EDN Asia articles from June 2009

EDN Asia archives from June 2009

Make hay while the sun of recession shines.(comment)
June 1, 2009... When recession has caused an all-round despondency, it was heartening to hear plenary speakers at the opening session of the recent SPIE Advanced Lithography conference touting the current downturn as a time for new design innovations for new...

IP camera and DVR reference designs provide H.264 high profile.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) has launched two comprehensive and cost-effective reference designs for Internet Protocol (IP) cameras and digital video recorders (DVR). Powered by the TMS320DM365 digital media processor...

Olympus-SoC place-and-route platform addresses multi-voltage design challenges.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mentor Graphics Corp. has launched the Olympus-SoC platform, its latest place-and-route solution that enables low power IC implementation and is targeted for advanced technology processes. Featuring production-proven...

LED chip sets help pico projectors bring big displays to small devices.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Pico projectors, LED-based devices small enough to fit into an MP3 player or even a slightly oversized cell phone, were prominently on display at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas both this year and last. The obvious use for this...

QuickLogic chips support Qualcomm mobile processors.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... QuickLogic Corp. has developed new platforms to interface with Qualcomm Inc.'s latest Mobile Station Modem (MSM) MSM7xxx-series and MSMSxxx-series mobile processors. Featuring QuickLogic's Visual Enhancement Engine (VEE) technology, the latest...

Scope-based audio-bus, power-analysis tools target embedded-system designers.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Tektronix has announced a triggering-and-analysis module for serial-digital-audio buses and a new power-analysis module. The modules plug into the company's DPO (digital phosphor oscilloscope) 3000 and MSO (mixed-signal-oscilloscope)/ DPO4000...

National Semiconductor's audio subsystems simplify portable product design.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... National Semiconductor Corp.'s latest models of low-power Boomer Class D audio subsystems--the LM49352 mixed-signal audio subsystem and LM49151 analog subsystem--are targeted at smart phones, full-featured phones, portable gaming devices and...

Point cooling advances for hot ICs.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Engineers have for years been suggesting using thermoelectric films to cool hot ICs because the films develop a temperature difference between their surfaces when you apply a voltage across them. The problems of getting the film next to the IC,...

Bourns hot-dips trimmers to eliminate tin whiskers.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Tin whiskers--electrically conductive, crystalline structures that grow from surfaces on which tin is the final finish--have been the bane of electronic products since 2007. During that year, a European ROHS...

ADCs targeted at medical ultrasound, multiple antenna radio systems.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Analog chip company Arctic Silicon Devices (ASD) has announced its latest series of octal 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), the GLACIER family, which is targeted at power reduction in medical ultrasound and multiple antenna radio...

Tri-axis accelerometer features 12 tap-enabled commands.(pulse)
June 1, 2009... Silicon-micromachined inertial sensors provider Kionix Inc. has developed a new tri-axis accelerometer that creates up to 12 unique, tap-enabled commands for customer-specified functions. Targeted at mobile consumer electronics applications,...

One sensor does the work of many.(prying eyes)
June 1, 2009... Digital cameras, still relatively inexpensive devices, have exponentially increased the number of pixels they can capture. Because silicon, a primary material in CCD (charge-coupled devices) and CMOS imagers, is sensitive to the same...

FPGAS reshape embedded design: although its use requires a significant change in design methodology, FPGA technology has become a valuable weapon in the embedded-system developer's arsenal.(Cover story)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the economic slowdown takes its toll on development budgets, embedded-system designers are turning to FPGA (field-programmable-gate-array) technology to shorten design cycles, combat obsolescence, and simplify...

Driving the convergence between fixed and mobile communications into the mainstream: sustainable consumer demand for converged Wi-Fi-plus-cellular applications and services will depend on carrier-grade FMC services that deliver a good end-user experience. Before you can achieve these benefits, however, FMC products need to deliver the same quality as today's cellular-only services.(design feature)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The universal demand for constant access to voice and data communication, along with the increasingly rich availability of Wi-Fi (wireless-fidelity) and cellular connectivity, is driving a widespread demand for...

Tamper-resistant smart power meters rely on isolated sensors.(design feature)
June 1, 2009... Most residences and commercial buildings in the United States currently use an old-style electromechanical utility power meter to track electricity use. The meters are reliable and cheap but hopelessly inadequate for use by a power-distribution...

Developing SATA/SAS solutions using 40nm FPGAs.(design feature)
June 1, 2009... Serial ATA (SATA) and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) are computer bus standards that have the primary function of transferring data (directly of otherwise) between a motherboard and mass storage devices (such as hard disk drives, optical drives,...

Test & Measurement World announces award winners.(special report)
June 1, 2009... HERE, we present the winners of our annual Best in Test awards, which recognize important and innovative new products and services in the electronics test and measurement industry. We announced the finalists for the Best in Test awards in the...

Isolated clock source acts as test generator: Daniele Danieli, Eurocom-Pro, Venice, Italy.(design ideas)(Technical report)
June 1, 2009... Circuits such as PLL synthesizers, high-dynamic-range ADCs, and timing-sensitive digital networks require stable and spurious-free clocks. Testing these circuits is a difficult task when you use a master oscillator, even if the signal...

Power circuit simplifies USB battery charger design.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Texas Instruments Inc.'s (TI) BQ25040 is said to be the industry's smallest 1.1A Li-ion linear battery charger with integrated 50mA low-dropout regulator to support mobile phones and other handheld electronics. The...

FPGAs offer up to 48 transceivers Operating at 8.5Gbps.
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Altera Corp.'s EP4SGX530, the second member of the Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA family to ship, is 60 percent larger than the largest transceiver FPGA on the market, offering 530K logic elements (LEs), up to 48...

Gate drivers enable improved fuel efficiency in automotive applications.
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fairchild Semiconductor's FAN708x series of gate drivers improves power consumption, noise immunity and transient voltage performance in automotive applications. The FAN708x series can increase fuel efficiency by...

Low dropout 0.6A CMOS LDO.
June 1, 2009... AME Inc.'s AME8819 is a low-dropout, low-quiescent current 0.6A CMOS that comes with Enable function. The AME8819 has a quiescent current of 70[micro]A; dropout of 540mV; and output voltage range of 1.2V to 3.6V. AME8819 has 60dB PSRR at lkHz...

Spread spectrum clock synchronizes up to 8 switching regulators.
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Linear Technology Corp.'s LTC6909 precision silicon oscillator significantly reduces peak radiated EMI and improves control of switching regulators in multiphase power supplies. The LTC6909 has eight separate...

Low profile synchronous, 2-phase boost converter produces 200w with 98% efficiency--design note 455.(DESIGN NOTES)
June 1, 2009... Introduction Automotive audio amplifiers require a high power boost converter that is both efficient and compact. High efficiency is essential to keep dissipated heat low and avoid bulky and expensive heat sinks. The LT3782A is a 2-phase...