I’m a digital logic design engineer by trade. In this uncertain world in which we live, I find comfort and take solace in the fact that you know where you stand with a trusty 0 or 1 in the digital domain. By comparison, I view the wibbly-wobbly analog arena as being inherently unsure, undecided, and uncertain. You never know what to expect with an analog signal.
Ironically, this means I have tremendous respect for those who dive deeply into the analog waters (although I have to say their view that digital is only a subset of analog gets right up my nose).
Do you remember my column from earlier this year regarding Customized Analog for the Connected World? In that piece I introduced Orca Semiconductor, whose namesake is the apex predator killer whale (be afraid, be very afraid).
As you may recall, the folks at Orca are laser-focused on creating state-of-the-art analog and mixed-signal application-specific standard parts (ASSPs). According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), the Analog ASSP market offers a total available market (TAM) of $52B in 2024, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% to $73B in 2028.
More specifically, the chaps and chapesses at Orca decided to focus their attention on two market segments in particular: Smart Health and Smart Factories. In the case of Smart Health, the remote monitoring of vital signs for actionable insights is the future of healthcare, providing the empowerment of consumers to improve their lives. When it comes to Smart Factories, Industry 4.0 is driving intelligence onto the factory floor. Increased factory data boosts productivity, reduces downtime, and improves efficiency, for lower operating costs. Together, these two segments offer a TAM of $4B in 2024, growing at 6.4% CAGR. Well, that should be enough to keep the guys and gals at Orca busy for a while.
As a company, Orca is a “new kid on the block,” since it was founded in 2022, which is only two years ago at the time of this writing. On the other hand, among them, Orca’s three founders have 80+ years of experience. And, in conjunction with their team of 18 research and development (R&D) engineers, their storied history includes hundreds of patents.
The way the folks at Orca look at things, there used to be thousands of small analog companies in the world. Over time, after multiple mergers and acquisitions, we are left with a few “Big Analog” players. I tend to visualize these big analog entities as being like older statesmen reclining in plush leather chairs at their club, nibbling hors d’oeuvres, sipping port, smoking cigars, reminiscing over past achievements, reluctant to stir themselves into action.
By comparison, we can view a “Small Analog” company like Orca as being young, feisty, full of fun, and brimming with enthusiasm and ideas—much like your humble narrator (I pride myself on my humility), if I might be so bold.
Earlier this year, the folks at Orca released their first product in the form of the OS1000. This stands for Orca Semiconductor 1000—a simple naming convention that minimizes the possibilities for confusion. As I said in my earlier column, “Boasting a Linear Battery Charger and SYS output, dual buck converters, and dual LDOs/Load Switches, the QS1000 is—quite simply—the most advanced power management integrated circuit (PMIC) in its class for smart health, wearable, hearable, and other connected devices.”
Well, I was just chatting with Andrew Baker, who is Co-Founder and CEO at Orca. Only a few months following their previous product pronouncement, the hot news off the press is that the guys and gals at Orca are announcing a new product. This time they are targeting Smart Factories. More specifically, they are focusing their attention on IO-Link. “What’s IO-Link?” I hear you cry. Well, as we read on the Wikipedia:
IO-Link is a short distance, bi-directional, digital, point-to-point, wired (or wireless), industrial communications networking standard (IEC 61131-9) used for connecting digital sensors and actuators to either a type of industrial fieldbus or a type of industrial Ethernet. Its objective is to provide a technological platform that enables the development and use of sensors and actuators that can produce and consume enriched sets of data that in turn can be used for economically optimizing industrial automated processes and operations. The technology standard is managed by the industry association Profibus and Profinet International. The IO-Link market may surpass $34 billion by 2028.
This is where I must take my hat off to the folks at Orca. They’ve focused their attention on a well-established technology with humongous growth potential, and they’ve identified a specific niche for their Analog ASSP expertise where they can do something better and cheaper than the incumbents (the ones we last saw nibbling their hors d’oeuvres, sipping their glasses of port, and smoking their cigars). Consider a typical IO-Link block diagram with a sensor at one end of the link and an IO-Link Master at the other as illustrated below.
Typical IO-Link block diagram.
According to MachineMetrics: “There are over 26,000 IO-Link sensors from multiple providers that manufacturers can add to their machines and environments to capture data points. These IO-Link sensors are a valuable component of many automation initiatives as they enable access to key data points that have historically been difficult to collect.”
The great thing about IO-Link is that it’s backwards-compatible with existing sensor installations, because it runs off the same 24V signaling capabilities as older, legacy sensors. This means you can quickly and easily retrofit new IO-Link sensors into existing factories using existing infrastructure, like their existing programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Having said this, IO-Link gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of things like the ability to remotely set parameters on a sensor.
Also, you now have expanded diagnostic capabilities. Consider an IO-Link device like a pneumatic actuator that’s operating a valve, for example. These actuators can age over time, still performing their primary function, but not as quickly and efficiently as they did in their youth. With IO-Link, we now have the ability to monitor the time it takes from us giving the signal to actuate to the actual closing or opening of the valve. It might be that the actuator is taking a few milliseconds more than it used to, and this delay is slowly increasing. This data can be fed into the factory’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based predictive maintenance system.
Today, a small to midsize factory may employ hundreds of IO-Link sensors and actuators for tasks like quality inspection, machine monitoring, and production line control. By comparison, a large-scale or highly automated facility may employ thousands of IO-Link sensors and actuators for applications spanning robotics, material handling, process monitoring, and energy management. Meanwhile, advanced use cases like semiconductor fabs or automotive plants may deploy tens of thousands of IO-Link sensors and actuators to ensure high-resolution, real-time data across a wide variety of equipment and systems.
The important point is that, thus far, IO-Link has only metaphorically touched the allegorical tip of the iceberg, as it were. According to available data, there are approximately 634,666 manufacturing businesses in the United States, and there are estimated to be around 10 million factories around the globe. Only a relatively small number of these facilities are using IO-Link to its full capacity (if at all), but the number is growing daily, which is what you want to hear if you are poised to enter (and eventually dominate) any portion of this market.
Now, observe the green boxes representing the IO-Link Transceivers in the previous diagram. Prior to what I’m about to tell you, there were only three main solutions on the market: the MAX22515 from Analog Devices, the TIOL112 from Texas Instruments, and the RH4Z2501 from Renesas. All three of these devices have different sizes and form-factors, but that really is not an issue because the MAX22515 sells way more than all its competitors combined.
Think of the MAX22515 as having a target painted on its back. This is where Orca’s new OS2000 leaps onto the center stage with a fanfare of sarrusophones (once heard, never forgotten). This IO-Link transceiver for industrial applications can be used in either IO-Link Sensor/Actuator or IO-Link Master applications.
In addition to featuring two control interface options (I2C or GPIO), the OS2000 integrates many additional features that simplify designs, including two linear voltage regulators, one digital input channel, an internal clock generator, and integrated surge protection (for input power, CQ, and the digital input channel). The linear 5V voltage regulators may be bypassed if an external 5V source is available. The internal clock generator may be used to provide an IO-Link timing-compliant clock to the system microcontroller, thereby simplifying designs. The OS2000 also features five different output frequency options, thereby allowing it to work with most microcontrollers.
But wait, there’s more, because the OS2000 features robust protection to external conditions on external facing interface pins (VLP, CQ, DI and GND). These pins are reverse voltage protected, short-circuit protected, hot-plug protected, and feature integrated ±1.2kV/ 500Ω surge protection
Do you want to know the really clever part? I bet you do! Are you ready? I bet you are! The clever part is that the OS2000 is the same size as the MAX22515 (2.0mm x 2.5mm), and it provides a drop-in, pin-compatible replacement that meets or exceeds the capabilities of the MAX22515 at a lower price. What’s not to love?
Want to learn more? Well, by some strange quirk of fate, the guys and gals from Orca will be demonstrating the OS2000 at the SPS Conference, which will take place just next week (November 12-14, 2024) as I pen these words. You will be able to find them in Hall 8 on Stand 210.8. Feel free to bounce into their booth, give Andrew a great big hug, and tell him “Max says Hi.”
I look forward to hearing his reaction. In the meantime, do you have any other thoughts you’d care to share on any of this?
