EDN Asia articles from February 2005

EDN Asia archives from February 2005

Nanotechnology: not disruptive, but natural.(ednasia.comment)(Column)
February 1, 2005... Which are the technologies changing the world? Broadband Internet, email and mobile communications are among the foremost. I think one technology that is going beyond other technologies in changing the world is nanotechnology; its uniqueness...

Interface reduces component count for automotive networks.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A stand-alone local interconnect network (LIN) transceiver for automotive applications with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of up to 17kV (International Electrotechnical Commission) and 12kV (human body model) has been introduced by...

Leveraging the benefits of LIGBTs for high-voltage power IC applications.(leading edge)(Cambridge Semiconductor)(Lateral Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Cambridge Semiconductor's latest technology combines fast, high voltage Lateral Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (LIGBT) with gate drivers and low voltage, sophisticated control circuitry on a single silicon chip. Enabling designers to create...

Small all-silicon center-spread clock oscillator.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Dallas Semiconductor's DS1089L, a center-spread-spectrum EconOscillator, offers up to 20dB reduction in radiated emissions (RMS voltage) compared to crystal oscillators. Claimed to be the world's smallest, low-EMI, 3V, all-silicon clock...

LeCroy intros signal integrity tools.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... LeCroy's accessories for its digital oscilloscopes are designed to improve accuracy and simplify signal integrity measurements. The expanded WaveLink probe family is a solution that preserves the true shape and timing of high-speed signals...

Philips enhances Schottky rectifier performance.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Philips' rectifiers in compact flat lead SOD323F package are more than 75% smaller than rectifiers in the industry standard SMA package, and 60% more efficient than Philips' MEGA Schottky rectifiers in the SOD323. Targeted at power management...

"Industry's smallest" 16-bit data converters.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Analog Devices 16-bit digital/analog converter groups are pin-compatible with previous 12-bit devices. The AD5060 and AD5660 series are housed in 8-lead 2.9 x 2.8mm SOT-23 packages. Both families include units with 1 LSB and 4 LSB integral...

Better heat reduction in high-end optical disc drives.(leading edge)
February 1, 2005... Fairchild's 7-channel motor driver IC has very low output on-resistance (spindle 0.8[ohm] @ 0.5A, sled 2.0[ohm] @ 0.25A) This monolithic IC, based on DMOS transistor technology, significantly reduces heat generation, which is an important...

Tiny amplifiers need no external components.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Responding to today's demands for highly flexible design solutions to support a wide variety of applications, Linear Technology has launched LT1991 precision and LT1995 high-speed gain selectable amplifiers. Unlike traditional amplifier...

Battery manager IC boasts accuracy, user programmability.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Designed for multiple-cell Li-ion, Li-polymer, NiMH, and NiCD battery packs, the PS501 battery-manager IC from Microchip Technology combines microcontroller, 16-bit A/D converter, 16kbytes of Flash memory, oscillator, temperature sensor,...

Triple 1GHz current feedback amplifier.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Intersil's 1GHz amplifier barrier has a total supply current of 25mA and can run from a single supply voltage from 5 to 12V. Said to offer high performance for very little power consumption, the EL5367 drives resolutions greater than QXGA (2048...

High-speed multimedia memory cards.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Samsung's memory cards integrate both Flash memory and an in-house designed card controller. The MMC Plus and MMC Mobile are backward compatible with the MMC card, and meet standards of the MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA). The devices also...

Transceivers and bus protectors for advanced auto networks.(leading edge)(electro static discharge)(electromagnetic interference)
February 1, 2005... ON Semiconductor's NCV7380, NCV7382 and NCV7361 LIN transceivers, and NCV7356 single-wire CAN transceiver conform to industry standards and provide enhanced ESD performance. To meet increasing stringent ESD and EMI standards, the company has...

Hands-on project: accelerate your performance: this two-part series explores the increasing options for hardware acceleration and how designers without hardware backgrounds can benefit from evolving development tools.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2005... The options and development tools available to designers for implementing custom hardware acceleration are evolving. Custom hardware acceleration is an increasingly viable method for implementing parallel processing that balances performance,...

Designing early for EMC: employ simulation early in the design process, and you can optimize your design before building a prototype.(design feature)(electro magnetic compatibility)
February 1, 2005... Addressing EMC late in the design cycle is becoming less and less tenable as product complexity and densities increase and design cycles continue to shrink. The rules of thumb you commonly use to calculate EMC are breaking down at higher...

That secure feeling.(tech toys)(IBM's ThinkPad T42 )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Biometrics comes to the notebook PC. IBM's ThinkPad T42 includes a fingerprint reader, which is located on the wrist rest below the arrow keys. Just run a finger across a sensor to log on and access applications, Web sites, and databases. The...

Glow in the dark.(tech toys)(FLT-500I)
February 1, 2005... See the power: Flick the switch on the FLT-500I and the flashlight's three 1W LEDs emit 1800 footcandles of white light. Each LED has a 10-year life and includes its own collimator to deliver a more focused beam. The torch operates for nearly...

The password is ..(tech toys)
February 1, 2005... Logging in bogging you down? The MetaPass M500 Digital Key remembers passwords, automatically and securely admitting users to Web sites, applications, and terminals. The plug-and-play device requires no software. Plug it into a USB port and...

Play it here; watch it there.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Belkin's PureAV RemoteTV is a wireless-audio and -video sender that lets users play video and music in one room and watch or listen to it in another. The device employs Magis Networks' Air5 technology, which reduces interference and provides...

Full-featured MP3 player.(tech toys)(Auvi Technologies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... For reasonable money and in a package not much bigger than a pack of gum, the SA520 digital-audio player transfers songs from tapes, CDs, and even the radio into MP3 files. The device offers 256 Mbytes of built-in memory, USB 2.0 compatibility,...

Precision timing.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A line of Casio solar-powered, atomic-timekeeping watches tunes in multiple times during the day to the official time transmitter in Fort Collins, CO. The solar-panel dials feature digital readouts for battery levels/date, atomic-timekeeping...

Charge!(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A cell phone can be a lifesaver in an emergency, but only if it has sufficient juice. Never worry again about having a dead phone with the Sidewinder charger. It needs no battery; just crank the handle for two minutes to give a phone six...

Ringleaders.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A trio of cell phones offers features to please everyone. The $349.99 Samsung SCH-A790 integrates both CDMA and GSM modems on a single chip, so travelers can dial home whether they're cruising Route 66 or the Autobahn. It also includes a VGA...

Make room for media.(tech toys)(WMG80 Wireless Media Gateway)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The WMG80 Wireless Media Gateway from ViewSonic has room for 80Gbytes of digital media. When users combine it with a wireless media adapter, they can view that content from any room in their house. The device is easy to connect and set up and...

Hollywood at home.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... LSI Logic's Dimension 8602 DVD-recorder-system processor powers GoVideo's VR2940 DVD recorder plus VCR. The device automatically turns home movies into Hollywood-style DVDs--complete with onscreen menus, chapters with picture thumbnails, music...

Shred this.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Want to make sure that valuable data doesn't fall into unscrupulous hands? Use the DVD/CD Shredder Plus to destroy unneeded DVDs, CDs, floppies, and credit cards. The device cuts the media into small, unreadable strips using carbon-steel blades...

Let me entertain you.(tech toys)(Portable Music Player)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Archos Gmini400 is no mere portable music player. In addition to letting users record and listen to 300 hours of music, this 4.2x2.4x0.7in. device stores and plays back movies and video on its 2.2in. color LCD screen. Users can play games...

Framed.(tech toys)(Epson L-500V )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Epson L-500V captures three high-resolution frames/sec in continuous-shooting mode. View those or other pictures taken in manual mode on the 2.5in. LCD and then choose one of 100 frames--be it birthday-, sports-, or holiday-related--for the...

Music and movies to go.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Watch a movie, listen to music, or share photos with the iRiver IMP 1100 portable entertainment center. Featuring Digital Media DSPs from Texas Instruments, the IMP is the first audio/video CD player. The player delivers six hours of video on...

In the palm of your hand.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... For portable-storage needs, check out the three new versions the FireLite hard-drive line. Weighing in at about 6oz each, the devices come in magnesium casings and deliver capacities of 40, 60, 80, and 100Gbytes. They need no driver...

Do it yourself.(tech toys)(DVDirect burner)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... With the DVDirect burner, users can transfer videos directly from a camcorder to a DVD. It records on standard 4.7Gbyte or double-layer 8.5Gbyte discs for 12 hours of video on one disc. When attached to a PC with a USB 2.0 connection, the...

Car tunes.(tech toys)(Alpine interface adapter KCA-420i for iPod)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Alpine interface adapter for iPod (KCA-420i) uses any of Alpine's 2004 Ai-Net in-dash head units to let users control and enjoy their iPod or iPod mini library from their car stereos. Users can view song information on the display and use...

Multimedia on the move.(tech toys)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... For road warriors looking to develop impressive presentations or relax with a little entertainment, the Satellite M35X series of notebook PCs from Toshiba offers a rich multimedia experience in convenient packaging. Starting at $1299, devices...

RF system-on-chip: product design challenges and tradeoffs: Bluetooth wireless interface enables what's said to be the highest possible interoperability between units from different equipment manufacturers.(special report)(radio frequency)
February 1, 2005... The Bluetooth wireless interface--introduced by the Bluetooth special interest group (Ericsson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel) in 1998--specifies the air (radio) interface as well as the link and application layer, in order to enable the...

25W-500W power supplies and NiMH/NiCd fast charger: high performance analog solutions from Linear Technology.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... Simple 25W-500W Power Supply with Single Switch Synchronous Forward Controller An LT[R]1952-based forward converter can be used to replace power modules in telecom and industrial applications at less than half the cost, without the...

AdvancedTCA hot swap controller eases power distribution: design note 353.(Design Notes)(advanced telecom computing architecture)
February 1, 2005... Introduction AdvancedTCA[R] is a new modular computing architecture developed by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group for use in central office telecom environments. PICMG[R] 3.0 defines, among other things, the electrical and...

"Power management is the first thing the system designer thinks about".(ednasia interview)(Kirk Pond)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... Kirk Pond, President and CEO of Fairchild Semiconductor, sat down with Electronic News to discuss Fairchild's growth potential in the power management business. Excerpts: Electronic News: How much more room is there in the power management...

Circuit offers series protection against power-line transients.(design ideas)
February 1, 2005... Voltage transients on low-voltage power lines can sometimes attain amplitudes many times the nominal voltage level. That behavior often calls for protection against the application of improper power levels. The usual way to protect sensitive...

High-voltage amplifier uses simplified circuit.(design ideas)(Negative-Channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Many scientific instruments and sensors need ac high-voltage drive. High-voltage drive is useful for driving electrodes in many applications. The challenge is to boost the output of a conventional op amp to high voltages. Available ac...

Simple circuit provides power sequencing.(design ideas)(integrated circuit)(digital signal processing)(Field Programmable Gate-Array)(Serial Interrupt Controller)
February 1, 2005... A SICs, FPGAs, and DSPs can require multiple supply voltages with restrictions on their start-up sequencing. Often, I/O voltages, which usually have the highest voltage, must come up first, followed by all other voltage rails in a high-to-low...

Build a simple, soft-action muting switch.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The circuit in Figure 1 adds a soft muting switch with power-up/power-down muting to a line-level audio circuit. [R.sub.4], [C.sub.1], and JFET [Q.sub.1] quietly ground a signal in 100 to 200msec when you close [S.sub.1] or release it when you...

VCSEL driver needs no bias components.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Compact, 3.3V, 10Gbps packaged VCSEL driver * Ideal for XFP, XENPAK, XPAK, and X2 modules for multimode 10Gbps applications * Available in 2.5x2.Smm CSP package * Can be dc coupled to VCSEL, eliminating need for bias filters,...

Compact, high performance 2 channel amplifiers.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * New family of miniature digital amplifiers * Small footprint * Two channel powerhouses can deliver up to 125W/channel into 8[ohm] speakers or tip to 250W/channel into 4[ohm] speakers * THD+N of less than 0.1% at full rated po'aer...

Dual-supply voltage level translators.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Enables communication between incompatible IOs * Allows for hi-directional level translation between 1.2-, 1.5-, 1.8-, 2.5- and 3.3V nodes * Any combination of voltage levels can lye used * Ideal for mixed-mode applications as...

"World's highest" RISC microcontroller.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * RISC microcontroller achieves 3.6 normalized MIPS/mA performance * Includes 64kB Flash memory, 2kB SRAM, watchdog timer, two serial ports, an SPI master/slave port. three timers. 16x16 hardware multiplier, 32-bit binary clock and...

Subwoofer solution with SonicMaster analog ICs.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Integrated Circuit)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * FPAA designed to support high-peril)finance subwoofer speakers * Supports functions including incoming subsonic filter, audio compressor, Linkwitz transform equalizer, and low-pass filter * Puts subwoofer circuit under software...

Flip chips for EMI and ESD protection.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Electromagnetic Interference )(Electrostatic Discharge )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Flip chip integrated circuits that filter out electromagnetic interference and protect against electrostatic discharge damage in portable electronic applications * Designed to filter interference from earpiece speaker ports * With...

PD controller with onboard switching regulator.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(powered device)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Complete power interface port for powered devices (PDs) implementing IEEE 802.3af standard * Internal current mode switching regulator * Precision dual level inrush current limit * Onboard 100V, 400mA power MOSFET * Onboard...

Full featured RS-485/RS-422 transceivers.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Intersil Corporation's family of LINEARLINK BiCMOS 5V powered, single transceivers meet both RS-485 and RS-422 standards for balanced (differential) communication that are typically deployed for long distance transmission and/or in noisy...

Low-power controllers for 250W power supplies.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Family of low power current-mode controllers * Direct replacements for UCC380x and UCC280x families of low-power current-mode controllers * PWM controllers serve as low cost building blocks for converters in both offline and de/de...

Blue laser diode driver for Blu-ray disc apps.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Renesas Technology M64030FP )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Attains slew rate of 0.8ns or less through incorporation of waveform correction function * On-chip write strategy function improves write precision and allows user to carry out system design without having to consider on-board delay,...

"Chip-sandwich" increases memory capacity.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Chip card ICs )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Chip card ICs for mobile communications offer more than I00 times memory capacity of today's chip cards, while just doubling chip area * Belongs to company's 88 family of 32-bit chip card controllers * Provides 8 times memory...

Low-power smart card interface ICs.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * TDK 73S8023C, 73S8024C and 73S8010C * Possess high efficiency (85%) and small size step-up/step-down converter * With power down mode that allows host to place smart card interface function in mode that draws a couple of [micro]A ...

Family of synchronous boost converters.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Can power up to five series white LEDs * 1.5x1.5mm ICs allow portable designers to implement "the smallest possible inductor-based solution" to power and control white LED backlights in smart phones, PDAs, and other handheld electronics...

"Industry's smallest" GaAs MESFET switch.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(gallium arsenide )(metal-semiconductor field effect transistor )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Low profile gallium arsenide (GaAs) metal-semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) single pole dual throw (SPDT) switch * Suited for multi band/-mode cellular antenna switch modules (ASMs), Bluetooth (BT) modules and Wireless LAN...

HD/SD switchable video filters.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * 3-channel, switchable HD/SD video-reconstruction filters and buffers for 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i video scanning-system standards * Each channel combines low-pass filter with video buffer capable of driving standard 15[ohm] video load...

Turnkey solution for tire pressure sensors.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Designed for fast growing market of tire pressure sensors in automotive field * For use in production, development, and quality assurance, both turnkey system and individual system components are available * Can be quickly adapted to...

Algorithm for real-time video analysis.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Comprehensive test system provides video measurements/ engine ering data time synchronization * Synchronizes video measurements to real-time engineering measurements coming from phone and scanning receiver * Decreases cause-effect...

Sigma in-circuit tester.(Test & Measurement)(Digitaltest GmbH)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Flexibile, high fault coverage and easy to program * Designed for high throughput; up to 1,000 measurements/sec * Provides analog and digital in-circuit test capabilities. vectorless testing, functional test, boundary scan and...

Portable diagnostic tester for system-level testing.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Fully integrated diagnostic tablet tester delivers maintenance information and diagnostic routines directly to maintainer * Provides high-density communications and flexible test capability for operational level maintainers who need...

High pin count, high performance tester.(Test & Measurement)(Digitaltest GmbH)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Provides up to 7040 analog test pins or up to 3456 hybrid test pins * Eliminates need to generate test program prior to fixture design * Tester's architecture allows fixture build to start before final test program is developed....

Test set tools.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Comprehensive tools for Agilent E5515C (8960 Series 10) wireless communications test set * Provide an integrated system with high accuracy and repeatability for R&D teams and chipset manufacturers testing multi-format wireless devices...

Transmitting, measuring and receiving frequency with one antenna.(Test & Measurement)(R&S HL033 )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The R&S HL033 from Rohde & Schwarz is a linearly polarized log-periodic antenna. Because of its large bandwidth, it is suitable for general transmission and reception applications in the frequency range from 80MHz to 2GHz. In connection with a...

Efficient transformer for DSL.(Components)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * EPXg/9/9 cores for transformers for DSL applications * Combined with SMD coil formers of Duroplast * Features an enlarged winding space * Available in broadband ferrite materials T38, T57, T66 and N4-5 EPCOS Fax 49...

High current solid-state relays.(Components)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Two high current models, offering 75 and 90A outputs, added to G3NA series of compact solid state relays * Complement existing models which cover outputs from 5 to 50A * Compact dimensions of 58 x 43 x 28mm * Include built-in...

Fast-acting fuses for consumer electronics.(Components)
February 1, 2005... Raychem Circuit Protection's series of fast-acting fuses help provide overcurrent protection on systems using dc power sources of up to 125 VAC. Available in 0402, 0603, and 1206 chip sizes, the surface-mount fuse line offers small size, high...

Boost and inverting dc/dc converter in 9[mm.sup.2].(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * 1.2MHz switching frequency * Dual low VCESAT switches: 330mV at 1.3A * High output voltage up to [+ or -] 40V * Wide input range: 2.4 to 16V * 5V at 630mA from 3.3V input * 12V at 320mA from 5V input * -12V at 200mA...

"Ultra-low" magnetic PIN diodes.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Eliminate artifact interference in surface coil switching of MRI systems * Reduce artifact halo interference from about 25mm in diameter to 5mm * With combination of special hermetic packaging materials, low inductance Microsemi PIN...

Main power-supply controllers for notebooks.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Dual, step-down, switchmode power-supply controllers with synchronous rectification for main 5V/3.3V power generation in battery-powered systems * Fixed-frequency operation with optimal interleaving minimizes input ripple current from...

Buck regulator with high-frequency circuitry.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Input voltage range of 8 to 75V * Valley-current limit at 1.25A (typ) * Integrated 80V, N-channel buck switch * Integrated startup regulator * Integrated current sense resistor * Constant on-time control with voltage...

Power saving fan speed control.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Fan speed control combines ac to dc power supply and dc fan control/alarm to provide convenience of ac power, control and efficiency of dc fans * Voltage vs flow curve more linear * Inversion's supply voltage range is 95 to 264 VAC...

LDO regulators for automotive designs.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Expanded LDO product families have range of voltages, packages and features plus adjustable and fixed voltages down to 1.5V * NCV42XX--family of robust LDOs offer several integrated features such as fault protection and thermal overload...

Accurate, low-cost SMBus charger.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... * Accurate, low-cost SMBus battery-charger IC for battery-powered portable equipment such as handset car kits and cable-modem batteries * Synchronous, step-down charger that drives n-channel MOSFETs to achieve high dc/dc conversion...

LIN-controlled voltage regulator improves control.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
February 1, 2005... International Rectifier's LIN-controlled alternator-regulator for next-gen vehicles optimizes performance in intelligent automotive charging systems for increased efficiency and improved fuel economy. Offering integrated programmable load...