All the applications of RFID you want to know are here

The Introduction of RFID

Before introducing the application of RFID in daily life, we’d better have a basic understanding of RFID. Or you can visit this website for more detailed information about this technology (http://www.apogeeweb.net/article/136.html).
Radio Frequency Identification Technology(RFID), also called electronic tag, wireless radio frequency identification, inductive electronic chip, and non-contact card, is a non-contact automatic identification technology, which can automatically identify the target object and obtain relevant data by radio-frequency signal. As a wireless version of the bar code, RFID technology has advantages that a bar code does not have, such as waterproof, antimagnetic, high temperature resistant, long service life and large reading distance. In addition, RFID technology has much space available for storing data and data on the tag can be encrypted and stored information could be easily changed. The application of RFID will bring revolutionary changes to retail, logistics and other industries.

The Basic Composition of RFID

RFID Tag is composed of three parts: tag, reader, and antenna.

Tag: Tag is composed of coupling elements and chips, each Tag has unique electronic code. High-capacity electronic tag has user write area attached to the object indicating the target object;

Reader: Reader is used to read (sometimes write) label information. It is designed to be hand-held or stationary;

Antenna: Antenna is used to pass radio frequency signals between a tag and a reader.　 

                Antenna inside a tag and encapsulated electronic tag by ID chips

The Characteristic of RFID

Data storage: Compared with traditional tags, it has larger storage capacity (1bit -- 1024bit). Its data can be updated at any time, and can be read and written;

Reading and writing speed: Compared with bar code, it is faster to read and write without. It can be used to identify multiple objects and mobile objects;

Easy to use: Small in size, easy to package, can be embedded in the product;

Security: Special chip, unique serial number, difficult to copy;

Durable: No mechanical failure, long service life, resistant to harsh environment.

The Working Principle of RFID

The basic working principle of RFID technology is not complicated: the reader sends the radio frequency signal of a specific frequency through the transmitting antenna, and when the electronic tag enters the effective working area, the inductive current is generated, so as to obtain energy, and the electronic tag is activated, which makes the electronic tag send its coding information through the built-in radio frequency antenna.The receiving antenna of the reader receives the modulating signal sent from the tag, and transmits it to the signal processing module of the reader through the antenna regulator. After demodulation and decoding, the valid information is sent to the background host system for relevant processing.The host system recognizes the identity of the tag according to logic operation, makes corresponding processing and control according to different settings, and finally sends out the command signal to control the reader to complete the corresponding read and write operation.

The Classification of RFID

RFID can be divided into passive RFID and active RFID based on whether it has power supply or not.

Passive RFID has its power coming from Reader. A frequency emitted by the Reader generates energy for the sensor to transmit data back to the Reader. It is small in size and has long service life. The sensing distance is short.

Active RFID is expensive. Because it has built-in battery, it is larger than passive RFID. The sensing distance is long.

According to the frequency, it can be roughly divided into three categories: LF, HF and UF.

Low Frequency:100~500KHz. The sensing distance is short and its reading speed is slow. The main frequency is 125 KHz. Its penetrability is good .

High Frequency: 10~15MHz The sensing distance is a little longer  and its reading speed is faster. The main frequency is 13.56MHz.　　

Ultra High Frequency/Microwave: The frequency is between 850~950MHz（UHF）or 2.45GHz. Its sensing distance is the longest and its reading speed is the fastest. But its penetrability is poor.

　　

The applications of RFID　

1.Logistics: RFID can be applied to logistics tracking , automatic information acquisition. It is also used in warehousing and port and express delivery;

2.Retail industry: RFID can provide real-time statistics of sales data, replenishment and guard against theft;

3.Fashion industry: RFID can be applied to automatic production, warehouse management, brand management, item management and channel management;

4.Medical treatment: Medical apparatus and instruments management, patient identification identification, infant theft prevention.

5.Identification: Electronic passport, ID card, student ID card and other electronic certificates.

6.Anti-counterfeiting: Anti-counterfeiting of valuables like cigarettes, wine and drugs, anti-counterfeiting of tickets, etc.

7.Asset management: All kinds of assets

8.Traffic: Taxi management, bus hub management, railway identification, etc.

9.Food: Freshness management of fruit, vegetables, seafood and other food.

10.Animal identification: The identification and management of training and raising animals, livestock and pets.

11. Library: Apply in bookstore, library, publishing house, etc.

12.Automobile: Manufacturing, anti-theft, positioning, car keys.

13.Aviation: Manufacturing, passenger ticket, luggage and parcel tracking.

14.Military: Identification and tracking of ammunition, guns, materials, personnel, trucks, etc.

How to Choose the Right Application Sensor?

Introduction

In order to obtain information from the outside world, people must resort to the sensory organs.

And by relying on people's own sensory organs, their functions in researching natural phenomena and laws and production activities are far from enough. To accommodate this situation, sensors are needed. Therefore, it can be said that the sensor is an extension of the human five senses, also known as electric five senses.

With the advent of the new technological revolution, the world has entered the information age. In the process of using information, the first thing to be solved is to obtain accurate and reliable information, and the sensor is the main way and means to obtain information in the natural and production fields.

In modern industrial production, especially in automated production processes, various sensors are used to monitor and control the various parameters of the production process, to operate the equipment in a normal or optimal state, and to achieve the best quality of the product. Therefore, it can be said that without many excellent sensors, modern production will lose its foundation.

In the basic research, the sensor has a prominent position. The development of modern science and technology has entered many new fields: for example, to observe the universe of thousands of light years on a macroscopic level, to observe the particle world as small as fm on the microscopic level, and to observe the evolution of celestial bodies for hundreds of thousands of years in the vertical direction. , an instant response as short as s. In addition, there have been various extreme technological studies that have an important role in deepening material understanding, exploring new energy sources, and new materials, such as ultra-high temperature, ultra-low temperature, ultra-high pressure, ultra-high vacuum, super-strong magnetic field, and ultra-weak magnetic field. Obviously, it is impossible to obtain information that is not directly accessible to human senses, and that there is no suitable sensor. The obstacles of many basic scientific research are firstly that there are difficulties in obtaining object information, and the emergence of some new mechanisms and high-sensitivity detection sensors often leads to breakthroughs in this field. The development of some sensors is often the pioneer of some marginal discipline development.

Sensors have long penetrated into areas such as industrial production, space development, ocean exploration, environmental protection, resource surveys, medical diagnostics, bioengineering, and even cultural relics protection. It is no exaggeration to say that from the vast space, to the vast ocean, to various complex engineering systems, almost every modern project can not be separated from a variety of sensors.

It can be seen that the important role of sensor technology in developing the economy and promoting social progress is very obvious. All countries in the world attach great importance to the development of this field. It is believed that in the near future, sensor technology will have a leap to reach a new level commensurate with its important position.

Article Core	Sensor
Purpose	Introduce how to choose the right application sensor.
Application	Consumer electronics, automobile, industry and so on.
Keywords	Sensor

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Accelerometers measure acceleration, tilt, vibration or shock and are therefore suitable for a wide range of applications from wearable fitness devices to industrial platform stabilization systems. There are hundreds of accelerometer devices on the market to choose from, with varying costs and performance. The latest MEMS capacitive accelerometers are used in applications traditionally dominated by piezoelectric accelerometers and other sensors. The new generation of MEMS accelerometers provides solutions for applications such as CBM, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), Asset Health Monitoring (AHM), Vital Signs Monitoring (VSM) and IoT wireless sensor networks. However, with so many accelerometers and so many applications, choosing the right accelerometer is not easy.

There are no industry standards that define which category an accelerometer belongs to. The general classification of accelerometers and their corresponding applications are shown in Table 1. The illustrated bandwidth and g-value ranges are typical values that accelerometers use in the listed end applications.

Accelerometer level	Main application	Bandwidth	Range of g values
Consumer Electronics	Motion, static acceleration	0 HZ	1 g
Automobile	Collision/stability	100 HZ	<200g/2g
Industry	Platform stability / tilt	5 HZ to500 HZ	25g
Tactics	Weapon/aircraft navigation	<1 KHZ	8g
Navigation	Submarine/aircraft navigation	>300 KHZ	15g

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What Are the New Memory Technologies and What Problems Can They Solve?

Introduction

The rapid development of information technology requires storage technology to provide faster, larger capacity, lower power consumption, smaller size, longer life and higher reliability. At present, the development of storage technology has not kept pace with the development of processors, and has become a bottleneck restricting the development of computing technology. Traditional semiconductor process technology has gradually approached the physical limit, and it is difficult to greatly improve the performance of the memory. If there is a breakthrough, it is necessary to find another way and find new principles and methods. At present, some new storage technologies and corresponding new memories that are being researched and developed for the new century bring a hope for future information storage technologies, some of which have been or are partially implemented in the laboratory. Work towards commercialization goals. For example: Associative Memory Technology and Memory CAM with Addressable Addressing, Intelligent Processing Technology and Smart Memory, Superconducting Technology and Josephson Junction RAM, Holographic Storage Technology and Holographic Memory, Single Electronic Storage Technology and Single Electronic Memory, Proton Preservation Information Technology And proton memory, hydrogen atom storage technology and hydrogen atomic memory, biocircuit technology and protein molecular memory, next-generation information storage technology and high-speed mass storage, building electric field technology and analog memory, optical storage technology and three-dimensional optical memory, nanowires New information storage, etc.

Article Core	New Memory Technologies
Purpose	Introduce what the new memory technologies are and what problems they can solve?
Application	Semiconductor Industry.

Catalog

Introduction
Ⅰ Overview
Ⅱ Embedded Memory Problems
Ⅲ Power Problems in Large Systems
Ⅳ Why New Memory Can Solve the Problem
Ⅴ New Memory Type	5.1 PCM，Phase Change Memory
	5.2 FRAM or FeRAM，Ferroelectric RAM
	5.3 MRAM，Magnetic RAM
	5.4 RRAM or ReRAM，Resistive RAM
Ⅵ Comparison of New Memory Technologies	6.1 Selector Type
	6.2 Persistence
	6.3 Scalability
	6.4 Process Complexity
	6.5 Disadvantages
Ⅶ Conclusion

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Ⅰ Overview

Small memory cell size, high performance, and low power consumption have always been the goal of the memory industry. However, below 14nm, the semiconductor process migrated to Fin-FET, a new transistor structure that could not be directly applied to existing embedded memory components. Furthermore, in order to meet the high computing power requirements of future artificial intelligence and edge computing, high-capacity memories such as DRAM and NAND flash memory have been unable to keep up with the demand.

Therefore, the semiconductor industry is at a turning point. Embedded memory in microcontrollers and ASICs, as well as discrete memory chips for all applications, from handheld mobile devices to supercomputers, are considering replacement. These replacements will help system designers reduce power consumption, extend battery life in handheld mobile devices or reduce data center system cooling requirements, as well as improve system performance to meet future high-performance computing systems. In some cases, replacing traditional memory types can also reduce system cost by using more advanced process technologies or system designs.

Although some new memory technologies have been developed, in this highly competitive market, only a few can succeed. However, no matter which technology wins, these new non-volatile technology systems will certainly consume less power than existing embedded NOR flash and SRAM, or discrete DRAM and NAND flash systems.

Jason Pontin: Can technology solve our big problems?

Ⅱ Embedded Memory Problems

There are two issues, the size of the embedded memory and the power consumption.

Advanced logic processes have surpassed 14nm and migrated to Fin-FET structures, and embedded NOR flash memories used for on-chip storage over the past decade or more have lost the ability to keep up with these processes. This problem is known as the "scaling limit" of flash - no matter how much the rest of the CMOS on the chip can shrink, the flash can't keep up. New embedded memory technologies must be available to match these advanced process ASICs and MCUs.

Embedded NOR flash is not the only one affected by process evolution. Embedded SRAM also faces similar problems. As the process shrinks to tens of nanometers or less, the size of the SRAM memory cell cannot keep up. Unlike NOR flash, the problem with SRAM is that the size of its memory cells does not shrink in proportion to the process. When the process shrinks by 50%, it may only shrink by 25%.

This limits the development of embedded NORs and embedded SRAMs, and we need new storage unit technologies to continue to scale down in proportion to the process. Fortunately, these technologies have existed and have been in development for many years.

Another issue is the strong argument for moving to new memory technologies, which are that memory consumes too much power. IoT and mobile devices operate on battery power, and their memory must be carefully chosen because they consume most of the battery power and reduce battery life, while new embedded memory technologies can reduce power consumption in response to this demand.

The next-generation mobile architecture will introduce higher computing power requirements for artificial intelligence and edge computing, while requiring lower power consumption to meet consumer expectations and win in tough market competition. Of course these must be achieved at low cost, which is the challenge of existing memory technologies. Most of today's battery-powered mobile devices and MCUs used in a variety of other applications are fabricated in a CMOS process, and the CMOS process supports two memory technologies: NOR flash and SRAM. Although these techniques are easily embedded in CMOS logic processes, they typically consume more power than expected.

When larger memories are needed, designers often add external memory chips, such as SPI (Serial Peripheral interface) NOR flash, NAND flash, DRAM, or a combination of these. However, these external memories have a greater impact on power consumption.

The problems with the two existing memories forced designers to begin evaluating new memory technologies in an attempt to solve them completely.

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Ⅲ Power Problems in Large Systems

At the other end of the Internet of Things, in the cloud, the data center server's memory and data storage architecture is also important because power consumption is often one of the most costly elements of the data center, especially when it comes to cooling systems.

DRAM and NAND flash are the mainstream storage technologies used today in computing systems, from smartphones to data processing devices. However, for the design of the computing system, these two memory types cannot exist alone, because although the DRAM supports fast reading and writing, the charge of the capacitor of the DRAM memory cell will decay and disappear within a few milliseconds, so it is necessary to constantly Refreshing, while refreshing consumes a lot of power. Even if the system is idle, DRAM needs to be constantly refreshed with power.

Approximately 20% of the power consumed by the 8Gb DRAM chip is used for refresh, accounting for 25 milliwatts of total chip power consumption of 140 milliwatts. If the power is turned off, the contents of the DRAM will disappear (volatile memory) - even if the power is restored, the DRAM is not suitable for use as a boot, application, operating system, etc. code storage. The system must be paired with other nonvolatiles. Sex memory to perform code storage functions.

In addition, DRAM is relatively slow due to its multIplexed addressing technology. DRAM row address selection (RAS) and column row address selection (CAS) allow random reads to take between 25 and 300 nanoseconds (ns), and this extended time results in higher total energy consumption.

Flash Memory stores data that is not attenuated and can retain its content for many years after a power outage, but NOR flash is much more expensive than DRAM, and NAND flash is sequential reads and cannot be accessed to specific bytes. This does not match the need for computer operations to randomly address reads. So NAND flash must be paired with DRAM for code storage use.

Like DRAM, NAND flash also has some features that cause it to consume more power than expected. First, it requires an on-chip charge pump to generate a high internal voltage. Second, the write speed of NAND flash is also very slow. The most troublesome thing is that the NAND flash can't directly overwrite the old data when writing. Before the new data is written to the flash, the original stored data must be erased, and the entire page must be written once (Page, usually 8,096 bytes), it is not possible to write only a single specific byte.

Flash technology does not use the same mechanism to program or erase content. You can't just erase a single bit, byte, or page. Instead, you must pick up the block. The block usually contains Hundreds of thousands of pages. Page writing is a slow and energy-intensive process that typically takes 300 microseconds (μs) and consumes 80 microjoules (compared to 2 microjoules when read). Block erase (requires the high internal voltage mentioned above) takes longer, typically 2 milliseconds (ms), and consumes 150 microjoules of energy. Despite these big drawbacks, NAND flash systems are very cheap, so designers are willing to sacrifice these NAND complex write processes and high energy costs in exchange for their low cost.

Most smartphones and computing systems use a mix of DRAM and NAND flash to meet their memory and storage needs. In smartphones, when the phone is turned on, DRAM saves a copy of the program for execution, while NAND stores programs, photos, videos, music, and other speed-insensitive data when the power is turned off. The compute system server stores programs and data in its DRAM main memory (the server does not power down unless there is a power outage), and an SSD solid state drive (NAND State Drive) using NAND flash is configured for long-term and backup storage.

Smaller systems may use NOR flash instead of NAND flash and SRAM instead of DRAM, provided their memory requirements are very small. The cost per byte of NOR flash is one or two orders of magnitude higher than NAND flash, and the cost of SRAM is orders of magnitude higher than the cost of DRAM.

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Ⅳ Why New Memory Can Solve the Problem

The aforementioned power consumption of memory used today has not existed in many of the new memory technologies currently under development. In addition, these new types of memories are non-volatile, so there is no need to refresh them. This automatically reduces power consumption by 20% compared to DRAM. Since they both overwrite old data without erasing, you can save the high erase power required for flash and the delay caused by slow erase cycles (this property is called In-Situ Programming). Compared to flash memory, these new technologies have very low write process energy requirements that reduce or eliminate the need for inefficient charge pumps. Finally, all of these new technologies provide random data access, reducing the need to keep two copies—one in flash and one in DRAM.

Needless to say, whenever any new memory technology is used to replace today's traditional DRAM + NAND flash architecture, all of these attributes will result in significant power savings and performance improvements.

The new types of memory we will introduce include the following.

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The Function and Connection Method of Potentiometer

Introduction

A potentiometer is actually a variable resistor. Because it functions in the circuit to obtain an output voltage that is related to the input voltage (applied voltage), it is called a potentiometer.

Article Core	Potentiometer
Purpose	Introduce what the function of potentiometer and the connection method of potentiometer are.
Application	Semiconductor industry.
Keywords	Potentiometer

Catalog

Introduction
Potentiometer Overview	Circuit Graphic Symbol Main Parameters of the Potentiometer
	Resistance Change Characteristics of Potentiometer
	Potentiometer Resolution
	Potentiometer's Maximum Operating Voltage
	Potentiometer Noise
Potentiometer Structure and Type
Potentiometer Application	(1) Dimming Table Lamp Circuit
	(2) DC Stabilized Power Supply Circuit
Potentiometer Connection
Power Amplifier General Fault Repair	1.The whole Machine Doesn’t Work
	2. No Sound Output
	3.Sound Light
	4.Large Noise
	5.Distortion
	6.Howling
	7.Howling	(1). Power and Grounding Point Processing
		(2). Output Stage
		(3). Preamplification Section

Potentiometer Overview

Circuit Graphic Symbol

The unit of the potentiometer resistance is the same as the resistor, and the basic unit is also ohm, which is represented by the symbol Ω. The potentiometer is represented in the circuit by the letter R or RP (old standard W), and Figure 1 is its circuit graphic symbol.

Figure 1 Potentiometer Circuit Graphic Symbol

Main Parameters of the Potentiometer

The main parameters of the potentiometer are nominal resistance, rated power, resolution, sliding noise, resistance change characteristics, wear resistance, zero resistance and temperature coefficient.

1. The nominal resistance and rated power of the potentiometer

2. The resistance value marked on the potentiometer is called the nominal resistance.

3. The rated power of the potentiometer refers to the maximum power that can be consumed by the long-term continuous load at the specified rated temperature in the DC or AC circuit when the atmospheric pressure is 87~107kPa. The rated power series for wirewound and non-wirewound potentiometers are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Nominal series of potentiometer rated power (unit: power)

Potentiometer	0.025, 0.05, 0.25, 1, 1.6, 2, 3, 5, 10, 16, 25, 40, 63, 100
Wire wound potentiometer	0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.6, 2, 3, 5, 10, 16, 25, 40, 63, 100
Non-wire wound potentiometer	0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3

Resistance Change Characteristics of Potentiometer

The resistance change characteristic refers to the relationship between the resistance value of the potentiometer and the change of the length of the movable contact or the rotation angle of the rotating shaft, that is, the resistance output function characteristic. There are three commonly used resistance change characteristics, as shown in the figure.

Figure 2 potentiometer resistance curve

Straight type (X type): As the position of the moving point changes, the change in resistance is close to a straight line.

Exponential (Z type): The change in the resistance of the potentiometer is exponentially related to the change in the position of the moving corner point.

（1）The linear resistance of the linear potentiometer changes linearly with the angle of rotation. When the conductive material on the resistor body is evenly distributed, the resistance per unit length is approximately equal. It is suitable for applications where uniform adjustment is required (eg voltage divider).

（2）The exponential potentiometer is unevenly distributed due to the conductive material on the resistor body. When the potentiometer starts to rotate, the resistance value changes slowly. When the rotation angle increases, the resistance value changes steeply. The exponential potentiometer allows the power to be unequal in unit area, and the end of the resistance change is allowed to withstand a large amount of power. It is commonly used in volume adjustment circuits because the human ear is most sensitive to the sound of the sound. When the volume is loud to a certain extent, the hearing of the human ear becomes dull. Therefore, the volume adjustment generally uses an exponential potentiometer to make the sound change appear smooth and comfortable.

（3）The  logarithmic potentiometer has a non-uniform distribution of the conductive material on the resistor body. When the potentiometer starts to rotate, its resistance value changes rapidly. When the rotation angle increases, when it rotates to the end near the resistance value, the resistance value The change is slow. Logarithmic potentiometers are suitable for use in electronic circuits that are contrary to the requirements of exponential potentiometers, such as contrast control circuits and tone control circuits for televisions.

Potentiometer Resolution

The resolution of the potentiometer is also called the resolution. For the wirewound potentiometer, when the moving contact moves one turn, the output voltage changes discontinuously. The ratio of this change to the output voltage is the resolution. The theoretical resolution of a linear wirewound potentiometer is the reciprocal of the total number of turns of the winding N and is expressed as a percentage. The higher the total number of turns of the potentiometer, the higher the resolution.

Potentiometer's Maximum Operating Voltage

The maximum working voltage of the potentiometer refers to the highest operating voltage that the potentiometer can work under long-term reliable operation under the specified conditions, which is also called the rated working voltage.

The actual operating voltage of the potentiometer is less than the rated operating voltage. If the actual working voltage is higher than the rated working voltage, the potentiometer's power exceeds the rated power, which will cause the potentiometer to overheat and damage.

Potentiometer Noise

When the potentiometer slides on the resistor under the action of applied voltage, the electric noise generated is called the dynamic noise of the potentiometer. Dynamic noise is one of the main parameters of sliding noise. The magnitude of dynamic noise is related to the speed of rotating shaft, the contact resistance between contact point and resistor body, the non-uniform change of resistivity of resistor body, the number of dynamic contact points and the magnitude of applied voltage.

Potentiometer Structure and Type

The potentiometer consists of a housing, a sliding shaft, a resistor body and three terminals, as shown. There are many types of potentiometers. According to the adjustment method, they can be divided into rotary (or rotary handle) and straight slide potentiometers. According to the number of joints, they can be divided into single-connected and multi-connected potentiometers. There are two kinds of switches and switches; according to the resistance output function characteristics, it can be divided into three types: linear potentiometer, exponential potentiometer and logarithmic potentiometer. Such as solid potentiometers, chip potentiometers, carbon film potentiometers, glass glaze potentiometers, precision conductive plastic potentiometers and other potentiometers.

Potentiometer Application

(1) Dimming Table Lamp Circuit

Figure 4 shows a simple and practical dimming table lamp circuit. Adjusting the resistance of RP can change the charging time of capacitor C to reach the UG worth time, that is, adjust the conduction angle of the thyristor, so that the thyristor triggers conduction earlier or later, thereby adjusting the output voltage of the thyristor so that the voltage across the lamp can be 0. Change between ~220V. The voltage is high, the light is bright; the voltage is low, and the light is dark.

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