 2: A diode bridge rectifier circuit
InnovatIon
40 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
tilators, due to lack of which precious lives 
are being lost. From there on we decided to 
work together to make a cheaper and more 
efficient ventilator. Our main aim was to 
create something that is cheap, easy to run 
and portable,” shared Prof. Vaish.
The technology was developed by A-SET 
with medical inputs from AIIMS.
Challenges
Conventional ventilators are very expensive 
(costing ` 1-1.5 million each), extremely 
big (1-1.5m tall and around 61cm wide and 
deep) and complicated, requiring medical 
staff to run them. In addition, these need 
constant oxygen supply to run, which costs 
around ̀ 2000-3500 per day.
A-SET Robotics’ ventilator overcomes 
these problems as:
1. It is around a hundred times cheaper 
at ̀ 15,000.
2. It has the size of a compact disk, so it 
can fit into the user’s pocket.
3. It doesn’t require oxygen supply 
and can circulate room air to the 
patients.
4. No professional expertise is 
required to control it. It can be operated 
by just a smartphone via Bluetooth 
interface, which makes it extremely 
easy to use. Also, in case of any prob-
lem, one may reach out to the provided 
helpline numbers, and it can be con-
trolled remotely by the central team.
How it works
A machine learning algorithm under-
stands the patient’s inhale-exhale 
pattern and controls air pressure and 
flow rate to the patient as per the best 
settings:
1. A pressure sensor monitors the 
relative pressure of the patient’s air 
passage over 1000 times a minute
2. The pressure reading is then sent 
to a computing unit, which calculates if 
it’s inhale phase or exhale phase
3. In inhale phase, the air is induced 
at a controlled pressure and sent at 
Ventilators have become synonymous for emergency care. Unfortunately, due to their high cost, not every 
hospital and patient in the world can afford 
them. The good news is that the world’s 
smallest and cheapest ventilator has been 
made in India, revolutionising critical care. 
This ventilator can be purchased by all levels 
of hospitals from primary care hospitals to 
tertiary care hospitals. The scope of its com-
mercialisation is quite huge.
The journey
The new ventilator is the result of a joint 
effort between Professor Diwakar Vaish, 
head, robotics and research, A-SET Training & 
Research Institutes, and Dr Deepak Agrawal, 
professor-neurosurgery at AIIMS, New Delhi. 
“We met during a programme in AIIMS 
and there we discussed various challenges 
that our healthcare system is facing currently. 
Out of all the problems, we centered on ven-
World’s Cheapest And smallest 
Ventilator Made In India 
Nidhi Arora is 
executive editor 
at EFY 
The new ventilator 
developed by 
A-SET together 
with AIIMS 
InnovatIon
42 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
controlled rate to the patient
4. Upon sensing that 
the lung is filled to the right 
capacity, the air flow is 
stopped
5. Thereafter exhale 
phase is sensed for the 
patient
6. Once exhale phase is 
sensed, another air chan-
nel is selected for exhaling 
the air from the lungs to the 
atmosphere
This is an extremely time-
critical operation as inhale 
and exhale happen within a time 
span of 1-2 seconds. Even slight delay 
in computing can hamper the entire 
process. Hence there is hardly any 
setting required for the ventilator and 
the entire process can be managed by 
the ventilator itself without requiring 
the services of any health practitioner. 
Acceptance and validation
The new ventilator has brought hope 
to thousands of those patients who 
have complete body paralysis and 
Mechanism inside the ventilator 
have been hospitalised for many 
years. Now, they can afford a ventila-
tor and get back to their homes. This 
ventilator can be used in all the situ-
ations where normal ventilators are 
used, such as in hospitals, ambulances 
and even homes.
Prof. Vaish explained, “Although 
the innovation is breakthrough, we 
still face some basic functional chal-
lenges. Like, in manufacturing, the 
process to obtain certifications is 
slow and tedious. We are applying for 
major global certifications 
and hope to get them in 
the near future. We already 
have two patents credited 
for our product.” 
“Technically, mistakes 
and innovations go hand-
in-hand. We tried vari-
ous sensors and different 
algorithms. At times, the 
members of team thought it 
was impossible. However, it 
is through consistent efforts 
and hard work that we won. 
We finally succeeded after 
over 50 iterations,” Dr Vaish added.
The road ahead
The team wants its product to pen-
etrate as deep as possible. It is looking 
for support from the government as 
well. It is also open to partnership 
with other companies, especially those 
in medial domain. The team hopes 
that the product reaches to people in 
need not just in India but throughout 
the world. It wants the sales to cross 
50,000 units next year. 
IntervIew
43www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
“You Need To Take That 
L-Shaped pcb And Figure 
Out How To Put MiLLiMetre 
Wave Into It”
There is a lot of talk about 5G, its benefits and applications. For 
engineers planning to start playing around with 5G, it’s important to 
get a bird’s eyeview of the challenges in designing a mobile device 
using this technology. Jim Cathey, Larry Paulson and Peter Carson 
from Qualcomm explain the basics to EFY’s Dilin Anand 
5G
Q. What design changes are 
required to make smartphones 
millimetre-wave-capable?
A. If you take any smartphone, 
it has an L-shaped PCB at one side 
and rest of the space is carved out 
for a battery. You need to take that 
L-shaped PCB (which is already 
packed to the brim) and figure out 
how to put millimetre wave into it. 
You cannot use the existing antenna 
setup for LTE here, because the 
antenna array and other aspects are 
completely different from what is 
needed for millimetre wave. Over-
all, there are three items that need 
to be balanced: power, coverage 
and size.
 
Q. Could you explain power design 
challenges?
A. Power problems are more 
of a downlink problem. The gain 
in your amplifier decides the 
amount of power you transmit 
back to the base station. Power-
amplified antenna and the choice 
of the antenna element have an 
important impact here. Certain 
antenna designs cause the radiation 
to go forward and narrow instead 
of widening and shortening. The 
power amplifier drives each one. 
So if you have four antennae and 
power amplifiers, you can add them 
together so that these direct to per-
form beamforming.
 
Q. What’s the best way to maximise 
gain here?
A. You can go for an extremely 
low-power amplifier, and add four 
4dB amplifiers together to get 16dB 
gain. Remember this is going to be a 
logarithmic addition for dB here, so 
it’s an order of magnitude higher for 
each. Once this is done, you can use 
polarisation to get an additional 3dB 
of antenna gain. The most severe 
power efficiency impacts will be at 
the downlink due to multi-gigabit 
data streams, data processing and 
related aspects.
 
Q. What’s the biggest 
benefit of using 802.11ad 
instead of 802.11ac?
A. 802.11ad gives much higher 
throughputsat the same power 
level. The aim here is to balance the 
power throughput and not just look 
at the power efficiency. 
 
Q. Any final tip that designers need 
to keep in mind?
A. You may still end up grabbing 
the wrong end of the device and 
blocking the module. So you need to 
design a way out for this by having 
more than one module in these 
millimeter-wave devices.
Q. What will be the scenario ten 
years from now?
A. In the future, you will have 
less low-level decisions to make. 
At the same time, you could also 
have a lot of data on tap that can be 
easily accessed through a potentially 
augmented reality interface. Overall, 
this means that you will have more 
time to dwell on the things of your 
choice while everything else can be 
automated.
Q. Autonomous vehicles are 
starting to look a lot like gadgets. 
What’s your take on a realistic 
scenario?
A. What will make autonomous 
driving actually work is a 100 per 
cent autonomous driving system. 
If you ban driver-occupied cars 
between 6am and 10pm in New 
York, London, Tokyo or any other 
major city for instance, and then 
smart grid the lighting system in 
the roads, the whole thing is going 
to work in an automated way. It is 
going to be an extremely efficient 
way. 
Jim CAthey 
senior viCe president And 
president, AsiA pACifiC & indiA, 
QuAlComm teChnologies, inC.
lArry pAulson 
viCe president And 
president, QuAlComm indiA
peter CArson 
senior direCtor, mArketing, 
QuAlComm teChnologies, inC.
IntervIew
44 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
“The Biggest Challenge Today Is 
The Lack Of Hardware”
With expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), we are looking at an ecosystem 
filled with sensors geographically distributed over large areas. This calls for a 
wide-area network (WAN) bridged by low-power communication technologies. 
Paromik Chakraborty of Electronics For You spoke to Gaurav Sareen, country 
director-India, Sigfox, to understand benefits of low-power wide-area network 
technologies and how the Indian ecosystem is adapting to these 
Low-Power WAN
Gaurav Sareen 
country director-
india, SiGfox 
Q. How are low-power communica-
tion technologies benefitting wide-
area networks?
A. Till date, cellular communica-
tion was the only WAN technology 
available. However, it was meant to 
use radio technology and support 
high bandwidth—making it extremely 
power-hungry. In machine-to-machine 
(M2M) communication, where the 
sensor-driven data payload is going to 
be very small and infrequent, cellular 
technologies become an overkill due 
to their power inefficiency. 
That is where the tables turned 
with low-power wide-area network 
(LPWAN). LPWAN technologies were 
developed bottom-up to be highly 
power-efficient. You can have battery-
powered sensors to work for an 
upward of ten years without having to 
replace their battery. 
 
Q. How do LPWan technologies 
achieve improved energy efficiency?
A. The main difference lies in the 
design of the transceiver. The trans-
ceiver in cellular devices is always 
‘on,’ continuously sending and receiv-
ing data from the nearest station. In 
LPWAN, the edge device transmitting 
the data is sleeping most of the time. 
The transceiver wakes up only at 
predefined times or based on real-
time information to transmit its data 
and goes back to sleep. That is how it 
conserves energy.
 
Q. cost-wise, how do these compare 
to the existing technologies?
A. Communication is a function of 
two things—transceiver and connectiv-
ity itself. Let’s take the simple exam-
ple of your mobile service: First, you 
pay for the cost of the cellphone that 
has the transceiver embedded in the 
device, and then you pay for the con-
nectivity to the network provider. New 
technologies are trying to address these 
cost points and bring them down. 
To give you a clear idea, our 
transceiver costs just about 1/15th of a 
cell phone transceiver’s price. Typi-
cally, a cell phone transceiver costs 
$10-$12. Our transceivers cost $1.89. 
The cost of cellular networks today 
for M2M application is typically about 
$60 a year per device (about Rs 300 
a month) as against Sigfox network’s 
about $3-$4 a year per device. 
Going forward, as the cost of trans-
ceivers goes down further to a few 
cents, these sensors can be embedded 
in a larger variety of applications, and 
applications like the IoT and M2M will 
start becoming the mainstream.
 
Q. any example?
A. An example is embedding 
transceivers in envelopes or packages 
to trace when and where these are 
opened. This solves a lot of problems 
faced by e-commerce companies. 
Earlier, they tried to outsource their 
logistics but realised that it was 
extremely inefficient because a lot of 
products were getting lost, causing 
30-40 per cent shipment loss. Now 
they have insourced the logistics for 
better control and some are starting 
to implement the envelope solution. 
They are receiving a message about 
the location and timestamp when 
the package is opened, so the team 
can verify whether the package was 
received by the intended recipient or 
opened somewhere else. 
 
Q. How are LPWans being secured?
A. Today, security is being 
designed in every aspect of the con-
nected ecosystem, starting from the 
device or hardware level. For that, 
we are using Secure Elements (SE), 
which is an additional hardware 
component that actually encrypts the 
data flowing into the hardware and 
checks the authenticity of the device. 
This ensures that the hardware is not 
compromised. Following that, in the 
network layer, advanced encryption 
schemes (AES) ensure that data in 
motion is secure. Finally, we have the 
application layer where data is tested 
to ensure it is infection-free. 
 
Q. is the indian ecosystem ready for 
these?
A. The biggest challenge today is 
the lack of hardware. This is inhibiting 
the IoT from becoming mainstream. 
The second challenge is the lack of 
a well-defined policy. Policy-makers 
are trying to frame out a structure 
considering all use cases where data 
privacy regulation needs to be fol-
lowed and where it can be relaxed. 
Again, the Bureau of Indian Stand-
ards (BIS) will start certifying IoT 
devices—but that will also require a 
certification framework. This is taking 
time because the technology is in a 
nascent stage. 
Awareness and education in the 
market is another challenge in the 
ecosystem. 
46 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
test & measurement
High-Speed 
MeMory 
TesTing 
Trends And 
Tips
Paromik 
Chakraborty is a 
technical journalist 
at EFY 
test & measurement
The high-speed random-access memory (RAM) market is dominated by double-data-rate (DDR) technology with DDR4 
ruling the pack. Mobile devices like tablets, 
laptops and smartphones use a low-power 
version of DDR (LPDDR) to lower their power 
consumption. 
DDR memory is based on a parallel-line 
technology that uses a large number of chan-
nels to carry the data. Operating on such a large 
number of data lanes at a high speed presents 
its own challenges. This is driving upgradation 
of the respective test and measurement (T&M) 
devices.
Trends in memory testing
DDR chips are tested at wafer-probe and 
memory-module levels. Probing is an impor-
tant aspect of catching the right signals of the 
memory by the test equipment. But the process 
of probing comes with many difficulties. To 
explain simply, when you use probes for DDR, 
there is a loss of signal. Such challenges call for 
a process called de-embedding.
Sanchit Bhatia, application expert in high-
speed digital applications, Keysight Technolo-
gies, says, “Specialised ball-grid-array probes 
are the preferred choice. These are soldered 
between the memory and the board. DDR4 has 
an average speed of 3.2 gigabits per second. At 
such a high speed, there is signal loss when 
using these probes. De-embedding is done 
to compensate for this signal loss.” After 
de-embedding, the signals are tested and 
validated by test devicesto ensure proper 
functioning of the memory. 
On the other hand, memory-module-
level testing is done at an integrated system 
level when all the component-level tests are 
completed.
Bhatia further explains that DDR testing 
can be done in two broad categories. The 
first type is parametric testing, which tests 
the integrity of DDR signals by analysing 
the timing of DDR waveforms and all other 
physical-layer parameters. The other category 
is functional or protocol testing, which tests 
whether the data is flowing as per the rules 
set. It evaluates whether all the commands 
are in place, addresses are correct and the sig-
nals are following all the protocols properly.
For DDR4 series, Joint Electron Device 
Engineering Council (JEDEC), the memory 
circuits standards defining body, added a 
new test called bit-error rate (BER) test. To 
cater to all these evolving test standards and 
requirements, high-speed testing equipment 
have dramatically improved in capacities 
over years.
Upgrades in T&M devices
T&M equipment have seen a number of trans-
formations to scale up to the capabilities of 
DDR4 and higher versions and meet JEDEC 
standards, be it in terms of speed, size or 
channel support. Here are some of the major 
trends.
Higher speed, more parallel DUTs. DDR 
memory test setups are improving in speed 
Before buying any 
equipment for high-
speed memory testing, 
it is better to go 
through the tips and 
trends mentioned here 
48 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
test & measurement
and capacities in general. Faster bit rates 
and capability to test a larger number of 
devices in parallel are evident. 
As an example, Jin Yokoyama, 
functional manager-memory test, 
Advantest, explains Advantest’s test 
setup evolution. The latest device 
in their T5503 series has seen size 
reduction and improved cost effi-
ciency with a capacity to test 512 
DDR4 DRAM memory devices 
simultaneously. Their LPDDR 
testing capability has evolved 
from 1600 megabits per second 
(Mbps) and 12.8 gigabytes per 
second (GB/s) for LPDDR3 
memories to 3200Mbps and 25.6GB/s 
respectively for the newer LPDDR4. 
On the other hand, the newest T5582 
series can support 1536 devices under 
test (DUT) in parallel with maximum 
data rate of up to 1.2Gbps.
Higher capacities in high-band-
width oscilloscopes. High-bandwidth 
oscilloscopes are used for parametric 
tests—evaluating the signal integrity 
of the memory. The upgraded oscillo-
scopes support mixed-signal channels, 
that is, these have four analogue chan-
nels and 16 digital channels. These 
channels help in a range of functions, 
like connecting the DDR command 
bus to evaluate command triggers or 
assessing the complete protocol of the 
command.
Another characteristic of DDR 
memory signals is that these come as a 
combination of ‘read’ and ‘write’ com-
mands. ‘Read’ command comes from 
the memory itself, while ‘write’ com-
mand comes from the controller. Read-
write channels of the oscilloscope help 
in separating these commands. 
Bhatia explains, “With the intro-
duction of DDR4, the oscilloscope 
bandwidth has gone up to 13GHz. The 
previous highest bandwidth range was 
8GHz. The upgrade has resulted in a net 
20 per cent increase in equipment price.”
Quad-sampling in logic analysers. 
Functional testing of high-speed memo-
ries requires capturing of all possible 
channels at the same time. Logic analys-
ers are essential devices for the purpose. 
Logic analysers suited for DDR testing 
have as many as 136 or more channels 
and a speed of 4Gbps or higher.
As a major upgrade, many manu-
facturers are developing logic analysers 
with a feature called quad-sampling, 
which means these analysers can take 
four samples in every clock cycle. The 
DDR works on both rising and falling 
edges of a signal. Moreover, it has both 
read and write signals on each rise and 
each fall. For efficient testing, in one 
clock cycle, one sample each of Read 
rising (Read command on the rising 
edge of the signal), Write rising, Read 
falling and Write falling is needed. 
Without quad-sampling technol-
ogy, the tester will have to split the 
clock cycle into four samples by physi-
cal techniques and do the sampling on 
four different channels, which is very 
cumbersome. Quad-sampling allows 
you to procure all four samples on 
a single channel, cutting down the 
complexity, time and effort required. 
Bhatia shares that Keysight’s previ-
ous version of logic analysers used to 
have dual-sampling capability, driving 
testers to procure the samples on two 
separate channels. These have been 
upgraded to quad-sample now.
Additionally, the speed of ana-
lysers has gone up to 4Gbps from 
2.5Gbps earlier. The protocol testing 
setup can be arranged in two levels: 
Either for only command and address 
debugging, or with data debug capa-
bility along with command and 
address debugging.
Software upgrade. There are 
specialised software to test DDR 
bus for compliance to JEDEC stand-
ards. These DDR compliance testing 
software are fully automated and 
can complete 50-60 tests in one go. 
Another software called DDR debug 
tool analyses failures detected by the 
DDR compliance testing software. It 
helps to narrow down reasons behind 
the failure and locate the particular bus 
that has failed.
Tips for optimal T&M
Following the upgrade trends in DDR 
T&M devices, there will be certain cri-
teria and challenges in designing and 
selecting the optimal test setup. Bhatia 
shares the important ones.
Preference to devices with 
the highest test coverage. DDR 
doesn’t have a dedicated compli-
ance program like other technolo-
gies. It has a set of specifications 
following which the tests are 
done. There is a large list of tests that 
can be conducted for DDR memories. 
Different vendors provide support for 
different number of test automation—
some provide 40 to 50 tests, while 
others may give 100. Before selecting a 
setup, check the number of tests that 
it supports.
Don’t over-invest in higher-band-
width devices. Bhatia opines, “DDR 
does not require very high-bandwidth 
values such as 20GHz. So test equip-
ment with 13GHz bandwidth will work 
fine. DDR memories use FR4, which is 
a low-cost semiconductor material. As 
these are made to keep the cost afford-
able, excessively high-level bandwidth 
is not achievable.”
Data debug is a good choice. Some 
protocol testing equipment are incapa-
ble of data debugging. Logic analysers 
with data, address and command 
debug capability can be customised to 
debug any of the selected parameters 
as required. So go for a logic analyser 
with data debug capability.
Use RC-type probing for best 
results. For DDR probing, ensure use 
of resistor-capacitor (RC)-type probes. 
Many designers choose RCRC (high-
bandwidth) type probes, which do not 
give good results because they do not 
generate high impedance. 
Going forward
DDR5 is still under development, but 
is projected to become mainstream in 
a short span of time. So T&M equip-
ment manufacturers are already 
upgrading for the future. For example, 
Advantest is improving its test devices 
for a massive 6.4Gbps speed to support 
LPDDR5. 
Logic analyser for high-speed memory testing (Image source: eet.com)
50 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
telecom
Given all the marketing push and hype around the Internet of Things (IoT), it is difficult to predict how 
business models will evolve over the next 
few years. For industry practitioners, this 
remains one of the major concerns. Usu-
ally, they ponder upon implementing the 
IoT and end up asking, “How can the IoT 
be used in my industry?” 
Looking at the existing solutions is 
the most common approach to find an 
answer to this question. At one end, there 
are business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions, 
which are good to have but don’t solve the 
real pain. At the other end, we see some 
B2B trends around particular industries 
where the IoT can play a crucial role. One 
such verticalis telecom.
For more than a decade, telecom has 
been the poster boy of high-technology 
industry. This is because of its fast expan-
sion, highly driven by innovation around 
smartphones and the Internet. New 
services are being promoted and new 
geographies being captured by telcos. 
All this adds complexity to managing the 
work optimally, combined with the force 
of launching new services that add value 
to eliminate the competition.
Emergence of the IoT presents some 
interesting opportunities for telcos. 
Great news is that these opportunities 
can propel both the top line and bottom 
line, introducing more operational effi-
ciency and additional 
revenue streams. Let 
us look at some of the 
available options.
Enhancing 
operational 
efficiency
Remote infrastruc-
ture accounts for a 
significant portion of 
telcos’ operational 
cost. The IoT plays a 
significant role here 
in remote manage-
ment and monitoring. 
Let us consider a mobile operator network, 
which contains many mobile cell towers 
that are spread across a large geographical 
area. For managing the remote equipment of 
telcos, protocols and standards are in place. 
However, there are issues like environmen-
tal protection, physical security and asset 
management.
Asset handling and monitoring. A 
remote cell tower site incorporates auxiliary 
equipment along with major telecommuni-
cation equipment in order to make things 
work. One such equipment is the genera-
tor for power backup, which ensures 24/7 
network uptime. Energy meters, UPS and 
air-conditioning are other major assets. 
These come under the passive infrastruc-
ture. Predicting their failure in advance by 
monitoring their operational efficiency is an 
important part of remote management. The 
IoT makes it possible.
Physical security. In remote places, 
physical security of costly equipment is 
important. This requires an IoT-enabled 
intrusion detection system. In addition, a 
tracking system for resource consumption 
by pilferable consumables such as batteries 
and fuels is needed to ensure timely alerts 
in order to minimise losses.
Environmental protection. There is 
always the threat of environmental damage 
to remote sites. The IoT plays a major role 
in detecting conditions such as flood, smoke 
and bad weather. It also assists in providing 
control commands to either shut down the 
system to avoid irreparable damages or take 
any preventive measures.
Providing last-mile access to 
devices
When using the IoT to handle remote telco 
sites, it must be noted that the IoT depends 
on a reliable communication link. So it is 
crucial to consider something which doesn’t 
suffer from downsides of the telco’s terres-
trial link failure. 
Low-power radio. By playing the role 
of a service provider, telcos can tap into the 
machine-to-machine (M2M) ecosystem. 
M2M communication needs very low band-
How The IoT Is 
Revolutionising Telecom 
Savaram Ravindra 
holds a Masters 
degree in 
Nanotechnology 
from VIT University. 
He has worked 
as a programmer 
analyst at Cognizant 
Technology Solutions 
Image: Kaa IoT platform
IoT can propel both the 
top line and bottom line of 
telcos by introducing more 
operational efficiency and 
additional revenue streams 
51www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
telecom
width in comparison to human-to-human communication 
(which needs high-quality source and higher bandwidth). 
Traditionally, existing technologies like Wi-Fi and GSM 
are used to enable M2M communication. These technolo-
gies, centered around high bandwidth, are overkill for 
M2M. They also consume excessive power and are there-
fore energy-inefficient in battery-powered applications. 
Therefore, in recent years, new standards were devel-
oped for wide-area, radio-based and low-power technolo-
gies that are optimised for low data rates. Usually known 
as low-power WAN (LPWAN), these are highly power 
efficient. LoRaWAN and NB-IoT are two such competing 
standards.
LoRaWAN is already being used in some parts of 
the world. The general use cases of LoRaWAN are in 
agriculture, where it is used to establish communication 
links with sensors installed on the field. In a similar way, 
LoRaWAN can be deployed for public utilities like parking 
systems in urban areas. Telcos can tap into LoRaWAN by 
providing LoRaWAN services to businesses.
Offering value-added and intelligent services
Merging of virtual and physical worlds. Finding our way 
from physical to virtual world and vice-versa is a concept 
similar to physical web proposed by Google. But, this 
approach of Google works in a personal-area network 
(PAN) space. 
Proximity sensing (ProSe) is based on standards of a 
service on top of 4G LTE cellular service that enables two 
devices to detect their proximity and exchange data. Some 
of the practical use cases are mentioned below.
Finding people. Suppose you are attending a con-
ference and want to know whether anyone from your 
LinkedIn network is present there. If you and your links 
have ProSe installed on your smartphones, LinkedIn app 
will scan the nearby people quickly and pop up on your 
phone’s screen the list of people from your LinkedIn 
network.
Finding places. Suppose you are in a new city and you 
must locate the nearest train station or bus stand to travel 
to another part of the city. If every train, bus and public 
transport aggregation point in the city consists of a ProSe 
enabled device, these can sync up with the ProSe service 
of your smartphone to present you with an interactive 
application that helps you find your way to the closest 
point. Additionally, if you are able to communicate with 
those devices, they can present you with information like 
train/bus timings.
To sum up
Analytics, control and monitoring make up the highly 
obvious IoT use cases. Many jobs are also being generated 
due to innovative applications of the IoT. Many beginners 
and experienced professionals are taking IoT training 
and certification as it promises a lucrative career. A new 
wave of collaborative applications is merging the physical 
world into our virtual lives, allowing us to make a transi-
tion from physical to virtual, or virtual to physical world, 
seamlessly. 
52 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
displays
For decades displays have been simply flat pieces of glass or plastic that dic-tated the design of technology. But 
recently, engineers and manufacturers have 
been coming up with curved screens, more 
and more of which can be found on computer 
monitors, televisions and phones. Samsung 
Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G Flex are among the 
devices featuring bendable display. 
With bendable display, manufacturers are 
looking to advance technology. In fact, flexible 
displays have the potential to become one of 
the biggest technological breakthroughs in 
the decade, encouraging designers to create 
devices we have never seen before. 
But what exactly is a flexible display and 
why do technology majors around the world 
see it as the next big thing? Let’s check out.
Bendable does not mean curved
Although curved screens are impressive, these 
are not the same as the ones that are bent. 
Traditionally, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) 
are sandwiches with materials that include 
backlight, polariser, thin-film transistor, liquid 
crystals and filter glass. LCDs are usually flat, 
but several companies like Samsung have 
managed to produce curved LCDs. 
The recently released organic LED ecosys-
tem (OLED) has gained popularity, thanks to 
its simplified design, better image quality and 
flexibility. OLED displays do not require back-
lighting, so these can be thinned and moulded 
into specific shapes such as the curved display 
on Samsung Galaxy S7. Flexibility, thinness 
and excellent image quality make OLED a 
better choice for curved screens, and it is clear 
that the OLED will overthrow LCD TVs in the 
future. However, OLEDs are currently too 
expensive to produce for large screens such as 
televisionsand computer monitors, but their 
prices will eventually fall. 
Although LCDs contain more layers than 
OLEDs, these screens may still be bent. 
Apple Japan Display is developing a 14cm 
(5.5-inch), full HD LCD. The display will use 
plastic for the substrate, which has tradition-
ally been made of non-removable glass. This 
will enable it to flex and bend. 
However, engineers need to come up with 
a way to create materials that will not break 
down under repeated bending stress, keeping 
a consistent image on the screen. This is a 
huge challenge.
Durability is a huge plus point
The biggest advantage of flexible displays is 
durability. Because the screen can be bent 
and manipulated, it can also absorb impact 
better than solid glass structures we currently 
have. So broken screens can be a thing of the 
past. However, it will take some time before 
we reach that point. It is assumed today that 
bendable screens will use plastic instead of 
glass, but the plastic itself can still crack under 
extreme stress. 
Manufacturers like Corning are currently 
working on a flexible glass called Willow, 
which is planned to be put into everything 
from telephones to televisions to carry devic-
es. Willow is as thin as a piece of paper and 
can be bent too. But it will still break if it gets 
too much rounded up.
Samsung, LG and Apple join the 
move
The three largest mobile manufacturers are 
reportedly experimenting with flexible dis-
plays. According to Samsung, the most impor-
tant feature of Galaxy X is that its display can 
be folded outside, allowing users to convert 
Flexible Displays: 
A Revolutionary Breakthrough! 
Jawaaz Ahmad 
is an electronics 
enthusiast 
with interest 
in VLSI design 
and embedded 
systems 
Flexible AMOLED display (Image 
courtesy: www.businesswire.com)
Flexible displays, when 
they hit the market, 
could provide endless 
possibilities in design 
and innovation 
53www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
their phones into 12.7cm (7-inch) tablets. LG is also said 
to have come out with a smartphone that folds outside to 
form a tablet. Patent drawings represent a conceptual LG 
phone that has a foldable display which can be used even 
after bending. Apple is considering the use of bendable 
displays on the iPhone in 2018.
Potential applications
Other technologies could also benefit from flexible 
displays. For example, flexible displays could be used 
as clothing that changes colour or pattern instantly as 
per the environment, making these particularly useful 
for soldiers. 
Phones can also take a new format, similar to the 
Lenovo Cplus prototype, which starts as a thin handset 
but folds into a wristband. Samsung experimented with 
the introduction of curved displays on its original Galaxy 
Gear S smartphone, but moved to a more traditional flat, 
rounded Galaxy Gear S3. With curved displays, intel-
ligent observers can theoretically have massive screens 
that surround their wrist to display even more informa-
tion at once. 
Cars could also use curved screens as more and more 
dashboards are going digital. For example, Mercedes 
E-Class displays infotainment indicators and infotain-
ment data on a 31cm (12.3-inch) HD display that extends 
on the dashboard. Tesla and X models have a huge 43cm 
(17-inch) central display, but you can use a curved screen 
to make the outline look natural on the car’s dashboard.
The biggest challenges
The concept of bent displays is not new, because gadget 
manufacturers appear to be displaying them on large 
shows like CES (Consumers Electronics Show in Las 
Vegas, USA) and MWC (Mobile World Congress in Barce-
lona, Spain) annually, but no one has brought a flexible 
display to the market yet. Why? 
Since bending the display is difficult, crafting a device 
that uses one effectively is even more difficult. In order 
to create a flexible product, manufacturers need to know 
how to make each component flexible. Batteries are 
particularly difficult to bend because current technology 
requires batteries to keep their shape. After being bent, 
batteries are short-circuited and, if shorted too far in the 
housing, can explode. 
Both LG and Samsung have been working on a flexible 
battery for many years, but the technology is still not avail-
able. So far, the only way to use a curved display is to make 
a device that bends on the hinge. This concept works with 
the Lenovo Yoga Book, which is equipped with a touch 
screen and a touch pad that doubles as a drawing tablet. 
With the hinge, device manufacturers can potentially use 
fixed batteries and silicon, but add a fold to them. 
We are still waiting for the first device to hit the 
market, but when it arrives, we can expect durability and 
endless possibilities in design and innovation. Over the 
last few years, the patterns of phones and tablets have 
been outdated, and flexible displays can make them 
exciting again. 
displays
54 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
sensors
Be it a silent heart attack detector that detects the protein level of a patient or a posture-correcting chair 
that alerts the occupant sitting in a wrong 
posture—both recently invented by Indian 
teenagers—sensors have a vital role to play 
in electronic devices. The fact is that the 
application of sensors is ever-expanding 
along with the progress in science and 
technology. 
As per industry reports, sensors are 
becoming the biggest and fastest growing 
markets, comparable with computers and 
communication devices markets. You find 
sensors in smartphones, automobiles, 
security systems and even everyday objects 
like coffee makers! Apart from consumer 
electronics, these are also an integral part 
of the Internet of Things (IoT), medical, 
nuclear, defence, aviation, robotics and 
artificial intelligence, agriculture, environ-
ment monitoring and deep-sea applications.
The shift to smarter sensors
Basically, a sensor is an input device 
that receives and responds to a signal or 
stimulus. Nowadays some sensors come 
integrated with many sensing elements 
and read-out circuitry in a single silicon 
chip, providing high accuracy and mul-
tiple functions. Manufacturers use both 
advanced technologies and methods for 
signal processing and conversion. Modern 
sensors have more features including user-
friendliness, accessibility and flexibility. 
So there is a paradigm shift in the sensor 
industry with integration of new technolo-
gies to make sensors smarter and intelligent.
Ordinary sensors are still used in many 
applications. But innovation and advance-
ment in micro-
electronics is 
taking sensor 
technology to 
a completely 
new level. The 
functionality of 
ordinary sensors 
has expanded in 
many ways and 
these now provide a number of additional 
properties. Sensors are becoming more and 
more intelligent, providing higher accuracy, 
flexibility and easy integration into distrib-
uted systems. 
Intelligent sensors use standard bus or 
wireless network interfaces to communicate 
with one another or with microcontrollers 
(MCUs). The network interface makes data 
transmission easier while also expanding the 
system. Manufacturers can diagnose sensor 
faults and guide users to troubleshoot them 
remotely through the computer network. 
An intelligent sensor may consist of a 
chain of analogue and digital blocks, each of 
which provides a specific function. Data pro-
cessing and analogue-to-digital conversion 
(ADC) functionalities help improve sensor 
reliability and measurement accuracy. The 
typical structure of an intelligent sensor is 
shown in Fig. 1.
Common types of latest sensors
There are a wide variety of sensors depend-
ing on the technology (analogue/digital) and 
applications. This article covers some of the 
latest sensors including IoT sensors, pollu-
tion sensors, RFID sensors, image sensors, 
The Latest In 
SenSorS And ApplicAtionS 
Sani Theo is 
technical editor 
at EFY
Fig. 1: Intelligent 
sensor structure 
(Courtesy: www.
mdpi.com)
Marketsize
According to a BBC Research report, the global 
sensor market is chasing double-digit growth. It 
expects the global market for sensors to reach 
$240.3 billion in 2021, up from about $123.5 
billion in 2016. Fingerprint sensors will lead the 
market by growing at 15.9 per cent annually.
Another source puts chemical sensors, 
process variable sensors, proximity and 
positioning sensors among the fastest growing 
markets. Automotive industry will once again be 
the leading consumer market for sensors. 
A TechSci Research report says, “India’s 
sensors market is one of the fastest growing 
markets in Asia-Pacific. Rising security concerns 
and growing trend towards miniaturisation are 
shifting the focus of consumers to smart devices, 
which make extensive use of various sensors, in 
particular, touch and image sensors.” The report 
projects India’s sensors market to grow at over 
20 per cent annually during 2015-20. 
Sensitive
element
Intelligent sensor
MCUADC
Network
interface
Signal
process
circuit
The new wave of sensors, 
including those used in 
IoTs and wearables, are 
soon going to revolutionise 
electronics industry 
55www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
sensors
biometric sensors, printed sensors, 
and MEMS and NEMS sensors.
IoT sensors. IoT sensors include 
temperature sensors, proximity sen-
sors, pressure sensors, RF sensors, 
pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensors, 
water-quality sensors, chemical sen-
sors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, liq-
uid-level sensors, automobile sensors 
and medical sensors. These sensors 
are connected to a computer network 
for monitoring and control purposes. 
Using sensors and the Internet, IoT 
systems have wide applications across 
industries with their unique flexibility 
in providing enhanced data collection, 
automation and operation.
The global market for IoT sen-
sors reached $7.3 billion in 2015. It 
is expected to reach $47.8 billion in 
2021 from nearly $10.6 billion in 2016, 
growing annually at 35 per cent during 
2016-21. The Asia-Pacific market for 
IoT sensors is expected to grow from 
$3 billion in 2016 to $14 billion in 2021 
at a CAGR of 36.1 per cent from 2016 
through 2021.
Pollution sensors. Air pollution 
sensors are used to detect and moni-
tor the presence of air pollution in 
the surrounding area. These can be 
used for both indoor and outdoor 
environments. Although there are 
various types of air pollution sensors, 
most of these sensors focus on five 
parameters: particulate matter, ozone, 
carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide 
and nitrous oxide. These sensors are 
somewhat costly but are becoming 
more affordable for common use. 
Sensors capable of detecting 
particulate matter with a diameter 
between 2.5 and 10μm (PM10) and a 
diameter less than 2.5μm (PM2.5) are 
available in the market. Fig. 2 shows 
a typical PM sensor popular among 
hobbyists and experimenters. Fig. 3 
shows an easy-to-assemble PM2.5 
sensor from Sharp Corporation with a 
detection time of ten seconds.
RFID sensors. RFID chips (Fig. 4) 
as small as the size of rice grains can 
be inserted directly under the skin for 
use as ID cards. There is a trend to use 
RFID chips in many products includ-
ing contactless banks cards and Oyster 
cards. There are also cases where chips 
are implanted in pets and cattle for 
monitoring. 
Wearable sensors. These sensors 
include medical sensors, GPS, inertial 
measurement unit (IMU) and optical 
sensors. With modern techniques and 
miniature circuits, wearable sensors 
can now be deployed in digital health 
monitoring systems. Sensors are also 
integrated into various accessories such 
as cloths, wrist bands, eyeglasses, head-
phones and smartphones. An IDTechEx 
report forecasts optical, IMU and GPS 
sensors to dominate the sensors market 
in terms of revenue by 2022 (Fig. 5).
Wearable applications and IoTs are 
expected to drive double-digit growth 
in the global market for sensors. Due 
to decrease in manufacturing costs and 
low power consumption of sensors, 
most traditional wired connections 
will be replaced with wireless sensors 
and integrated into wireless networks 
in the future.
Image sensors. The best example of 
this sensor is found in your smartphone 
camera. An image sensor detects and 
conveys the information that consti-
tutes an image. Digital imaging is fast 
replacing analogue imaging. Most digi-
tal cameras use CMOS sensors, which 
allow faster speed with lower power 
consumption. 
An image sensor from Renesas is 
shown in Fig. 6.
Biometric sensors. The most 
common biometric sensor is your 
fingerprint module. R30x fingerprint 
module is quite popular among hob-
byists and experimenters. The latest 
generation of fingerprint sensors from 
Qualcomm consists of sensors for 
display, glass and metal, detection of 
directional gestures, and underwater 
fingerprint match and device wake-up. 
These sensors are designed as both an 
integrated solution with Qualcomm 
Snapdragon mobile platforms, and as 
standalone sensors that can be used 
with other non-Snapdragon platforms. 
Qualcomm fingerprint sensors for glass 
and metal are likely to reach the market 
in the first half of 2018. 
Printed sensors. Sensors printed on 
flexible substrates are becoming popu-
Fig. 2: PM2.5/PM10 sensor (Courtesy: http://
aqicn.org)
Fig. 3: PM2.5 sensor (Courtesy: www.digikey.com)
Fig. 4: Grain-size RFID chip (Courtesy: https://voiceofpeopletoday.com)
56 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
sensors
lar. The next generation of printed 
sensors will enable applications 
ranging from human-machine 
interfaces to environmental sens-
ing. The IDTechEx report predicts 
the market for fully printed sen-
sors to reach $7.6 billion by 2027.
Printed sensors may have a 
very simple structure with only 
a few electrodes, while others 
are much more complex requir-
ing deposition of multiple layers. 
What they have in common is the 
capability to be manufactured on 
plastic substrates, which offer 
advantages in terms of mechani-
cal flexibility, thinness and weight 
reduction. 
MEMS. Microelectromechani-
cal systems (MEMS) are devices 
characterised both by their small 
size and the manner in which 
these are made. These are made 
up of component sizes between 
1 and 100 micrometres. The most 
notable elements are microsensors 
and microactuators. 
MEMS devices can vary from 
simple structures to extremely 
complex electromechanical sys-
tems with multiple moving ele-
ments under the control of inte-
grated microelectronics. In other 
words, MEMS sensor is a precision 
device in which mechanical part 
and micro sensors along with a 
signal-conditioning circuit are 
fabricated on a small piece of 
silicon chip. 
Generally, MEMS consist of 
mechanical microstructures, 
microactuators, microsensors and 
microelectronics in one package. Fig. 
7 shows the block diagram of a MEMS 
device.
Microsensors detect changes in 
a system’s environment by measur-
ing thermal, chemical, electrical or 
mechanical information. These varia-
bles are processed by microelectronics 
and then microactuators act according 
to the changes in the environment.
Some common types of MEMS sen-
sors available in the market are: 
1. MEMS accelerometers. These 
are used to measure static or dynamic 
force of acceleration. The major cat-
egories are silicon capacitive, piezo-
resistive and thermal accelerometers. 
MEMS accelerometers are used 
in smartphones for various controls 
including switching between land-
scape and portrait modes, anti-blur 
capture and pocket-mode operation.
2. MEMS gyroscopes. These detect 
the angular rate of an object. MEMS 
gyros are used for vehicle stability 
control with a steering-wheel sensor 
and rollover detection. 
3. MEMS pressure sensors. These 
sensors measure three types of pres-
sures: gauge, absolute and differential 
pressure. The sensor is integrated with 
a diaphragm and a set of resistors on 
integrated chips so that pressure is 
detected as a change in resistance.These sensors are used in automo-
tive, industrial, medical, defence 
and aerospace applications. In 
automotive systems these are 
widely used in oil pressure sensor, 
crash detection, fuel-tank vapour 
pressure monitoring, exhaust gas 
recirculation, engine management 
system, etc. 
4. MEMS magnetic field sen-
sors. These sensors detect and 
measure magnetic fields, and find 
use in position sensing, current 
detection, speed detection, vehicle 
detection, space exploration, etc.
5. Fluxgate sensors. Fluxgate 
sensors are used to measure DC or 
low-frequency AC magnetic field. 
These find many applications like 
space research, geophysics, min-
eral prospecting, automation and 
industrial process control. MEMS-
based fluxgate sensors score over 
other fluxgate sensors owing to 
their less power consumption, 
small size and better performance.
NEMS. Nanoelectromechani-
cal systems (NEMS) are a class 
of devices like MEMS but on the 
nanoscale. These are the next 
miniaturisation step after MEMS 
devices. Nanoresonators and 
nanoaccelerometers are examples 
of NEMS. Usually, NEMS rely on 
carbon-based materials, includ-
ing diamond, carbon nanotubes 
and graphene. One of their most 
promising applications is the com-
bination of biology and nanotech-
nology. Nanoresonators would 
find application in wireless com-
munication technologies, while 
nanomotors might be used in nano-
fluidic pumps for biochips or sensors.
Sensor materials
The exact sensor materials depend on 
their type and application. For exam-
ple, digital, analogue, proximity and 
image sensors have their own materi-
als, structures, fabrication techniques 
and packaging. Here we cover materi-
als and fabrication techniques mainly 
for the latest sensors like MEMS com-
monly adopted by most manufacturers. 
Materials used in electronics can play 
an active or passive role. Some materi-
als play both roles.
Passive materials. These are used 
Fig. 5: Wearable chart (Courtesy: www.idtechex.com)
Fig. 6: Image sensor (Courtesy: www.renesas.com)
Fig. 7: Block diagram of a MEMS device
57www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
sensors
phones, satellite communications and 
radar systems. The highly sensitive 
GaAs piezoelectric sensors are also 
used for biological detection.
InSb. It is useful for magnetic 
sensing devices such as Hall Effect 
sensors and magnetic resistors. InSb 
magnetoresistors are used as position 
sensors in automotive applications. 
InSb materials are also used for infra-
red imaging.
Plastics. Plastics are widely used 
in electronic and electrical compo-
nents and assemblies. Since plastics 
are insulators, these are used in a 
variety of applications where insula-
tion properties are needed. Polymers 
are also used as radiation detectors 
and chemical sensors.
Metals. Physical properties and 
mechanical processing of metals are 
taken into account while designing 
sensors. Copper has excellent thermal 
and electrical properties, but it is dif-
ficult to machine. Aluminium is used 
as an alternative in some cases. Metals 
are used in magnetic sensors. Precious 
metals like gold, silver, platinum, rho-
dium and palladium are widely used 
in sensor devices for automobiles, 
RFID tags, mobile phones and PCs.
Ceramics. Ceramics are widely 
used in sensor fabrication. These 
posses common properties includ-
ing structural strength, light weight, 
thermal stability, electrical insulation 
and ability to bond with other materi-
als. They do not react with oxygen 
and thus do not create oxides. Many 
manufacturers use ceramics as sensor 
substrates.
Sensor fabrication
Microsensor technology uses the basic 
fabrication steps followed in conven-
to provide either mechanical structure 
or electrical connection. Some of these 
materials like silicon and gallium arse-
nide can also be used as active as well 
as passive materials.
Active materials. These materials 
are essential to the sensing process in 
microelectronics, photosensitive, pie-
zoelectric, magnetoresistive and chem-
oresistive films. Microsensor materials 
in the form of thin or thick films play 
an active role in the sensing system. 
These devices are fabricated using 
chemical vapour deposition (CVD) or 
low-pressure chemical vapour deposi-
tion (LPCVD) and special techniques 
like electrochemical deposition. 
Silicon. Elemental silicon is not 
found in nature, but occurs in com-
pounds like oxides and silicates. Silicon 
is abundant, relatively inexpensive and 
exhibits a number of physical proper-
ties that are useful for sensor applica-
tion. It is possible to deposit layers of 
materials with the desired properties 
on a silicon substrate. Single-crystal-
line silicon is the most widely used 
semiconducting material. 
Polysilicon. Polycrystalline layers 
may be formed by vacuum deposition 
onto an oxidised silicon wafer with an 
oxide. Polysilicon structures may be 
doped with boron or other elements by 
ion implantation or other techniques to 
reach the required conductivity. The 
temperature coefficient of the resist-
ance may be changed over a wide 
range, positive or negative—through 
selective doping. Polysilicon resistors 
have a long-term stability.
Other semiconductors. There 
is a wide range of compound semi-
conductors available to prepare het-
erostructures with unique properties. 
Gallium-arsenide (GaAs) and indium-
antimonide (InSb) are widely used in 
electronic components.
GaAs. Gallium-arsenide is used in 
devices such as infrared light-emitting 
diodes, laser diodes, microwave mono-
lithic integrated circuits (ICs) and solar 
cells. It is also used in optical fibre 
temperature sensors. A study shows 
that some electronic properties of 
gallium-arsenide are superior to those 
of silicon. Gallium-arsenide transistors 
function at frequencies above 250GHz. 
Due to the superior properties of 
GaAs, these are widely used in mobile 
Some key sensor players
 Analog Devices Inc.
 Custom Sensors and Technologies Inc.
 Delphi Automotive PLC
 Infineon Technologies AG
 Omron Corp.
 Qualcomm Technologies
 Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics
 STMicroelectronics
 Vishay Intertechnology Inc.
 Wilcoxon Research Inc.
(Courtesy: https://globenewswire.com)
tional silicon planar IC technique and 
some additional steps. At present, com-
plementary metal-oxide semiconductor 
(CMOS) is the most common technol-
ogy used in microsensors. Microsen-
sors are designed and fabricated using 
commercial CMOS IC processes with 
subsequent bulk-micromachining 
technology. The exact steps are different 
from sensors to sensors.
Encapsulation. The chip must 
be protected from the atmosphere. 
Photoresist or silicon nitride materi-
als are often used to cover the sensing 
area. LPCVD or CVD process is used 
to deposit silicon nitride layer, which 
acts as a barrier against water. The 
next step is IC encapsulation. That 
includes sealing the IC in a plastic resin 
or metal case. This process protects the 
silicon device from the surrounding 
environment, and may not be always 
required in some MEMS devices where 
the atmosphere is used to transmit the 
measured quantity.
Deposition. Some sensors, espe-
cially MEMS devices, are required to 
deposit thin and thick film materials 
providing the sensing surface with 
the required properties. For example, 
sensitivity to thermal radiation is given 
by coating with nichrome. The film can 
be locally etched using lithography and 
wet chemical etching processes. Dry 
physical etching and laser processing 
can also be used.
The scope and future outlook
With micro and nano technologies, 
sensors can be made to fit almost 
anywhere in consumer devices, 
robots, automobiles and even human 
bodies. Use of intelligent sensors is 
also increasing in counter-terrorism, 
cargo tracking, biometrics among 
other applications. Latest sensors 
are used in automobiles to prevent 
impending crash and determine the 
type of airbags to be fired, and force 
and speed of their deployment. The 
use of MEMS inmedical applications, 
including implantable devices and 
handheld devices for diagnostics and 
monitoring systems, is on the rise. 
Looking forward, with advancements 
in technology, the new wave of sen-
sors including IoTs and wearables is 
going to revolutionise the electronics 
industry in years to come. 
imaging
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58 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Image deblurring removes distortion from a blurry image using knowledge of the point spread function (PSF). Image 
deblurring algorithms in Image Processing 
Toolbox include Wiener, and regularised 
filter deconvolution, blind, Lucy-Richard-
son, as well as conversions between point 
spread and optical transfer functions. These 
functions help correct blurring caused by 
out-of-focus optics, camera or subject move-
ment during image capture, atmospheric 
conditions, short exposure time and other 
factors. 
deconvwnr function deblurs the image 
using Wiener filter, while deconvreg function 
deblurs with a regularised filter. deconvlucy 
function implements an accelerated, damped 
Lucy-Richardson algorithm and deconvblind 
function implements the blind deconvolu-
tion algorithm, which performs deblurring 
without the knowledge of PSF. We discuss 
here how to deblur an image using Wiener 
and regularised filters.
Deblurring using Wiener filter
Wiener deconvolution can be used effectively 
when frequency characteristics of the image 
and additive noise are known to some extent. 
In the absence of noise, Wiener filter reduces 
to an ideal inverse filter. 
deconvwnr function deconvolves image 
I using Wiener filter algorithm, returning 
deblurred image J as follows: 
J = deconvwnr(I,PSF,NSR) 
where image I can be an N-dimensional array, 
PSF the point-spread function with which 
image I was convolved, and NSR the noise-
to-signal power ratio of the additive noise. 
NSR can be a scalar or a spectral-domain 
array of the same size as image I. NSR=0 is 
equivalent to creating an ideal inverse filter.
Image I can be of class uint8, uint16, 
int16, single or double. Other inputs have 
to be of class double. Image J has the same 
class as image I.
The following steps are taken to read 
‘Image_2.tif’, blur it, add noise to it and then 
restore the image using Wiener filter. 
1. The syntax to read image (Image_2.
tif) into the MATLAB workspace and display 
it is:
>> I=im2double(imread(‘Image_2.tif’));
>>imshow(I)
Fig. 1 shows the image generated by 
imshow function. 
2. h=fspecial(‘motion’, len, theta) 
returns a filter to approximate the linear 
motion of a camera by len pixels, with an 
angle of theta degrees in a counter-clockwise 
direction. The filter becomes a vector for 
horizontal and vertical motions. The default 
value of len is 9 and that of theta is 0, which 
corresponds to a horizontal motion of nine 
pixels. B=imfilter(A,h) filters multidimen-
sional array A with multidimensional filter 
h. Array A can be logical or non-sparse 
numeric array of any class and dimension. 
Result B has the same size and class as A. 
The syntax is:
>> LEN=21;
>> THETA=11;
>> PSF=fspecial(‘motion’,LEN,THETA);
>> blurred=imfilter(I,PSF,’conv’,’circular’);
>>figure,imshow(blurred)
Fig. 2 shows the image generated by 
imshow function.
3. J=imnoise(I,’gaussian’,M,V) adds 
Gaussian white noise of mean M and 
variance V to image I:
>>noise_mean=0;
>>noise_var=0.002;
>>blurred_noise=imnoise(blurred,’gaussian’,
 noise_mean,noise_var);
>>figure, imshow(blurred_noise)
Fig. 3 shows the image generated by 
imshow function. 
4. As mentioned above, J=deconvwnr 
Image ProcessIng UsIng maTLaB:
Image Deblurring And Hough Transform
Part 4 of 4
Dr Anil Kumar Maini 
is former director, 
Laser Science and 
Technology Centre, 
a premier laser and 
optoelectronics 
R&D laboratory of 
DRDO of Ministry 
of Defence 
Varsha Agrawal is a 
senior scientist with 
Laser Science and 
Technology Centre 
(LASTEC), a premier 
R&D lab of DRDO 
Fig. 1: Image read into the MATLAB 
workspace
Fig. 2: Image after filtering with multidimensional 
filter
Image pre-processing and 
identification of certain 
shaped objects in the 
image is explained here 
imaging
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59www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
(I,PSF,NSR) deconvolves image I using 
Wiener filter algorithm, returning 
deblurred image J. The following com-
mands generate a deblurred image 
using NSR of zero: 
>>estimated_nsr=0;
>> wnr2=deconvwnr(blurred_noise,PSF, 
 estimated_nsr);
>>figure,imshow(wnr2)
Fig. 4 shows the image generated 
by imshow function.
5. The following commands gen-
erate a deblurred image using NSR 
calculated from the image: 
>>estimated_nsr=noise_var/var(I(:));
>> wnr3=deconvwnr(blurred_noise,PSF, 
 estimated_nsr);
>>figure,imshow(wnr3)
Fig. 5 shows the restored image 
from the blurred and noisy image 
using estimated NSR generated from 
the image. 
Deblurring with 
a regularised filter
A regularised filter can be used effec-
tively when limited information is 
known about the additive noise. 
J=deconvreg(I, PSF) deconvolves 
image I using regularised filter algo-
rithm and returns deblurred image J. 
The assumption is that image I was 
created by convolving a true image 
with a point-spread function and 
possibly by adding noise. The algo-
rithm is a constrained optimum in the 
sense of least square error between 
the estimated and true images under 
requirement of preserving image 
smoothness.
Image I can be an N-dimensional 
array.
Variations of deconvreg function 
are given below:
• J = deconvreg(I, PSF, NOISE-
POWER) 
where NOISEPOWER is the additive 
noise power. The default value is 0.
• J = deconvreg(I, PSF, NOISE-
POWER, LRANGE) 
where LRANGE is a vector specifying 
range where the search for the optimal 
solution is performed. 
The algorithm finds an optimal 
Lagrange multiplier LAGRA within 
LRANGE range. If LRANGE is a scalar, 
the algorithm assumes that LAGRA 
is given and equal to LRANGE; the 
NP value is then ignored. The default 
range is between [1e-9 and 1e9].
• J = deconvreg(I, PSF, NOISE-
POWER, LRANGE, REGOP)
where REGOP is the regularisation 
operator to constrain deconvolution. 
The default regularisation operator is 
Laplacian operator, to retain the image 
smoothness. REGOP array dimensions 
must not exceed image dimensions; 
any non-singleton dimensions must 
correspond to the non-singleton 
dimensions of PSF.
[J, LAGRA] = deconvreg(I, PSF,...) 
outputs the value of Lagrange multi-
plier LAGRA in addition to the restored 
image J.
In a nutshell, there are optional 
arguments supported by deconvreg 
function. Using these arguments you 
can specify the noise power value, the 
range over which deconvreg should 
iterate as it converges on the optimal 
solution, and the regularisation opera-
tor to constrain the deconvolution. 
Image I can be of class uint8, uint16, 
int16, single or double. Other inputs 
have to be of class double. Image J has 
the same class as Image I.
The following example simulates a 
blurred image by convolving a Gauss-
ian filter PSF with an image (using 
imfilter): 
1. Read an image in MATLAB: 
>> I=imread(‘image_2.tif’);
>>figure,imshow(I)
Fig. 6 shows the image.
2. Create the PSF, blur the image 
and add noise to it: 
>> PSF = fspecial(‘gaussian’,11,5);
>> Blurred = imfilter(I,PSF,’conv’);
>> V=0.03;
>>Blurred_Noise=imnoise(Blurred,
 ’gaussian’,0,V);
>>figure,imshow(Blurred_Noise)
Note that additive noise in the 
image is simulated by adding Gauss-
ian noise of variance V to the blurred 
image (using imnoise). Fig. 7 shows 
the blurry and the noisy image. 
3. The image is deblurred using 
deconvreg function, specifying the 
Fig. 3: Image generated after addition of 
Gaussian white noise
Fig. 4: Deblurred image using NSR of zero
Fig. 5: Restored image from the blurred and 
noisy image using estimated NSR generated 
from the image
Fig. 6: Image read in MATLAB
Fig. 7: The blurry and noisy image
imaging
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ULTRASOUND60 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
PSF used to create the blur and the 
noise power (NP): 
>> NP=V*prod(size(I));
>> [reg1 LAGRA] = deconvreg(Blurred_
 Noise,PSF,NP);
>>figure, imshow(reg1)
Fig. 8 shows the restored image.
Hough transform
The Hough transform is designed to 
identify lines and curves within an 
image. Using the Hough transform, 
you can find line segments and end-
points, measure angles, find circles 
based on size, and detect and measure 
circular objects in an image.
In the following example we take 
an image, automatically detect circles 
or circular objects in it, and visualise 
the detected circles.
1. Read the image and display it. 
This example uses an image of circles 
of various colours:
>> I=imread(‘Image_3.png’);
>>figure, imshow(I)
Fig. 9 shows the image. 
2. Determine radius range for 
searching circles. A quick way to find 
the appropriate radius range is to use 
the interactive tool imdistline, which 
gives an estimate of the radii of vari-
ous objects.
h = imdistline creates a Distance 
tool on the current axis. The function 
returns h—handle to an imdistline 
object.
Distance tool is a draggable, resiz-
able line, superimposed on an axis, 
which measures the distance between 
two endpoints of the line. It displays 
the distance in a text label superim-
posed over the line. The tool specifies 
the distance in data units determined 
by XData and YData properties, which 
is pixels by default. 
If you wrote the following com-
mand in MATLAB, Fig. 9 would 
change to that shown in Fig. 10: 
>>d = imdistline
The line can be dragged to get the 
size of different circles.
In a nutshell, imdistline command 
creates a draggable tool that can be 
moved to fit across a circle and the 
numbers can be read to get an approxi-
mate estimate of its radius. 
To remove the imdistline tool, use 
the function: 
>>delete(d);
3. Consider the image shown in 
Fig. 11. The aim is to find the number 
of circles in the figure. 
Quite evidently, there are many 
circles having different colours with 
different contrasts with respect to 
the background. Blue and red circles 
have strong contrast with respect to 
the background, whereas white and 
yellow circles have the poorest con-
trast with respect to the background. 
4. We calculate the objects that are 
brighter and those that are darker than 
the background. For this, we need to 
convert this RGB image into grayscale 
version: 
>> RGB=imread(‘Image_4.png’);
>>gray_image=rgb2gray(RGB);
>>figure, imshow(gray_image)
Fig. 12 shows the grayscale image.
5. Function centers=imfindcircles 
(A,radius) finds circles in image A 
whose radii are approximately equal 
to radius. The output, centers, is a 
two-column matrix containing (x, y) 
coordinates of centers of the circles in 
the image.
[centers,radii] = imfindcircles 
(A,radiusRange) finds circles with 
radii in the range specified by radius-
Range. The additional output argu-
ment, radii, contains the estimated 
radii corresponding to the center of 
each circle in centers.
By default, imfindcircles finds cir-
cular objects that are brighter than the 
background. In our case, let us set the 
parameter ‘ObjectPolarity’ to ‘dark’ in 
imfindcircles to search for dark circles:
>> [centers,radii]=imfindcircles(RGB,
 [40 60],’ObjectPolarity’,’Dark’)
The result of the above command 
is: 
centers = 384.2814 204.1827
radii = 50.1646
As you can see, only one circle 
is detected. This happens because 
imfindcircles is a circle detector, and 
similar to most detectors, imfindcircles 
has an internal detection threshold that 
determines its sensitivity. imfindcircles 
has a parameter ‘sensitivity’ that can be 
used to control this internal threshold, 
and consequently, the sensitivity of the 
algorithm. A higher sensitivity value 
sets a lower detection threshold and 
leads to detection of more circles. This 
is similar to the sensitivity control on 
motion detectors used in home security 
systems.
6. By default, sensitivity, which is 
a number between 0 and 1, is set to 
0.85. Increase sensitivity to 0.9:
Fig. 8: Restored image 
Fig. 9: Image of circles of various colours read 
and displayed
Fig. 10: Image shown when interactive tool 
imdistline is written in MATLAB
Fig. 11: Image with a number of circles
Fig. 12: RGB image in Fig. 11 converted into 
grayscale image
imaging
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61www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
>> [centers,radii]=imfindcircles(RGB,
[40 60],’ObjectPolarity’,’Dark’,
’Sensitivity’,0.9)
You will get:
centers =
384.2002 204.0138
248.6127 201.3416
198.2825 73.5618
442.8091 77.9060
radii =
50.1646
50.2572
50.2951
49.7827
By increasing sensitivity to 0.9, 
the function imfindcircles found four 
circles. ‘centers’ contains center loca-
tions of circles and ‘radii’ contains the 
estimated radii of these circles.
7. Function viscircles can be used 
to draw circles on the image. Output 
variables ‘centers’ and ‘radii’ from 
function imfindcircles can be passed 
directly to function viscircles:
>>imshow(RGB)
>> h=viscircles(centers,radii)
Fig. 13 shows the result. 
As you can see from Fig. 13, cent-
ers of circles seem to be correctly 
positioned and their corresponding 
radii seem to match well to the actual 
circles. However, quite a few circles 
were still missed. Let us increase ‘Sen-
sitivity’ to 0.928:
>> [centers,radii]=imfindcircles(RGB,
 [40 60],’ObjectPolarity’,’Dark’,
 ’Sensitivity’,0.98)
centers =
384.2193 204.4776
248.8446 201.4930
197.7027 73.5149
442.9998 78.3674
 76.7218 76.5162
radii =
 50.1646
 50.2572
 50.2951
 49.7827
 50.4039
Now, we are able to detect five 
circles. Hence, by increasing the value 
of sensitivity you can detect more 
circles. Let us plot these circles on the 
image again:
>>delete(h); % Delete previously drawn 
circles
>>h = viscircles(centers,radii);
Fig. 14 shows the result. 
8. As you can see, function imfind-
circles does not find yellow and 
white circles in the image. Yellow 
and white circles are lighter than the 
background. In fact, these seem to 
have very similar intensities as the 
background. To confirm this, let us see 
the grayscale version of the original 
image again. Fig. 15 shows the gray-
scale image. 
>>figure, imshow(gray_image)
9. To detect objects brighter than 
the background, change ‘ObjectPolar-
ity’ to ‘bright’:
>> [centers,radii]=imfindcircles(RGB,
 [40 60],’ObjectPolarity’,’Bright’,
 ’Sensitivity’,0.98)
centers =
 323.2806 75.9644
122.3421 205.1504
radii =
49.7654
50.1574
10. Draw bright circles in a dif-
ferent colour by changing ‘Colour’ 
parameter in viscircles:
>>imshow(RGB)
>>hBright=viscircles(centers,radii,
 ’Color’,’b’);
Fig. 16 shows the image. 
11. There is another parameter 
in function imfindcircles, namely, 
EdgeThreshold, which controls how 
high the gradient value at a pixel has 
to be before it is considered an edge 
pixel and included in computation. 
A high value (closer to 1) for this 
parameter will allow only the strong 
edges (higher gradient values) to 
be included, whereas a low value 
(closer to 0) is more permissive 
and includes even the weaker edges 
(lower gradient values) in compu-
tation. Therefore, lower the value 
of EdgeThreshold parameter, more 
are the chances of a circle’s detec-
tion. However, it also increases the 
likelihood of detecting false circles. 
Hence, there is a trade-off between 
the number of true circles that can 
be found (detection rate) and the 
number of false circles that are found 
with them (false alarm rate).
Following commands detect both 
the bright and the dark objects and 
encircle them: 
>>[centersBright,radiiBright,metricBright]
=imfindcircles(RGB,[4060], ‘ObjectPolarity’,
’bright’,’Sensitivity’,0.9,’EdgeThreshold’,
0.2);
>>imshow(RGB);
>> h=viscircles(centers,radii);
>>hBright=viscircles(centersBright,
 radiiBright,’Color’,’b’);
Fig. 17 shows the output image. 
Concluded
Fig. 13: Circles drawn usingfunction viscircles 
Fig. 14: Replotted circles
Fig. 15: Grayscale version of the image 
in Fig. 14
Fig. 16: Bright circles drawn in a different colour
Fig. 17: Both the bright and the dark objects 
detected and encircled 
tech focus
62 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Some define a smart city as a city studded with sensors, which collect information to help manage the city’s assets and 
resources efficiently. Others say it is the use of 
information and communication technology 
(ICT) to transform life and working environ-
ments within a region. 
But, the Indian government’s Smart Cities 
Mission website probably says it best: “There 
is no universally accepted definition of a 
smart city. It means different things to differ-
ent people. The conceptualisation of smart 
city, therefore, varies from city to city and 
country to country, depending on the level 
of development, willingness to change and 
reform, resources and aspirations of the city 
residents. A smart city would have a different 
connotation in India than, say, Europe. Even 
in India, there is no one way of defining a 
smart city.” 
Largely, a smart city infrastructure aims 
to make life easier and safer for citizens. It 
provides basic facilities for housing, health-
care, sanitation, food, commutation and 
communication; reduces pollution; improves 
sustainability and supply of energy; and fos-
ters business and economic welfare in general. 
However, what goes into a particular region’s 
infrastructure and the priority accorded to 
each element is very region-specific. While 
a system that helps to accurately display the 
arrival time of city buses at each bus stop 
might be smart in a city, a good toilet might 
be smart in a remote village, and a method of 
protecting dwell-
ers from wild ani-
mals might be the 
ultimate tool for a 
tribal settlement in 
the forest! Merely 
embedding technol-
ogy across a city’s 
functions makes the 
city intelligent. The 
city becomes smart 
only when this tech-
nology meets the 
citizens’ demands 
and improves their 
quality of life. 
In the journey 
from mere intel-
ligence to real smartness, technology is 
just a tool—and at different points of time, 
various technological products like sensors, 
cameras and drones, mobile devices and 
apps, data centres, networks and software 
appear and disappear from the scene. It is 
therefore difficult to describe one particular 
end-to-end solution and say this is the per-
fect smart city infrastructure. Depending on 
the local needs, city planners need to pick 
and stitch together the tools that would 
work for them. 
IoT and open data policies 
at the core
The Internet of Things (IoT) definitely helps 
make a city smart. Innumerable sensors, 
mobile devices and video cameras, embed-
ded across the city’s infrastructure and con-
nected over a reliable communications back-
bone, collect data about everything from 
traffic to pollution. This data is analysed to 
extract useful information, which, in turn, 
is used to implement effective city manage-
ment systems, ranging from efficient waste 
collection to traffic signal management. This 
information enables automation, disaster 
prevention and recovery, efficient supply 
and consumption of utilities like water and 
power, and more. 
To be effective, this IoT infrastructure 
needs to be supported by an apt open data 
policy to enable universal access and use of 
the collected data without duplication. Gov-
ernment agencies can also authorise private 
How Smart Can Your City Get 
Janani 
Gopalakrishnan 
Vikram is a 
technically-qualified 
freelance writer, 
editor and hands-
on mom based in 
Chennai 
Let citizens have a say 
in the development of 
a smart city (Source: 
Economist Intelligence 
Unit and Phillips 
Lighting, 2016)
Key infrastructure elements 
of a smart city in India
1. Adequate water supply
2. Assured electricity supply
3. Sanitation, including solid waste management
4. Efficient urban mobility and public transport
5. Affordable housing, especially for the poor
6. Robust IT connectivity and digitalisation
7. Good governance, especially e-governance 
and citizen participation
8. Sustainable environment
9. Safety and security of citizens, particularly 
women, children and the elderly
10. Health and education
Source: Smart Cities Mission, Government of India
Cities are becoming 
smart all over the 
world, including India, 
by using technology 
in various ways 
63www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
explore places and more. It is only fair 
then that people are considered one 
of the main resources of a city’s smart 
infrastructure! 
Industry majors like Cisco, IBM, 
enterprises to access such databases in 
order to get the most out of the data 
in a profitable way. For example, a 
private company developing a traffic 
management system can be allowed 
to access data collected by the exist-
ing infrastructure, for a fee, instead 
of having to redo the whole thing. 
This not only turns the government’s 
investment profitable but also makes 
the infrastructure more streamlined 
without too much duplication. 
A Gartner report adds one more 
important element to this frame-
work—people. According to Gartner, 
people themselves will become nodes 
on the Internet, with both static 
information and a constantly emit-
ting activity system. Today, there are 
multiple apps that use crowd-sourced 
information to make better buying 
decisions, avoid traffic congestion, 
A smart city improves every sphere of life, from environment to education (Source: Deloitte) 
Components of a 
smart city
1. Connected devices like sensors, 
kiosks, cameras, lights, traffic signals, 
waste bins and what not
2. A reliable, efficient and secure network 
that connects everything together
3. Smart and open data management 
systems for collection and analysis of 
data from the devices
4. Applications that put this information 
to good use 
5. Processes that streamline the 
collection, analysis and use of data by 
different systems 
tech focus
tech focus
64 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Nokia, Philips, Intel, Schneider Elec-
tric, Siemens, Microsoft, Hitachi, 
Huawei, Ericsson, Toshiba and Oracle 
have dived headlong into the smart 
city opportunity. Some companies 
specialise in a particular area, while 
others provide end-to-end solutions 
covering the whole gamut of technolo-
gies and systems. There are also innu-
merable start-ups providing solutions 
to specific needs of smart cities. 
Trip to some of the smart cities 
Apart from some of the districts in 
USA and UK, Aarhus, Amsterdam, 
Cairo, Lyon, Malaga, Malta, Verona 
and the Songdo International Business 
District near Seoul are among regions 
that have become appreciably smart 
in many ways in recent years. 
Reducing pollution 
through better traf-
fic management. Las 
Vegas uses its smart 
city infrastructure to 
manage traffic, environ-
mental pollution and other 
issues. Let’s take the example 
of its traffic signals: If your car 
is waiting at a signal and there are 
no approaching vehicles in sight, 
the signal turns green rather than 
making your car wait and exhaust 
more fumes.
Singapore has been implementing 
different solutions for traffic manage-
ment since 2014. One among them is 
a GPS-powered solution that empow-
ers citizens with traffic and roadwork 
information collected from surveil-
lance cameras installed on roads and 
taxis. The system also has features like 
traffic news, travel time calculator, 
road maps, street directions and park-
ing information. Surveillance cameras 
alert authorities and vehicle recovery 
services to road incidents. 
Understanding the cause of 
accidents. On a particular roadway 
in Jaipur, there were about 4000 
accidents annually. The city authori-
ties installed IoT sensors and video 
cameras to discover the reason. They 
found that 70 per cent of the accidents 
happened because drivers went down 
the road the wrong way.The police 
used this information to set up sign 
boards and take other steps to sig-
nificantly reduce the number of acci-
dents. Sensors in the city also provide 
information on pollution, availability 
of parking spots, etc. 
Supplementing the city’s energy 
resources. More than 6000 Vien-
nese citizens have invested in 
community-funded solar and wind 
power plants in the last five years. 
Together, these have produced about 
25 million kWh of renewable energy, 
powering almost 15,000 households. 
Cities across the world are also 
using smart grids and meters to save 
power and augment user-contrib-
uted power like solar power. Smart 
meters help users to study their 
consumption patterns 
and avail offers like 
reduced rates for 
consumption 
during off-peak hours. While this 
helps users to save money, the utility 
is able to conserve power. 
Conserving another precious 
resource—water. Many regions like 
Berkeley County and Fountain Valley 
in USA have installed smart water 
networks to meet water conserva-
tion goals. Beyond just remote meter 
readings, these systems comprising a 
FlexNet communication system and 
residential and commercial meters are 
used to study and understand usage 
patterns, detect and prevent leakage, 
and empower consumers to optimise 
their usage.
The water utility in Little Egg 
Harbour, a small town in New Jersey, 
uses technology in a different way. 
Residents of this town leave during 
winter and return only when the 
weather is warm enough. During 
these cold months, however, the water 
freezes and pipes tend to break. Using 
technology from Sensus, the commu-
nity’s municipal utilities authority can 
monitor residents’ homes and quickly 
respond to problems. This earns them 
their customers’ trust. 
Some cities have also started using 
solutions like WeatherTRAK to opti-
mise their water usage for landscape 
irrigation. This system uses an IoT 
machine-to-machine solution and 
sensors to assess atmospheric and 
geologic factors and supply just the 
needed volumes of water instead of 
constantly dripping water. 
Santander in Spain has deployed 
IoT tracking with a smartphone app, 
which enables residents to view 
real-time data on water quality and 
consumption, track trends over 
time and receive service alerts. 
The IoT tracking system pro-
vides information about 
water demand, supply, 
pressure, quality and 
other environmental 
factors, enabling effi-
cient water supply and 
conservation and sustain-
able management. 
Getting ready for smart waste 
collection. The Spanish city of Gra-
nada is in the process of connecting 
14,000 waste bins across the city 
using sensors. The data collected will 
be used to identify the bins that need 
to be emptied, and to optimise pick-
up truck routes accordingly. The IoT 
City Digital Platform in Denmark also 
includes intelligent waste monitoring 
using sensors fitted by SmartBin. The 
Smart City Framework developed by 
the Sunshine Coast Council in Aus-
tralia also includes waste manage-
ment using Enevo’s smart fill sensors. 
Making sewers smarter too. 
Cincinnati, USA, has a smart sewer 
that reduces the overflow of sewage 
into water bodies. This is a task that 
normally consumes millions of dollars 
of the taxpayers’ money! The smart 
sewer system responds to peaks and 
IoT infrastructure and mobile apps will let you 
identify and book parking spots in a smart city 
(Source: GetMyParking) 
65www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
troughs in demand from various areas 
of the city. It enables the utility to 
store sewage flows in huge interceptor 
facilities located in various parts of the 
sewer system, with smart sensors used 
to detect and monitor flow levels and 
manage the gates and valves to direct 
the flow to locations with sufficient 
space. Within a few weeks, the system 
developed by Ayyeka helped the city 
to avoid 1.4 million gallons of sewer 
overflows. 
Improving safety through reliable 
lighting. Street lighting is important 
to ensure safety. At the same time, 
the usage has to be optimised to save 
power. To balance these require-
ments, many cities are now installing 
IoT-connected and energy-efficient 
light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for 
street lighting. These lights can be 
centrally operated and managed using 
intelligent software, powered using 
alternative energy supplies, or even 
made smart enough to detect human 
movement and switch off when there 
is nobody on the street! 
Amsterdam in the Netherlands is 
working with Philips to install con-
nected LED lights that can save a city 
up to $13 billion a year. Santander is 
also rolling out intelligent LED lights 
that dim or brighten depending on 
the time of day and the presence of 
people. These can save around $1.5 
million a year.
Smart products used by smart 
cities across the world
All over the world, interesting solu-
tions are sprouting to cater to the 
needs of smart cities. Let’s look at 
some of the promising ones.
To navigate in a smart city, citizens 
and visitors need the Internet. But, 
what if you cannot afford mobile data 
(which is steeper on roaming)? To solve 
this problem, a Malaysian company 
called Simplify has developed an app 
that lets users sell excess bandwidth. 
Using this app, you can turn your 
Android smartphone into a secure 
hotspot, set a price to share it and sell 
to others. You can receive payments 
immediately through PayPal. This 
ability to buy spare data from others 
around them has proven to be very 
convenient, especially for tourists. 
Non-stop communications is one 
of the highlights of a smart city. Any 
solution that can take connectivity to 
remote areas or augment the existing 
communication networks in busy 
areas is always worth including in 
a smart city framework. AT&T has 
developed a drone that provides LTE 
coverage to customers. It can be used 
to provide connectivity when the 
existing networks and services are 
likely to get overloaded or disrupted. 
AT&T’s Cell on Wings (fondly 
called Flying COW) is basically a cell 
site on a drone, designed to beam LTE 
coverage from the sky to customers 
on the ground during disasters or big 
events. The drone carries a small cell 
and antennae and is connected to the 
ground by a thin tether. The tether pro-
vides a highly secure data connection 
via fibre and supplies power to the 
Flying COW, allowing non-stop flying. 
Shanghai saw a 30 per cent drop in 
crime rates, thanks to its smart secu-
rity solutions. To get there, a smart 
Aerial photography can be fruitfully used for surveillance, surveys, mapping, and more (Source: Airpix) 
tech focus
tech focus
66 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
city needs proactive surveillance, 
not merely security cameras that 
let authorities to analyse the scene 
after a crime takes place. Deep Glint 
is a solution that uses 3D imaging to 
monitor large crowds and the way 
people on the scene behave. When the 
smart cameras spot a fight, unusual 
behaviour or doubtable characters, 
these instantly alert the concerned 
authorities. 
ShotSpotter is another such safety 
solution. Although gunfire might be 
something we see only in movies, 
there are some areas where it is an 
everyday threat. However, the atmos-
phere in such areas is shrouded 
with fear and people hide as soon as 
gunshot is heard rather than report it 
immediately. Solutions like ShotSpot-
ter or a network of sound sensors 
embedded in street lights can be used 
to report the incident immediately to 
concerned officials. 
Bigbelly offers a smart waste collec-
tion and recycling system that has been 
used in more than 50 countries across 
the globe. It is not merely an IoT-con-
nected bin but also has a built-in solar-
powered waste compacting system that 
enables the bin to store up to five times 
the amount of waste as a traditional bin 
of the same size. When it needs to be 
emptied, the bin alerts the appropriate 
city department, helping timely waste 
clearance and properoptimisation of 
pick-up truck schedules. 
Another off-beat initiative in waste 
management is Zerocycle—a solution 
that collects and analyses garbage and 
recycling data to determine recycling 
rates for all neighbourhoods in a 
city. This information can be used to 
prepare customised waste reports for 
each neighbourhood, which can be 
circulated among residents. Although 
it sounds like a simple application, it 
has been found to be useful in creating 
awareness about recycling. 
Citymapper is a solution that 
helps travellers to move around com-
fortably in a new place. It combines 
information about the locality’s public 
transport and provides multi-modal 
transport options to help users get to 
their chosen destination easily. 
Searching for an available parking 
lot not only kills your precious time 
but also causes more pollution as 
you keep circling the neighbourhood! 
ParkWhiz app helps you find a park-
ing spot in public or private parking 
lots. It even lets you reserve a paid slot 
using your credit card. 
Cities need actionable information 
on sources of pollution in order to take 
corrective and preventive measures. 
EverImpact is a climate monitor-
ing app that discovers the origins of 
greenhouse gas emissions in a city. 
It measures and monetises the city’s 
carbon dioxide emission by mapping 
ground-level sensor data with satellite 
locations. City officials get a real-time 
Oizom’s ambient air quality monitoring system and app help officials and residents stay updated about 
pollution levels in their area (Source: Oizom) 
map of emissions at street and build-
ing level. 
A successful city needs to be inclu-
sive, providing a comfortable environ-
ment for those with disabilities. GPS-
enabled mobile app BlindSquare is a 
successful digital service developed 
from open data in Helsinki. It helps 
visually-impaired people navigate 
through the city by describing the 
environment, announcing points of 
interest and street intersections, guid-
ing them as they go along. 
Awesome Indian products 
for smart cities
The Indian government’s 100 smart 
cities dream has also spurred a lot of 
activity in India. The government has 
made it clear that this dream can be 
achieved only through public-private 
synergy. Although there is not much 
information about what the first 20 
chosen cities are doing with their 
funding, we do hear of random smart 
developments every day—whether 
it is a partnership between ISRO and 
Indian Railways to improve safety, a 
single dashboard for India’s power 
sector, a system that will speed up tray 
clearance at the Delhi airport, SMS 
notifications about delayed trains, 
increase in digital transactions, tools 
to speed up Aadhaar verification, or 
an upcoming drone policy. The start-
up economy is also buzzing with new 
ideas and ventures. 
GetMyParking is a Delhi-based 
start-up that gathers data from park-
ing lots, helping citizens spot and 
reserve parking. IdeaForge provides 
solutions for drone-based safety and 
surveillance, while Flamencotech 
works on technology for smart build-
ings and Oizom Instruments develops 
IoT-based environment monitoring 
solutions. WeDoSky also works with 
drones but it customises the intelli-
gence gained from the aerial images 
for varied purposes like security, 
irrigation, power lines installation 
and prediction of an area’s solar 
power potential. Smart Cities Wheel 
is another Indian start-up that helps 
urban planners to design more 
efficient cities using artificial intel-
ligence. 
Esyasoft Technologies offers soft-
ware and analytics for smart grids, 
67www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
while Maven Systems specialises in 
automated lighting and smart meters. 
There are some start-ups with even 
bigger ideas. One among them is 
Quenext, which aims to consolidate 
and analyse data from innumerable 
systems ranging from weather to 
power, to help utilities optimise their 
supply and reduce losses. LoudCell 
develops IoT-based sensors, remote 
hardware and cloud-based mid-
dleware, which are coupled with 
an intuitive dashboard to provide 
customers with analytics and intelli-
gence to understand and reduce their 
power consumption. 
A low-cost smart irrigation con-
troller from FlyBird Farm Innovations 
helps farmers to irrigate their crops 
precisely, depending on weather, soil 
conditions and crop requirements. 
One more interesting solution for this 
sector comes from TartanSense, which 
aims to use unmanned aerial vehicles 
and machine learning to bring action-
able intelligence to the agricultural 
sector. 
Zippr is a Telangana-based com-
pany that creates eight-digit alpha-
numeric codes to replace traditional 
door numbers. These unique IDs are 
mapped to precise locations overlaid 
on a digital map. This fundamentally 
transforms how locations are refer-
enced, shared and navigated. Zippr 
won the IBM Smart Camp for Smart 
City 2016, and is working with the Tel-
angana government to implement this 
smart address system in Hyderabad. 
Taxi services like Ola and Uber are 
playing their part in building smart 
cities by providing innovative ride 
options, including sharing and shut-
tle services. These bring down the 
cost of rides, improve commute facili-
ties and reduce pollution through 
car-pooling. 
Programmes such as the AIM 
Smart City Accelerator provide men-
torship, guidance and planning sup-
port for start-ups and other agencies 
working towards the smart city dream! 
Opportunity is knocking 
at our doors
McKinsey Research projects the smart 
city industry to be a $400 billion 
market by 2020, with 600 cities world-
wide, which are together expected to 
generate 60 per cent of the world’s 
GDP by 2025. 
A Forbes article by Mohit Kochar 
of KPIT Technologies explains how 
smart cities are India’s next technol-
ogy opportunity to lead the world. He 
states rapid urbanisation, excellent 
ecosystem, manpower and tech prow-
ess, the third largest start-up base in 
the world and a reputed brand image 
in information technology as reasons 
why we are well poised to capitalise 
this opportunity. 
Clearly, there is no dearth of tech-
nologies required for smart cities in 
India too. However, we need to focus 
on proper planning and infrastructure 
development. The investment also 
needs to be thoughtful and transpar-
ent. It is estimated that the first 100 
smart cities in India will require an 
annual investment of ` 350 billion 
over the next 20 years! This can simply 
not be achieved without private 
investments and public-private part-
nerships. There must also be excellent 
collaboration between central, state 
and local authorities. 
Private and government agencies 
must also understand that such cities 
cannot be built without the participa-
tion of people. This is being reiterated 
time and again by experts in the field. 
People come in at the very beginning 
of the process—because solutions for 
a smart city have to be built around 
what people need and not merely 
what other cities have done! The 
residents of a city have to be involved 
all through the processes of conceptu-
alisation, planning, development and 
implementation. 
The smart city infrastructure must 
also be easy for people to use. For 
example, we need to remember that 
connectivity is poor, so implement-
ers have to think about how to work 
around it. Literacy levels being low, 
you cannot expect everybody to type 
in passwords or fill in online forms. 
Methods like facial recognition or 
biometrics have to be used to author-
ise individuals and validate data. In 
such and many other ways, govern-
ment officials have to ensure that 
people can transition smoothly to this 
connected world—because, whether it 
is in 2025 or later, cities are inevitably 
going to get smarter! 
tech focus
68 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Green technoloGy
“Of all the forces of nature, I should think 
the wind contains the largest amount of 
motive power—that is, power to movethings. Take any given space of the earth’s 
surface—for instance, Illinois; and all the 
power exerted by all the men, and beasts, 
and running-water, and steam, over and 
upon it, shall not equal the one hundredth 
part of what is exerted by the blowing of the 
wind over and upon the same space. And 
yet it has not, so far in the world’s history, 
become proportionally valuable as a motive 
power. It is applied extensively, and advan-
tageously, to sail-vessels in navigation. Add 
to this a few windmills, and pumps, and 
you have about all. ...As yet, the wind is 
an untamed, and unharnessed force; and 
quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries 
hereafter to be made will be the taming and 
harnessing of it.”
—Abraham Lincoln
Globally, there is a huge emphasis on encashing the energy generation pos-sibilities of renewable sources, espe-
cially wind. Wind power offers a sustainable 
option in the pursuit of renewable energy. In 
this article we explore how wind energy is 
being utilised in different parts of the world. 
A case study from Canada
Wind power promises to be more beneficial 
than any other existing source of energy. It 
doesn’t produce any undesirable and harm-
ful waste, harnesses the power of nature 
(wind), and is one of the best alternatives 
to burning of coal/gas or use of nuclear 
energy.
The Wolfe Island Wind Project in Canada 
aimed at meeting electricity needs of resi-
dents in Kingston, Ontario, through wind 
power. As part of the project, 86 turbines 
were placed in the wind farm with an invest-
ment of around 410 million dollars to gener-
ate sufficient electricity for 75,000 homes. 
The returns for the same were spread over 
20-25 years.
Costs and benefits. Turbine generators 
for the project cost 1500-2000 dollars per 
kilowatt. Using 86 turbines of 2.3MW capac-
ity with a total cost of 410 million dollars, the 
project cost a little more than 2000 dollars 
per kilowatt.
The wind power cost eight cents to 10.2 
cents per kilowatt hour, which was much 
higher than the actual electricity price in 
Canada (1.2 to 7.8 cents per kilowatt hour, 
depending upon the location). On adding 
Wind PoWer: The Global Impact
Sanjay Banerjee is a 
tech enthusiast and 
a senior business 
leader at EFY. He is 
passionate about 
how businesses 
can benefit from 
technology 
Decision Makers’ Connect
Nidhi Arora is 
executive editor 
at EFY 
70 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Green technoloGy
other costs like admin, marketing and 
distribution, it came to a total of 3.2 
to 11.8 cents. 
The above calculation led to a 
conclusion that wind power comes 
with a premium price. To overcome 
price limitations, the Canadian gov-
ernment provided some subsidies 
and incentives like one per cent of 
tax benefit per kilowatt hour (kWh) 
of electricity produced using wind 
power.
Thus it can be concluded that wind 
power still has a long way to go before 
mass adoption as the turbine cost has 
to come down. Not all governments 
can afford such a technology. 
The case for India
India was among the first few coun-
tries in the world to establish the Min-
istry of New and Renewable Energy 
(MNRE). In the last two decades, the 
country has witnessed unprecedented 
growth in its wind power generation 
capacity from about less than 1GW 
(gigawatts) to more than 32.72GW 
till October 2017. India has the fourth 
largest installed wind power genera-
tion capacity in the world.
Of the total installed capacity for 
renewable energy generation, wind 
power accounts for about 10 per cent. 
It is seen that two-thirds of production 
happens between May to September 
months, coinciding with Monsoons. 
One of the major reasons behind the 
increase of wind power through the 
years has been the benefit of acceler-
ated depreciation for businesses. 
The levelised tariff for wind power 
reached an all-time low of 
` 2.64 per kWh during bid-
ding for various wind power 
development projects in 
October 2017. Previously, 
the bid rate was ` 3.42 per 
kWh in August 2017 in an 
auction by TANGEDCO 
(Tamil Nadu Generation 
and Distribution Corpora-
tion).
The MNRE has set a 
target of producing about 
60,000MW of wind power 
by the year 2022. To achieve 
this ambitious target, the government 
plans to enter into offshore wind 
power generation. It plans to set up 
the first plant along the Gujarat coast.
To conclude
At the end of 2006, worldwide capac-
Fig. 1: Evolution of the Indian wind sector (Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (2015b))
Fig. 2: Renewable energy capacity additions and share of wind (Source: Central Electricity Authority 
Report—Growth of Electricity Sector in India 1947-2013, FY 14 values as per MNRE)
ity of wind-powered generators was 
73.9GW. Although it is believed that 
wind power presently produces a 
little above one per cent of world’s 
electricity demand, it contributes 
around 20 per cent in Denmark, 
about 9 per cent in Spain and roughly 
7 per cent in Germany. Around the 
world, wind power generation more 
than quadrupled between 2000 and 
2006. There are many thousands of 
wind turbines operating, with a total 
capacity of 73,904MW, of which 
Europe accounts for 65 per cent 
(2006).
The most amazing part of wind 
power generation is no greenhouse 
gas emission. However, to derive the 
maximum benefit, wind power pro-
jects should be undertaken with long-
term planning. To justify the heavy 
investment and variable output, these 
must be combined with other renew-
able technologies like reservoir-based 
hydro and gas plants. 
Fun Fact!
Most wind energy comes from turbines 
that can be as tall as a 20-story building 
and have three 60-metre-long blades. 
Smaller turbines erected in a backyard 
can produce enough electricity for a single 
home or small business. 
Why do we need Wind Turbines?
• Wind power helps combat climate 
change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. 
71www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
smart world
77 Kolkata Municipality 
Benefits From Solar 
Streetlights 
72 Streetlighting: Should 
States Invest In Solar?
71 Aadhaar-Enabled 
Biometric Attendance 
System 
76 Mission 2030: Where Does 
India’s EV Ecosystem Stand?
 Government buildings need multiple Aadhaar-enabled 
biometric attendance systems at their entry gates 
Powered By
Powered By
System Level Solutions
Research | Design | Development | Manufacturing
Aadhaar-Enabled Biometric 
AttendAnce system 
Aadhaar-enabled UID kit (Image source: http://www.uid-aadhaar.com)
The market for Aadhaar-enabled devices is about ` 2.5 billion. The opportunity to cater to new 
as well as replacement systems is tre-
mendous. While we as a nation con-
template opportunities for Aadhaar, 
global leaders like Satya Nadella are 
quite optimistic and excited about the 
possibilities that it will enable. 
In his book Hit Refresh, Nadella 
mentioned, “Aadhaar now has scaled 
to over one billion people, rivalling 
the growth of other platform innova-
tions such as Windows, Android or 
Facebook.” He praised creation of 
the new digital ecosystem IndiaStack. 
IndiaStack is a set of application 
programming interfaces (APIs) that 
allows governments, businesses, 
startups and developers to utilise 
a unique digital Infrastructure to 
solve India’s problems of presence-
less, paperless and cashless services 
delivery.
Recently, central government has 
mandated all government institutions 
to adhere to Aadhaar-enabled bio-
metric attendance system (AEBAS). 
The main intent behind the move is to 
increase productivity of employees. 
The system authenticates attendance 
using Aadhaar number created by 
Unique Identification Authority of 
India (UIDAI).
Business opportunity
Till date, only 10 per cent government 
organisations have started marking 
attendance on AEBAS. Most govern-
ment organisations look forward to 
inviting bid proposals and choose the 
best suited option for AEBAS. They are 
looking for reliable vendors to provide 
a completesolution for enforcement. 
Presently, various companies are 
offering Aadhaar kits, but there is still 
a huge potential for new players to join 
the course. Matrix offers Cosec Vega 
Faxq, which is designed for Aadhaar-
enabled attendance marking. It is 
perhaps the only embedded Linux-
based attendance device available 
in the Indian market as of now. The 
system user can directly show RFID 
card, that is Mifare Smart, and provide 
fingerprint.
Benefits of a cloud-based 
attendance system
The Indian government has decided 
to go for a robust and centralised 
attendance management system that 
offers easy access, easy scalability 
and uniformity in architecture while 
costing less.
To avail these benefits, the con-
cerned government organisation 
will have to register with the AEBAS 
server. Employees’ attendance on 
AEBAS server will be linked with 
UIDAI server. Attendance will be 
taken using the user’s unique Aadhaar 
number and biometric credentials.
Authentication process. Compa-
nies like Braintech Services provide 
iris and fingerprint scanners as part 
of their UID kit. Ravish, managing 
director of Braintech Services, shares, 
“Being a provider of biometric attend-
ance solutions, we foresee AEBAS to 
emerge as the biggest opportunity 
in the segment ever. All government 
organisations are adopting the system 
as they are getting the required infra-
structure as soon as they get clearance 
from the concerned nodal officer.”
smart world
72 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Powered By
Security 
A substantial amount of energy and 
resources is being spent on educating 
employees that there is no leakage of 
private information in confirming their 
identity through Aadhaar. When an 
individual authenticates his identity using 
the Aadhaar-linked biometric system, 
the vendor is not provided with any 
information. Only the fingerprint proof is 
validated for the entered Aadhaar number 
by matching it with the one stored in 
the Aadhaar server. It is only one-way 
communication. 
Daman Singh, managing director 
of MindTech Solutions, adds, “Govern-
ment buildings are looking to install 
multiple systems at their every entry 
gate. Kits are being retailed at 60,000 
to 70,000 rupees per unit to organisa-
tions, generating up to 40 per cent 
profit for the vendor.”
The investment required
“The business investment isn’t a 
major concern, it is about getting 
your system approved and registered 
with UIDAI for AEBAS usage by the 
government body. Once that is taken 
care of, one may begin with an initial 
investment of approximately three 
million rupees. However, the invest-
ment cost varies depending on a lot of 
factors like the quality of product, the 
inventory to be maintained, whether 
the land infrastructure is owned or 
rented, etc,” adds Daman. “I person-
ally feel that vendors who have an 
experience in dealing with biometric 
attendance systems will definitely 
have an edge.”
There are various devices that sup-
port AEBAS, and different organisa-
tions are choosing to install different 
systems ranging from desktops to 
laptops.
Adaptation elements
“Government organisations and 
employees need to register them-
selves on attendance.gov.in. This is 
an online platform created by central 
government whereby we can see real-
time attendance data of government 
bodies. Once they have registered, 
they just need to install any biometric 
device of their choice and provide con-
nectivity either through Wi-Fi, LAN, 
PoE (power over ethernet) or mobile 
broadband. These devices can then 
communicate with the central server, 
that is AEBAS. So the process is simple 
yet efficient,” shares Het Vaghela of 
Matrix. 
Road ahead
Government organisations with over 
210 million employees offer immense 
growth potential. At the same time, 
solution providers are optimistic about 
use of AEBAS in private organisations 
as well. The initiative is drawing 
encouragement from various stake-
holders as it is a part of Digital India 
initiative. 
—Nidhi Arora, executive editor, EFY
Streetlighting: 
Should States 
Invest In Solar? 
 In areas where cabling and 
grid power maintenance 
might be a challenge, 
investing in solar streetlights 
is a good option
The call for energy-efficiency has been stronger than ever, and states like Delhi are steer-
ing the drive right from the streets. 
AC mains-driven LED streetlights are 
great as low-cost power savers. On 
the other hand, those who intend to 
move away from drawing grid power 
altogether, should consider investing 
in solar LED streetlights. There are 
options to ensure optimal returns from 
streetlighting setups, some of which 
we explore here.
AC mains-driven LED 
streetlights: Quick returns
The initial investment in LED tech-
nology is higher but it guarantees at 
least 50 per cent more energy savings 
than conventional fluorescent lights 
that dominated the market until 
recently.
A single LED streetlight setup costs 
between ̀ 2000 and ̀ 5000 depending 
on a number of factors, including the 
LED lumen output, wattage, compo-
nent quality and cabling. Luminaires 
of the LED setup generally cost ̀ 30-40 
per watt, so power requirements of the 
user play a major role in determining 
the end product’s cost. For example, 
while a 12W system may cost around 
` 850, a 40W luminaire can cost up to 
` 2500. Additional expenses include 
cables for AC mains connection, pole 
for installing the luminaire and instal-
lation charges. If the luminaire can be 
mounted on a wall, there is no need 
for the pole.
In areas with stable power avail-
ability, state governments can expect 
a quick return on their investment 
in AC mains-driven streetlights. 
An executive from Electropower, 
a Faridabad-based LED streetlight 
Solar LED streetlights 
smart world
74 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
manufacturer, explains, “An 80W flu-
orescent light with a choke and other 
components will consume around 
120 watts. This fluorescent light 
can be easily replaced with a 40W 
LED streetlight producing equal or 
brighter light. The replacement cre-
ates an offset energy of 120-40=80W, 
that is, each replaced LED streetlight 
can save 80W energy per day with no 
other running expenses throughout 
the life of LED streetlights.”
Dr Kushant Uppal, founder and 
CEO, Intelizon Energy, believes that 
ROI in AC mains-driven LED street-
lights can be recovered in two years.
Ankit Bajpai, executive director, 
EPC, Trisun Sant India, shares the 
example of 50W AC LED streetlights 
installed by them. These streetlights 
cost them ` 2500 per unit with addi-
tional cost of the poles and cables. 
They were able to recover the invest-
ment cost in one year through electric-
ity bill savings.
What are the benefits?
LED streetlights save a massive 
amount of energy while greatly 
reducing carbon emission. For 
example, the Indian government’s 
Streetlight National Programme 
(SLNP) for installing LED streetlights 
throughout the country has already 
resulted in a total of 1172-tonne 
carbon dioxide emission reduction 
and 1.4 million kilowatt-hour energy 
savings annually. 
LED streetlights can run up to 
50,000 hours, which ensures a life 
expectancy of at least ten years. 
Moreover, there are no maintenance 
problems. LED drivers, if properly 
manufactured with correct quality 
control, will run their full life without 
glitches. As no batteries or extra acces-
sories are required, operational cost 
is nil throughout the LED streetlight’s 
lifetime. No ultraviolet emission is 
another benefit.
Challenges
Dependence on AC mains power is 
the main challenge. Ankit says, “AC 
streetlights draw electricity from util-
ity grid. Therefore, while these reduce 
electricity consumption, they never 
nullify the expense.”
While investing in AC mains-driv-
en LED streetlights, a few things need 
to be kept in mind. An AC LED device 
designed without a proper heat-sink 
can lead to overheating of the light, 
causing it to malfunction.Moreover, 
LED streetlights emit unidirectionally, 
so 360-degree coverage of an area will 
require adjustment of the luminaire’s 
distance from the ground, proper 
beam angle, and installation of reflec-
tors or diffusers.
Solar setup requires expertise in 
solar panel positioning; in order to 
capture sufficient amount of solar 
energy, panels need to be tilted at 
a certain angle. Moreover, solar 
streetlights require periodic main-
tenance for optimal performance. 
This includes panel cleaning, battery 
replacement and so on. 
Batteries run for an average of 3 
to 4 years, requiring replacement. 
Moreover, external batteries can get 
stolen. So manufacturers are providing 
an arrangement to clamp batteries at 
a suitable height on the pole. Some of 
the latest streetlighting systems have 
internal battery systems.
Solar LED streetlights: Keep 
the grid at bay
Solar setups greatly reduce the 
dependency on grid electricity. Grid-
connected solar streetlights are pre-
ferred over off-grid systems, as com-
plete isolation from grid electricity 
may pose problems on foggy days or 
days with no sunlight.
According to a spokesperson from 
Gautam Solar, a setup comprising a 
12W luminaire, a 75W solar panel and 
a 40Ah battery costs around ̀ 12,000, 
while a 43W LED streetlight with 
300W solar panel, set of two 75Ah bat-
teries and extension pole costs around 
` 35,000.
Considering the much higher 
initial cost and running expenses 
on the battery, solar LED streetlight 
gives slower ROI, which can take up 
to five years of usage. Usually, the 
battery needs replacement every 3 to 
3.5 years. Separately, it costs between 
` 3000 and ` 5000, which adds to the 
operational expenses. 
The benefits of going solar
The major USP of solar streetlights is 
the cut in grid electricity usage. The 
electricity thus saved can be distribut-
ed to higher-demand areas. This leads 
to carbon footprint reduction also.
The expected lifetime of a solar 
setup is 12 years for LED luminaires, 
25 years for solar panels and 3-4 years 
for batteries. All in all, an LED street-
light coupled with solar panels can be 
a great energy and money saver.
Powered By
ac mains-driven led vs solar led streetlights
ac mains-driven led streetlights solar led streetlights
Cost Estimated ` 2000 to ` 5000 and ad-
ditional costs depending on luminaire 
wattage, cabling, pole requirement, etc
` 10,000 and above, including additional costs 
depending on wattage, panel power, battery, 
cabling, pole requirement, etc
ROI 1 to 2 years 2-5 years based on usage
Optimal 
applica-
tion
Energy-efficient lighting option with 
minimal maintenance at lower cost 
with quicker ROI. Suited for areas with 
a comparatively better grid electricity 
availability
Long-term benefits in terms of financial savings 
and environmental safe-keeping by minimising 
grid dependency in lieu of a higher investment. 
Recommended for remote areas where consistent 
electricity availability and grid cabling might be a 
challenge
Expert’s view: Are integrated solar panels a good choice?
Streetlights with solar panels embedded on top of the luminaire are the newest options in 
the market. Sharing his experience of streetlights with integrated solar panels, Ankit said, 
“We installed an integrated panel system, investing ` 6500 a unit. Not being able to tilt the 
panel, the product could not capture optimal solar energy. So the purpose of the solar panel 
was not served.” 
While embedded panel setups come across as a comparatively cheaper and more 
compact option, many users like Ankit (from Trisun Sant India) believe that these are not 
optimal for solar generation. 
smart world
76 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Choice of battery
Currently, two types of batteries are 
available for solar streetlighting.
Lead-acid batteries are the conven-
tional options in the market. These 
batteries require constant mainte-
nance and cannot be drained out 
completely while in use. These allow 
a discharge of up to 80 per cent. How-
ever, while lead-acid batteries require 
regular manual maintenance, these 
tend to have a longer life if maintained 
properly.
Lithium-ion and lithium-ferro 
phosphate batteries are the latest on 
the market. These batteries are much 
lighter (one-third that of lead-acid 
batteries), allow complete discharge 
during use and require almost no 
maintenance. However, their life is 
limited to nearly 3.5 years. Also, they 
cost 20-25 per cent more. 
Dr Uppal suggests, “Lead-acid 
batteries are heavy and large in size, 
requiring them to be installed on 
the pole externally. These also need 
regular maintenance. So users need 
to install them at an accessible height 
on the pole, which makes them vul-
nerable to theft. Lithium-ion batteries 
have a high energy density and are 
maintenance-free.”
What to buy?
Many buyers opt for AC LED street-
lights owing to their lower investment 
cost and quicker ROI. 
Dr Uppal shares, “Solar-based sys-
tems are ideal for Greenfields projects 
and remote locations where cabling 
cost savings, power savings and unin-
terrupted power (independent of grid) 
can provide a comparatively quicker 
ROI within 6 to 24 months, depending 
on the location.”
Sambid Mohanty, AGM-Solar, 
Havells Lighting, explains benefits of 
solar streetlighting with an example: 
“If you notice AC-driven LED lightings 
across Noida-Greater Noida roads, a 
good number of them malfunction, 
the reason being poor maintenance 
and frequent power cuts. In areas like 
these, where cabling and grid power 
maintenance might be a challenge, 
investing in solar streetlights would 
be a better option.” 
—Paromik Chakraborty, technical journalist, EFY
Mission 2030: 
Where Does 
India’s EV 
Ecosystem 
Stand? 
 At present, India doesn’t 
have any manufacturer 
with the technology or 
infrastructure to make 
lithium batteries for EVs 
India has started its journey towards achieving an all-green vehicle eco-system by 2030. Transport minister 
Nitin Gadkari’s bold statement of bull-
dozing in a completely green automo-
tive era confirmed the priority of the 
agenda. English dailies quoted Gadkari 
as saying, “The government will be 
ready with its electric vehicle policy by 
December (2017) this year.” Amidst all 
the rumble, however, is India prepared 
to face the shortcomings in its ecosys-
tem as it inches towards success?
Strengths
India is going strong in many respects 
with regards to Mission 2030. Many 
initiatives have been taken by the 
administration to complement these 
strengths. For instance, Energy Effi-
ciency Services Limited (EESL) has 
incentivised ` 11.2 billion to Tata 
Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra 
Limited for production of 10,000 elec-
tric cars. Additionally, EESL is driving 
bids for setting up 4000 EV charging 
stations in Delhi NCR.
Over time, the increasing number 
of EVs and charging stations on the 
road would bring down their cost. 
Samrath S. Kochar, director, Trontek, 
affirms, “With bulk orders, the costs 
will come down significantly, making 
the vehicles commercially affordable. 
This will greatly magnify the adoption 
rate within India’s population.” 
Take, for instance, Nagpur, which 
is the first Indian city to launch 200 
EVs in 2017 including four-wheelers, 
buses and e-rickshaws. The city saw 
installation of over 50 charging sta-
tions, set up by Ola. The government 
has fixed Goods & Services Tax (GST) 
on automobiles accordingly—setting 
only 12 per cent GST on electric vehi-
cles as against 28 per cent taxation on 
conventional petrol- and diesel-driven 
automobiles.
India’s automobile components 
vertical can contribute well to the 
mission. Biju Bruno, MD, Greenvi-
sion Technologies, shares, “We have 
a strong components and sub-system 
manufacturing ecosystem for the 
automotive industry, which can adapt 
to making the necessary components 
for EVs.”
Cummins India, an automobile 
engine manufacturer, has already 
started R&D on electric vehicle engines. 
Major auto-playersSUN Mobility and 
Ashok Leyland are pairing up for 
electric-driven public transportation 
and private vehicle solutions.
Opportunities abound 
for energy solution compa-
nies as well. Setting up of 
charging infrastructure and 
manufacturing of efficient 
EV battery solutions, in par-
ticular, assume importance. 
Companies like Bharat Heavy 
Electricals Limited (BHEL) 
and National Thermal Power 
Corporation (NTPC) are 
working actively, with major 
support from the Indian 
Space Research Organisation 
(ISRO), to bring down the EV vehicles hooked to charging stations
smart world
77www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
cost of batteries. Significant invest-
ments from foreign firms are also 
coming in. Finnish energy utility body 
Fortum and China’s Zheijang Geely 
Holding Group are planning to invest 
in developing charging infrastructure 
and vehicle solutions in India.
Challenges
Financing is the primary concern. 
Kochhar comments, “Cost is the main 
challenge for EVs. The upfront cost of 
these vehicles is quite high.” For exam-
ple, while a diesel-driven bus costs up 
to ` 5 million, the cost of an electric 
bus is ` 15 million. Batteries are the 
main multipliers of EVs’ upfront cost. 
However, battery prices are coming 
down, with reports suggesting a dip in 
average price from $600 down to $250 
in the last five years.
The battery manufacturing sce-
nario needs improvement. Bruno says, 
“EVs will depend on lithium batteries 
or a similar chemistry that has a high 
power-to-weight ratio. At present, 
India doesn’t have any manufacturer 
with the technology or infrastructure 
to make these batteries.” 
High taxation on batteries adds 
to the problem. “GST on batteries is 
28 per cent. It needs to be corrected 
immediately. I don’t understand why 
the government sees energy stored in 
a battery as luxury,” says Bruno. He 
adds, “Recycling of lithium batter-
ies is not happening—the elephant 
in the room is that no one is talking 
about this at the moment. It’s very 
important that this piece is figured out 
quickly, else we’ll end up overcoming 
one problem and landing into another 
bigger one.” 
There are initiatives by Indian 
bodies, however, including ISRO part-
nering with BHEL to produce 50Ah 
and 100Ah battery prototypes for two-
wheelers and four-wheelers.
India has its infrastructural chal-
lenges as well. Kochar explains, 
“Charging stations need to be set up 
at an accelerated pace. The cost of 
setting up infrastructure like charging 
stations needs attention.” 
While we have examples in Nagpur 
and some more cities where charging 
stations have been set up, the entire 
nation has seen a total installation of 
barely 100 charging stations. With the 
current quality of production, EVs in 
India can cover only 120km distance 
and achieve 85km/hour maximum 
speed with a fully-charged battery. 
Keeping that in mind, along with the 
scarcity of charging stations, EVs have 
not yet caught the Indian consumer’s 
eye.
Bruno shares, “Charging infra-
structure will require massive invest-
ment, which only the government 
can afford. Private players may not 
see ROI here. That is where the bar-
rier lies.” Reports suggest Tata Power 
Delhi Distribution Limited is planning 
an investment of one billion rupees to 
install 1000 charging stations in Delhi 
within the coming five years.
EV charging infrastructure calls for 
a high availability of electricity. Given 
the poor supply-demand ratio of elec-
tricity, this becomes another challenge 
for EVs. Investment will be needed to 
set up more grids. Smart meters and 
power distribution management sys-
tems will play a big role in addressing 
these challenges.
The road ahead
For institutions that are setting up 
charging stations for captive use, 
regulations are being framed to relieve 
them of the requirement of any elec-
tricity retailing permission. “The 
ecosystem will build over time. We 
will see some clear movements and 
changes within the next two-three 
years,” believes Kochar.
Karnataka’s latest policies to 
promote R&D in the EV segment and 
Maharashtra’s mass deployment of 
EVs and tax relaxation show that the 
states in India are already preparing to 
embrace the welcome transition. 
“EVs have to be subsidised. If 
the government wants to save on oil 
import bill, savings can happen only 
if investments are made in EVs. There 
are collateral benefits of less pollution, 
cleaner air, better health of the popu-
lation and so on. The government 
should not look at this as a subsidy, 
but rather as an investment,” says 
Bruno.
While many experts believe that 
completely green vehicle ecosystem 
is achievable by 2030, some say it is a 
wishful thinking. Kochar says, “2030 
is a good time period to see some mas-
sive changes. Even if not 100 per cent, 
I believe we will see the ecosystem 
with 50 per cent green vehicles.” 
With this project, the government 
has pledged to save $60 billion on 
petrol and diesel and one gigatonne of 
carbon dioxide emission by 2030. Let’s 
hope everything goes well to make it 
possible. 
—Paromik Chakraborty, technical journalist, EFY
Kolkata 
Municipality 
Benefits 
From Solar 
Streetlights 
 After solar streetlight 
installation, Deshapriya Park 
in Kolkata was able to reduce 
its electricity bill from ` 31,000 
a month to ` 1800 a month 
Solar energy is the stepping stone towards a green and economical urban ecosystem. Municipali-
ties are turning to solar-powered LED 
streetlights as a future-proof lighting 
option. Professor (Dr) Santi Pada Gon-
chaudhuri, former managing director 
at West Bengal Green Energy Develop-
ment Corporation Limited (WBGED-
CL), and an expert in the renewable 
community, drove a solar streetlight 
installation project at Deshapriya Park, 
a major public park in Kolkata. With 
this transition, the Kolkata Municipal 
Corporation (KMC) is turning the 
tables in terms of electricity cost and 
carbon pollution control.
With the previously used AC-
driven sodium vapour streetlights, 
the administrators at Deshapriya Park 
were experiencing very high electric-
ity bills. Carbon dioxide emission was 
also on the rise. The KMC required 
a solution that could mitigate such 
smart world
78 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
If you want to share such case studies with EFY 
readers, please contact us at smartworld@efy.in 
unhealthy gas genera-
tion and also reduce the 
power consumption.
The solution
KMC identified solar-
powered LED streetlights 
as the best fit for the 
purpose. The previous 
sodium vapour lights 
consumed 400 watts of 
energy each. LED street-
lights, on the other hand, 
generate higher bright-
ness level at less than 
half the power consump-
tion of sodium vapour 
streetlights. Solar panels 
coupled with these LED 
streetlights further help 
to eliminate the compulsion of grid 
electricity. 
However, majority of solar street-
lighting setups come with batteries and 
associated challenges like occasional 
requirements for battery replacement 
and maintenance, high operational 
costs and risk of battery theft. Keeping 
all these conditions in mind, Dr Gon-
chaudhuri decided to go with 180W 
batteryless grid-connected solar LED 
streetlights. 
The complete setup
Before installation, the team had 
to ensure that the area met certain 
criteria for installation. First, since 
streetlights would be batteryless, the 
locality should have a stable electricity 
presence. Metropolitan cities in India 
have over 90 per cent availability of 
electricity, making the environment 
suitable for the product. Second, the 
site should have a reliable grid and 
proper poles for installation. Finally, 
they required permission of State 
Electricity Regulatory Commission 
for connecting a microinverter to the 
grid. The microinverter is required to 
transfer the generated solar energy 
to the grid. Once these arrangements 
were acknowledged, the team went 
ahead with the installation.
The total setup included 50 bat-
terylesscarbon-neutral grid-connected 
solar LED streetlights with the follow-
ing specifications:
•	 180W LED luminaire
•	 Total 315W (approx. 2x150W) 
capacity multicrystalline external 
solar PV panels
•	 Pole-top mounting frame for hold-
ing the panels
•	 300W microinverter for connecting 
to the grid
•	 Intelligent controller to enable auto-
mated on/off and auto-dimming
•	 9m long steel tubular poles
Dr Gonchaudhuri explains, “The 
intelligent controller manages LEDs 
during night time using the quantum 
of energy pushed during day. In neces-
sity, the controller operates a dimmer 
circuit to minimise the consumption 
after midnight. However, the same 
cannot be felt physically.”
Each streetlight including all 
the above-mentioned features cost 
` 60,000. The total project cost was 
around ̀ 3.2 million.
The returns
The installation completed in January 
2015, and since then it has brought 
major benefits to the administration. 
Massive electricity savings. The 
installation of 180W LEDs in place of 
400W sodium vapour lamps instantly 
reduced the energy consumption 
by more than 50 per cent (400-
180=220W savings). Furthermore, 
solar energy generated by panels is 
utilised throughout the night, cutting 
down the grid electricity consumption 
as much as possible. 
As reported by the Ministry of New 
and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 5400 
kilowatt-hour solar power was generat-
ed and exported to the grid 
in a period of 90 days. The 
amount of power imported 
from the grid was 5300 kil-
owatt-hour. This indicates 
excess energy generation of 
100 kilowatt-hour.
Another report illus-
trates that while Deshapri-
ya Park’s electricity bill for 
April 2014 was ` 31,000 
before solar transition, it 
went down to as low as 
` 1800 for April 2015 after 
solar installation.
Reduced carbon foot-
print. The limited depend-
ence on grid electricity and 
transition to LED technol-
ogy greatly reduced carbon 
gas emission. According to Dr Gon-
chaudhuri, the setup cut carbon diox-
ide emission by 72 tonnes annually.
No opex and no failure. Battery-
driven solar streetlights call for 
frequent maintenance and peri-
odic replacement of batteries, usually 
within four years of use. This imposes 
a certain amount of operational 
expense throughout the product life. 
On the other hand, batteryless street-
lights have no such requirements. 
Additionally, due to grid connectivity, 
these run on days with no sunlight as 
well. No disturbances were recorded 
in the streetlight functioning. Also, 
failure rate was negligible.
Summing up
Based on Calcutta Electric Supply 
Corporation (CESC) tariffs, the return 
on investment is expected within four 
years of use. Carbon-neutral battery-
less streetlights are great options 
for urban communities, especially 
flyovers, parks and many other public 
areas where electricity availability is 
consistent. Following the installation, 
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has 
taken up the target of solarising 28 
other parks in the city, which will save 
them ̀ 2.5 million for each park annu-
ally. Similar initiatives across all metro-
cities of India can bring a massive 
cumulative benefit to the nation. 
—Paromik Chakraborty, technical journalist, EFY
the cost and return structure
Month and year of implementation January 2015
Number of streetlights installed 50
Approx. cost of each streetlight 
with intelligent control
` 60,000
Estimated total project cost ` 3.2 million
Benefits •	Very low utility electricity usage
•	More than 50% less luminaire energy 
consumption (220W less)
•	Annual 72-tonne CO2 reduction
•	No operational cost
Expected ROI Within 4 years
Key figures 90-day energy data:
•	Generated energy exported: 5400kWh
•	Energy imported for consumption: 5300kWh
•	Excess energy generated: 100kWh
Monthly utility bill estimations (CESC):
•	Bill of April 2014 (before installation): ` 30,000
•	Bill of April 2015 (after installation): ` 1800
Data source: Dr S.P. Gonchaudhuri and MNRE 
make in india
79www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Market Survey
Growth of the electronics market has also 
translated into an opportunity for the Indian 
electronics design industry as the semicon-
ductor design market in India is expected to 
grow at around 25 per cent annually from 
$9.9 billlion in 2012 to $60 billion in 2020 
(Fig. 2). While the Indian electronics system 
design and manufactur-
ing (ESDM) industry 
as a whole depends on 
imports to plug the huge 
demand-supply gap, 
domestic design services 
are still its key strength 
with huge potential.
Market potential
The growing customer 
base and increased pen-
etration have provided 
excellent scope for the 
growth of Indian elec-
tronics design houses. 
Some of the recent gov-
ernment policies like 
Make in India and Digital 
India have instilled con-
fidence and aided this 
momentum.
Advanced product 
development focusing 
on miniaturisation, IoT, 
automation, LED light-
After decades of sluggish demand, the Indian electronics industry is on a roll—largely due to increased digiti-
sation (making electronics an inseparable 
part of almost all types of products) and an 
insatiable local demand for electronics goods. 
In fact, India is currently one of the largest 
growing electronics markets in the world.
With increased affordability, the demand 
for electronics products in India—such as 
smart TVs, phones and tablets—has skyrock-
eted. It is pegged to grow annually at 41 per 
cent between 2017 and 2020, creating a $400 
billion market, according to a joint study by 
Assocham and NEC Technologies.
Increased digitisation of products like 
automobiles and communication equipment 
has also boosted the demand for electron-
ics. Advanced technologies like the Internet 
of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and 
augmented reality/virtual reality all require 
electronic components at the heart of their 
hardware systems.
Can India Become An 
ElEctronics DEsign Hub?
Sudeshna Das 
is director at 
ComConnect 
Consulting 
Quantitative and qualitative information about the 
Indian electronic design industry was collected 
through secondary research. The findings were 
analysed and verified through primary research 
by conducting extensive interviews with industry 
experts. These senior professionals shared their 
insights on:
1. Market size
2. Market potential
3. Market challenges
A trend analysis was done on the basis of their 
inputs.
Methodology
make in india
80 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
still around 10 per cent)
3. Increased demand due to a 
sizeable number of Indian SMEs and 
startups focusing on the IoT
According to survey participants, 
design services in demand (Fig. 4) are:
1. Embedded software design
2. End-to-end product design 
services
3. Electronic design automation 
(EDA)
4. Very-large-scale-integration 
(VLSI) design
5. Product certification and com-
pliance
Market challenges
In recent years, independent design 
houses like Wipro and HCL have 
grown in stature and are increasingly 
involved in design and development 
for global firms. While conditions are 
ing, AI and defense applications is 
likely to be the biggest growth driver 
in the electronics design market. In 
addition, there are a few emerging 
technologies that could emerge as 
key areas of focus in the near future. 
These include:
1. Next-generation wireless
2. Artificial intelligence
3. Silicon photonics
India has become the hub for elec-
tronics design with nearly 2000 chips 
being designed every year and around 
500,000 engineers working in various 
aspects of electronic design starting 
from chip design and verification to 
different stages of product design. 
Though still lagging behind chief 
competitors in the Far East (China and 
Taiwan), the country has significant 
potential as it seeks to continually 
raise the bar and increase the breadth 
and depth of its offering. At least 60 
per cent of surveyed respondents (Fig. 
3) feel that India has the potential to 
becomea design house for the global 
electronics industry. 
Greater digitisation across seg-
ments has led to the increased pen-
etration of Indian electronic design 
houses in such application areas as 
LED illumination, communications 
and broadband equipment, and auto-
motive electronics. The focus is on 
localising the technological changes 
while maintaining global competi-
tiveness.
India’s design strength is driven 
by:
1. Strong capabilities in embedded 
system design
2. Large number of electronics 
engineering graduates (even though 
the number of employable talent is 
Fig. 1: Evolution of the Indian electronics industry (Source: Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association report)
Fig. 2: Expected market growth of semiconductor design market in India (Source: Ministry of Electronics & IT, IESA, KPMG, Aranca Research)
make in india
81www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
(M-SIPS) and electronic development 
fund (EDF) will have a significant 
impact in driving this change.
The industry has responded posi-
tively to the government’s support. As 
many as 159 new ESDM units were 
established in 2015 itself. According 
to industry experts, while Make in 
India is an initiative in the right direc-
tion, the agenda could also include 
‘Make for India’ with focus on Indian 
priorities.
Other supportive measures taken 
by the Indian government include:
1. 100 per cent FDI allowed in the 
electronics hardware manufacturing 
sector under automatic route
2. Duty relaxation and schemes 
such as EPCG, EHTP and SEZ to 
provide tax sops; duty exemption on 
equipment required for setting up 
semiconductor plants
3. National Policy on Electronics 
(2012) and setting up of National Elec-
tronics Mission 
indeed favourable for the growth of 
the design industry, there are a few 
impediments that need to be removed 
for the industry to live up to the expec-
tations.
Over the last couple of decades, 
the Indian electronic design indus-
try has gradually shifted focus from 
manufacturing towards assembly. 
Earlier, the entire production and 
assembly of products was done in 
India. However, now semi-finished 
items are imported from China and 
only the final assembly is done in 
India. For example, mobile phones 
and smart TVs are designed in China 
and assembled in India. Only a small 
percentage of design for local brands 
is done in India.
One of the prime reasons behind 
this trend is the requirement of 
significant investment for R&D in 
a sector where margins are already 
thin. Pressed for margins, firms prefer 
to shop for products that are suitable 
for the Indian market and arrange for 
imports of semi-knocked-down kits 
back to India for assembly. 
Other factors impeding the indus-
try growth include:
1. SMEs and startups lack experi-
ence in complex system design and 
are completely unaware of outsourc-
ing opportunities in both design and 
manufacturing.
2. Design (CAD) tools are expen-
sive, while open source tools are not 
of acceptable quality. As engineering 
design is capital-intensive, education-
al institutes with relevant CAD and 
T&M equipment could offer their labs 
on hire, helping startups and SMEs to 
develop products at low cost.
3. There is dearth of hardware 
accelerators supporting board design 
and FPGAs/EPLDs.
4. Governance/policy related 
challenges: 
(i) Prototype ecosystem is yet to 
mature, leading to a lot of time wast-
age in customs and other processes.
(ii) Duty-free components are still 
being charged at 28 per cent GST.
5. While there is a steady supply 
of graduates in the market, there is 
still a significant gap between skill 
sets required by the industry and skill 
sets acquired by graduates through 
higher education institutes. Effective 
collaboration programmes between 
the industry and institutes can go a 
long way in developing more employ-
able candidates for the industry. 
Supportive policies
The government of India is deter-
mined to resolve these issues by 
developing policies and frameworks 
that can catalyse growth in the design 
sector. Initiatives like Make in India 
and Digital India, and impetus to 
existing schemes like the modified 
special incentive package scheme 
The Indian electronics design industry 
consists of:
1. Independent design houses offering 
design services for the world market 
more under the services business model 
(driven by IoT, automation, analytics, etc) 
and designing India-specific products 
(especially with the IoT and automation 
driving efficiencies for manufacturing, 
healthcare and hospitality segments)
2. Captive design houses of global 
electronics firms 
In addition to that, there are EDA tool 
providers and original design manufacturers 
catering to the market. 
Types of electronics 
design companies
 Krishnakumar M., delivery head, Communication BU, Tata Elxsi
 Rajeev Ramachandra, founder and director, Mistral Solutions 
 Ramendra S. Baoni, founder and chairman, Bisquare
 S.A. Srinivasa Moorthy, director-design engineering and former CEO of AP State 
Electronics and IT Agency
 Vijay Anand, director-sales, EmbDes Technologies 
Major contributors to this report 
Fig. 4: Design services in demand
Embedded software design
End to end product design services 
Electronic design automation (EDA) 
Very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) design 
Product certification and compliance
0
20
40
60
80
100
100%
80%
40%
60%
20%Fig. 3: India’s potential to become the design 
house for the global electronics industry
Yes
60%
May be
40%
No - 0%
efy dvd
82 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Tools For Coders 
And Fun sTuFF For Gamers 
The following software, besides other, can be found in the DVD 
accompanying EFY Plus edition of this magazine 
FreeBASIC
FreeBASIC is a cross-platform com-
piler of the popular starter program-
ming language BASIC. It is supported 
on operating systems like Windows, 
Linux, FreeBSD and protected-mode 
MS-DOS. It is also compatible with 
XBOX platform, though the platform 
support is no more available. 
The newest version of the self-
hosting compiler supports ‘C’ runtime 
library fully and C++ libraries partially. 
It supports header files for additional 
third-party libraries like Windows 
API, Allegro, TK+, OpenGL and SDL. 
Therefore codes compiled in FreeBASIC 
environment can be reused in many 
other programming ecosystems. The 
interface is user-friendly due to the 
C-style preprocessor with features 
like conditional compiling, multiline 
macros and file inclusion.
Small Device C Compiler
Small Device C Compiler (SDCC) is 
a popular compiler for programming 
microcontrollers. The latest version of 
the Standard C computing language 
compiler is retargetable and can be 
utilised for a group of devices includ-
ing Intel MCS51 series machines, 
Freescale HC08 microprocessors, 
Maxim DS80C390 device line, Zilog 
Z80 microchips and STMicroelectron-
ics STM8 device. The software runs 
on Linux, Windows as well as MacOS. 
SDCC comes with a set of coding 
standard optimisations, which include 
dead code elimination, loop optimisa-
tion, copy propagation, ‘switch’ state-
ment jump tables and more. It supports 
major data types including char, short, 
int, long, float, boolean and long long 
for a variety of MCU targets. It also sup-
ports inline assembler codes in func-
tions and automated regression tests.
JDK 9
Major components of Java Develop-
ment Kit (JDK) Standard Edition are 
the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), 
a code interpreter, a compiler (javac), 
an archiver (jar) and a document file 
generator (javadoc). One significant 
change in JDK 9 is the introduction of 
a modular system that brings diverse 
configuration options of the JDK and 
the JRE. The modular system brings 
an optional ‘Link time’ parameter, 
which exists between compile-time and 
runtime. Customisations to runtime 
image can be made with the help of 
module usage in the link time. 
JDK also includes jmod tool, 
which has a similarfunction to JAR 
but also incorporates native code files. 
Users can enjoy simple string-schemes 
for easier identification of different 
releases, namely, $MAJOR, $MINOR, 
$SECURITY and $PATCH. Updates to 
JDK tools have also been introduced, 
including support for Read-Eval-Print 
Loop (REPL) functionality through 
jshell tool, support for multiple class 
files to exist in a single JAR, and com-
patibility of older platform codes on 
javac.
Free Pascal
This popular compiler for Pascal and 
Object Pascal languages has included 
further updates. The 16-, 32- and 
64-bit compiler can support system 
architectures including Intel x86, 
ARM, AMD64, SPARC, PowerPC64, 
Aarch64, MIPS and JVM. It can run 
on Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, MacOS, 
Haiku, Nintendo, Android, AROS and 
AIX, enabling a ‘write once, compile 
anywhere’ system. 
Version 3.0.4 updated some units 
of Free Pascal. For example, T-List 
Autogrowth threshold of SysUtils is 
expanded for better memory man-
agement, Inifiles invalid name/value 
pair reading and many changes in the 
go32 unit. Free Pascal supports addi-
tional Pascal family dialects including 
TurboPascal and Delphi.
Open Watcom
Open Watcom is an efficient integrated 
development environment (IDE) for C 
and C++ programs. It also supports 
Fortran programming languages. An 
open source IDE licenced by Sybase, it 
is compatible with DOS, Windows and 
Linux. Open Watcom packs a variety 
of tools, including graphical tools for 
various functions, linker, debugger 
and Vi editor. 
The latest version of Open Watcom 
has many improvements and bug fixes. 
For instance, it features improved 
handling of data type like boolean 
and floats by the compiler. The IDE 
now supports OLE 2.0 and Linker 
supports RDOS and ZDOS. Vi Editor 
now supports non-ASCII characters in 
the 0x80x-0xFF range. The V2.0 Beta 
introduces an integrated text-editor, 
a two-phase build system and more 
fixes.
Terasology
If you are a fan of Minecraft and want 
to play something for free, Terasology 
might be the one for you. This open 
source ‘sandbox’ game for Windows 
has mechanics similar to Minecraft 
where digital blocks can be used to 
innovate buildings, structures and 
infrastructure. Additional features 
include assigning digital creatures 
to activities. Players can create dif-
ferent tools and weapons and use 
them, create torches to illuminate 
dark areas, eat for improving life force 
and so on. The game is licenced by 
Apache 2.0. 
www.efymag.com electronics for you Plus | January 2018
efy dvd
i
Lasi 7: For Designing 
VersatiLe integrated CirCuits 
One of the most popular freeware for layout and design, Lasi is amaz-
ingly versatile as it can be used 
with various electronic com-
ponents like ICs, MEMS, PC 
boards and project documen-
tation drawings. In its latest 
version, Lasi 7, tooltips have 
been turned off for better user 
experience on Windows and 
some more updates.
Lasi is a conventionally 
preferred module since the 
times of Win32, and its various 
updated versions have been 
quite popular across Windows 
Vista, XP and now Windows 
7. Lasi can also be accessed on 
Linux operating systems using 
Wine translator. There are, 
however, some user limitations 
in the Linux version.
What makes Lasi such a 
favourite is the fact that draw-
ings are composed on hierar-
chical individual cells called 
Transportable Layout Cells 
(TLCs), which are flexible 
for transfer between different 
drawings and are in basic XML 
format.
Along with the main editor 
for drawing, Lasi comprises a 
lot of other utilities including 
DRC programmable bitmap, 
and a compiler that helps to 
extract Spice circuit files from 
schematic and layout format.
Drawings made in Lasi can 
also be archived as GDS as the 
drawing pattern for Lasi and 
GDS is similar. Later, in case 
Lasi is unavailable, drawings 
can also be transferred to 
Fig. 1: Design layout using TLCs in Lasi (Image source: http://www.vlsitechnology.org)
Fig. 2: Complete circuit diagram (Image source: http://www.freebyte.com)
January 2018 | electronics for you Plus www.efymag.comii
efy dvd
Fig. 3: Lasi tools and utilities (Image source: https://i.ytimg.com) 
CAD, since CAD systems sup-
port GDS. 
New features of Lasi 7
For better and enhanced 
user experience, changes 
have been made to the main 
editor and a few utility tools. 
Tools not required have been 
turned off as these often 
cause unnecessary redraws on 
some versions of Windows. 
To include the recently made 
changes, add-on tools have 
been recompiled.
Users can now hide or un-
hide ‘tooltips’ section, depend-
ing upon usability, using the 
Cnfg command and also by 
checking and unchecking the 
tooltips button.
A lot of minor changes 
have also been made in the 
help feature for files and web 
pages. 
efy dvd
January 2018 | ElEctronics For you Plus www.EFymag.comiV
Simulating Your intel ProceSSor 
With gnuSim8085 
For engineers looking to program their processors as per specific applications, a good number 
of open source simulation tools are 
available. GNUSim8085 is one such 
software. This cross-platform software 
enables users to digitally simulate, as-
semble and debug the Intel 8085 8-bit 
microprocessor—a power-efficient 
component for applications like secu-
rity controls and automatic controls. 
The Intel 8085 processor is com-
paratively difficult to code directly 
due to the lack of an integrated editor 
or compiler and limited debugging 
capacity. GNUSim8085 simulator tool 
eases these difficulties by digitally 
designing and debugging the code to 
learn the processor’s behaviour before 
encoding the actual hardware.
Features of GNUSim8085
Digital representation of Intel 8085 by 
the software gives you a clear depic-
tion of registers, ports and memory. 
The simulation has input and output 
mechanism identical to the actual 
hardware’s. The biggest advantage of 
this software is the introduction of an 
assembler and an editor for the 8085 
processor. The editor comes with 
syntax highlighting. The software can 
display the processor’s registers and 
flags. Along with these, the user can 
also view input/output (I/O) ports, 
memory and stack contents. The 
hexadecimal-to-decimal converter 
adds a major advantage. 
The GNUSim8085 software sup-
ports different languages and is print-
capable. It is compatible with Linux 
and Windows operating systems.
Using the software
The software launches a workspace 
with sample codes that can be 
worked on. A toolbar on the top 
contains various options including 
File, Reset, Assembler, Debug and 
Help. Users can open a new project 
from File→New. The user interface 
(UI) is very comprehensive and 
user-friendly. 
The left panel contains a compact 
overview of the Intel processor’s 
registers and flags. The hexadecimal-
to-decimal converter is located in this 
panel as well. The value to be con-
verted needs to be inserted manually. 
Below the converter, two spinboxes 
are available. One is for the I/O port 
value and the other for the memory 
port value. Entering the port number 
in the numeric box displays the port 
content in the adjacent text box. The 
default entry format is decimal. You 
can enter hex formats as well by add-
ing an ‘h’ before the number. Users 
can update port values from these 
spinboxes.
The right panel comes with 
multiple tabs that list values of the 
processor’s different entities. The 
first tab is ‘Data,’ which enlists the 
defined data variables. The following 
tab is ‘Stack,’ which displays address-
es and values of entire stacks in the 
program. Stack values are updated 
when you initialise a stack pointer 
and execute a stack function like 
Push or Call. Two other tabs include 
I/O port and memory port, which 
enlist values and contents of I/O 
ports and memory ports, respectively. 
An additional tab opens a virtual key-
pad, which allows users to digitally 
insert values.
At the lower end of the right 
panel is a message box that displays 
messagesrelated to program compi-
lation and execution. In case of any 
error, the message box displays an 
error message mentioning the loca-
tion and reason of error. Successful 
program execution displays a success 
message.
Assembler. Assembler is an op-
tion in the other top toolbox that 
opens various functionalities of the 
tool’s assembly unit. Its main func-
tion is to convert the code written 
in mnemonics to 8085-compatible 
Fig. 1: The GNUSim8085 interface
www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you Plus | January 2018 V
machine code. Major elements of As-
sembler include Mnemonics, which 
are instruction strings of operations; 
Labels, which are targeted named 
points in the code for Call com-
mands; Comments, which are not 
part of the code but are remarks 
for the coder’s convenience; and 
Pseudo-opcodes. 
There are three sub-menus in the 
Assembler menu. The first is Assem-
ble, which loads the program code 
to the memory address. The second 
is Execute, which compiles and 
runs the loaded program. The third 
option is Show Listing, where users 
can view the executed program code 
along with the relevant memory ad-
dress opcode, mnemonics and com-
ments. The main importance of this 
option lies in preparing the program 
for moving into the actual hardware 
by either saving as a file and printing 
or viewing the complete listing.
Debug and reset. The simulator 
toolbar has two other menus. One is 
Debug. It consists of sub-menus Step 
In, Step Over and Step Out. These 
make code debugging easy by analys-
ing the register and memory content 
in each step. Debug menu also comes 
with a code breakpoint feature.
Reset menu can help users to 
erase old data from the simulator and 
reset values of registers, ports, flags 
and memory. Reset can be done 
individually for each component or 
for all at once.
Updates in v1.3.7
The latest version of GNUSim8085 
has a strong debugger unit. The 
program automatically stops run-
ning in case of infinite-loop errors or 
any program execution fault. Stack 
tracing is quite efficient in this ver-
sion. For instance, users are notified 
in case more Pop commands are 
executed than Push. 
Moreover, the latest version saw 
fixing of some major bugs in the 
previous releases. One among them 
is the unavailability of Project Save 
prompt when switching to a new 
project. Frequent crashing of the 
software when clicking Help→About 
has also been solved. Another major 
bug solved was the flag setting error 
of DAA. 
Finally, the biggest advantage of 
the software is enabling developers 
to insert the program through the 
Intel 8085 mnemonics and avoid 
hand assembly. Through this, devel-
opers can save a great deal of time 
in debugging and ensure an error-
free programming of the hardware 
module. 
Fig. 2: The Assembler listing of GNUSim
efy dvd
www.efymag.com electronics for you Plus | January 2018
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Vii
OSMC: A Friendly Media Centre 
For Your Raspberry Pi 
A reliable open source media player comes handy when working 
on media files. A media centre 
software called Open Source 
Media Center (OSMC) can help 
you get support from an expan-
sive range of systems, including 
Windows, iOS, Linux as well as 
other devices like Raspberry Pi. 
OSMC is a Debian Jessie-driven 
Linux distribution that runs Kodi 
application on devices, including 
Apple TV and Vero in addition to 
Raspberry Pi.
Setting up version 2017.01-1
OSMC is compatible with Rasp-
berry Pi 1, 2 and 3. However, 
version 2 or higher is desired for 
optimal performance. To set up 
OSMC on your Raspberry Pi, first 
download the OSMC application 
on your computer. The installa-
tion will require a confirmation 
of the language and the device 
where the distro is intended to 
be used. Confirm the latest ver-
sion of the software and click to 
continue.
In the next step, you will be 
prompted to select the storage 
type. It can be a USB stick, NFC 
device or even internal stor-
age. Usually, Raspberry Pi users 
choose to use SD cards. 
Select the storage appropri-
ately and move on to the next 
step. Here, you will be asked 
to confirm whether you will be 
using a wireless network (Wi-Fi), 
wired network (Ethernet cable) 
or would like to configure manu-
ally. Select the suitable network 
and continue. OSMC will start 
downloading on the SD card or 
selected storage and install after 
the download.
Now, plug in the storage to 
your Raspberry Pi device. OSMC 
will start to install in your Pi 
system. After the installation 
completes, select your language 
and time zone. Set up your 
device name and accept the 
licence agreement. Once all the 
steps are successfully followed, 
OSMC will configure in your 
laptop with Kodi appearing in 
the front end. You can perform 
all the functions of Kodi on your 
Raspberry Pi.
The open source goodness
The OSMC interface is very 
compact with an attractive me-
tallic appearance. The left panel 
consists of explorable options 
where you can play various me-
dia files like videos, movies, TV 
shows, music and pictures. All 
the media is categorised in fold-
ers, making the user interface 
(UI) comprehensive and easy 
to find. OSMC supports a large 
range of codecs, allowing most 
of the video formats and resolu-
tions to run smoothly. 
A menu called ‘My OSMC’ 
in the left panel enables you to 
configure your setup including 
Raspberry Pi configuration. You 
can mark your most visited files 
as Favourites and access them 
quickly from the menu. Settings 
menu allows you to make OSMC 
setup changes, including date, 
time, language and so on.
OSMC keeps the system 
updated. It is responsible for 
Fig. 1: OSMC installation wizard (Source: seo-michael.co.uk)
Fig. 2: Storage selection prompt
Fig. 3: Prompt for choice of connection to the web
January 2018 | electronics for you Plus www.efymag.comViii
Fig. 4: The OSMC UI
Fig. 5: Options in My OSMC 
up over 40,000 packages to the us-
ers, creating large possibilities for 
customisations. This makes OSMC 
a highly customisable open source 
platform. It is recommended to run 
the ‘sudo apt-get update’ command 
while incorporating any of the 
packages.
Why OSMC is recommended 
OSMC is an easy-to-use, quick-to-
install and smooth media platform. 
Options available with Kodi in the 
package make it a favourite among 
the audiophile and movie-buff com-
munity. Moreover, the flexibility of 
applications and services is highly 
advantageous. And the best of all, it 
is free! 
managing system resources and 
hardware, including remotes, 
keyboards and Wi-Fi adaptors. The 
biggest attraction of OSMC is that 
it enables all the add-ons support 
of Kodi to run on the device. Kodi 
supports a huge list of add-ons 
including media channels like 
9GAG.TV, ABC Family, Apple 
iTunes Podcasts, Comic Vine, CNET 
Podcast, ESPN, IGN.com, Netflix, 
MTV and more. Even application 
software can be run through Kodi. 
Kodi’s add-on inclusion expands 
into the OSMC environment, mak-
ing the system highly scalable. 
Moreover, OSMC allows users to 
configure VPN services.
The Debian repository opens 
efy dvd
83www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
By 2020, AI to create more jobs 
than it eliminates
Make in india
Industry News
On The Move
Ajay appointed secretary, MoD
Dr Ajay Kumar, additional 
secretary in Ministry of 
Electronics and Information 
Technology, has been 
elevated to secretary in 
ministry of Defence. Kumar 
is a 1985-batch IAS officer of 
Kerala cadre.
Apple’s India chief quits
Apple’s chief of operations for 
India Sanjay Kaul has decided 
to step down from his role at 
the company, according to a 
report from Reuters. He has 
been replaced with a long-time 
executive, Michel Coulomb.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will create 
2.3 million jobs in 2020, while 
eliminating 1.8 million—according to 
Gartner. The number of jobs affected 
by AI will vary by industry; through 
2019, healthcare, public sector and 
education will see continuously 
growing job demand whilemanufac-
turing will be hit the hardest. Starting 
in 2020, AI-related job creation will 
cross into positive territory, reaching 
two million net-new jobs in 2025.
AI will improve the productivity 
of many jobs, eliminating millions 
of middle- and low-level positions, 
while also creating millions of more 
new positions at highly skilled, man-
agement and even the entry level and 
low-skilled levels.
The Gartner report suggests that IT 
leaders should not focus only on the 
projected net increase of jobs. With 
each investment in AI-enabled technol-
ogies, they must take into consideration 
what jobs will be lost, what jobs will be 
created, and how it will transform the 
way workers collaborate with others, 
make decisions and getting work done. 
As regards AI’s impact on the work-
place, the report predicts that by 2022, 
one in five workers engaged in mostly 
non-routine tasks will rely on AI. 
Semiconductor equipment to break sales record 
Rooftop PV presents a $23 billion opportunity in India 
Worldwide sales of new semicon-
ductor manufacturing equipment 
will increase 35.6 per cent to 
$55.9 billion in 2017, exceeding its 
previous high of $47.7 billion in 
2000—according to SEMI, global 
industry association representing 
the electronics manufacturing 
supply chain. Year 2018 will break 
another record with 7.5 per cent 
growth resulting in sales of $60.1 
billion.
SEMI predicts a 37.5 per cent 
increase in 2017, to $45.0 billion, for 
wafer processing equipment. The other 
front-end segment, which consists of 
fab facilities equipment, wafer manu-
facturing and mask/reticle equipment, 
is expected to increase 45.8 per cent to 
$2.6 billion. The assembly and packag-
India will need to invest $23 billion 
over the next five years to meet its 
40GW rooftop photovoltaics target 
for year 2022, according to a new 
report by Bloomberg New Energy 
Finance (BNEF). 
The Indian government has set 
its sights on having 175GW of non-
hydro renewables capacity by 2022. 
At present, this figure stands at just 
60GW. The majority of the capacity in 
the 2022 target—a total of 135GW—is 
utility-scale (wind farms and solar 
parks, in particular) and does not 
include large hydro projects. The report 
estimates that India will need to invest 
$83 billion to build this capacity. The 
good news is that, because of falling 
capital costs per MW, that figure is $19 
billion less than in BNEF’s previous 
estimates.
Some of the most interesting 
activity will be in small-scale solar. 
Shantanu Jaiswal, head of India 
research at Bloomberg New Energy 
Finance, said: “Rooftop solar in India 
will grow inevitably with or without 
the support of power distribution 
utilities.”
The cost of electricity from roof-
top PV has halved in the last five 
years due to fierce competition in 
the market and a drop in equipment 
prices. In contrast, average retail 
electricity rates have increased by 22 
per cent in the same period. This has 
made rooftop PV cheaper than com-
mercial and industrial grid tariffs in all 
major states of India.
ing equipment are projected to grow 
by 25.8 per cent to $3.8 billion in 2017, 
while semiconductor test equipment 
are forecast to increase by 22 per cent 
to $4.5 billion.
In 2017, South Korea will be the 
largest equipment market for the 
first time. After maintaining the top 
spot for five years, Taiwan will rank 
second, followed by China. 
Industry news
84 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics 
Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events
Name, Date and Venue Topics Contact address for details
CES 2018
January 9-12, 2018 
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 
World’s gathering place for those who thrive on 
the business of consumer technologies and where 
next-generation innovations are introduced to the 
marketplace 
Consumer Technology Association
Website: www.ces.tech 
NEPCON Japan
January 17-19, 2018 
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan
Asia’s leading exhibition for electronics design, 
R&D and manufacturing technology 
Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd
Website: http://www.nepconjapan.jp/en/
9th Source India
January 24, 2018
Hotel Green Park, Chennai
International buyer-seller meet and conference 
redefining Indian electronics supply chain 
Website: www.elcina.com
Indiasoft 
January 24-25, 2018
Bengaluru
Exhibition and conference by Electronics and 
Computer Software Export Promotion Council 
(ESC) to showcase products and capabilities of 
Indian tier-II and tier-III software companies 
Website: www.indiasoft.org
Electronics West
February 6-8, 2018
Anaheim Convention Center, 
California, USA
North America’s largest annual design and 
manufacturing event 
Electronics West
Website: http://electronicswest.
designnews.com/
India Electronics Week
February 7-9, 2018
KTPO Convention Center, 
Bengaluru
With its 4 co-located shows—IoTshow.in, LEDasia.
in, EFY Expo and EFY Conferences—India 
Electronics Week acts as a one-stop-shop for 
technology enthusiasts 
EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd 
E-mail: iew@efy.in 
Website: www.indiaelectronicsweek.com
IESA Vision Summit 2018
February 27-28, 2018 
Leela Palace, Bengaluru
Summit on electronics system design and 
manufacturing
Website: www.iesaonline.org
Embedded World 2018
February 27-March 1, 2018 
Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg, 
Germany
Trade fair for IT security for electronic systems NürnbergMesse
Website: www.embedded-world.de/en 
2nd IoT India Expo
March 7-9, 2018
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Hands-on workshops on the Internet of Things (IoT) Website: www.iotindiaexpo.com/
konecthingz-workshop.aspx 
26th Convergence India 2018
March 7-9, 2018
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
International exhibition and conference on digital 
convergence 
Website: www.convergenceindia.org
ELECRAMA
March 10-14, 2018 
India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, 
Uttar Pradesh 
Flagship showcase of the Indian electrical industry 
ecosystem and the largest congregation of power 
sector ecosystem in the geography; brings together the 
complete spectrum of solutions that powers the planet 
IEEMA
Website: http://elecrama.com, 
http://ieema.org 
electronica China
March 14-16, 2018
Shanghai New International Expo 
Center, China
International trade fair for electronic components, 
systems and applications
Website: https://electronica-china.com
AMPER 2018
March 20-23, 2018
BRNO, The Czech Republic
International trade fair of electrotechnics, 
electronics, automation, communication, lighting 
and security technologies 
Website: www.terinvest.com
HKTDC Hong Kong 
Electronics Fair
April 13-16, 2018
October 13-16, 2018 
Hong Kong Convention and 
Exhibition Center
Electronics expo Website: www.hktdc.com/
hkelectronicsfairae
KPCA Show 2018
April 24-26, 2018
Kintex, Korea
International electronic circuits show Website: http://www.kpcashow.com
CE China 2018
May 3-5, 2018
Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition 
Center, China
International trade show for consumer electronics Website: www.cechina-ifa.com/en
4th Smart Cities India 2018 Expo
May 23-25, 2018 
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Exhibition on smarter solutions for a better 
tomorrow
Website: www.exhibitionsindia.com
3rd India-Taiwan Electronics 
Summit
June 1, 2018
Taipei
Summit on electronics system design and 
manufacturing 
Website: www.elcina.com 
JPCA Show 2018
June 6-8, 2018
Tokyo, Japan
48th international electronic circuits exhibition Website: http://www.jpca.net/
show2018/en/exhibition/index.html
ConnecTechAsia
June 26-28, 2018 
Singapore
Exhibition and summit on key technologies such as 
IoT, cloud/big data, cyber-security, TVEverywhere, 
ProAudioTech, SatComm, 5G and more!
Website: www.ConnecTechAsia.com
SES 2018
July 5-6, 2018
Bengaluru 
9th strategic electronics (defence and aerospace) 
summit 
Website: http://ses-india.in/register.asp
Customs duty raised on some 
finished electronic items
The Indian government has raised 
customs duty on various electronic 
products including mobile phones, 
microwave ovens and cameras to boost 
local manufacturing and createjobs. 
The increase in customs duty will give 
local manufacturers a cost advantage 
over imports. However, it will not 
impact imports from countries such 
as Thailand and Malaysia, with which 
India has free trade agreements.
Customs duty has been increased 
by up to ten per cent, as per a notifi-
cation issued by the Central Board of 
Excise and Customs. While it has been 
increased by five per cent on items 
such as mobile phones, video recording 
devices, electricity meters and digital 
cameras, it has been raised by ten per 
cent on items like microwave ovens, 
lamps and lighting fixtures.
Currently, these items attract a flat 
ten per cent basic customs duty (BCD) 
in addition to integrated GST. It is the 
BCD that gives a tariff edge to local 
manufacturing as a cut in GST rate will 
equally benefit both imports and local 
production.
Foreign Trade Policy 
helping industry 
According to ELCINA, the Foreign 
Trade Policy after mid-term review 
is geared towards promoting exports 
very aggressively (with a target of 
$900 billion by 2020) and supports 
manufacturing with a focus on MSME 
and labour-intensive sectors. It has 
increased the Merchandise Export 
from India Scheme (MEIS) benefit for 
majority of the sectors and allocated 
` 3690 million incentive for electronics 
and telecom. 
Under the policy, supplies of 
goods and services to SEZs will 
attract no GST. Import of second- 
hand goods for repair, refurbishing, 
re-conditioning or re-engineering has 
been made free. GST has also been 
abolished for transfer and sale of 
these scrips. Also, there is an across-
the-board increase of 2 per cent in 
existing MEIS for exports by MSMEs/
labour-incentive industries. Round-
the-clock customs clearance facility 
has been extended at 19 sea ports and 
17 air cargo complexes.
Continued on next page...
Industry news
85www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Snippets
User forum on 3D printing concludes successfully
Stratasys, an applied additive technology solutions provider, recently concluded its 
first user conference on 3D printing technology. This conference provided a platform 
to advocate printing technology where key industry players and end-users exchanged 
insights on the latest 3D printing trends, applications and best practices to succeed in 
today’s globally competitive manufacturing ecosystem. 
SignEasy launches Aadhaar-based electronic signatures
SignEasy, an e-signature software provider for professionals and SMBs, has launched its 
Aadhaar-compliant eSign solution with a fully integrated fill-and-sign document workflow. 
With over 140,000 customers across 180 countries, SignEasy aims to help businesses 
across India eliminate their dependence on paper-based processes while supporting the 
Indian government’s vision for Digital India.
Thales acquires Gemalto
Aerospace and defence company Thales is buying chipmaker Gemalto in a deal worth 4.8 
billion euros ($5.6 billion). The agreement came just two days after Gemalto had rejected 
an earlier bid by rival Atos to strengthen in the emerging field of digital security as well 
as the Internet of Things (IoT). 
ELCINA’s pre-budget 
recommendations 
ELCINA president Pankaj Gulati has 
urged the Indian government to use 
goods and services tax (GST) as a tool 
to benefit the manufacturers bound by 
IT Agreement. Gulati has also sought 
imposition of duty on those technol-
ogy and telecom products which fall 
outside the purview of the Information 
Technology Agreement (ITA-1) signed 
by India in 1996-97. According to him, 
such a move would boost domestic IT 
and telecom equipment manufactur-
ing in the country.
MediaTek announces 
smartphone design training
Med i aTek ha s l aunched i t s 
second Smartphone Design Train-
ing Program in collaboration with 
India’s Ministry of Electronics and 
Information Technology (MeitY). 
The programme prepares design 
engineers and talented individuals 
in the mobile industry with tools, 
insights and expertise necessary for a 
successful India smartphone industry. 
Progamme details are available on 
http://i.mediatek.com/makeinindia-
sdtp2018.
In yet another development, Medi-
aTek has partnered with Google to 
improve the performance of entry-level 
smartphones. Its MT6739, MT6737 
and MT6580 system-on-chips (SoCs), 
among others, now have board sup-
port packages available to run Google’s 
Android Oreo (Go edition). The part-
nership between the two companies 
aims to ensure a quality Android smart-
phone experience that is both secure 
and affordable for devices with 512MB 
to 1GB of memory.
Renesas announces winners 
of embedded design contest
Renesas has announced the winners of 
its GR PEACH Embedded Design Contest 
2017 in ASEAN. The contest encour-
aged students, hobbyists and profes-
sional engineers to build innovative 
IoT designs using the Gadget Renesas 
(GR) board. 
Renesas invited the top ten contest-
ants (six contestants from Vietnam, 
three from Singapore and one from 
Thailand) for a live project demonstra-
tion and announced the winners during 
the grand finale held in Ho Chi Minh 
City, Vietnam. An autonomous robot 
for indoor surveillance and monitor-
ing, created by Trong Nghia Nguyen 
from HCMC University of Technology 
Vietnam, won the first prize.
Vignan University sets up 
CoE using Keysight products
Vignan University, Andhra Pradesh, 
has established an RF and wireless 
Centre of Excellence using Keysight 
Technologies’ state-of-the-art equip-
ment for system-level design and 
measurement of wireless technologies. 
In yet another development, Key-
sight Technologies has made most of 
its products and solutions available on 
the Indian government’s eMarket place 
(GeM) (https://gem.gov.in/). GeM 
was created to enhance transparency, 
efficiency and speed in public procure-
ment. It provides e-bidding, reverse 
e-auction and demand aggregation 
facilities to help government users get 
the best value for their investment.
Continued from previous page...
Automation Expo 2018 
Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2018 
Bombay Convention & Exhibition 
Center, Goregaon East, Mumbai
13th international exhibition & conference on 
automation
IED Communications Ltd 
Website: www.automationindiaexpo.com
IFA Berlin
Aug. 31-Sept. 5, 2018
Berlin Exhibition Center 
(Expo Center City), Germany 
International trade show for consumer electronics 
and home appliances 
Website: http://b2b.ifa-berlin.com
SEMICON Taiwan, 2018 
Taipei, Taiwan
September 12-14, 2018
Premier event in Taiwan for microelectronics 
manufacturing 
Website: www.semicontaiwan.org/en
TAITRONICS 
Oct. 9-12, 2018
Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center
International electronics show Website: https://www.taitronics.tw 
Open Source India 
October 11-13, 2018 
Bengaluru
Platform for the open source community to share 
what’s new and exciting in open source languages, 
tools and techniques
Website: https://opensourceindia.in/
osidays
GITEX 
October 14-18, 2018 
Dubai World Trade Centre
Showcase of the world’s most advanced 
technologies
Website: https://www.gitex.com/
electronica Munich
Nov. 13-16, 2018
Munich, Germany
International trade fair for electronic components, 
systems and applications 
Website: www.electronica.de 
Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised 
to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.
Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics 
Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events
Name, Date and Venue Topics Contact address for details
86 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Components
TVS diode arrays 
Littelfuse, Inc. has introduced 16 series 
of automotive-qualified TVS diode 
arrays (SPA diodes) 
that are Produc-
tion Part Approval 
Process (PPAP) 
capable. These offer automakers and 
high-end industrial manufacturers 
single-origin flow from wafer creation 
through testing of the devices used in 
their products. The AEC-Q101 quali-
fied devices offer a durable approach 
for current and emerginginterfaces 
in the automotive ecosystem for data 
lines, charging lines, control lines and 
drivetrain, as well as for communica-
tion ports, including antennae, against 
damage due to electrostatic discharges, 
electrical fast transients and other over-
voltage transients.
Littelfuse, Inc.
www.littelfuse.com
CAN transceivers
Maxim’s new 2.75kV and 5kV family of 
isolated controller area network (CAN) 
transceivers help designers to ensure 
robust communication and improve 
uptime for industrial systems. The high-
speed transceivers integrate up to 5kV 
integrated galvanic isolation with fault 
protection and ±15kV human body 
model (HBM) ESD to increase uptime 
in harsh and noisy environments. These 
operate up to the maximum high-speed 
CAN data rate of 1Mbps and feature 
±54V fault protection on receiver inputs.
Maxim Integrated Products 
www.maximintegrated.com
Camera solution for cars 
Renesas Electronics and HELLA Aglaia 
have announced their open and scal-
able front camera solution for advanced 
driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and 
automated driving. The new front 
camera solution combines R-Car V3M, 
Renesas’ high-performance, low-power 
image-recognition system-on-chip 
(SoC) for New Car Assessment Program 
(NCAP, Note 1), and HELLA Aglaia´s 
field-proven camera software designed 
to meet level 2 (partial 
automation) and level 
3 (conditional auto-
mation) of SAE Inter-
national’s new J3016 standard (Note 2). 
Designed for scalability, the solution 
enables system designers to build a wide 
range of front cameras, from cameras 
supporting NCAP to cameras supporting 
up to level 3 applications.
Renesas Electronics Singapore
www.renesas.com
Biosensor 
MediaTek Sensio MT6381 is a 6-in-1 
smartphone biosensor module 
that makes it easy to track 
heart rate, blood pressure, 
peripheral oxygen saturation 
levels and more. Available 
as an embedded module in 
smartphones, it allows consumers to 
quickly check and monitor physical well-
ness on a device they use the most—their 
smartphone.
MediaTek Sensio MT6381 is a com-
prehensive solution consisting of optical, 
electrical and processing components. 
Its customisable, compact design means 
device manufacturers have the flex-
ibility to embed it directly into all types 
of smartphones, versus using multiple 
sensors. With MediaTek Sensio, manu-
facturers are able to develop proprietary 
applications or leverage third-party appli-
cations and developer add-ons.
MediaTek
www.mediatek.com
3D printing filaments
Rever Industries offers 3D printing 
filaments in materials rang-
ing from PLA, ABS, PETG, 
Wood, Glow-in-the-dark 
HIPS and TPU, and in a wide 
range of colours of your 
choice. These filaments have 
diameter tolerance as good as ±0.03mm 
and consistent colour shades. 
Rever Industries
www.reverindustries.com
Security controllers
Infineon Technologies has introduced 
a one-stop offering for fast and easy 
production of payment cards and smart 
wearables. Launched under the brand 
SECORA Pay, the new contact and dual-
interface EMV security controllers come 
with the latest EMV applets. Coming in 
various versions, these allow a flexible 
approach to regional market require-
ments, thus significantly easing the 
adoption of EMV-compliant payment 
cards and emerging form factors such 
as smart wearables.
Infineon Technologies
www.infineon.com
test & measurement
Multifunction meters
MECO has introduced an all-new Power-
Guard (PG08T) with built-in timer and 
relay function for load power 
on/off, tariff and money func-
tion to know spending/saving 
on electricity, three-pin socket 
and plug suitable for Indian 
sockets (external adaptor not 
required), bigger LCD with backlight 
and large digits, and beautiful design in 
bright white colour.
This meter can measure power 
(W), power factor (PF), carbon emis-
sion (CO2 in kg), total used time (min), 
Make in india
New Products
New Products
87www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
money (CU), tariff (CU/kWh), timer 
(DHH:MM), frequency (Hz), energy 
(kWh), TRMS current (mA) and TRMS 
voltage (V). It can be used in monitor-
ing domestic appliances such as refrig-
erators, washing machines, microwave 
ovens and LED lights.
Meco Instruments
www.mecoinst.com 
RCD tester
Kyoritsu’s 5410 RCD tester measures 
trip time and trip-out current at differ-
ent ranges. Its constant-current-source 
circuitry ensures that a fluctuating 
mains voltage does not affect the read-
ing accuracy. The device tests rated 
residual non-operating current 
in x½ range, measuring 
RCD trip time in x1 and 
x5 ranges. Its key features 
are auto ramp test, constant 
voltage measurement in standby mode 
at each range, remote test, and 0- and 
180-degree phase-angle switch (which 
permits quick tests and consistent read-
ings). Testing time is 200 to 2000ms.
Kyoritsu KEW India Instruments
www.kew-ltd.co.in
Digital multimeter
Kusam-Meco has introduced a 3½-digit, 
1999-count digital multimeter with 
terminal blocking system. 
KM-6030 features precise 
design, convenient oper-
ation, high performance 
and multifunction. It has 
a large LCD (28mm).To 
avoid improper connection 
operation, the current terminal sockets 
are blocked by a mechanical protection 
device when the range switches in V, Ω 
or Hz function. It is equipped with PTC 
and vice versa element at the input ter-
minal, which provides efficient protec-
tion for many functions.
The multimeter not only measures 
AC/DC voltage, AC/DC current, resist-
ance, capacitance, frequency and temper-
ature but is also capable of transistor hFE 
test, diode test and data hold function.
Kusam Electrical Industries Ltd
www.kusam-meco.co.in
tools & equipment
Software reference design
NI has announced MAC layer sup-
port for its LabVIEW Communica-
tions 802.11 Application 
Framework, allowing 
wireless research-
ers to go beyond the 
PHY layer to address 
complex network-level problems that 
must be solved to make the 5G vision a 
reality. Wireless researchers can pair the 
802.11 Application Framework with NI 
software-defined radio hardware to rap-
idly conduct network-level, real-time, 
over-the-air prototyping experiments 
for a wide range of Wi-Fi and 5G MAC/
PHY research. 
New Products
88 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
The framework supports up to 80MHz 
of real-time bandwidth and full bidirec-
tional communications and includes MAC 
layer features including CSMA/CA, RTS, 
CTS, NAV and retransmission.
NI
www.ni.com 
8051 development kit
ARTech Electronics has launched A-123, an 
advanced microcontroller kit for 8051 
developers. A-123 includes 
all peripherals on a single 
board. It uses IC ZIP socket 
to allow easy replacement 
of microcontrollers. Its sepa-
rate 5V and 12V power sup-
plies can drive different peripherals.
The experimental board includes 
almost all major embedded attributes 
like serial communication, interrupt 
base, and multiple seven-segment dis-
plays. It also includes DC and stepper 
motor along with relays.
ARTech Electronics
www.artechlabs.in
 
Automated X-ray inspection system
Omron claims to have introduced the 
world’s fastest inline automated X-ray 
inspection system, VT-X750. The new 
system increases automated inspection 
speed based on 3D-computed tomogra-
phy (3D-CT). The expanding inspection 
logic enables full, in-line inspection 
coverage. Unique 3D-CT reconstruc-
tion algorithms provide solder-shape 
recognition and defect detection. Dense 
and dual-sided board design can present 
challenges for X-ray inspection. How-
ever, Omron’s 3D-CT technology can 
overcome such design restraints.
Omron Europe B.V. 
inspection.omron.eu
IoT modem
Unisem Electronics’ new GSM/GPRS 
modem is based on the wireless, low-
power SIM800C module (quad-band 
GSM/GPRS solution), enabling rapid IoT 
application development. 
The modem can be powered by a 
standard 12V supply or a single-cell 
Lithium-ion battery. It has TTL inputs/
outputs, UART and USB connections 
on theboard, allowing users to connect 
with the MCU or PC to transfer data/send 
AT commands and update firmware for 
the module, respectively. There is also 
an option to switch between RS232 and 
UART (TTL) using jumper settings. The 
modem is easy to scale and customise.
Unisem Electronics
www.unisemholdings.com
MCU platform
Enabling developers to quickly and 
securely connect Internet of Things (IoT) 
endpoints to the cloud, Texas Instru-
ments has integrated new 
Amazon FreeRTOS into 
SimpleLink microcontroller 
(MCU) platform. The integrated 
hardware and software solution enables 
developers to quickly establish a con-
nection to IoT service out-of-the-box and 
immediately begin system development.
TI’s SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3220SF 
wireless MCU LaunchPad development 
kit, which supports Amazon FreeRTOS, 
offers embedded security features such as 
secure storage, cloning protection, secure 
bootloader and networking security.
 
Texas Instruments
www.ti.com
misCellaneous
Dome network camera 
VIVOTEK has launched a multi-adjustable 
sensor dome camera, MA8391-ETV. Featur-
ing four independent 3-megapixel CMOS 
sensors, MA8391-ETV allows users to simul-
taneously view four different 
areas while occupying only 
a single IP address. This not 
only reduces the installation 
time and total number of cam-
eras needed but also management effort and 
maintenance costs. Due to its unique and 
small design, the camera is perfect for sur-
veillance of large areas, such as parking lots 
and shopping malls, as well as spaces like 
hallways intersections and building corners.
VIVOTEK
www.vivotek.com
Biometric attendance system
To meet government organisations’ 
requirements for employee time tracking, 
Matrix has introduced a fingerprint and 
RFID card based, Aadhaar-enabled time-
attendance terminal. Cosec Vega Faxq is 
claimed to be the first embedded Linux-
based, Aadhaar-enabled biometric device 
registered on AEBAS server. The device 
offers unique advantages in terms of con-
nectivity, technology, usage environment 
and ease of use. It supports fingerprint as 
well as Mifare smart card as credentials.
Matrix Security Solutions
www.matrixaccesscontrol.com
Floodlights
NTL Lemnis has launched 
Pharox Flare Plus flood-
lights in 40W, 80W, 120W 
and 160W. These professional-range flood-
lights are claimed to meet optimal lighting 
requirements while being energy-efficient. 
The 40W and 80W versions are general 
lights suitable for high lighting, area light-
ing and indoor lighting in areas such as 
airports and atriums. The 120W and 160W 
versions are more tuned for crane lighting 
and light towers, and therefore find indus-
trial and outdoor lighting applications.
These floodlights cost ̀ 5200 for 40W, 
` 10,400 for 80W, ` 15,600 for 120W and 
` 20,800 for 160W.
NTL Lemnis
www.pharoxglobal.com
Solar inverter
Luminous’ Regalia wall-mounted inverter 
battery system directly powers your home 
and charges batteries using the regular 
mains along with the option to convert solar 
energy into electricity to create 
an effective power backup for at 
least ten hours. The system uses 
Wi-Fi connection and a mobile 
app to configure with users’ 
smartphone and update them on 
the amount of electricity being consumed by 
their electrical appliances and the status of 
their inverter battery. It also enables them to 
control their electrical appliances with the 
help of its smartphone application.
Luminous
www.luminouseshop.com 
make in india
90 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
solar installation. According to BNEF, rooftop 
solar in India will grow inevitably with or 
without the support of power distribution 
utilities. India will need to invest $23 billion 
over the next five years to meet its 40GW 
rooftop photovoltaics target by year 2022.
The cost of electricity from rooftop 
PV has halved in the last five years due to 
fierce competition in the market and drop 
in equipment prices. In contrast, average 
retail electricity rates have increased by 22 
per cent during the same period. This has 
made rooftop PV cheaper than commercial 
and industrial grid tariffs in all major states 
of India. 
However, BNEF expects residential sector 
PV growth to pick up rapidly post-2021. At 
the moment, its attractiveness is being held 
back by the requirement of high upfront 
capital expenditure, shortage of financing 
options, and the fact that grid electricity is 
cheaper for residential consumers with low 
consumption. 
BNEF experts also indicate that net 
metering is a far more important enabler for 
residential small-scale solar than business-
scale projects.
Homeowners usually draw less power 
during the hours when their PV panels 
are producing, making self-consumption 
much harder. Solar projects also have a big 
and untapped potential to power irrigation 
pumps and reduce the use of back-up diesel 
The Indian government has set its sights on having 175GW of non-hydro renewable capacity (made up of 60GW 
onshore wind, 60GW utility-scale solar, 10GW 
bio energy, 5GW small hydro and 40GW 
rooftop solar) by 2022. At present, this figure 
stands at just 60GW.
India is accelerating development of 
renewable energy projects to provide cheap, 
reliable and clean power to its 1.3 billion 
people. The country’s per-capita on-grid elec-
tricity consumption increased by 22 per cent 
over the four years ending March 2017 due to 
increased industrial activity, higher uptake of 
electrical appliances by residential electricity 
users and addition of new consumers to the 
grid—according to a report by Bloomberg 
New Energy Finance (BNEF). 
Majority of the capacity in the 2022 
target—a total of 135GW—is utility-scale 
(wind farms and solar parks, in particular). 
The BNEF report estimates that India will 
need to invest $83 billion to build this capac-
ity. The good news is 
that, because of falling 
capital costs per MW, 
that figure is $19 bil-
lion less than BNEF’s 
previous estimates.
But some of the 
most interesting activi-
ty will be in small-scale 
solar, that is, rooftop 
Solar rooftop 
PV Plant Installation 
Project Report
Research Team, ComConnect Consulting 
Fig. 1: Annual rooftop 
PV installations in 
India; India’s financial 
year is from April 
to March (Source: 
Bloomberg New 
Energy Finance, 
industry surveys, 
Ministry of New and 
Renewable Energy) 
FY2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
CAG
R: 1
17%
MW
715
227
165
7832
make in india
A guide to 
starting rooftop 
solar installation 
business in India
make in india
92 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
generators. Huge growth of 
rooftop solar presents busi-
ness opportunities in rooftop 
solar system installation. 
This project report pro-
vides a brief overview of solar 
rooftop PV plant installation 
service. Thus it acts as a guide 
on how to start a business in 
this area.
Components required
Components of a rooftop 
solar system are the same 
anywhere in the world. That 
said, however, some compo-
nents make more sense for 
some regions than others. 
For regions such as India 
and Africa that are keen to 
use rooftop solar as a source 
of backup power during grid 
power outages, batteries 
could be required at least in 
select cases. For developed 
countries such as USA and 
the European Union where 
grid outages are rare, batteries are 
usually not required as backup, with 
grid supplying the deficit power.
Similarly, some regions of the 
world require use of trackers for 
rooftop solar as their rooftop areas 
are smaller than required to meet 
their power needs. For some other 
regions, trackers might not make a 
good business case.
Key components of a rooftop solar 
plant include: 
Solar photovoltaic modules 
(panels). There are two kinds of 
modules, viz, thin-film and crystal-
line. Rooftop solar plants predomi-
nantly use crystalline panels because 
these are more efficient and there-
fore better suited to rooftop instal-
lations where spaceis a constraint. 
Panel efficiency and capacity rating 
are two important parameters of 
solar panels.
Inverters. Inverter determines the 
quality of AC power you get, and also 
the kind of loads that can be powered 
with solar. Different inverters support 
different levels of starting current 
requirements, which affects the kind 
of machinery that can be run on solar 
power. Inverters are also the only 
major component of the solar plant 
that are replaced during the lifetime 
of the plant.
Mounting structures. Solar 
panels are mounted on iron fixtures 
so that these can withstand wind 
and panel weight. The panels are 
mounted to face south in the north-
ern hemisphere and north in the 
southern hemisphere for maximum 
power tracking. Panels are tilted at 
an angle equal to the latitude of that 
location. 
Proper design of mounting struc-
tures is crucial for the power plant 
performance as the power output 
from the PV plant cannot be max-
imised if the mountings buckle and 
panels are not optimally oriented 
towards the sun. In addition, improp-
erly mounted panels present a ragged 
appearance that is not pleasing to the 
eye. Mounting structures should also 
allow sufficient air circulation to cool 
the PV panels as rooftop PV plant 
output falls with temperatures rising 
above 25°C.
Solar trackers. Tracking is a 
mechanism for panel mounting that 
allows panels to follow the sun as 
it moves across the sky. Single-axis 
trackers follow the sun as it moves 
from east to west during the day, 
while dual-axis trackers also 
follow the sun on its north-
south journey over the course 
of a year. 
Trackers can increase the 
power output of a PV plant 
but add significantly to both 
the initial cost of the plant and 
maintenance expenditure. So 
trackers should be used on a 
case-to-case basis after per-
forming a cost-benefit analysis 
over the lifetime of the rooftop 
plant.
Batteries. A battery pack 
can add 25-30 per cent to 
the initial cost of a rooftop 
PV solar system for one-day 
autonomy (storing an entire 
day’s output). Inverters with 
integrated charge control-
lers are preferred so that the 
inverter can direct grid power 
or solar power, based on the 
availability and demand, to 
charge batteries. This extends 
the battery life compared with 
standalone charge controllers that 
allow parallel charging between grid 
and solar power at different power 
levels, damaging the battery. If batter-
ies are required, it is vital to perform 
a lifetime cost-benefit analysis to 
understand the impact on the cost of 
rooftop solar power.
Other miscellaneous items required 
include: 
1. Power-conditioning unit
2. Array junction box (AJB)/DC 
distribution box array junction box/ 
DC distribution box
3. Common AC distribution box
4. Common AC distribution panel 
board
5. Cables; DC cables carry current 
from panels to inverters, while AC 
cables carry current from inverters 
to loads
6. Wire
7. Lightning protection
8. Earthing protection
9. Jet pump
Basics of rooftop solar PV
Solar PV panels (also known as solar 
PV modules) work by converting sun-
light into electricity. These do not use 
the heat from the sun, and can, in fact, 
output reduced power in hot climates. 
Fig. 2: Block diagram for a grid-connected rooftop PV plant
Import 
meter
Export 
meter
AC
DC
Domestic 
loadElectric grid
Charge 
controllerRooftop PV
Battery
Inverter
Fig. 3: Process flow for a grid-connected rooftop PV plant 
Sun to Solar Panel
As sunlight hits a 
solar cell, energy 
is absorbed by the 
cell’s silicon, which 
is a semiconductor 
material. Electrons 
are forced to flow in 
one direction, creating 
direct current. 
Solar Panel to 
Inverter
Direct current (DC) 
is sent from the 
panels to an inverter, 
which converts it to 
alternating current 
(AC). AC is used 
by lights and other 
appliances. 
Inverter to Meter
The AC power 
is sent from the 
inverter to an 
electrical panel that 
distributes electricity 
to the home or 
institution. 
Meter to Grid
When more power is 
generated than used, 
it flows into grid and 
meter turns in reverse. 
When power use is 
greater, it flows from 
grid and meter moves. 
The bill is based on net 
difference. 
make in india
93www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
economics of battery technology.
Types of mount. Mounting sys-
tems for rooftop installations are avail-
able for both inclined and flat roofs. 
A variety of mounting systems are 
available, the most common being 
railed, rail-less and shared rail. All 
these systems require some type of 
penetration or anchoring onto the roof, 
whether attached to rafters or directly 
to the decking. The standard residential 
systems use rails attached to the roof 
to support rows of solar panels. Each 
panel, usually positioned vertically/
The electricity generated by PV 
panels is direct current (DC), which 
needs to be converted into alternat-
ing current (AC) using an inverter. 
Panels are mounted on the roof-
top using special mounting struc-
tures. If solar power is required when 
sunlight is not enough for the panels 
to generate electricity (such as at 
night), battery backup is required.
Types of solar PV systems. Grid-
tied systems are a combination of 
solar PV and grid. As these systems 
depend on the grid-supplied refer-
ence voltage for their operation, 
grid-tied systems do not work when 
the grid is down. 
Grid-interactive systems work 
in conjunction with either battery 
backup or diesel generator to support 
loads even during power failure. 
Off-grid systems operate inde-
pendent of the grid. These systems 
sync with diesel generators and/or 
batteries. Battery-based systems were 
uncommon in the past due to their 
high costs. However, the situation is 
changing now, given the improved 
Various components of rooftop solar 
installations come with varying periods 
of warranty:
PV panels. Industry-standard warranty 
is 10 years on the product and 25 years 
on performance. 
Other systems. Inverters, mounting 
structures, cables, junction boxes, etc 
typically come with a 1-5-year product 
warranty, which is extendible subject to 
conditions.
Warranty portrait-style, attaches to two rails with clamps. The rails secure to the roof by 
a type of bolt or screw, with flashing 
installed around/over the hole for a 
watertight seal.
Business economics
Solar business models include:
1. Service-based operation. Types 
of services being solar rooftop power 
plant installation and maintenance
2. Operational model. Just-in-time 
sourcing of components and products 
as per the project requirement
3. Financial model. A low-cost 
model where investment is done for 
mainly fixed and variable cost heads. 
Raw material or tools are purchased 
after order confirmation by the cus-
tomer, utilising the advance from the 
customer.
Fixed-cost items include:
1. Company registration
2. Solar installation training
3. Certification
4. Miscellaneous fixed assets 
(laptop, smartphone, etc as per 
requirement)
make in india
94 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Table V
Final CosT oF a 
RooFTop pV sysTem 
aFTeR subsidies
item 
Cost of a 100kW rooftop solar 
plant
` 6,000,000
Subsidy at 30 per cent ` 18,000,000
Net cost after subsidy ` 4,200,000
Accelerated depreciation at 40 
per cent
` 2,680,000
Tax rate 35 per cent
Tax saved through depreciation ` 588,000
net cost after accelerated 
depreciation and subsidy
` 3,612,000
Table iV
CosT CalCulaTion aFTeR 
inCome Tax subsidy
item 
Cost of a 100kW rooftop solar 
plant
` 6,000,000
Amount deducted from income ` 6,000,000
Tax amount saved at 30 per cent 
income tax
` 18,000,000
net capital cost to the installer ` 4,200,000
Table iii
CosT CalCulaTion 
aFTeR CapiTal subsidy
item 
Cost of a 100kW rooftop solar 
plant
` 6,000,000
Subsidy at 30 per cent of 
actual cost
` 18,000,000
net cost after subsidy benefit ` 4,200,000
Table ii
an illusTRaTion oF 
Tax saVings FRom 
aCCeleRaTed 
depReCiaTionbeneFiT
item 
Cost of a 100kW rooftop solar 
plant (A)
` 6,000,000
Accelerated depreciation at 40 
per cent
` 2,400,000
Corporate tax rate 35 per cent
Tax saved through deprecia-
tion (B)
` 840,000
net cost of rooftop solar 
plant (a-b)
` 5,160,000
Table i
CosT oF diFFeRenT 
RooFTop poweR planT 
ComponenTs
Component Cost per watt (`)
Solar modules 32-35
Inverters 6-12
Cables 1-2
Structures 1.7-5
Peripherals 2
Supervision, design and 
installation
4
Variable-cost heads include:
1. Human resource
2. Marketing
3. Office space
Detailed business economics, 
including estimated value against 
the above-mentioned cost heads 
and other probable cost heads, along 
with breakeven point (BEP) calcula-
tion can be worked out based on the 
scale of operation desired. However, 
an overview of solar rooftop power 
plant installation cost and relevant 
subsidies and incentives is given 
below.
Solar rooftop power plant instal-
lation cost. Rooftop solar power 
plant installation costs roughly ` 
55-60 per watt depending on the 
quality of components selected. Costs 
of different rooftop power plant com-
ponents are listed in Table I. The table 
does not include battery backup as its 
cost depends on the extent of backup 
opted for. Not only do batteries add 
to the initial cost, recurring mainte-
nance and replacement expenditure, 
the energy loss on charging and draw-
ing from the battery also add to the 
electricity cost.
Subsidies and incentives avail-
able for rooftop solar PV plants. 
Several incentives are available for 
rooftop solar PV plants. Broadly, 
these can be categorised as acceler-
ated depreciation, capital subsidy 
and income tax credits.
Accelerated depreciation of 80 per 
cent was available until March 2017 
under the Income Tax Act for rooftop 
solar PV systems, which was halved 
to 40 per cent from April 1, 2017 
onwards. It can provide significant 
savings to a solar plant developer 
who is a taxable assesse and has 
sufficient profits against which the 
depreciation can be charged. Table 
II gives an illustration of tax sav-
ings from accelerated depreciation 
benefit.
Capital subsidy is provided in 
many countries for the investment 
made in rooftop solar power plants. 
Table II shows calculation for an 
assumed capital subsidy of 30 per 
cent.
Investment tax credits has a 
similar concept as capital subsidies. 
Here, instead of a direct subsidy on 
the capital cost, the income tax is 
deducted by the amount of incen-
tive. The subsidy calculation is 
illustrated in Table III for an assumed 
income tax of 30 per cent.
Table IV shows the final cost of a 
rooftop PV system factoring in subsi-
dies but without batteries. This is an 
estimate for commercial properties, 
hence includes accelerated depre-
ciation. A similar estimation can be 
done for residential properties by 
including investment tax credits as 
the incentive in place of accelerated 
depreciation. 
1. http://jercuts.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/DPRLT_1632.pdf
2. http://npti.in/Download/MBAInternshipProject/Renewable/38_Naveen%20Kumar/PDF%20of%20
Report.pdf
3. http://www.teda.in/uploads/sanction/9383195852.pdf
4. https://www.google.co.in/search?ei=qHsSWsXABcL7vATwyrTQCA&q=rooftop+solar+power+
plant+project+report&oq=rooftop+solar+pv+system+project+for+home+and+office&gs_
l=psy-ab.1.3.0i71k1l4.0.0.0.12931.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.ecFHTnYkDjY
5. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) press releases
6. https://www.bijlibachao.com/solar/india-solar-photovoltaic-pv-panels-selection-guide-
understanding-system-quality.html 
References
Do-it-yourself
95www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Arduino-Based Two-Wheel 
Self-Balancing Segway 
Somnath Bera 
Preeti 
Bhakta & 
Sani theo
Segbot, Segway and inverted pendulum—two-wheel self-balancing robots are known by 
many names. Here we build a two-
wheel self-balancing robot (segway) 
using an MPU-6050 chip. The inertia-
measuring MPU-6050 chip has six 
motion sensors—three gyros and three 
accelerometers—all integrated into 
one breakout board.
Here, we only need angular posi-
tion or gyro of the wheel’s axis. Gyro 
readings drift over time, requiring 
recalibration quite often. Therefore, 
to get correct angular position, gyro 
readings are corrected with the help 
of a neighbouring accelerometer. Once 
the angular position is achieved, trac-
tion motors push the cart towards the 
direction of falling. The greater the 
angle of shift, the greater the speed 
with which the traction motor pushes 
the cart. As the angle of shift wrt verti-
cal position reduces to zero, the speed 
reduces. Thus, the top of the cart 
moves like a pendulum, maintaining 
the balance. The author’s prototype is 
shown in Fig. 1.
Circuit and working
Circuit of the two-wheel self-balancing 
robot is shown in Fig. 2. It is built 
around an Arduino Uno (Board1), 
dual full-bridge driver L298N (IC1), 
5V regulator 7805 (IC2), 
MPU-6050, two DC motors 
and a few other components.
Motors. We have used 
two 12V, 300rpm, geared 
and brushed DC motors and 
two 100mm wheels. Initially, 
brushed motors work fine 
but over time, with use, these 
tend to develop instability 
and inability to balance the 
robot. The best option is to 
use brushless DC motors, which have 
great torque-to-rpm characteristics. 
However, these have a direction rever-
sal problem. 
Another option is to use stepper 
motors, but their lesser rpm hinders 
balance. However, there are reports 
of people successfully using stepper 
motors with Segway bots.
L298N. Motor driver L298N is 
available either in a multiwatt15 or 
powerSO20 package. It is a high-cur-
rent, dual full-bridge driver for induc-
tive loads including relays, solenoids, 
DC and stepping motors. Two enable 
inputs (pins 6 and 11) are provided 
to enable or disable the device inde-
pendently of the input signals. One 
bridge is driven by IN1, IN2 and EN 
A, and the other by IN3, IN4 and EN 
B pins of IC1.
Software
We have used Jeff Rowberg I2Cdev 
libraries for MPU-6050. Arduino Uno 
board is programmed with the main 
program two_wheel.ino. The main 
software has three variables: kp, kd and 
ki. Default values work well but can be 
changed to provide more 
stability to the robot. To 
change the values, you 
need mpu_calibration.
ino code as explained in 
Calibration section.
Compilation. There 
was a minor glitch while 
compiling the sketch 
on Arduino IDE 1.1 as 
MPU-6050 libraries were 
not getting installed. 
So we installed Ardui-
no 1.5.7 and imported 
libraries from the main 
menu by indicating the 
correct location of librar-
ies with Sketch→Import 
Library→Add Library 
options. After all the 
libraries get added to 
Fig. 1: Author’s prototype
Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of two-wheel self-balancing robot
CON2
M1
CON3
M2
BATT.1
12V
1
2
3IC2
7805
D5
LED1
POWER
C3
0.1uC2
R1
1K
C1
D3D1 D2 D4
D8D7D6
CON1
MPU−6050 
S1
ON/OFF
FOR
FOR
POWER USB
DRIVER
A
T
M
E
G
A
328
AREF
GND
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
RST
3.3V
5V
GND
GND
Vin
A0
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
INPUT
TX
RX
A
R
D
U
IN
O
D
IG
IT
A
L
A
N
A
LO
G
IOREF
BOARD1
FOR
5 IN1
9
Vss
8
GND
7
IN2
10
IN3
12 IN4
6
EN A
11
EN B
4
VS
2
OUT1
3
OUT2
14
OUT4
13
OUT3
1
CS A
15
CS B
IC1
L298N
GND
5V
GND
SDA
SCL
D1−D8 = 1N4007 C1−C2 = 100u, 25V
DC MOTORS
M1,M2 = 12V GEARED
Do-it-yourself
96 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Fig. 3: Actual-size PCB layout of two-wheel self-balancing robot 
Arduino IDE, compile the sketch and 
upload it to the board.
Construction and testing
An actual-size PCB layout of the two-
wheel self-balancing robot is shown 
in Fig. 3 and its components layout 
in Fig. 4. Use a suitable metallic chas-
sis for the robot. Mount the Arduino 
board on the chassis of the robot. 
Then place the PCB on top of the 
Arduino board.
First, burn the mpu_calibration.
ino code into Arduino, attach the 
MPU-6050 and upload the sketch to 
the Arduino board. Thenopen the 
serial monitor and select baud rate as 
115200. After initialisation of the DMP 
(digital motion processing)—on-board 
processor of the MPU-6050—press ‘a’ 
followed by Enter key. You will get a 
screen as shown in Fig. 5. Note that 
your offset values will be different.
Note down the offset values. Then 
open the main two_wheel.ino code 
and enter the test offset values. Com-
pile and upload the main code to the 
Do-it-yourself
98 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
The source code of 
this project is 
included in this month’s 
EFY DVD and is also 
available for free download 
at source.efymag.com
efy Note
Somnath Bera is additional 
general manager at NTPC Ltd. 
He is an avid user of open 
source software 
that the robot is working well, put the 
battery inside the chassis. 
Calibration. As mentioned earlier, 
gyro readings drift over time. To coun-
ter the problem, first you need to find 
out the gyro offset for each different 
set of gyros.
For MPU-6050 type gyros, here’s 
the simplest way: First load mpu_cali-
bration.ino to your Arduino, attach 
MPU-6050 on a horizontal surface, 
stabilise it for some time, switch off all 
the ceiling and table fans during cali-
bration, and get offset readings on the 
serial monitor as mentioned earlier. 
Insert these values in the offset fields 
of the main program. Compile and 
upload it to your Arduino processor 
and then try to run the robot again. If 
the robot is not working well, repeat 
the calibration process until you get a 
satisfactory result.
Note. The video clip of the author’s 
project is available on YouTube link: 
https://youtu.be/OQSRoFr_v4Q 
Fig. 5: Offset values on serial monitor during calibration 
Arduino. Connect the motors, battery 
and switch on the circuit. Place MPU-
6050 along the wheel axis of motors to 
ensure minimal error of calculation. 
First, run the robot with a light-
weight 12V battery. The best way is 
to first use a 12V AC/DC adaptor for 
the power supply. Once you are sure 
Fig. 4: Components layout for the PCB
Parts List
Semiconductors:
Board1 - Arduino Uno board
IC1 - L298N motor driver
IC2 - 7805, 5V regulator
MPU-6050 - Motion sensor (GY-521)
D1-D8 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
LED1 - 5mm LED
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1 - 1-kilo-ohm
Capacitors:
C1, C2 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic
C3 - 0.1µF ceramic disk
Miscellaneous:
S1 - On/off toggle switch
BATT.1 - 12V rechargeable battery
M1, M2 - 12V, 300rpm geared DC 
 motors 
CON1 - 8-pin female connector for 
 MPU-6050
CON2, CON3 - 2-pin terminal connector for 
 motors
CON4 - 2-pin terminal connector for 
 power supply
CON5 - 6-pin female connector
 - 6-pin male connector for shield
 - 2x8-pin male connector for 
 shield
 - 10-pin male connector for 
 shield
 - 2-pin terminal connector for 
 battery 
 - Jumper wires
 - 100mm dia. wheels 
 - Robot metallic chassis 
 - Heat-sink for IC1 and IC2 
Do-it-yourself
100 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Presented here is a digi-tal clock that also func-tions as a rechargeable 
light lantern and a mobile 
charger. The clock has all 
the basic functions like date-
time display, alarm and room 
temperature display. It is 
powered by a lead-acid bat-
tery, which can be recharged 
through solar power or mains 
power supply. So the clock 
never runs out of power. 
The clock is provided 
with a female USB socket, 
which can be used to charge 
most of your mobile phones 
and gadgets. Its dedicated 
battery charging and load 
cut-off circuitry takes care 
of the battery through exact 
charging topology and pre-
vents it from getting over-
charged or under-charged. 
Block diagrams
The functional unit of the 
clock is divided into power unit and 
main clock unit. Block diagram of the 
power unit is shown in Fig. 1.
The power unit provides con-
tinuous power to the clock and other 
circuits. Its lead-acid battery can be 
charged through solar power or AC 
mains power. The battery manage-
ment circuit is designed to accept 
power from two sources at the same 
time but gives priority to the mains 
power. So if the solar power is low or 
unavailable, users can plug the bat-
tery into the AC mains wall supply to 
charge it. 
A solar photovoltaic panel is used 
to directly convert solar light and heat 
energy into electricity. To harness AC 
mains power for the circuit, a step-
down transformer is used. It converts 
high-voltage AC into low-voltage 
AC. This AC voltage is rectified and 
current-limited load switch is 
used to derive 5V rail, which 
is current-limited to 500mA 
for USB charging applica-
tions in order to prevent USB 
application from immediately 
discharging the clock battery.
Block diagram of the main 
clock unit is shown in Fig. 2. 
The microcontroller in the 
circuit keeps track of all the 
sensors and switches con-
nected to it, makes decisions 
and calculations, and finally 
updates the display section. In 
this section, the non-current-
limited 5V rail from the power 
section is converted into 
3.3V rail via a 3.3V LDO volt-
age regulator (UCC383) that 
powers the microcontroller 
and other peripherals. 
To sense the room temper-
ature, a temperature sensor 
is used. Its output is an ana-
logue signal proportional to 
the temperature. This signal 
is fed to one of the analogue-to-digital 
converter channels of the microcon-
troller. The user inputs are sensed 
by three momentary push-to-on 
switches, which are used to set/check 
various parameters of the clock like 
alarm, date, etc. 
Time keeping is done by a sepa-
rate real-time clock (RTC) chip that 
is interfaced to the microcontroller 
via I2C bus. The RTC is also powered 
by a backup battery, which keeps the 
time running even if the AC mains 
power fails. 
The display section comprises four 
7-segment displays, which are multi-
plexed to efficiently use the limited 
pins available on the microcontroller. 
The two centre LEDs between the two 
pairs of 7-segment displays are driven 
by the RTC clock. An RGB LED is used 
to display AM/PM and date. Finally, a 
Multifunction 
RechaRgeable Digital clock 
Abhishek kumAr 
S.C. DwiveDi & 
Sani Theo
converted into DC, and then further 
smoothened by using capacitors as 
low-pass filters. After this, the power 
becomes acceptable for the battery 
management circuit.
The lead-acid battery is directly 
connected to the battery management 
circuit, which takes care of battery 
charging with charging voltage and 
current maintained to acceptable 
limits. This ensures longer battery life, 
capacity and optimal usage. 
Next, a comparator circuit is used. 
It checks the battery voltage against 
its internal reference voltage and shuts 
off the load, thus preventing the bat-
tery from further discharging. A linear 
low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulator 
is used to derive regulated 5V from 
the battery rail. This 5V rail is non-
current-limited and powers most of 
the circuitry ahead, including LEDs. A 
Fig. 1: Block diagram of power unit
Fig. 2: Block diagram of main unit 
(Date/Alarm on-off)(Temp/View alarm)
MinusPlusSet
RGB LED
3V
backup
battery
BQ32000
Real time clock
I2C bus
Center LED drive
Multiplexed 7-segment display
ATMega8
microcontroller
LM35
Temperature 
sensor
Buzzer
5V
input
3.3V 
LDO
5V regulated output
(500mA current limited)
USB 
charging 
port
500mA 
current 
limiter
Low voltage 
detector 
circuit
6V, 4.5 AH 
lead acid 
battery
230V
AC
10-12 volt 
7 watt solar 
panel
5V, 3A low 
dropout 
linear 
regulator
Lead acid 
battery 
management 
circuit 
LED lightening and 
other circuitry
230V to 12V
step down
transformer
Do-it-yourself
102 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
buzzer is used to acknowledge press-
ing of the user button and provide 
alarm indication.
Circuit description 
The clock circuit consists of power 
unit, LED and USB charging unit, main 
controller clock unit and 7-segment 
display unit.
Power unit. Circuit diagram of 
the powerunit is shown in Fig. 3. 
Here 230V AC mains is first converted 
into 12V AC using a step-down trans-
former. This 12V AC is converted 
into around 17V DC using diodes D1 
though D4 in bridge configuration. 
This DC is further smoothened using 
a 1000µF electrolytic capacitor (C1) 
that acts as a first-order low-pass 
filter. Ceramic capacitor C2 is used for 
further stability of the 7812 regulator 
(IC1). 
The linear regulator IC1 is used 
to derive regulated 12V DC, which 
is fed to the relay coil and also to the 
normally-open contacts of relay RL1. 
A 10-12V, 7-watt solar panel (SP1) is 
used to harness solar power. The elec-
tric power from the solar panel is fed 
to the normally-closed (NC) contacts 
of relay RL1 with a bypass diode (D7) 
in series.
Diode D7 creates a voltage drop 
in the solar panel’s output, so it is 
recommended to use a diode that 
has the least forward dropout volt-
age, such as Schottky diode 1N5822. 
Diode D5, connected in parallel to the 
relay, prevents back emf of the relay 
coil from harming rest of the circuitry. 
Now, as the solar panel’s output is fed 
to NC contacts of the relay, when AC 
mains power is not available, the relay 
de-energises and thus solar power 
directly feeds the charging circuitry. 
When AC mains power is avail-
able, the relay energises and thus the 
mains-derived 12V DC passes through 
the relay, cutting off the solar power. 
This way, during low solar power or 
night times, the user can charge the 
clock using AC mains power. 
The common terminal of the relay 
is connected to the charging circuitry, 
which comprises BQ24450 (IC2). IC 
BQ24450 contains all the necessary 
circuitry to optimally control charging 
of valve-regulated lead-acid batteries. 
It controls the charging current as well Fig. 3: Circuit diagram of power unit
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Do-it-yourself
103www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
as the charging voltage to safely and 
efficiently charge the battery, thus 
maximising battery capacity and life. 
Here, IC BQ24450 is configured 
as a simple constant-voltage float 
charge controller for the 6V, 4.5Ah 
battery. It is so flexible that it can be 
programmed in various configurations 
to suit different charging currents 
and voltages for batteries of differ-
ent capacities. Only an external pass 
transistor and very few external pas-
sive components are required along 
with the IC to implement a charger for 
sealed lead-acid batteries. 
Here, a BD240 pnp transistor (T1) 
is used to drive the battery charging 
power. Before proceeding to battery 
charger programming, please refer to 
the datasheet of BQ24450. Note that 
charging rate can be 0.05C to 0.3C. 
We will use charging rate (Imax-chg) 
= 0.13C = 600mA (approx). 
In programming, there are parame-
ters to implement a dual-level charger 
for the given battery chemistry. The 
first step is to decide the value of 
current in the voltage divider resis-
tor string in float mode. It should be 
substantially higher than the input 
bias current in CE and VFB pins and 
the leakage current in STAT1 pin of 
BQ24450, but low enough so that 
the voltage on PGOOD pin does not 
introduce errors. A value of 50µA is 
suitable. Readers interested in calcu-
lations may go through the calcula-
tions_charging.doc file included in the 
EFY DVD of this month. 
LED1 in the BQ24450 circuitry 
displays the battery charging status. 
Schottky diode D6 prevents the back 
current leakage from the battery. 
Thereafter the circuit feeds the lead-
acid battery. Next, the battery rail goes 
to the low-voltage detection circuit 
and IC UCC383 (IC4) in series with a 
mains mechanical load switch (S1). 
The low-voltage-battery detection 
circuit is built around comparator 
LMP7300 (IC3), which has an internal 
reference of 2.048 volts. The voltage at 
which the battery should disconnect 
from the load is around 1.75V per 
cell, which means 5.25V for three-cell 
batteries. 
The comparator has open-collector 
output, which goes low when the bat-
tery voltage drops below 5.25V. The 
comparator output goes to CT pin of 
IC4 in the next stage. Thus whenever 
the battery voltage goes below 5.25 
volts, the comparator output goes 
low. This, in turn, switches IC4 off, 
shutting down all the loads connected 
to the battery and thus preventing the 
battery from discharging further. 
The potential divider network 
comprising resistors R2 through R6 
establishes 2.048V at the non-inverting 
terminal of comparator IC3 when the 
battery rail reaches 5.25V. It is com-
pared with the voltage at the inverting 
terminal of the comparator, which is 
directly connected to the reference 
output of LMP7300. Further, a com-
bined negative and positive hysteresis 
of about 300mV in total is programmed 
to LMP7300 through R7 and R8, so 
that the comparator output does not 
fluctuate when the battery voltage 
reaches the exact crossing point of the 
comparator’s reference potential.
The UCC383 LDO is capable of 
driving loads up to 3A with a maxi-
mum dropout of 0.45 volts, which 
is excellent for this application. VIN 
pin accepts the battery rail, which 
nominally varies in the range of 6 to 
7.5 volts while charging and 5.25 to 6 
Fig. 4: Power LEDs and USB charging circuit
OUT
1IN5
GND
2
FLT 3EN/EN
4
IC5
TPS2051C
CON8
5V
C7
100u
R29
2E,1W
R30
2E,1W
S2
ON/OFF
S3
ON/OFFLED2 LED3 LED4
LED5 LED6 LED7
CON6
FOR
CON7
FOR
GND GND
FOR
16V
5V
GND
5.2V FROM
LED CIRCUIT
CON3
5.2V FROM
CON4
 USB CIRCUIT LED AND USB CIRCUIT
LED2−LED7 = 1W LED
Do-it-yourself
104 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
volts during normal usage. 
Through resistors R27 and R28, 
the output voltage of IC4 is set to 5V. 
Capacitors C4 through C6 are used 
for stability of IC4. The 5V rail thus 
obtained is used to power the rest of 
the circuit.
LEDs and USB charging. Circuit 
connections for power LEDs and the 
USB charging socket are shown in 
Fig. 4.
Here two pairs of 3x1-watt power 
LEDs are used for lighting application. 
A 2-ohm, 1W current-limiting resistor 
is used to limit current in each pair 
of LED channels in series with on/
off switches S2 and S3. These LED 
channels receive power directly from 
the non-current-limited 5V rail (from 
the power unit). TPS2051C, which is a 
500mA current-limited load switch, is 
used to drive a 500mA-limited 5V rail 
to power/charge the USB application. 
We have used a current-limited 
load switch to prevent the USB appli-
cation from fast draining the clock bat-
tery. However,it is optional. Capacitor 
C7 is used for stability of the current 
limiter.
For USB charging applications, 
a female USB-A type jack is used. It 
receives power from the 500mA, 5V 
current-limited channel of the power 
unit.
Main controller clock circuit. 
Circuit of the microcontroller-based 
main clock circuit is shown in Fig. 5. 
Apart from general time display, it also 
enables alarm function and indication 
of date, month, year and temperature.
The circuit is built around 
ATmega8 (IC8) microcontroller. IC8 is 
used to update the display, sense user 
inputs and take decisions. ATmega8 
has 8kB of in-system programmable 
Flash with read-while-write capa-
bilities, 512 bytes of EEPROM, 1kB 
of SRAM, 23 general-purpose input/
output (I/O) lines, 32 general-purpose 
working registers, three flexible 
timers/counters with compare modes, 
internal and external interrupts, a 
serial programmable USART, a byte-
oriented two-wire serial interface, a 
6-channel analogue-to-digital con-
verter (ADC) with 10-bit accuracy, a 
programmable watchdog timer with 
internal oscillator, an SPI serial port 
and five software-selectable power-
saving modes, which are sufficient 
enough for this application.
A separate in-circuit serial program-
ming port (CON12) is available for pro-
gramming the microcontroller. Time 
keeping is done by RTC chip BQ32000 
(IC7), which provides an automatic 
backup supply using a 3V battery. 
IC BQ32000 has a programmable 
calibration adjustment from –63ppm to 
+126ppm, so that it can also be used 
with low-quality crystals. It includes 
automatic leap-year compensation as 
well. The RTC chip is connected to the 
microcontroller via the I2C bus. This 
project uses a 3V CR2032 lithium cell 
Fig. 5: Main microcontroller clock circuit
CON9
FOR
5.2V FROM
GND
CON5
R31
10K
OSCO
2
OSC11
SCL 6
5SDA
IRQ 7
V3 BACK
GND
4
V 8CC
IC7
BQ32000
IN1
EN5
OUT
2
GND
3
NR/FB
4
IC6
TPS73733
2 PD0/RXD
3 PD1/TXD
4 PD2
6 PD4
8 GND
10 PB7/XTAL2
1 PC6/RESET
5 PD3
7 Vcc
11 PD5
9 PB6/XTAL1
12 PD6
13 PD7
14 PB0
27PC4/SDA
26PC3
25PC2
23PC0
21AVREF
19PB5/SCK
28PC5/SCL
24PC1
22AGND
18PB4/MISO
20AVcc
17PB3/MOSI
16PB2
15PB1
IC8
ATMEGA8
XTAL1
32.768KHz
T2
BC547
T3
BC547
T4
BC547
T5
BC547
BATT.2 3V
C9
10n
C10
10n
C12
10u
10V
10V
C11
10uC8
10u
10V
C13
100n
R32
R33
R34
R35
R36
R38
R37
S4
SET
S5
PLUS
S6
MINUS
R43
10K
1
V
cc
2
V
O
3
G
N
D
IC9
LM35
CON10 CON11
CON12
ICSP
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
RGB1
R47−R49=56E
R49
R48
R47
PZ1
R32−R38 = 120E
R44 R45 R46
R39
1K
R40
1K
R41
1K
R42
1K
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
6
FOR
C14
1u,10V
PZ1 = PIEZO 
BUZZER
TO
CON15
R44−R46 = 4.7K
TO
CON14
CON13
FOR SECONDS
TO 
CON16
1
2
Do-it-yourself
105www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
for the backup supply.
For the internal oscillator func-
tioning, a 32.768kHz crystal is used 
at OSC0 and OSC1 pins of IC7. IRQ 
pin on the RTC chip is connected to 
ATmega8 on port pin PD2 and is also 
responsible for seconds indication 
through the two LEDs (LED7 and 
LED8) that are located between the 
two 7-segment display pairs. Anodes 
of the two coloured LEDs (in paral-
lel) are connected to IRQ pin, while 
the cathode is connected to ground 
on CON13. Three momentary push-
to-on switches (S4 through S6) are 
connected to pins PD3, PC1 and PC2 
of IC8, respectively. 
Analogue temperature sensor 
LM35 (IC9) is used for room tem-
perature sensing. The analogue signal 
output of IC LM35 is proportional to 
the temperature by the relationship 
10mV/degree Celsius. It is interfaced 
to the ADC of the microcontroller. The 
sensor is connected to the ADC chan-
nel 3 (PC3) on ATmega8. 
For display, four multiplexed 
common-cathode 7-segment displays 
(DIS1 through DIS4) are connected 
via CON10. Their individual cathode 
pins are connected to CON11, and 
driven by transistors T2 through T5. 
The RGB1 LED is connected to PB3, 
PB4 and PB5 pins of IC8. The active-
low RESET pin on ATmega8 is pulled 
up by a 10-kilo-ohm resistor (R31) and 
also tied to a 10µF electrolytic capaci-
tor (C12) to prevent the controller 
from regenerative resetting during 
supply transients. AVREF pin, refer-
ence in/out pin for the ADC, is tied 
to a 100nF ceramic capacitor (C13) 
for stability, while AVCC (pin 20) and 
AGND (pin 22) are power supply pins 
for the ADC circuitry on the microcon-
troller. VCC (7) and GND (8) are power 
pins for the rest of the circuitry on the 
microcontroller.
You need not connect any crystal 
to the microcontroller as its internal 
1MHz R-C oscillator is used here. So it 
is important to set correct fuse bits on 
ATmega8 to configure it for the 1MHz 
internal R-C oscillator. 
TPS73733 LDO IC (IC6) is used to 
power the clock circuit. It gets input 
from non-current-limited 5.2V rail 
of the power section. TPS73733 is a 
3.3V, 1A regulator with a maximum 
input voltage of 5.5 volts. EN pin is 
used to enable the LDO, however here 
we have tied it directly to IN pin for 
continuous operation. Capacitors C8 
through C11 are used for stability of 
the LDO. An external capacitor (C9) 
connected to NR/FB pin on the LDO 
bypasses noise generated by the inter-
nal bandgap, reducing LDO output 
noise to very low levels.
7-segment display unit. Circuit 
of the multiplexed 7-segment display 
unit is shown in Fig. 6.
It comprises four 7-segment dis-
plays arranged in pairs of two: one 
pair (DIS1 and DIS2) on the left side to 
display variables like hours and date, 
and the other pair (DIS3 and DIS4) on 
the right side to display variables like 
minutes and month. CON14 through 
CON16 in the display unit are con-
nected to display driving ports CON10, 
CON11 and CON13, respectively, in 
the main clock section (Fig. 5). 
Software 
The code for the ATmega8 microcon-
troller is written in BASIC language 
using BASCOM-AVR compiler. After 
initiating the code, allocate default 
values to the EEPROM from location 
one to four. The EEPROM is basically 
used to hold the user-settable alarm 
values. Starting from the first location, 
it holds alarm hours, then alarm min-
utes, then alarm PM and finally the 
alarm flag (which indicates whether 
alarm is on or not). 
You need to declare subroutines 
to clear 7-segment displays, read RTC 
chip, display value setting, etc. After 
this, configure the ADC to run in 
single-mode with auto prescaler and 
internal 2.56V reference. Configure 
the directions of input-output ports 
and initialise them. Then configure 
I2C pins and initialise them. 
Next, initialise timer0 for multi-
plexing the 7-segment display, timer1 
Fig. 6: 7-segment display unit
CON16
FROM
CON15
FROM
CON10
CON11
CON13
a7
f9
g10
e1
d2
c4
dp5
COM
3
b6
DIS1
a7
f9
g10
e1
d2
c4
dp5
COM
3
b6
DIS2
a7
f9
g10
e1
d2
c4
dp5
COM
3
b6
DIS3
a7
f9
g10
e1
d2
c4
dp5
COM
3
b6
DIS4
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
CON14
FROM
LED9
SECONDS
LED8
DIS1−DIS4 = COMMON CATHODE 
7−SEGMENT DISPLAY
LTS543
1
1
2
2
3
4
R50
47E
Do-it-yourself
106 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Fig. 8: Actual-size PCB layout of power unit
Fig. 9: Components layout for the PCB in Fig. 8 
Fig. 7: Fuse bits 
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - 7812, 12V voltage regulator
IC2 - BQ24450 charge controller
IC3 - LMP7300 comparator
IC4 - UCC383 regulator
IC5 - TPS2051C power switch 
IC6 - TPS73733 regulator
IC7 - BQ32000 RTC 
IC8 - ATmega8 microcontroller
IC9 - LM35 temperature sensor
D1-D5 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
D6 - 1N5422 Schottky diode
D7 - 1N5822 Schottky diode
LED1, LED8, 
LED9 - 5mm LED
LED2-LED7 - 1-watt white LED
RGB1 - RGB LED (4-pin)
T1 - BD240 pnp transistor
T2-T5 - BC547 npn transistor
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated 
otherwise):
R1 - 0.47-ohm, 1-watt
R2, R6, R8, R9 - 1-mega-ohm
R3, R25 - 470-kilo-ohm
R4, R14, R23 - 47-kilo-ohm
R5, R15 - 22-kilo-ohm
R7 - 67-kilo-ohm
R10 - 470-ohm
R11, R22 - 100-ohm
R12, R50 - 47-ohm
R13 - 22-ohm
R16, R19, R24, 
R44-R46 - 4.7-kilo-ohm
R17, R20 - 2-kilo-ohm
R18, R31, R43- 10-kilo-ohm
R21, R26 - 220-ohm
R27 - 150-kilo-ohm
R28 - 50-kilo-ohm
R29, R30 - 2-ohm, 1-watt
R32-R38 - 120-ohm
R39-R42 - 1-kilo-ohm
R47-R49 - 56-ohm
Capacitors:
C1 - 1000µF, 25V electrolytic 
C2, C3, C6, C13 - 100nF ceramic disk
C9, C10 - 10nF ceramic disk
C4 - 220µF, 25V electrolytic 
C5 - 220µF, 16V electrolytic 
C7 - 100µF, 16V electrolytic 
C8, C11, C12 - 10µF, 10V electrolytic 
C14 - 1µF, 10V electrolytic 
Miscellaneous:
CON1, CON2 - 2-pin terminal connector 
CON3-CON7,
CON9, CON13, 
CON16 - 2-pin connector male and female
CON8 - USB A-type connector
CON10, CON14 - 7-pin connector male and female
CON11, CON15 - 4-pin connector male and female
CON12 - 6-pin connector male and female
PZ1 - Piezobuzzer 
RL1 - 12V, 1CO PCB-mounted relay
SP1 - 10-12V, 7W solar panel
S1-S3 - On/off switch
S4-S6 - Push-to-on tactile switch
BATT.1 - 6V, 4.5Ah rechargeable battery 
BATT.2 - 3V cell (CR2032)
XTAL1 - 32.768kHz crystal
X1 - 230V AC primary to 12V, 1A 
 secondary transformer 
DIS1-DIS4 - LTS543 common cathode 
 7-segment display
 - USB-to-micro USB cable for 
 mobile charging
 - 230V AC mains power supply 
Do-it-yourself
107www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
for handling the alarm duration and 
timer2 for blinking the segments 
while the clock is in ‘Settings’ mode. 
After this, declare and initialise cer-
tain variables for ADC calculations, 
time seeking, etc. Then initialise I2C 
pins, read EEPROM contents for alarm 
values and initiate an infinite super-
loop where the RTC chip registers are 
read and displays are updated continu-
ously. Also in the same loop, the user 
inputs are acknowledged and associ-
ated events like setting alarm on/off 
and displaying date-time are initiated. 
Also, the current time is compared 
against the alarm variables and alarm 
is initiated when the time is matched.
Note that while burning the hex file 
solarclock.hex to the microcontroller, 
the EEPROM file solarclock.eep must 
also be programmed. At EFY 
Lab, PROGISP programmer 
was used to program solar-
clock.hex and solarclock.
eep. Fuse bits should be 
D9=high and E1=low as 
shown in Fig. 7.
The clock
Charging. As mentioned 
earlier, the clock can be 
charged from solar power 
as well as AC mains power. 
Install a 10-12V, 7W solar 
panel on the rooftop such 
that it receives sufficient 
sunlight throughout the 
day. Route connections 
from the solar panel (SP1) 
carefully to the clock’s 
charging terminals, keeping 
in mind the correct polarity. 
Solar power is more 
than enough to provide 
continuous power to the 
clock forever, and the clock 
Fig. 10: An actual-size, single-side PCB of LED and 
USB circuit 
Fig. 11: Components layout for the PCB in Fig. 10
Fig. 12: Actual-size PCB layout of main clock controller circuit Fig. 13: Components layout for the PCB in Fig. 12
can work for more than 60 hours on a 
single charge. But when solar power 
is not available on cloudy days or at 
night, users can charge the clock using 
230V AC mains power. The solar panel 
rail is automatically cut off while 
charging through AC mains power. 
This way the clock never runs out of 
power. Switch S1 can be used to cut off 
all the load from the battery. 
The two 3x1-watt LED modules 
can be individually switched on as 
required. Using the USB jack, you 
can charge all possible USB applica-
tions. Thus the project also functions 
as a solar-powered USB charger. The 
charging status is indicated by LED1 in 
the power unit, where a glowing LED 
means the battery is charging. The 
power unit circuit can automatically 
shut off the load when the battery 
voltage reaches the state of discharge.
Settings. The clock automatically 
turns on when the mains load switch 
(S1) is closed. The user-interface of 
the clock is designed such that only 
three buttons (S4 through S6) are 
required to set the various parameters 
like current time, hours and date-time, 
and to display the current date-time, 
set alarm and room temperature. 
The Plus button can be used to 
increment the values in ‘Settings’ 
mode. Pressing it once during normal 
time display mode, first displays the 
room temperature and then the set 
Do-it-yourself
108 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
The source code of 
this project and 
calculations_charging.doc 
file are included in this 
month’s EFY DVD and 
are also available for 
free download at 
source.efymag.com
efy Note
Fig. 14: Actual-size PCB layout of 7-segment display unit (Fig. 6) 
Fig. 15: Components layout for the PCB in Fig. 14 
assembling the circuit on the PCB, 
connect CON1 to the secondary of 
transformer X1, and CON2 to 10-12V, 
7W solar panel. Extend CON3 through 
CON5 to other sections using proper 
connectors. Enclose the PCB in a suit-
able cabinet. 
An actual-size PCB layout of the 
power LED and USB charging circuit 
(in Fig. 4) is shown in Fig. 10 and its 
components layout in Fig. 11. After 
assembling the circuit on the PCB, 
connect CON6 to CON3 in Fig. 3, and 
CON7 to CON4 in Fig. 3. Use CON8 
for mobile charging through the 
USB cable. Affix all the LEDs (LED2 
through LED7) on the top or front side 
of the cabinet.
An actual-size PCB layout for the 
main clock controller circuit (in Fig. 5) 
is shown in Fig. 12 and its components 
layout in Fig. 13. After assembling the 
circuit on the PCB, connect CON9 to 
5.2V from CON5 in Fig. 3. Connect the 
RGB1 LED and switches S1 through S6 
on the front side of the cabinet. 
An actual-size PCB layout of the 
7-segment display unit (Fig. 6) is 
shown in Fig. 14 and its components 
layout in Fig. 15. After assembling the 
circuit on the PCB, connect CON14 to 
CON10, CON16 to CON13, and CON15 
to CON11 from Fig. 5. Affix LED8 and 
LED9 on the PCB for seconds indica-
tion. 
Abhishek Kumar is B.Tech in 
electronics and instrumentation. 
His interests include embedded 
systems, software programming 
and instrumentation 
bring it to ‘Settings’ 
menu. In ‘Settings’ 
menu, use Plus 
and Minus keys to 
increment and dec-
rement the current 
values, respectively. 
The correspond-
ing pair of 7-seg-
ment displays starts 
blinking. Pressing 
Set button again 
brings the clock 
into the next param-
eter setting mode 
and so on until the 
normal time is dis-
played. On pressing 
Set button once, the 
following seven set-
tings are displayed:
1. Set current 
hours
2. Set current 
minutes: After set-
t ing the current 
hours and minutes, 
SET is displayed on 
the display
3. Set month
4. Set date
5. Set year. After setting month, 
date and year SET is displayed on the 
display
6. Set alarm hours
7. Set alarm minutes. After setting 
alarm hours and minutes SET is dis-
played on the display
To switch off the running alarm, 
press any of the three buttons once. 
Green colour on the RGB1 LED indi-
cates AM, blue indicates PM and red 
indicates that date is displayed. 
Construction and testing
An actual-size PCB layout of the power 
unit (in Fig. 3) is shown in Fig. 8 and 
its components layout in Fig. 9. After 
alarm values. Thereafter, it reverts to 
normal time display with an acknowl-
edgement beep. 
Similarly, the Minus button can be 
used to decrement the values in ‘Set-
tings’ mode. Pressing it once during 
normal time display mode first displays 
the current date on the left and the cur-
rent month on the right, and then the 
current year. Thereafter, it reverts to 
normal time display with an acknowl-
edgement beep. 
To switch on/off the alarm, simply 
press and hold the Minus button for 
more than one second. If the display 
indicates AL-0, the alarm is turned off. 
AL-1 indicates the alarm is turned on.
To set the various parameters of 
the clock, press SET button once to 
Do-it-yourself
109www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
AC LAmp BLinker 
Using Timer NE555 
Petre tzv Petrov 
S.C. 
 
Dwiv
eDi
There are at least two popular applications of blinking a string of 110V/230V AC incandescent 
lamps. The first is audio-visual warn-ing at construction sites or where 
repairing is going on. The second is 
to express joy and excitement during 
holidays like New Year’s Day.
Here we use a very simple and 
low-cost timer NE555 to switch on 
and off two output loads alternately 
for audio and visual indications. You 
can achieve this by using a bipolar-
transistor-based NE555 or CMOS-
based LMC555.
This circuit can be made to blink 
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - 7809, 9V regulator
IC2 - NE555 timer
IC3, IC4 - MOC3043 optoisolator
D1, D2 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
BR1 - 1A bridge rectifier
Triac1, Triac2 - BTA06 triac
LED1-LED6 - 5mm LED
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon, unless stated 
otherwise):
R1 - 100-ohm, 1-watt
R2 - 1-kilo-ohm
R3, R5 - 10-kilo-ohm
R4 - 33-kilo-ohm
R6-R8 - 330-ohm
R9, R10, R12, 
R15 - 220-ohm
R11, R13, R16 - 100-kilo-ohm
R14, R17 - 100-ohm, 0.5-watt
VR1 - 100-kilo-ohm potmeter
Capacitors:
C1, C8-C11 - 0.1µF, 400V polyester 
C2, C5 - 0.1µF ceramic disk
C3 - 470µF, 25V electrolytic
C4, C6 - 100µF, 16V electrolytic
C7 - 0.01µF ceramic disk
Miscellaneous:
CON1-CON3 - 2-pin terminal connector 
F1 - 0.1A fuse with holder
F2, F3 - 1A fuse with holder 
PZ1, PZ2 - Piezo-buzzer 
S1-S4 - On/off switch
Load1, Load2 - 230V AC, 60W bulb/lamp
X1 - 230V AC primary to 
 12V, 250mA secondary 
 transformer
 - 230V AC mains power supply
 - Heat-sinks for triacs
 - Mains power cord 
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AC lamps a t a 
low frequency, or 
switch on and off 
electrical loads con-
nected to the mains 
at a low speed. In 
order to reduce 
the RF emissions, 
switching is done 
only at zero cross-
ings of the mains 
AC voltage.
The sw i t ch -
ing frequency is 
selected according 
to the resistor and 
capacitor compo-
nents connected 
to NE555. It can 
be varied using 
100-kilo-ohm pot-
meter VR1. 
Circuit and 
working 
Circuit diagram of 
the AC lamp blinker 
is shown in Fig. 1. 
It is built around 
a step-down trans-
former (X1), 9V 
voltage regulator 
7809 (IC1), timer 
NE555 (IC2), two 
MOC3043 optoi-
solators (IC3 and 
IC4), two BTA06 
triacs (Triac1 and 
Triac2), two 1N4007 
diodes (D1 and D2), 
six LEDs (LED1 
through LED6), two 
piezo-buzzers (PZ1, 
PZ2), two 230V AC, 
60W bulbs (Load1 
and Load2), and a 
few other compo-
nents.
Do-it-yourself
110 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout of AC lamp blinker 
Fig. 3: Components layout for the PCB
Do-it-yourself
111www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Power supply. The circuit works 
off a 9V regulated power supply 
derived from transformer X1, bridge 
rectifier BR1 and regulator 7809. Alter-
natively, you can use a 6V-15V DC or 
6V rechargeable battery after slight 
modification in the circuit.
The resistors in series with all LEDs 
should have appropriate values depend-
ing on the power supply voltage and 
the type of LEDs. Piezo-buzzers PZ1 
and PZ2 should be used with internal 
oscillator and should be operational at 
the selected power supply.
Oscillation frequency of timer 
NE555 is set with R3, R4, potmeter 
VR1 and capacitor C6. Frequency F is 
obtained at output pin 3 of IC2 as per 
the following relationship:
F=1.44/[{R3+2×(R4+VR1)}×C6]
The output of timer NE555 drives 
piezo-buzzers (PZ1 and PZ2), which 
can be switched on and off using 
switches S3 and S4, respectively. It also 
drives two LEDs (LED3 and LED4) and 
MOC3043 optoisolators (IC3 and IC4) 
with zero-crossing detectors.
When the output of timer IC2 is 
low, piezo-buzzer PZ1, LED3, IC3, 
Triac1 and Load1 are activated. In that 
case, Load2 is switched off. When 
the output of timer IC2 is high, piezo-
buzzer PZ2, LED4, IC4, Triac2 and 
Load2 are activated. In that case, Load1 
is switched off.
That is, Load1 and Load2 are 
activated alternately and the time of 
their activation is controlled by timer 
NE555. Timer NE555 is isolated from 
the AC mains using optoisolators so 
that you can change the frequency of 
the loads and blinking ratio without the 
danger of AC mains.
The circuit does not have criti-
cal components and is operational 
immediately after proper assembly. 
However, precaution should be taken 
as the circuit drives loads directly con-
nected to the AC mains. That makes it 
obligatory to use optocouplers or optoi-
solators like MOC3041, MOC3042 or 
MOC3043. You may also use optocou-
plers rated for 600V, like MOC3061-M, 
MOC3062-M or MOC3063-M.
You may use triacs compatible with 
the required loads and the selected 
optocouplers. When working with 230V 
or 240V AC mains, you need to use 
at least 400V rated triacs, and prefer-
ably 600V rated triacs like BT139-600, 
BTA06-600, TIC226M and MAC223A8.
Resistor and capacitor circuits 
around triacs reduce the noise and pro-
tect the triacs. These are obligatory and 
should be selected according to the local 
conditions of the mains and the selected 
components including the loads. 
Carefully select the values of resis-
tors and capacitors connected directly 
to the mains. These should support the 
maximum possible voltages observed 
in the local AC mains voltage.
Construction and testing
An actual-size PCB layout of AC lamp 
blinker using timer NE555 is shown in 
Fig. 2 and its components layout in Fig. 
3. After assembling the circuit on the 
PCB, enclose it in a suitable box. Place 
transformer X1 inside the box and con-
nect its primary and secondary (12V 
AC) wires shown in the PCB. Connect 
230V AC mains power supply across 
L (live) and N (neutral) terminals. Fix 
fuses, switches and potmeter VR1 on 
the front side of the box. Connect Load1 
and Load2 across CON2 and CON3, 
respectively. Fix piezo-buzzers PZ1 and 
PZ2 on the back side of box. Also fix the 
LEDs at any appropriate location outside 
the box for visual indications. 
Depending on the loads, use heat-
sinks with thermal resistance equal to 
or below 30ºC/W for Triac1 and Triac2.
Note. The circuit should be used 
only with appropriate fuses. It is pref-
erable to first test the circuit through 
an isolation transformer connected to 
the AC mains and with light loads like 
a 230V, 15W bulb. Also, it is preferable 
to first test at lower AC voltage like 
50-100Vrms. Check for short-circuits or 
other anomalies before initial testing of 
the circuit with AC mains.
Caution. As there is risk of electri-
cal shock (the extreme left and right of 
the PCB shown by the dotted lines), 
this circuit should be tried only by 
qualified personnel familiar with the 
operations of triacs and AC mains. 
Petre Tzv Petrov was a researcher 
and assistant professor in 
Technical University of Sofia, 
Bulgaria andexpert-lecturer in 
OFPPT(Casablance), Kingdom of 
Morocco. Now he is working as 
an electronics engineer in the 
private sector in Bulgaria 
Do-it-yourself
112 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Add-On Usb POwer CirCUit 
For Ups 
A. SAmiuddhin 
S.C. 
 
Dwiv
eDi
Most computer UPS have only 230V output and no USB output. Presented here is a 
circuit that gives 5V USB output using 
the 12V, 7Ah UPS battery fitted inside 
a UPS. With this circuit you can power 
USB gadgets directly from a UPS with-
out turning on the PC. This circuit can 
also be used to power development 
boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
Circuit and working 
As shown in Fig. 1, the circuit is 
built around switch-mode regulator 
LM2576-5V (IC1). The LM2576 series 
offers a high-efficiency replacement 
for popular three-terminal linear 
regulators. It substantially reduces the 
size of the heat-sink; in some cases, 
no heat-sink is required. It provides 
all the active functions of a step-down 
(buck) switching regulator, capable of 
driving up to 3A load with excellent 
line and load regulation. The 5V ver-
sion of LM2576 (LM2576-5V) is used 
in this circuit. 
The 12V battery is connected to 
CON1. IC1, along with inductor L1 
and diode D1, steps down and con-
verts the 12V input into 5V output. 
Capacitor C2 reduces ripples in the 
output. Feedback pin 4 of IC1 is 
directly connected to the output at C2. 
IC1 can be turned on/off by an 
external control signal or else it can 
be turned on permanently by ground-
ing pin 5 of IC1 through switch S1. 
When S1 is in position A, IC1 can be 
controlled by connecting an external 
control signal at CON3. When S1 is in 
position B, IC1 is switched on perma-
nently. LED1 indicates whether IC1 is 
on or off. This circuit can be used to 
power gadgets digitally.
Construction and testing
An actual-size PCB layout for the 
add-on USB power circuit for a UPS 
is shown in Fig. 2 and its components 
Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of add-on USB power circuit for UPS 
Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout of add-on USB 
power circuit for UPS 
Fig. 3: Components layout for the PCB
A. Samiuddhin takes 
keen interest in LED 
lighting, power electronics, 
microcontrollers and 
Arduino programming 
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - LM2576-5V voltage regulator
D1 - 1N5822 Schottky diode 
LED1 - 5mm LED
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1 - 220-ohm
Capacitors:
C1 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic
C2 - 1000µF, 16V electrolytic 
Miscellaneous:
CON1 - 2-pin terminal connector 
CON2 - USB A-type connector
CON3 - 2-pin connector 
L1 - 100µH inductor
S1 - SPDT switch
 - 12V, 7Ah UPS battery
 - USB cable
 - Heat-sink for IC1 
R1
220E
CON1
12V
FOR
5
0N /OFF
2
OUTPUT
1
Vin
4FB
3
GND
IC1
LM2576−5V
C1
100u
D1
1N5822
L1
100u
LED1
POWER
CON2
FOR USBS1
CONTROL
CON3
ON/OFF
FOR
SIGNAL
25V
A 
B
Vcc
D−
D+
GNDC2
1000u
16V
layout in Fig. 3. Assemble the circuit 
on the PCB and place it at a suitable 
location inside the UPS.
Use suitable heat-sink for IC1. 
Inductor L1 must have a minimum 
current rating of 1A. Capacitor C2 
should have low equivalent series 
resistance (ESR) for better perfor-
mance. Any voltage from 7-40V can 
be used for the circuit.
If the external control signal is 
open-collector type, a suitable pull-up 
resistor must be used on pin 5 of IC1. 
Do not leave this pin float. To maintain 
stability, capacitor C1 leads must be 
kept short and placed near IC1. 
Do-it-yourself
113www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Simple Multi-Sensor 
Fire AlArm 
Fayaz Hassan 
S.C. 
 
Dwiv
eDi
The circuit presented here raises an alarm on detecting flames and high temperatures. It can 
be used in two ways: A single sensor 
board with an alarm board, or three 
sensor boards with an alarm board. 
The three separate sensor boards are 
to be installed at three different places, 
with the alarm unit installed at an 
appropriate location. 
Circuit and working 
Circuit diagram of the fire alarm is 
shown in Fig. 1. It is built around a 
transformer (X1), 6V voltage regulator 
7806 (IC1), temperature sensor LM35 
(IC2), flame sensor IR LED (IRLED1), 
op-amp LM358 (IC3), transistors 
BC547 and BC557 (T1 and T2), a 6V 
single-changeover relay and a few 
other components.
The circuit senses ambient tem-
perature using LM35 and checks the 
presence of flame with an IR 
sensor. Yellow- or red-coloured 
flames emit IR radiation, which 
is sensed by the IR sensor 
(IRLED1).
In case yellow/red flame, 
high temperature or both are 
detected, dual comparator 
LM358 triggers npn transistor 
T1. Transistor T1 conducts and 
its collector goes low to drive 
pnp transistor T2 into conduc-
tion. This, in turn, energises 
relay RL1 to activate the load 
(buzzer, lights and other equip-
ment) connected at CON9.
One big advantage of this 
circuit is that in case the sensor 
board loses connection from 
the alarm board due to fire or 
explosion, transistor T2 gets 
activated due to logic low at its 
base and thus still energises the 
relay. So, place the alarm board 
at an appropriate remote loca-
tion for monitoring.
Normally, when there is 
no fire, LED3 and LED4 on the 
sensor board are ‘off.’ LED4 
glows when the temperature 
crosses the set temperature 
range, while LED3 glows when 
the IR sensor detects IR radia-
tion from flame. LED5 glows 
during normal operation and 
goes off when it receives a 
signal from the sensor board.
The output of the sensor 
board at connector CON5 is 
marked as ‘A.’
Three similar sensor boards 
at different locations can be 
used by connecting their 
respective outputs to CON6 
through CON8 of the alarm 
board. This arrangement is 
useful for monitoring multiple 
rooms, corridors, hotel rooms 
and staircases where alarm 
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Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1 - 7806, 6V regulator 
IC2 - LM35 temperature sensor 
IC3 - LM358 op-amp 
IRLED1 - IR LED flame sensor 
T1 - BC547 npn transistor
T2 - BC557pnp transistor
LED1-LED6 - 5mm LED 
D1 - 1N4007 rectifier diode
BR1 - Bridge rectifier
Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon):
R1, R2, R6-R10 - 2.2-kilo-ohm
R3, R4 - 1-kilo-ohm
R5 - 47-kilo-ohm
VR1 - 100-kilo-ohm potmeter
VR2 - 10-kilo-ohm potmeter
Capacitors:
C1 - 1000µF, 25V electrolytic
C2, C5 - 100µF, 16V electrolytic
C3, C4 - 0.1µF ceramic disk
Miscellaneous:
CON1-CON4 - 2-pin connector
CON5-CON9 - 3-pin connector
S1, S2 - On/off switch
RL1 - 6V, 1CO relay
X1 - 230V AC primary to 9V, 
 250mA secondary 
 transformer 
 - 230V AC/50Hz or 6V battery 
Do-it-yourself
114January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Table I
TesT poInTs
Test point Details
TP0 GND
TP1 6V
TP2 Up to 5V depending on IR radiation
TP3 450mV-550mV. Set using VR2
TP4 5V
TP5 6V
Table II
leD sTaTus
LEDs Status
LED1 ‘On’ if 6V is available across CON1,CON2 and CON3 
LED2 ‘On’ if 6V is available in the sensor board
LED3 ‘On’ if flame is detected
LED4 ‘On’ if temperature is detected
LED5 ‘On’ if neither temperature nor flame is detected
LED6 ‘On’ if 6V is available in the alarm board
Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout of fire alarm
Fig. 3: Components layout for the PCB
board can be placed at a safe and 
open area.
Initial setup
Once the sensor board (middle portion 
in Fig. 1) is ready and connected to 
6V DC supply via switch S1, set VR2 
to get around 450mV at TP3. (450mV 
means 45°C as set temperature, since 
LM35 outputs 10mV per 1°C tempera-
ture.) Now, using a hair dryer or some 
other small heat source, blow hot air 
on LM35. Once the temperature of 
LM35 crosses 45°C, LED4 glows. Stop 
the heat source. At pin 2 of IC3, you 
can set 450mV to 550mV for trigger 
temperature of 45°C to 55°C or any 
other temperature according to your 
requirement. 
Next, light a candle and keep it 
about one metre away from IR LED1 
between power supply, 
sensor board and alarm 
board.
The circuit works off 
230V AC, 50Hz. Alterna-
tively, you can use a 6V 
battery. In this case, do not 
assemble power supply 
PCB and connect 6V bat-
tery directly at CON4. 
After assembling the 
circuit, verify voltages as 
shown in Table I. Also refer Table II for 
the status of each LED in the circuit. 
Fix LEDs on the front panel and label 
their functions. 
When you are using a single sensor 
board, connect CON1 to CON4 for 
power supply and CON5 to CON6 for 
signal sensing. In this case, CON2, 
CON3, CON7 and CON8 are unused.
For the arrangement using three 
sensor boards, you can assemble the 
sensor boards separately using the 
same sensor circuit and power supply 
taken from CON1, CON2 and CON3 
respectively. 
sensor (flame sensor). Set VR1 such 
that LED3 goes off and glows again if 
the candle is moved little closer to the 
IR sensor. 
Connect power supplies to sensor 
boards and the alarm board. Switch on 
S1 and S2. Test the relay operation by 
increasing the temperature and also 
by bringing the candle flame nearer 
to the IR sensor. 
Construction and testing
An actual-size PCB layout of the fire 
alarm including power supply, sensor 
board and alarm board is shown in 
Fig. 2 and its components layout in 
Fig. 3. Cut the PCB along the dotted 
lines. Assemble the power supply, 
sensor board and alarm board sepa-
rately. Enclose these in a suitable box. 
Connect the respective connectors 
Fayaz Hassan is a manager 
at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, 
Andhra Pradesh. He has keen 
interest in microcontroller projects, 
mechatronics and robotics 
Do-it-yourself
115www.efymag.com electronics for you | January 2018
Door-AjAr Alert 
With Countdown Timer 
T.K. Hareendran
Pre
eti 
Bha
kta 
& 
San
i the
o
Ever accidentally left your room door ajar for a long period of time and found your valuables 
missing? Here is an intelligent solu-
tion for you. The idea is fairly simple 
as it mainly requires a TM1637 4-digit 
display and a Digispark USB develop-
ment board.
TM1637 is a popular clock display 
module with a TM1637 driver chip 
from Titan Micro Electronics. This 
4-digit, 7-segment LED display module 
can be controlled using just a two-wire 
serial interface. 
Digispark USB board, based on 
Atmel Attiny85 microcontroller, is 
similar to Arduino hardware platform. 
However, it is smaller with limited pins, 
and a bit less powerful than Arduino. 
A normally-closed (NC) reed 
switch is used as the door sensor. 
When the door is closed, as per 
mechanical arrangement, switch con-
tacts open to disable the alert system. 
When the door is opened, switch con-
tacts close to enable the alert system. 
So a piezobuzzer starts beeping after 
some time. The alert system wired 
around Digispark Attiny85 module 
and clock display module shows live 
status of the countdown timer. 
Arduino-compatible code (door_
ajar.ino) is used for this project. 
The code displays the countdown 
timer and initiates an alarm after a 
set time of about 60 seconds. Here, 
DigitalTube library created by Frankie 
Chu (https://github.com/reeedstudio/
libraries/tree/master/DigitalTube) is 
used to control the 4-digit display. 
So, first download the library, 
extract contents of the zip file to 
arduino/libraries folder, and restart 
the Arduino IDE. Now you can see 
DigitalTube listed under Sketch/
Include Library options in Arduino 
IDE. Next, copy door_ajar.ino code 
into the Arduino IDE (Arduino IDE 
1.6.6+) to compile and program 
Digispark. 
To program Digispark, first you 
need to install relevant drivers from the 
Arduino IDE by selecting Tools/Board/
Boards Manager/Digistump AVR 
Boards options. For details go through 
the tutorials at http://digistump.com/
wiki/digispark. 
After successful installation of the 
drivers, Digispark will feature in the 
Board list of Arduino IDE. Select the cor-
rect board as per the Digis-
tump model you have. We 
selected Digispark(Default-
16.5MHz) option. Click 
Sketch/Upload options 
from Arduino IDE. You will 
be prompted to connect 
Digispark board to the USB 
port of your PC. As soon 
as the board is plugged in, 
the code will be uploaded. 
Now, plug-out the board 
and make connections as 
per the circuit diagram. 
After construction, enclose the 
electronics (including the door sensor) 
in a small box made of rigid plastic 
and mount it on the door frame. 
Attach an appropriate-size magnet 
on the door such that when the door 
is closed, the magnet comes closest 
to the sensor (reed switch S1) and 
its contacts open. Use an appropriate 
9V alkaline battery pack to power the 
system. 
Fig. 1: Digispark board
Fig. 2: Circuit of door-ajar alert system
Fig. 3: Author’s prototype during testing
T.K. Hareendran is 
founder and promoter of 
TechNode Protolabz 
The source code of 
this project is 
included in this month’s 
EFY DVD and is also 
available for free download 
at source.efymag.com
efy Note
Do-it-yourself
116 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
Understanding Spectrogram of 
Speech SignalS Using Matlab Program 
Dr A.r. JAyAn 
Pre
eti 
Bha
kta 
& 
San
i the
o
This article explains speech signal analysis and processing with MATLAB to get its frequen-
cy-domain representation.
In real life, we come across many 
signals that are variations of the form 
ƒ(t), where ‘t’ is independent variable 
‘time’ in most cases. Temperature, 
pressure, pulse rate, etc can be plotted 
along the time axis to see variations 
across time. 
In signal processing, signals can be 
classified broadly into deterministic 
signals and stochastic signals. Deter-
ministic signals can be expressed in 
the form of a mathematical equation 
and there is no randomness associated 
with them. The value of the signal at 
any point of time can be obtained by 
evaluating the mathematical equation. 
An example is a pure sine wave:
ƒ(t)=A sin 2πƒt
where ‘A’ is signal amplitude, ‘ƒ’ is 
signal frequency and ‘t’ is time.
Many of the information-bearing 
signals may not be predictable in 
advance. There is a certain amount 
of randomness in the signal with 
respect to time. Such signals cannot be 
expressed in the form of simple math-
ematical equations. For example, in 
the noise signal inside a running auto-
mobile, we may hear many sounds, 
including the engine sound, sound 
of horns from other vehicles and pas-
sengers talking, in a combined form 
with no predictability. Such signals are 
examples of stochastic signals. 
In the speech signal produced 
when you utter steady sounds like ‘a,’ 
‘i’ or ‘u,’ the waveform is a near-peri-
odic repetition of some well-defined 
patterns. When you produce sounds 
like ‘s’ and ‘sh,’ the waveform is noise-
like. Theperiodicity in the speech 
signal is due to the vibration of vocal 
folds at a particular frequency, known 
as pitch or fundamental frequency of 
the speaker. Steady sounds (a, i or u) 
are examples of vowels and noise-like 
sounds (s and sh) are examples of 
consonants. Human speech signal 
is a chain of vowels and consonants 
grouped in different forms. 
Most of the signals in real life 
are available continuously and may 
assume any amplitude value. These 
signals are called analogue signals 
and they are not in a form suitable for 
storing or processing using a digital 
computer. In digital signal processing, 
we process the signal as an array of 
numbers. We do sampling along the 
time axis to discretise the independent 
variable ‘t.’ In other words, we look at 
the signal at a number of time instanc-
es separated by a fixed interval ‘T’ 
(called sampling period=1/ƒs, where 
‘ƒs’ is called sampling frequency). 
Signal values observed at these time 
instances are further discretised in the 
amplitude domain to make these suit-
able for storage in the form of binary 
digits. This process is called quantisa-
tion. After sampling and quantisation 
(called digitisation) of an analogue 
signal, the signal assumes the form:
ƒ(n)=qn
where ‘qn’ is an approximation to 
the signal amplitude at time instant 
t=nT. The signals so produced are 
called digital signals. These can be 
stored in memory and used for pro-
cessing by mathematical operations 
with the help of digital computers. 
A pure sine-wave after digitisation 
can be represented as an array in the 
form:
ƒ(n)=A sin 2πƒnT=A sin 2πƒn/ƒs
where ‘A’ is the signal amplitude, ‘ƒ’ is 
the signal frequency, ‘ƒs’ is the sam-
Fig. 1: Waveform of vowel sound ‘aa’
Fig. 2: Waveform of vowel-consonant sound ‘as’
Fig. 3: Waveform of 500 samples of vowel 
sound ‘aa’
Fig. 4: Waveform of 500 samples of consonant 
sound ‘s’ 
Do-it-yourself
117www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
pling frequency and ‘n’ is an integer 
called time index. Sample value ƒ(n) is 
an approximation of the signal ampli-
tude at time instant t=nT.
Understanding the speech signal 
Record vowel sound ‘aa’ using the 
computer’s microphone and save it as 
a wav file. Select sampling frequency 
as 10kHz. You may use audio process-
ing software like Praat, Audacity, 
Goldwave or Wavesurfer to record the 
signal in wav format at the required 
sampling frequency. 
The waveform of the signal, which 
is a plot of the amplitude of the speech 
signal for each sample instant, looks 
like Fig. 1. The horizontal axis is time 
units in samples and the vertical axis 
is amplitude of the corresponding 
samples. If you record sound ‘as’ in 
which consonant sound ‘s’ follows the 
vowel sound ‘a,’ and plot the signal, 
the waveform may look like Fig. 2. 
On close examination of Fig. 1, 
you can see some repeating pattern in 
it. A zoomed version of Fig. 1 show-
ing samples in the range 1000 to 1500 
is given in Fig. 3. If you plot samples 
from 6000 to 6500 in Fig. 2, you get 
Fig. 4. Obviously, the waveform in 
Fig. 4 has no periodicity and it appears 
noise-like. In the waveform of vowel-
consonant sound ‘as,’ you can see that 
the speech signal properties transform 
gradually from a nearly periodic signal 
(samples 2000 to 5000) to a noise-like 
signal (samples 5000 to 10000).
Frequency-domain analysis of the 
speech signal 
Waveform is a representation of the 
speech signal. It is a visualisation 
of the signal in time domain. This 
representation is almost silent on the 
frequency contents and the frequency 
distribution of energy in the speech 
signal. To get a frequency-domain rep-
resentation, you need to take Fourier 
transform of the speech signal. Since 
speech signal has time-varying prop-
erties, the transformation from time-
domain to frequency-domain also 
needs to be done in a time-dependent 
manner. In other words, you need to 
take small frames at different points 
along the time axis, take Fourier trans-
form of the short-duration frames, 
and then proceed along the time axis 
towards the end of the utterance. The 
process is called short-time Fourier 
transform (STFT). Steps involved in 
STFT computation are:
1. Select a short-duration frame of 
the speech signal by windowing
2. Compute Fourier transform of 
the selected duration
3. Shift the window along the time 
axis to select the neighbouring frame
4. Repeat step 2 until you reach the 
end of the speech signal
To select a short-duration frame of 
speech, normally a window function 
with gradually rising and falling prop-
erty is used. Commonly used window 
functions in speech processing are 
Hamming and Hanning windows. A 
Hamming window with ‘N’ points is 
mathematically represented by:
hm(n)=0.54–0.46cos , 0≤n<NN
2πn
and a Hanning window with ‘N’ points 
is mathematically represented by:
hn(n)=0.5(1–cos ), 0≤n<NN
2πn
A window function has non-zero 
Fig. 5: Hamming (solid) and Hanning (dotted) 
windows of 400 samples
Fig. 6: Narrowband spectrogram of vowel-consonant sound ‘as’
Fig. 7: Wideband spectrogram of vowel-consonant sound ‘as’
Do-it-yourself
118 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
If the sampling frequency of the wav 
file is not 10kHz, the file needs to be 
resampled to 10kHz for proper work-
ing of the program. 
Frame shift parameter is set as 100 
samples (10ms). MAG variable has the 
absolute value of Fourier transform 
of frames stored column wise. The 
magnitude of Fourier transform is also 
called spectrum of that frame of the 
signal. As the speech signal has time-
varying properties, the spectrum also 
goes on varying with time as we move 
along the samples in the wav file. 
Magnitude spectrum computed for 
individual frames can be represented 
in many forms. We have been follow-
ing three parameters: Frame number 
(indicator of the time axis), DFT bin 
number (indicator of the frequency 
axis) and magnitude of DFT computed 
(indicator of the spectral energy).
These three parameters can be rep-
resented conveniently in a 2D format 
using spectrogram. Spectrogram can 
be considered as an image representing 
time and frequency parameters (along 
X and Y axes) and magnitude values as 
the intensity of pixels in the X-Y plane. 
Stronger magnitudes get represented 
by dark spots and silences (low- or 
zero-amplitude signals) get represented 
by white spots in the image.
For a real valued signal, you need to 
take only the first half of the magnitude 
spectrum, since the spectrum has a 
symmetric shape with respect to nfft/2. 
You will see that the range of values in 
the computed magnitude spectrum is 
very high as you move from frames with 
valid speech signal to frames involving 
silences or pauses. It is better to limit the 
dynamic range to a fixed value before 
plotting. The magnitude spectrum is 
converted into the log scale and its 
dynamic range is limited to 50dB in the 
main program (spectrogram_efy.m) that 
computes and plots the spectrogram of 
a speech signal.
Parameters Nwt and Nst decide the 
Fig. 8: Narrowband spectrogram of sentence “You will mark as please..”
to the same folder where the main 
program is stored): 
frames = speech2frames( speech, Nw, Ns, 
‘cols’, hanning, false );
Generally, frame-duration param-
eter Nwt and frame-shift parameter 
Nst are selected such that consecutive 
frames have sufficient overlap. The 
condition Nst<Nwt ensures an overlap-
ping window placement. In speech-
processing applications, overlapping 
is generally kept above 50 per cent by 
proper selection of Nst and Nwt. The 
framing operation returns a number of 
short-duration frames selected using 
the window function with the specified 
frame length and frame shift param-
eters. Each frame is stored as a column 
vector in the returned array. Once fram-
ing is performed, DFT operation is used 
to transform each frame to frequency 
domain using the command:
MAG = abs( fft(frames,nfft,1) );
Parameter ‘nfft’ specifies the 
numberof points in the DFT opera-
tion. It is kept as a power of 2 and 
must be greater than the frame length 
in samples. Assuming the wav file has 
sampling frequency fs of 10kHz, we 
have used 1024 points as ‘nfft’ for a 
frame length of 400 samples (40ms). 
values over a selected set of points 
and zero values outside this interval. 
When you multiply a signal with a 
window function, you get a set of ‘N’ 
selected samples from the location 
where you place the window and zero-
valued samples at all other points. 
Fig. 5 shows Hamming and Hanning 
windows of 400 points each. 
You need to finalise the following 
parameters before computing short-
time Fourier transform of the speech 
signal:
1. Type of window function to be 
used for framing the speech signal
2. Frame length Nwt in milliseconds
3. Frame shift Nst in milliseconds
4. DFT length
For a sampling frequency of ƒs, you 
have to use: 
Nw=Nwt ƒs/1000
Ns=Nst ƒs/1000
to convert the frame length and frame 
shift (Nwt, Nst) in milliseconds into the 
corresponding number in samples 
(Nwt, Nst). Here fs is the sampling fre-
quency of the speech signal expressed 
in Hertz. Once these parameters 
are finalised, framing operation is 
performed using the MATLAB user-
defined function (needs to be copied 
The latest from the Open Source world is here.
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Do-it-yourself
119www.EFymag.com ElEctronics For you | January 2018
The source code of 
this project is 
included in this month’s 
EFY DVD and is also 
available for free download 
at source.efymag.com
efy Note
resolving power of the spectrogram 
along time and frequency axes. Spec-
trograms obtained with Nwt values 
greater than 20ms are called narrow-
band spectrograms. Generally, these 
have a good frequency resolution. 
Frequency tracks appear as horizontal 
lines varying in intensity. 
When you lower the frame-dura-
tion parameter, you need to lower the 
frame-shift parameter also to avoid 
missing frames. A reduced value of 
frame duration results in a lower 
frequency resolution but a good time 
resolution. The spectrogram obtained 
with good time resolution and poor 
frequency resolution is called a 
wideband spectrogram. Narrowband 
spectrograms are useful for accurate 
frequency analysis of speech signals. 
Wideband spectrograms are useful 
for accurate localisation of transient 
region onsets in the speech signal. 
Narrowband and wideband spec-
trograms for vowel-consonant sound 
‘as’ are shown in Figs 6 and 7, respec-
tively. Spectrograms (narrowband 
and wideband) for the sentence “You 
will mark as please” are shown in 
Figs 8 and 9, respectively. Readers are 
advised to experiment with different 
speech utterances and different values 
for Nwt, Nst, and nfft and to observe 
variations in spectrograms. 
Dr A.R. Jayan is associate 
professor in ECE Department 
at RIT Kottayam, Kerala 
Fig. 9: Wideband spectrogram of sentence “You will mark as please..”
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142 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
1. Technologies like IoT, AI and embedded 
systems have no future.
Frankly, I have NO interest in new technologies like In-
ternet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, etc. I don’t 
think these will ever take off, or become critical enough 
to affect my organisation or my career.
2. I see no point in attending tech events.
What’s the point in investing energy and resources to 
attend such events? I would rather wait and watch—let 
others take the lead. Why take the initiative to understand 
new technologies, their impact and business models?
3. My boss does not like me.
My boss is not fond of me and doesn’t really want me 
to grow professionally. And when she came to know 
that IEW 2018 is an event that can help me advance 
my career, she cancelled my application to attend it. 
Thankfully, she is attending the event! Look forward to a 
holiday at work.
4. I hate innovators!
Oh my! Indian start-ups are planning to give LIVE 
demonstrations at IEW 2018? I find that hard to believe. 
Worse, if my boss sees these, he will expect me to create 
innovative stuff too. I better find a way to keep him from 
attending.
5. I am way too BUSY.
I am just too busy with my ongoing projects. They just 
don’t seem to be getting over. Once I catch up, I’ll invest 
Register 
for IEW 2018
Hope we have managed to convince you NOT to attend IoTshow.in at IEW 2018! Frankly, we too 
have NO clue why 10,000-plus techies attended IEW in March 2017. Perhaps there’s something 
about the event that we’ve not figured out yet. But, if we haven’t been able to dissuade you from 
attending IEW 2018, then you may register at http://register.efy.in.
Co-located events at IEW 2018
some time in enhancing my knowledge and skills, and 
figure out how to meet my deadlines.
6. I only like attending vendor events.
Can you imagine an event where most of the speak-
ers are not vendors? Where most talks will not be 
by people trying to sell their products? How boring! 
I can’t imagine why anyone would want to attend 
such an event. I love sales talks, and I am sure eve-
rybody else does too. So IEW is a big ‘no-no’ for me.
7. I don’t think I need hands-on knowledge.
I don’t see any value in the tech workshops being 
organised at IEW. Why would anyone want hands-on 
knowledge? Isn’t browsing the Net and watching You-
Tube videos a better alternative?
8. I love my office!
Why do people leave the comfort of their offices and 
weave through that terrible traffic to attend a technical 
event? They must be crazy. What’s the big deal in lis-
tening to experts or networking with peers? I’d rather 
enjoy the coffee and the cool comfort of my office, and 
learn everything by browsing the Net!
9. I prefer foreign events.
While IEW’s IoTshow.in was voted the ‘World’s No.1 
IoT event’ on Postscapes.com, I don’t see much 
value in attending such an event in India—and 
that, too, one that’s being put together by an Indian 
organiser. Naah! I would rather attend such an event 
in Europe. 
IOTSHOW.IN
IoTshow.in will be 
India’s first major 
exposition for all 
the stake-holders of 
Internet of Things 
ecosystem to come 
together.
EFY EXPO
The EFY Expo is 
a unique elec-
tronics event that 
focuses on the 
entire ecosystem 
of electronics in 
India.
LEDASIA.IN
LEDasia.in is 
India’s first event 
to focus on the 
electronics that 
powers LED 
Lighting.
TEST & MEASURE-
MENT INDIA
Test & Measurement 
India (T&M India) is 
Asia’s leading exposi-
tion of test & measure-
ment products and 
services.
EFY CONFERENCE
EFY Conferences (EFYCON) 
started as a tiny 900-foot fall 
community conference in 
2012, going by the name of 
Electronics Rocks. The 2017 
edition had over 10,000+ reg-
istrants and 150+ speakers.
IE
W
 P
rE
-s
ho
W
 r
EP
or
t
144 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Smart is in. Be it the water-tap or your car, your tel-
ephone or your city—everything is getting smarter.
But, what about your products? Is there a need to make 
them ‘smart’? Or, are they smart enough? Can they be-
come smarter? How can you and your team make them 
smarter? Can anyone help you make them smarter? Is it 
easy to make them in India? You can find answers to all 
these questions at India Electronics Week (IEW).
Since electronics and IT are key enablers of Smarter 
Products, IEW brings together five co-located events. 
These include expositions, conferences and workshops 
for business decision makers, as well as technical deci-
sion makersand influencers. Come and discover the 
‘Smart’ world.
Discover the ‘Smart World’ at IEW 2018
Explore the eco-system that enables Smart Products at IEW
Smart 
Manufacturing
Innovative 
Design
Latest Components & 
Embedded Systems
Hi-tech Testing 
Equipment
M2M-friendly 
Networks
IoT-ready IT 
Infrastructure
Industry Ready 
Academia
AI & ML Delivery 
Infrastructure
Conferences & Workshops at IEW 2018
Title Type Primary 
Audience
Take-away Date Hall Questions That Will Be 
Answered Here
Topics ENTRY
Profit From 
IOT: IOT 
Solution 
Developers
Business 
Confer-
ence
Sr Business 
Decision 
Makers of 
Organisa-
tions Devel-
oping IOT 
Solutions
Be able to 
build a bet-
ter business 
around IOT 
Solutions
7th Feb, 2018 
(Wednesday)
Aryabhatta •	 What are the opportunities emerging 
globally and in India? What are the 
challenges?
•	 What are the new business models 
emerging in the IOT landscape?
•	 What are the new technologies that are 
enabling innovative IOT solutions?
•	 What are the typical business challenges 
and how have those been overcome?
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
Business Pass 
(All 3 Days) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Profit 
From IOT: 
Developers 
of IOT Solu-
tions for 
Industrial 
Customers
Business 
Confer-
ence
Sr Business 
Decision 
Makers of 
Organisa-
tions Devel-
oping IIOT 
Solutions
Be able 
to finalise 
Strategies 
and action 
plan to grow 
business 
faster
8th Feb, 
2018 
(Thursday)
Aryabhatta •	 What are the opportunities emerging 
globally and in India? What are the 
challenges?
•	 What are the new business models 
emerging in the IIOT landscape?
•	 What are the new technologies that are 
enabling innovative IIOT solutions?
•	 What are the typical business challenges 
and how have those been overcome?
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
Business Pass 
(All 3 Days) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Profit 
From IOT: 
Industrial & 
Manufactur-
ing Sector
Business 
Confer-
ence
Sr Business 
Decision 
Makers from 
Industrial & 
Manufactur-
ing Sector 
(End Cus-
tomers)
How IoT 
can help 
reduce costs, 
improve 
efficiency 
and increase 
revenues in 
Industrial & 
Manufactur-
ing sector
9th Feb, 2018 
(Friday)
Aryabhatta •	 How’s IIOT benefiting industrial/manu-
facturing sector across the globe and 
in India?
•	 What are the opportunities and business 
benefits presented by IIOT?
•	 What are the new technologies that are 
enabling innovative IIOT solutions?
•	 What are the typical business challenges 
and how have those been overcome?
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
Business Pass 
(All 3 Days) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
IE
W
 P
rE
-s
ho
W
 r
EP
or
t
146 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
Conferences & Workshops at IEW 2018
Title Type Primary 
Audience
Take-away Date Hall Questions That Will Be 
Answered Here
Topics ENTRY
Profit From 
IOT: System 
Integrators 
of IOT Solu-
tions
Business 
Confer-
ence
Sr Business 
Decision 
Makers 
from System 
Integration 
Organisa-
tions
Be able 
to finalise 
Strategies 
and action 
plan to grow 
business 
faster
8th Feb, 2018 
(Thursday)
Bhaba •	 What are the opportunities emerging 
globally and in India? What are the 
challenges?
•	 What are the new business models 
emerging for SIs in the IIOT landscape? 
How’s the game changing?
•	 Who are the key IIOT players seeking 
system integrators ?
•	 What are the typical business chal-
lenges and how have those been 
overcome?
•	 How’s the IIOT tech stack evolving to 
make it easier for SIs to deploy solu-
tions?
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
Business Pass 
(All 3 Days) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Profit From 
IOT: Retail 
Sector
Business 
Confer-
ence
Sr Business 
Decision 
Makers 
from Retail 
Sector (End 
Customers)
How IoT 
can help 
reduce costs, 
improve 
efficiency 
and increase 
revenues for 
Retail Sector
9th Feb, 2018 
(Friday)
Bhaba •	 How’s IOT benefiting retail sector across 
the globe and in India?
•	 What are the opportunities and business 
benefits presented by IOT for retail?
•	 What are the new technologies that are 
enabling innovative IOT solutions for 
retail?
•	 What are the typical business chal-
lenges and how have those been 
overcome?
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
Business Pass 
(All 3 Days) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
ACQUIRE Tech 
Track 
(IOT)
Developers 
working 
on the AC-
QUISITION 
(typically 
hardware) 
side of IOT 
Solutions
Be able to 
develop 
ACQUIRE 
solutions-
-better, 
faster and 
cheaper
7th Feb, 2018 
(Wednesday)
Sarabhai •	 What are the key tech trends defin-
ing IOT devices and their Acquisition 
capabilities?
•	 What are the latest technologies, 
platforms and hardware available to 
develop solutions faster, better and 
cheaper?
•	 What are the engineering challenges 
in developing solutions that ACQUIRE, 
and how have they been overcome suc-
cessfully?
Sensors, 
Development 
Boards, Com-
munication 
Chips, Proces-
sors, EDA, 
Interfaces, 
Standards, 
Security, etc.
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
ANALYSE Tech 
Track 
(IOT)
Developers 
working on 
the ANA-
LYTICAL 
side of IOT 
Solutions
Be able to 
develop AN-
ALYTICAL 
solutions-
-better, 
faster and 
cheaper
8th Feb, 2018 
(Thursday)
Sarabhai •	 What are the key tech trends defining 
IOT devices and their ANALYTICAL 
capabilities?
•	 What are the latest technologies and 
platforms available to develop solutions 
faster, better and cheaper?
•	 What are the engineering challenges 
in developing solutions that ANALYSE, 
and how have they been overcome suc-
cessfully?
•	 What are the latest solutions for devel-
opers being offered by leading vendors? 
Any innovative solutions
Analytical 
Tools, Analyt-
ics As A Ser-
vice, Cloud, 
Artificial 
Intelligence, 
Deep Learn-
ing, Machine 
Learning, etc
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
INTEGRATE Tech 
Track 
(IOT)
Techies 
working on 
INTEGRAT-
ING a com-
plete IOT 
solution
Be able to 
INTEGRATE 
solutions-
-better, 
faster and 
cheaper
9th Feb, 2018 
(Friday)
Sarabhai •	 What are the key tech trends defining 
IOT devices and their ANALYTICAL 
capabilities?
•	 What are the latest technologies and 
platforms available to develop solutions 
faster, better and cheaper?
•	 What are the engineering challenges in 
developing solutions that INTEGRATE, 
and how have they been overcome suc-
cessfully?
•	 What are the latest solutions for devel-
opers being offered by leading vendors? 
Any innovative solutions
Analytical 
Tools, Analyt-
ics As A Ser-
vice, Cloud, 
Artificial 
Intelligence, 
Deep Learn-
ing, Machine 
Learning, etc
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Harnessing 
the Strength 
of the 
BlockChain
Tech 
Track
Tech deci-
sion makers 
and creators 
of tech solu-
tions
Discover 
Blockchain, 
its applica-
tions, and 
how to im-
plement it
7th Feb, 2018 
(Wednesday)
Kalaam •	 What’s blockchain and why is it a great 
enabler?
•	 What types of applications can benefit 
from Blockchain? Which one’s can’t?
•	 Success Stories of applications that have 
benefited from Blockchain, and learn-
ings from their experience
•	 What are the tools, platforms and 
technologies available to implement 
Blockchain?
•	 How to start the ball rolling?
Blockchain, 
Bitcoin, IOT, 
IIOT, Security, 
Retail-IOT, etc
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
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Conferences & Workshops at IEW 2018
Title Type Primary 
Audience
Take-away Date Hall Questions That Will Be 
Answered Here
Topics ENTRY
RISC Tech 
Track 
(IOT)
Tech deci-
sion makers 
and creators 
of tech solu-
tions
Be able to 
make your 
solutions 
MORESECURE
8th Feb, 2018 
(Thursday)
Kalaam •	 What are the latest threats and chal-
lenges to the security of IOT solutions 
across the globe? How are these being 
tackled successfully?
•	 What are the latest tools and best prac-
tices to make IOT solutions secure?
•	 What are the upcoming threats, and 
how badly can they affect?
Cybersecu-
rity, Threat, 
Artificial 
Intelligence, 
Blockchain, 
etc
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Great Indian 
Jugaad
Tech 
Track 
(DIYers)
DIYers Discover 
the coolest 
DIY tools, 
projects & 
practices
9th Feb, 2018 
(Friday)
Kalaam •	 What’re the type of projects gaining 
popularity within the DIY community?
•	 What’re the coolest components, tools & 
equipment in the market?
•	 What’re the latest practices being 
adopted by the Gurus?
•	 Why and How the DIY phenomenon is 
changing the industry and entrepreneur-
ship?
DIY, Develop-
ment Boards, 
Rapid Proto 
Equipment, 
Test Equip-
ment, Plat-
forms, etc
Single Day Pass 
(Any 1 Day) OR 
PRO Pass (All 
3 Days + 70% 
discount on 
Workshops)
Who should attend IEW 2018 & What should they attend
Profile of Business 
organisations vs 
Profile of Audience
End Cus-
tomer 
(Business)
Product 
OEM
System 
Integrator
Design 
House
Manufac-
turing Unit
Sr Business 
Decision Makers
Plan A Plan B Plan C Plan D Plan E
Sr Tech Decision 
Makers
Plan F Plan G Plan H Plan I Plan J
R&D / Solution 
Developers
Plan R Plan R Plan R Plan R 
Testing/QC Dept Plan T Plan T Plan T Plan T Plan T
Plan A 
Biz Decision 
Maker of Cus-
tomer (indus-
trial or Retail)
Plan B 
Biz Decision 
Maker of 
Product OEM
Plan C 
Biz Deci-
sion Maker 
of System 
Integrator
Plan D 
Biz Decision 
Maker of 
Design House
Plan E 
Biz Decision 
Maker of 
Mfg Unit
PIOT: Industrial PIOT: 
Solutions
PIOT: SI 
Channel
ELCINA- CEO 
Summit
ELCINA- 
CEO Summit
PIOT: Retail ELCINA CEO 
Summit
Expo PIOT: Solutions Expo
Buyer Seller 
Meet
Buyer Seller 
Meet
 Expo 
Expo Expo 
Plan F 
Tech Decn 
Maker of Cus-
tomer (indus-
trial or Retail)
Plan G 
Tech Decn 
Maker of 
Product 
OEM
Plan H 
Tech Decn 
Maker of 
System 
Integrator
Plan I 
Tech Decn 
Maker of Design 
House
Plan J 
Tech Decn 
Maker of 
Mfg Unit
PIOT: Industrial PIOT: 
Solutions
PIOT: 
Integrator
PIOT: Solutions PIOT: 
Industrial
PIOT: Retail PIOT: 
Industrial
PIOT: Indus-
trial
PIOT: Integrator Expo
RISC PIOT: Retail PIOT: Retail PIOT: Industrial 
Blockchain Acquire Acquire PIOT: Retail 
Expo Analyse Analyse Acquire 
 Integrate Integrate Analyse 
 RISC RISC Integrate 
Blockchain Blockchain RISC
Expo Expo Blockchain
Expo
Plan R 
R&D / Solution 
Developers of Cus-
tomer (industrial 
or Retail)
Plan R 
R&D / Solution 
Developers of 
Product OEMs
Plan R 
R&D / Solu-
tion Develop-
ers of System 
Integrators
Plan R 
R&D / Solution 
Developers of 
Design House
Acquire Acquire Acquire Acquire
Analyse Analyse Analyse Analyse
Integrate Integrate Integrate Integrate
RISC RISC RISC RISC
Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain
Great Indian Jugaad Great Indian 
Jugaad
Great Indian 
Jugaad
Great Indian Ju-
gaad
Expo Expo Expo Expo
Plan T–Test & QC Dept Plan T–Test & QC Dept Plan T–Test & QC Dept Plan T–Test & QC Dept Plan T–Test & QC Dept
T&M Demos T&M Demos T&M Demos T&M Demos T&M Demos
Expo: T&M India Expo: T&M India Expo: T&M India Expo: T&M India Expo: T&M India
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Expo 
(February 7-9, 2018)
Single Day 
(February 7-9, 2018)
Business 
(February 7-9, 2018)
Pro 
(February 7-9, 2018)
Exhibition Access Yes Yes Yes Yes
Access to Keynote Talks Yes Yes Yes Yes
7 FEB
Acquire Track No
Yes 
Based on which 
day(s) you select
Yes
Blockchain Track No Yes
Profit from IoT Solutions No Yes Yes
Elcina CEO Summit No Yes Yes
8 FEB
Analyse Track No
Yes 
Based on which 
day(s) you select
Yes
Real-World IoT Security Conference No Yes
Profit from IoT Products No Yes Yes
Profit from IoT System Integrators No Yes Yes
9 FEB
Integrate Track No
Yes 
Based on which 
day(s) you select
Yes
Great Indian Jugaad No Yes
Profit from IoT Customers No Yes Yes
To be Announced No Yes
Profit from IoT Retail Sector No No Yes Yes
70% Discount on all Workshops 
(Reservations First-come, first-served)
No No Yes
Buffet Lunch on All 3-Days No No Yes Yes
Access to Conference Videos No No Yes Yes
Certificate of Attendance No No Yes Yes
Digital Subscription to EFY and EB Magazines No No Yes Yes
PRICE FREE ` 2,999 ` 5,999 ` 8,999
Types of passes available at IEW 2018
Buyer -Seller Meet at IEW 2018
This event provides a unique platform for exhibitors to 
meet large buyers of electronic products, components, 
manufacturing equipment, LED lighting components 
and IoT hardware etc. In 2017, more than 100 meet-
ings took place between buyers and sellers, over a 
period of three days. In 2018, we are expecting much 
more successful meetings.
Buyers for IEW 2018
•	 Accord Software & Systems Pvt Ltd 
•	 Amara Raja Electronics Ltd 
•	 Center for Development of Telematics 
•	 Intelux Electronics Pvt Ltd
•	 Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
•	 Hella India Automotive Private Limited 
•	 RP Sanjiv Goenka Group
•	 Renault Nissan Business Centre
•	 Magnitech Engineers
•	 Minda Corporation
•	 Pricol Ltd.
•	 Luminous Power Technologies 
•	 Lenovo India
(This list is subject to change as it is prepared on the basis 
of information available till 20 Dec, 2017)
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Q. What all can I attend for FREE?
A. The EXPO and the Keynote sessions at EFY Confer-
ences. Plus, there might be some sponsored work-
shops and meetups by our sponsors, which will be 
announced on our website from time to time. All free 
activities are on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Q. What are the types of passes?
A. There are four types of passes. EXPO Pass is free. The 
other three passes are paid and include: Single Day Pass, 
Business Pass, and PRO Pass. For more details, refer to: 
https://www.indiaelectronicsweek.com/types-of-passes/
Q. Can Students attend?
A. Students can attend the Expo on the 3rd day—as 
the first two days are for Industry visitors, and the last 
day is Students’ Day. Students can attend any of the 
paid events on any of the 3 days though.
Q. What about Group Discounts?
A. Group discounts are available if you go for more 
than 3 passes. To get a quote, you can share your 
details here (https://www.indiaelectronicsweek.com/
group-discount-form/) OR contact us at +91-98111 
55335.
Q. What are the timing of the Expo?
A. Timings for Expo are 10 am to 6 pm.
Q. What are the timings of the Conferences?
A. The timings for the conferences and workshops at 
India Electronics Week are different from the timings 
of the Expo. These will begin at 8.30 am and go on 
till 5 pm.
Q. What time will the registration start?
A. Registration will start at 8.30 am.
Q. Are there food facilities at IEW?
A. Yes. There will be a full-fledged food court at IEW, 
where you can purchase healthy and affordable food & 
drinks.
Q. Which (paid) passes include lunch?
A. Business and Pro passes include Lunch at the Net-
working Zone.
Q. Is there a special discount for Defence 
Personnel?
A. In order to thank our armed forces for the incredible 
work they do, we have a special discount for them. They 
get all passes at 50% discount.
Q. Who’s qualified to get this discount?
A. Anyone who’s working for any of our armed forces or 
inland security organisations including army, navy, air 
force, border security, home guard, and police. The same 
extends to those who are active or retired. Plus, anyone 
working in strategic electronics PSU organisations such as 
ISRO, DRDO, Bharat Electronics, ECIL, etc.
Q. How to get this discount?
A. While buying a pass use the promocode DEFPASS and 
upload an image of your identityproof. That’s it. If we 
find that proof submitted is invalid, then we may cancel 
the registration.
Q. Is there a special discount for Academicians?
A. Yes! They are the true builders of our nation, and to 
Frequently Asked Questions 
154 January 2018 | electronics for you www.efymag.com
thank them—we have a 50% discount for them too. 
Again, active or retired academicians can avail this 
discount.
Q. Who’s qualified to get this discount?
A. Anyone who teaches as a profession. Profes-
sors, teachers, lecturers, trainers—from schools, 
colleges, training institutes—all of them can avail 
this benefit. And, the institution can be private or 
government owned. As long as you teach, we want 
to thank you.
Q. How to get this discount?
A. Academicians can use the promocode ACAPASS 
and upload an image of their identity proof. That’s 
it. If we find that proof submitted is invalid, then 
we may cancel the registration.
Q. Where can we get the details about the 
conferences and workshops?
A. We are updating details of all conferences and 
workshops on this page: https://www.indiaelec-
tronicsweek.com/conferences-workshops/. As more 
conferences, workshops and meetups get finalised, 
we will keep updating this page.
Q. Does the pass fee include GST
A. Yes, GST is included in it—so the amounts indi-
cated are NET, and nothing extra needs to be paid 
over and above the stated amounts.
Q. If I need a GST invoice – will that be 
provided?
A. Yes, the same will be provided. Shoot us an 
email (with your GST number) at rsvp@efy.in, and 
our team will provide you with a GST-input-credit-
friendly invoice within 3 working days.
Q. When will I get the attendance 
certificates?
A. We typically mail the attendance certificates by 
courier to those with designated paid passes, within 
1 week, after the event. But, if you want, you can 
collect the same on the last day too—as long as you 
are amongst those who had registered and paid up 
before 1st Feb, 2018. If you paid later, we will have 
to mail you—as we won’t be able to print and get 
them at the event, on time.
Q. Can the payment be made post the event?
A. No, all payments have to be done before the 
event. For further details, contact us at +91-98111 
55335 or rsvp@efy.in.
Q. What modes of payments do you accept?
A. We accept all modes of payments—Digital (credit 
card, debit card, NEFT, PayTM, etc) and Analogue 
(Cheque, DD, etc). The former have to be made in 
the favour of EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd, and mailed to 
IEW 2018, D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, 
New Delhi—110020. To make online payment, you 
can use our online registration system or login to 
your account and upgrade through it.
Q. I have already registered as a Visitor. Now 
I want to upgrade my pass—how do I do that?
A. Simply login to your account at http://login.
indiaelectronicsweek.com and upgrade your pass. 
Else, speak to our team at +91-98111 55335, and 
they will help you.
Q. How will I know which exhibitors should 
I visit?
A. We will be issuing a Show Guide (printed) to all 
visitors at IEW. This show guide will also be avail-
able on our website. It will enable you to see list 
of all exhibitors and search them product category-
wise.
Q. Why should I print my pre-printable 
badges? What’s the benefit?
A. If you print those badges at your office or home, 
and come with them to the venue—you will NOT 
have to stand in any queue. You can simply pick an 
empty lanyard (string with plastic sleeve), fold your 
printed badge, and wlak straight in?
Q. If I walk straight in, where will I get my 
delegate kit and lunch coupons (if I have 
paid for that level of pass)?
A. At the expo floor, we will have May I Help You 
Desk, where you can collect the same—at any time.
Q. How many events are there at India 
Electronics Week?
A. Overall, five branded events are happening under 
IEW: EFY Expo, IoTshow.in, LEDasia.in, T&M Expo, 
and EFY Conferences. Under these—many conferenc-
es, seminars, workshops and meetups are happening 
across the three days.
Q. Are there any age restrictions with 
respect to visitors?
A. Yes, entry is for those aged 16 and above only. 
And, entry for students is on the third day only, 
which is February 9, 2018.
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The speakers’ Wall of Fame
Looking back at the success of IEW 2017
Buyers’ Feedback
“This is the fifth time I have participated in EFY Expo. Since the last 
five years we have been able to find a lot of good suppliers in India. 
Currently, we are working with about 25 global and Indian suppliers 
that we got through EFY, from product/service categories like metal 
sheets, connectors, ESD and cleanrooms. I wish to continue partici-
pating in this event”
Shanaka Perera, purchase manager, Variosystems Pvt Ltd 
“This is a very good platform for buyers and sellers. It is more fo-
cused than the meetings we have in our office or at other places.”
Manoj Dhawan, assistant general manager, Luminous Power 
Technologies
“With ‘Make In India,’ such platforms where buyers can meet sellers 
have become essential for both. It is difficult to bring people having 
the same understanding together and to approach intangible ben-
efits. I feel this type of forums should come up in bigger ways, both 
implementation and application wise.”
Gururaj. V. Hiremath, senior deputy general manager 
(CSC/IED-CMS), Bharat Electronics Ltd
“One-on-one meetings are very important, especially at the start of a 
financial year. I had a good response while talking to suppliers here. 
This forum is really good for such activities. I am quite satisfied; I 
met the right sellers and at the right time.”
Narayan Kumar J., managing director - technical, Sanjay Technologies
Exhibitors’ Feedback
“We have been participating in EFY events for last six 
to seven years. This event has been very good for us, 
and we eagerly look forward to come back next year.”
Chris Palin, EMEIA manager, HumiSeal
“Thanks EFY for organising this wonderful exhibition! 
We came across some serious visitors. We wish to 
push our legs into the industrial segment, and have 
got some contacts from the industry segment.”
Manish Joshi, Scientech
“IEW is a good platform for having quality conversa-
tions with customers. This time there was a lot of 
IoT talk. Quality of conversation was very good this 
time!”
Amit Agnihotri, marketing manager, RS Component
“The show has been great this time! We came across 
a lot of manufacturers, suppliers, customers and IoT 
startups. The conferences were very informative. 
Overall, it was a very good networking event.” 
Ranga Prasad M.A., director, Semikart
“As far as the event is concerned, we saw quality this 
time, which is very important to us.” 
Sanjay Malla, chief executive officer, Toradex 
A panel discussion a
t IoTshow.in confere
nce
Inaugural session at the CEO Summit
Robot handin
g out kits to c
onference del
egates
Images say It 
Better than Words
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exhibitors
The India Electronics Week 2017 brings together a gamut of exhibitors from 
electronics, LED and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors. They showcase the 
latest innovations across various product categories. Presented in this section 
is a curtain raiser of some of the exhibitors, with many more to follow 
3C TAEYANG Co. LTd.
3C TAEYANG is specialized as a Cable Assembly provider for IT, Displays, 
Medical, Electronic devices and Automotive electronic systems. With our 
manufacturing technology, we are able to provide not only the reasonable 
price but also competitive data interconnect solutions, and distribute a Mobile 
Hotspot (Wi-Fi Router, “MIFI” device) available for All 2G(GSM)/3G/4G(LTE) 
Worldwide. 
3C TAEYANG product range: Mobile Hotspot (Wi-Fi Router, “MIFI” device), 
Micro Coaxial Cable Assembly (Automobile, Ultrasound system, IT devices), 
RF Cable Assembly & Connectors, Customized CableAssembly High-Mix, Low-
Volume
We proudly introduce Saison Components as our exclusive & authorized 
representative for Indian market which has a prominent presence in industries 
such as Renewable, Telecom, Power, Automotive, Consumer, Defence etc.
Contact details: www.tae-yang.co.kr
AbhishEk ENTErprisEs
Established in 2003, Abhishek Enterprises specializes in Li ion and Li polymer 
battery pack. Msme registered with udyog aadhar under Make in India. ISO 
9001:2015 certified, with welding capacity of 6,00,000 cell per month.
We provide customised solutions to our clients in the field of Solar Street 
light, POS terminals, IoT solutions, GPRS device, Medical devices, Metering, 
etc.
We also offer our services for contract manufacturing of power bank, battery 
pack with PCM, pre-cut Ni strip and wires (single side and two side stripping), 
branding of cells as per client requirement.
Contact details: www.amcell.co.in, +91-22-26182711
ANdErs ELECTroNiCs pLC
AndersDX specialises in the design, development and supply of world-class 
display and embedded technologies to our global B2B customers.
Working with customers at the design stage of their project, AndersDX uses its 
expertise in display, embedded computing and touch control technology to help its 
customers differentiate their products through exceptional user interface design.
Optimising every aspect of the display design from touchscreen, cover lens, 
backlight and motherboard it ensures the product is truly for the application 
and can create a solution that will make a difference.
AndersDX has over 65 years of experience exceeding the expectations of blue 
chip customers across a wide range of sectors, unparalleled technological 
expertise, and an ingrained “people first” service orientation.
Contact details: www.andersdx.com
ANriTsU iNdiA priVATE LiMiTEd
Anritsu Corporation headquartered in Japan is a global provider of innovative 
communications test and measurement solutions for more than 120 years, 
providing solutions for existing and next-generation wired and wireless 
communication systems and operators. Our products include wireless, 
optical, microwave/RF and digital instruments as well as operations support 
systems for R&D, manufacturing, installation and maintenance. We also 
provide precision microwave/RF components, optical devices and high-speed 
electrical devices for communication products and systems.
Anritsu India Private Limited, a 100% owned subsidiary of Anritsu Corporation 
has its head Office in Bangalore and branch offices in Noida and Hyderabad. 
Anritsu India which has ISO9001:2008 & NABL certified quality management 
system brings together the functions of sales, marketing, engineering, service 
and technical support for better and broader support.
The India calibration & service centre in Bangalore is well equipped and 
capable of servicing the range our products for better support to local Indian 
customers. The customers in India include the Mobile R&D/Manufacturing 
companies, Defence/Aerospace companies, Mobile/Fixed line operators/NEMs 
and Education Institutes is supported by Anritsu team of > 60 members in India.
Contact details: www.anritsu.com
ArihANT iMpEX
Arihant Inpex deals in all kinds of Transformer laminations such as Imported 
E&I, Strip laminations for distribution & Power transformers, Torroidal Cores 
& Motor Stampings.
Materials available in all grades of CRNO & CRGO in special components/
sizes. Raw material can also be offered in sheets, coils or slitted sizes with 
high quality & reasonable price.
Contact details: www.golecha.net, 044-26692052
AXELTA sYsTEMs pVT. LiMiTEd
Axelta Systems has emerged as a leading IoT entity delivering utmost value 
and effective competency to business through a host of innovative, cost 
effective and IoT powered solutions catering to comprehensive needs of an 
organization.
The company’s success is marked with exclusivity as it has also gained 
prominence as the global leader in IoT Education. Based in Hyderabad, Axelta 
was incorporated in 2013 with the mission of empowering business with 
significant enhancement in processes through effective IoT. The company is 
the brain child of two Ex IITians, Piyush Jain & Manish Agarwal, who bring 
with them a profound expertise rooted in combined experience of fifty years 
in global IT industry.
Contact details: www.axelta.com
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E CoNTroL dEViCEs
E Control Devices, established in 2012, is an ISO 9001:2015 organization 
having core expertise in Electronic component distribution.
We are a team of professionals having both business and technical expertise with 
a very structured operations and supply chain knowledge to shorten delivery 
time and meet customer wide requirements. We cater almost all the segments 
like Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Industrial, Defense, IoT, Lighting, Solar etc.
We source and stock broad range of electrical & electronic components 
like Relays, Connectors, Switches, Sensors, RF/Microwave Components, 
ICS, Mosfets, Analog devices, Bridges, Displays, Transducers, Sensors, 
Optocouplers, Fiber optic devices, Industrial automation, Instrumentation, 
IGBT, Thyristors, Rectifiers, Control systems, PLC & CNC parts, Drives, Servo 
motors, RF components ,DMD chips, Process control equipment, Military 
components, Zigbee, WI-FI, Bluetooth components and Modules.
We also specialize in hard to find Components.
Contact details: www.econtroldevices.com, 0129-4003088
CLoUdThAT TEChNoLoGiEs
Incorporated in March 2012, CloudThat Technologies provides training and 
consulting services in Cloud, Big Data & IoT technologies for mid-market & 
enterprise clients around the world. With expertise in major cloud platforms 
including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure we are the single 
technology source for organizations looking to utilize the flexibility and power 
Cloud Computing & IoT provides.
We are focused on empowering IT professionals and organizations with 
leveraging Cloud, Big Data & IoT. Co-founded by Bhavesh Goswami, an ex-
Amazonian who was part of the AWS product development team and 
Himanshu Mody, who brings in 17 years of experience in IT Training and 
Consulting business allows us to deliver high quality training and consulting 
services with best practices.
We have trained more than 7,000 IT professionals and conducted corporate 
trainings for some of the fortune 500 companies which includes Accenture, 
Infosys, Fidelity, HCL, Intuit, GE, TCS, HP, SAP, Oracle, Western Union, Philips, 
Flipkart, L&T and Samsung etc.
We have presence in Bengaluru, Mumbai, USA & UK.
CloudThat is an AWS Consulting Partner, Microsoft Silver Learning Partner, 
Microsoft Silver Cloud Platform Partner, Red Hat Certified Training Partner, 
MongoDB Ready Partner and part of Kryterion Testing Network.
Contact details: www.cloudthat.in
CirCuit SyStem india Ltd. (PCB POWer 
marKet)
With over 20 years of excellence, PCB Power has become one of India’s 
leading PCB designers and manufacturers. Our focus on high-quality and 
economically viable systems combined with unmatched consistency has 
made us the firm of choice throughout India. 
Our customers rely on us for their requirements in research & development, 
aerospace & defence, automotive, railways, medical, educational, 
telecommunication, industrial electronics and other critical areas of development.
With this value we are proud to launch the PCB Power Market. Be it design, 
customization or a component, the PCB Power Market has solutions for all 
like customized designs, PCB layouts, power stencils, soldering solutions, 
PCB fabrication, PCB assembly, heatsinks & mounting kits, thyristors & 
triacs, varistors , switches, capacitors, rectifiers, to thousands of small and 
large components that are required to build your state-of-the-art PCB. With 
everything under a single roof, the PCB Power Market is the first of its kind in 
India – one stop for infinite solutions.
We believe in providing solutionsthat meet the customers requirements. 
Cutting-edge High Frequency-RF metal clad PCBs, RT Duroid and Higher Layer 
count with lean manufacturing and SPC, are among our ground-breaking 
solutions, manufactured in our UL certified facility.
Contact details: www.pcbpower.com
CYrrUp
Our product “Vehicle Black Box” is for vehicles which works in similar fashion 
as in flight black box, with additional features to know the vehicle status, 
monitor its health, fuel levels, while providing safety and security of vehicle 
and its occupants.
It helps us to analyze the driver, how he is driving. With our data analytics 
reports, you can draw conclusions on his driving skills and your vehicles 
health. It also notifies instantly if your driver is taking sharp turns, jumping 
signals or ignoring signboards. Also, if driver is drunk beyond permissible level 
it will not allow him to drive. Panic buttons and push-to-call options comes 
handy in case of accidents to get instant help from our 24*7 call-center for 
ambulance or police help.
It has 2 cameras which track live footage of roads taken and inside the vehicle. 
These footage helps in insurance claims, false accuses or illegal blames. Our 
one of its kind visual analytics based solution, detects driver drowsiness while 
the vehicle is on the move. Additionally, we are developing an auto alert 
system meant for drivers, targeting heavy vehicles when moving vehicle in 
reverse. This is all-in-one system for complete vehicle management applicable 
for personal vehicles, fleet management or transportation management.
Contact details: www.cyrrup.com
digi-Key eLeCtrOniCS
Digi-Key Electronics, a global Internet-based distributor of electronic 
components, is an authorized distributor located in Thief River Falls, 
Minnesota, USA. By visiting our website engineers have access to more than 
6 million components from 650+ trusted suppliers, with over 1.3 million 
products in stock and available for immediate shipment.
The company offers a vast selection of online resources including a range of 
EDA and design tools, reference design library, on-demand multimedia library, 
a comprehensive article library, and community forums, among others. Digi-
Key also offers numerous Supply Chain solutions such as bonded inventory 
and just-in-time shipping, as well as a newly updated BOM manager.
Digi-Key prides itself on its ability to provide the best possible service to 
customers.
Contact details: www.digikey.in
bridGEThiNGs ioT
BridgeThings IoT is a startup that builds solutions ranging from a simple 
AC-DC dual output SMPS (Brand: BT100, for powering IoT sensors 
to niche wireless lighting solutions that save up to 60% more power 
than a typical LED light. With patented technology that reduces power 
consumption of LED lighting based on different sensors, we believe in 
taking the LED lighting revolution to its next level. In addition to reducing power, 
our lighting solutions helps our customers by cutting down the replacement cost 
& time by upto 70%.
With strong competency in simple & mesh wireless networks, Bridge Things 
IoT has built a plug & play wireless hardware platform to enable students and 
the DIY community to prototype their ideas in no time. We believe in building 
solutions that brings efficiency in terms of cost & time.
Contact details: www.bridgethings.com
162 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
FErro sTAr
Ferro Star was established with the aim of making quality ferrite components 
(Ferrite Cores & Phenolic Bobbins) for the Electronic Industry. Our motto 
is customers satisfaction through innovation & cost consciousness. Based 
on its wealth of experience and technical know how we are competent to 
design, develop & provide customized ferrite components as per customer’s 
requirements at very competitive prices.
The company is marketing the products of Tongxiang Huayuan Electronic 
Co.LTD. in India. Presently the Company is dealing in Ferrite Cores i.e. EE/EC/
EDR/EPC/ EFD /PQ/ RM/ET/RING CORES/DRUM CORES/RODS etc. Ferro Star 
also deals in Iron Dust cores of various sizes.
GATik GrEENErGY pVT. LTd. 
Gatik Greenergy provides wireless home automation products and solutions. 
Our products help in turning a home into a smarter and energy efficient one. 
With a combination of products from own stable and international brands, 
we enable one-touch operations, wireless and remote management of every 
aspect of a living space and make it smart.
Gatik Greenergy automation solutions can be used for surveillance, security, 
lighting, home appliances, energy management, home theatre and 
entertainment. The products can be retro fitted into any building thereby 
making it smarter at lowest possible investment. Greenergy’s smart-home 
solutions come with built-in remote management capabilities via mobile app.
Part of Bangalore based multi-million dollar Gatik Group, which has interests 
in broadband, IT, technology, services and infrastructure, we are one of the 
few companies with own R & D wing and indigenously developed products. 
Contact details: www.greengatik.com
GT MAGNETiCs pVT LTd
GT Magnetics Pvt. Ltd is one of the leading manufacturers of wound 
magnetics, that has a wide range of coils and ferrite transformers. The 
company is ISO 9001:2008 certified. Its manufacturing unit was established 
in 1997 and since then, it has established a reputation for reliable quality and 
on time execution of orders.
Its major products include wound components for the lighting industry, LED 
driver transformers, solar lighting products, CFL driver transformers, wound 
components (for audio-video and automotive applications), inverter and UPS 
systems (for the telecom and charger industries), filter and choke coils and 
customised ferrite transformers and coils.
Apart from complying with customers requirements, our prime focus is to 
adhere to industry-defined quality standards for ferrite transformers, coils, 
SMPS, line filters, etc.
All its products and processes are in compliance with set standards and 
norms, as drafted by quality monitoring institutes. Equipped with a good 
infrastructure and a team of technical experts, the company’s facility is spread 
across 139.35sqm of built area with 2322.57sqm of open space. The different 
types of machinery installed at its unit include a CNC automatic winding 
machine, an automatic core tapping machine, high-voltage breakdown 
testers, temperature-controlled ovens, etc.
Contact details: www.gtmagnetic.com, +91 11 45527299
ELEMENT14 iNdiA pVT. LTd.
Element14 is a leading distributor of electronic components, single board 
computers and development kits, tools, test and measurement, software and 
design services. We have out-performed the industry norms on parameters 
like availability of products, shipping speed and customer responsiveness. At a 
given time, we have more than 6,50,000 products like electronic components, 
Interconnect and e-mech products, electrical, tools and test and measurement 
from more than 3500 leading suppliers like Analog Devices, NXP, Molex, TE 
Connectivity, Microchip, Texas Instruments, Vishay, Fluke, Tektronix, Keysight 
etc that are in stock and ready to be shipped from our global warehouses. 
We also offer the first and only community www.element14.com for design 
engineers and electronics enthusiasts.
area of Operations
Segments: Electronic components distribution
Products and Services: Semiconductors and ICs, Single Board Computers and 
Development kits, Interconnect and Passives, Electro Mechanical Products, 
Tools, Test and Measurement, Design Services, Softwares 
Key focus areas: IOT, Prototyping 
Parent Company Listing: NYSE 
Contact details: www.in.element14.com, 1800 3000 3888
EMbdEs TEChNoLoGiEs pVT LTd
EmbDes Technologies, an engineering solution provider, founded in the year 
2012 with offices in Bangalore and Chennai. EmbDes’s focuses on providing 
solutions from the concept. The solution includes proof of concept, pilot 
production and mass productionbased on customer needs.
Our expertise: Firmware and Linux Device Drivers, Application Development - 
Android and iOS, FPGA - IP Core Development, Hardware Design, PCB Design, 
Thermal Analysis and Enclosure Design, Proto typing (PCB and 3D Printing), 
Mass production (PCB), Injection molding, Sheet metal works
Contact details: www.embdestech.co.in
EMs TEChNoLoGiEs
EMS Technologies is an exclusive distributor for Lackwerke Peters, Germany 
and in India for the past 10 years.
Peters have manufacturing experience of more than 55 years in conformal 
coating, casting compounds and casting resins, and have presence in 65 
countries.
In addition to this EMS Technologies has successfully diversified in the 
following related areas:
1. Supply & Manufacturing of ESD- Antistatic products
2. We are manufacturing customized Packing materials (Bubble bag, Metal 
bag, VCI bag etc.)
3. We are specialized in Antistatic PET Tray for PCB’s in electronic industry.
EMS Technologies has consolidated its role as a provider of complete 
“Conformal Coatings, Conformal Coating Job works & solutions, ESD-Antistatic 
products” and foraying into ancillary services related electronics.
Contact details: www.ems-technologies.com
164 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
HK WentWOrtH (india) Pvt Ltd
Electrolube has roots stretching back to 1941, when Henry Kingsbury formed 
Kingsbury Components to manufacture volume controls. It was here that 
Henry formulated a specialist oil that enhanced the electrical performance 
and lifetime of the contact surface in addition to reducing friction of moving 
parts.
This breakthrough prompted a range of contact lubricants, forming the basis 
of Electrolube. The company now offers thermal management materials, 
conformal coatings, encapsulation resins, cleaning solutions and maintenance 
products for the electronics industry. 
With an expanding presence in 55 countries, Electrolube has a reputation 
for excellence. All our products range are manufactured at our factories in 
UK, China and India to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF 16949 and OHSA 18001 
certification.
Unlike companies with standardised solutions that fail to meet the technical 
specifications required for your product, Electrolube’s technical experts create 
customised solutions and support you from design through implementation 
and beyond.
Contact details: www.hkw.co.uk
hUMisEAL
Humiseal provides the wide selection of products to meet its customers tough 
environmental and chemical protection requirements for electronic circuits 
and systems. It manufactures over 60 electronics coatings, thinners, strippers 
and masking materials and can also offer custom formulations to meet 
unusual specifications. HumiSeal® products are qualified to MIL-I-46058C, 
UL746E and IPC-CC-830 standards. We offer production facilities certified to 
TS-16949. The standard demanded by the automotive industry.
The product portfolio is further enhanced by a range of complimentary 
materials that include Thermal management, Display adhesives, Damming & 
Potting materials, Conductive adhesives and Sealants.
Our approach to research and development is multi-faceted. The largest part 
is market-driven, listening to what our customers want and delivering against 
their expectations. At the same time, we are continually looking to the future 
and working to develop innovative new products. We have always been 
proactive regarding environmental issues and corporate responsibility. When 
it comes to protecting your electronics, it makes sense to trust HumiSeal.
Contact details: www.humiseal.com
iGNiTAriUM TEChNoLoGY soLUTioNs 
priVATE LiMiTEd
Ignitarium Technology Solutions is a silicon and embedded system solution 
provider that has offered cutting-edge engineering solutions in IC design, 
System design, Embedded software, Mobility software & Application 
development, ever since its inception in 2012.
Headquartered in Bangalore, with business entities in Kochi, San Jose, 
USA, Ignitarium embraces the significance of fire, by igniting, purifying, 
and refining ideas to produce technology-driven thought leadership, IP, 
solutions and services. We are core team of technologists, who have a 
collective industry experience of over 100 years, with expertise in IC design 
and implementation, FPGA design, Embedded system engineering and 
Software development.
Ignitarium’s design service centre focuses on executing projects in VLSI and 
software domains. Design services include Semiconductor logic design and 
architecture, Design verification, FPGA prototyping, Embedded and Mobility 
software.
The key technology focus areas include computer vision, machine learning, 
deep learning, IOT and device mobility.
Contact details: www.ignitarium.com
hApsTroNiCs TEChNoLoGY pVT LTd
HAPSTRONICS Technology Pvt. Ltd, with headquarters in Bangalore provides 
superior Sales & Support in Electronic Design Automation and Printed Circuit 
Board industry, serving Hardware and Software markets.
HAPSTRONICS is authorized channel partner for – Pulsonix, Easy Pc, PCB 
Libraries, PCB Investigator tools. Industry-proven PCB design suites which 
provides a feature-rich, fully scalable solution that can be expanded and 
upgraded as PCB challenges and the level of design sophistication grows.
In order to meet the customer needs of our clients, HAPSTRONICS maintains 
a wide range of PCB design applications, exceptional functional and technical 
expertise coupled with extensive industry knowledge.
HAPSTRONICS goal is to exceed the expectations of every client by offering 
outstanding customer service, increase flexibility and greater value in PCB 
design environment. Our principals are distinguished by the functional and 
technical expertise combined with hands-on experience, thereby ensuring 
that our clients receive the most effective and professional support from us.
Contact details: www.hapstronics.com
hArihi ohM ELECTroNiCs
HARIHI OHM ELECTRONICS is authorised distributor in India for M/s. DIGI 
INTERNATIONAL, USA (www.digi.com) for Zigbee/Xbee, WiFi, Cellular, IoT 
Gateways & Embedded SBCs and also distributor in India for M/s.AMPEDRF 
TECH INC., USA for Bluetooth Modules (www.ampedrftech.com) and we 
support all kind of Antennas for wireless.
Contact details: www.harihiohm.in, 040 2796 1299
hiMEsh rEddiVAri TEChNoLoGiEs
Module143.com is an e-commerce website under Himesh Reddivari 
Technologies Pvt. Ltd. A leading electronics and IoT company focussed on 
sales and service of electronic components for students and makers, which 
are used in their IoT, Embedded and Robotic projects. The company also 
conducts workshops on different platforms like Arduino, RaspberryPi, IoT, AI 
embedded systems, Robotics etc.
Contact details: www.Module143.com
166 January 2018 | ElEctronics For you www.EFymag.com
JTk TEChNoLoGY iNdiA priVATE LiMiTEd
We design & manufacture various kinds of inductors, electronic transformers, 
chokes, filters, inverters, and wire harness that are applied in lighting, green 
energy and home appliance industry.
JTK has established comprehensive quality control system. We are certified 
with ISO9001 and ISO14001, and are also certified in UL system, CQC and CESI 
certifications. which ensures our high standard quality product. 
With outstanding management, we have sustained and supported many 
international electronic companies such as GE, Schneider, Samsung, Haier, 
GOODWE,DELTA and still expanding its customer group.
Contact details: No. 62, 4th Floor, Mahalakshmi Metal & Rolling Mills 
3rd Cross, 1st Main, 2nd Stage, Yeshwanthpur Industrial suburb. Bangalore, 
PIN:- 560022 (KA, INDIA), www.jtkindia.com 
kArNATAkA bioTEChNoLoGY ANd 
iNForMATioN TEChNoLoGY sErViCEs 
(KBitS)
It is the nodal agency of the Department of IT and BT, Government 
of Karnataka and a single point contact for investors in IT, BT, ESDM, AVGC and 
Startup sectors. It coordinates the conduct of the department’s flagship 
annual events like Bangalore IT.biz, Bangalore India