EDN Asia articles from March 2005

EDN Asia archives from March 2005

DFM: a multi-disciplinary approach.(ednasia.comment)
March 1, 2005... With "first-time right" becoming critically important at nanometrics, some contentious issues are cropping up. Who is responsible for the yield? Designers or manufacturers or packagers, or all? If all, how much is the responsibility of each? To...

CardBus controllers provide cost savings for consumer electronics.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... Texas Instruments integrated PCI CardBus controller family incorporates 1394a (FireWire), CardBus and smart card functionality. Targeted at the connectivity needs of notebook and desktop PCs, consumer electronic devices such as set top boxes,...

Ceramic IF filter targets harsh auto needs.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... Murata's series of 10.7MHz intermediate frequency (IF) filters is designed for the small size and wide-temperature range of automotive applications including tire-pressure monitoring and keyless entry systems, as well as non-auto applications...

Three-phase PWM control IC with integrated drivers.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... The IR3093 is a three-phase interleaved PWM control IC that supports several microprocessor families: AMD Athlon, AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon64 and Intel VR10.X processors. Applications include desktop computer motherboards, VRMs, video graphics...

Resistor-set 170MHz silicon oscillator in ThinSOT.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... Linear Technology's fast silicon oscillator provides a simple, compact and robust timing solution for FPGAs, CPLDs, microprocessors and DSPs. The LTC6905 resistor-set oscillator generates clock signals from 17 to 170MHz using only the SOT-23...

CAN bus solution for evaluation of physical and protocol layer.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... The LeCroy CANbus TD oscilloscope locates CAN bus anomalies and debugs CAN bus controllers and systems. It allows correlation of physical layer signals with protocol layer data information. The decoding function provides protocol information...

White LED driver for small LCD module backlight.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... The STLD20D is an inductive boost converter designed to drive a white LED with high efficiency over a wide range of battery voltages. Driving up to four LEDs in series from a 2.8V dc battery voltage, it offers dynamic supply voltage rejection...

"Brightest" WLED flashes for camera phones.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... The MAX1577Z/ MAX 1577Y, high-efficiency 1x/2x charge pumps, can drive white LEDs with regulated current up to 1.1A (800mA guaranteed). By using a proprietary adaptive-mode switching technique, the charge pumps provide high efficiency (up to...

Small step-down regulator with integrated FETs.(leading edge)
March 1, 2005... Intersil Corporation's 2A integrated FET synchronous buck regulator with internal compensation and 100% duty cycle is an addition to the company's EL753x family of integrated FET dc/dc regulators with 0.6 to 2A of continuous output currents....

High-speed video multiplexers.(leading edge)(from National Semiconductor)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... National Semiconductor's LMH6574 is said to be the industry's fastest single 4:1 video multiplexing (MUX) amplifier; and its LMH6572, the fastest dual-supply, triple 2:1 RGB (red, green, blue) MUX amplifier on the market. The company says it...

Wind chimes in: capturing the sun's energy via wind power is not new, but today's power semiconductors and control systems make this energy source more viable.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... Of the available solar-fueled technologies, wind turbines emerge as the frontrunner in large-scale "green-electricity" generation. Today, both the US government and its European counterparts have substantial commitments to sustainable...

Semiconductor options for real-time signal processing: designers of real-time-signal-processing systems face lots of options and an ever-changing technology landscape.(design feature)
March 1, 2005... If a universal semiconductor component existed that could allow engineers to realize every real-time-signal-processing system with optimum price, performance, power and function, then selection would be automatic. However, the reality is that...

Part 2: automate your acceleration: the second installment in a two-part series explores how automation enables designers without hardware backgrounds to create custom hardware acceleration.(design feature)
March 1, 2005... A growing number of products are automating the translation of algorithm models and software code into hardware, enabling designers without detailed hardware backgrounds to implement custom hardware acceleration. These tools do not change the...

Another method for WCDMA user equipment receiver measurement: a 33kbps reference measurement channel, developed for testing performance of the demodulator in WCDMA user equipment, provides a means of analyzing areas of receiver performance in the RF domain normally masked by standard use of error correction algorithms.(special report)
March 1, 2005... Third generation (3G) mobile cellular systems are being deployed globally and the user equipment (UEs--equivalent to mobile terminals in 2G systems) needs to be tested at both the design stage and at the manufacturing stage. One of the tests...

"Devices becoming Bluetooth-enabled may become a standard".(ednasia interview)(Bluetooth Special Interest Group )(Interview)
March 1, 2005... Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is setting up an office in Hong Kong, which is the first in Asia-Pacific. EDN Asia recently spoke to Anders Edlund, Marketing Director, Bluetooth SIG. He is responsible for SIG's strategy for Asia-Pacific....

High speed ADCs: high performance analog solutions from Linear Technology.(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Outstanding AC Performance with Extremely Low Power A new family of high speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) from Linear Technology combines outstanding AC performance with extremely low power, making them ideal for a range of...

Circuit tests [V.sub.COM] drivers.(design ideas)
March 1, 2005... Flat-panel LCD monitors offer excellent image quality and more compact form factor than CRTs--hence, their steadily increasing popularity. Unfortunately, the complexity of their manufacturing process makes LCD monitors considerably more...

Use two picogate devices for bidirectional level-shifting.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... In new mixed-voltage systems, it often necessary to level-shift control signal from a high level to a low level. An open-drain device, such as the 74LVC1G07, easily performs this shift. However, when a bidirectional signal requires...

Simple nanosecond-width pulse generator provides high performance.(design ideas)
March 1, 2005... If you need to produce extremely fast pulses in response to an input and trigger, such as for sampling applications, the predictably programmable short-time-interval generator has broad uses. The circuit of Figure 1, built around a quad...

MOSFET shunt regulator substitutes for series regulator.(design ideas)
March 1, 2005... You would normally use a series linear regulator or a dc/dc converter to obtain 3V dc from a higher supply. However, when breadboarding a concept, you may be able to use a shunt regulator, especially if a series regulator of the correct voltage...

Dual-slot, hot-swap controller.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)(Maxim Integrated Products Inc.)
March 1, 2005... Maxim Integrated Products' MAX5946 is a fully integrated, dual, hot-swap controller for PCI Express hot-plug slots that allows the safe insertion and removal of PCI-Express cards from live PCI-Express hot-plug slots. The device integrates many...

11-bit ADC for wireless infrastructure applications.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * High IF (up to 220MHz) and minimal power consumption of 400mW * Operates from single 3.3V supply * Digital output levels from 1.8 to 3.3V * High density, can be used for multiple carriers * Two's complement output format ...

LCD AVR Flash [micro]C for portable applications.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Consumes 3001[micro]A at operating frequency of 1MHz * Throughput of 2MIPS per milliwatt * Power consumption drops to 100 nano amps in power-down mode * Interrupts on up to 18 inputs can wake part from power down mode in less...

TIA for 4.25Gbps performance.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Operates in 1X, 2X, and 4x fiber channel receivers * Maintains sensitivity at 1/2Gbps operation * RSSI output to indicate module's received power * Drivers comprise chipset that provides easy upgrade to 4Gbps fiber channel...

SPI bus programmable gain amplifier.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Available in 1- and 2-channel inputs * Bandwidth of 1 to 18MHz * Supply voltage operation of 2.5 to 5.5V and operates over -40 to +125[degrees]C range * Offers low noise of 10nV/rtHz, low offset voltage 150uV, THD+N 0.0011%,...

3A, 3.5MHz, 42V boost converter.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Wide input voltage range of 2.5 to 24V * 3A, 42V internal switch * High efficiency power conversion up to 89% * Integrated soft-start * Frequency set by external resistor: 200kHz to 3.5MHz * Device protected against...

Digital audio IC for car radio applications.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * 0.18-micron CMOS process used * Controlled by standard ARM core, allowing designers to work with standard tools * Two external parts (crystal and 8MB Flash memory) required * Works with Atmel's DAB front-end devices U2730B and...

Stereo audio DAC for portable applications.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Built-in DirectDrive headphone amplifiers * Operates from any 1.8 to 3.6V single supply * Delivers 30mW of output power from 1.8V supply * Eliminates two bulky dc-blocking capacitors * Output-clocking circuitry derives common...

Color LED drivers for handheld devices.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * LP3950, $1.80 (1000) * Synchronizes LEDs based on music's amplitude or frequency response o Two RGB LED outputs can drive up to 300mA of output current for color LEDs * LP3942, $1.50 (1000) * 16 colors with 8 brightness values...

"Ultra low" power MCU family.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Real-time clock standby mode of less than one [micro]A * Switch in less than one us to fully synchronized 16 million of instructions per second (MIPS) active mode * Integrated [+ or -] 2.5% on-chip oscillator, pull-up/pull-down...

32-bit ARM [micro]C family with 60MHz Flash memory.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * First five of series of 32-bit MCUs with up to 512Kbytes of on-chip Flash * Designed for a wide variety of embedded system applications, including industrial control, computing-peripheral and medical markets * Fast Flash memory on...

Direct conversion modulator.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Frequency range of 1.5 to 2.4GHz * Output 3rd order intercept: +20.5dBm * Noise floor: -159dBm/Hz * ACPR 1-Ch W-CDMA: -73.5dBc * ACPR 4-Ch W-CDMA: -66dBc * Image rejection: 45dB * LO suppression: -47dBm *...

Integrated power management IC.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Two 95% efficient 3A buck controllers and one 300mA LDO * Adjustable output voltages (1.20 to 6.5V) on all channels * Input voltage range of 2.2 to 6.5V * Independent soft-start for all three power supplies * LDO stable with...

Power integrations expands off-line IC family.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Devices offer designers a low cost and very energy-efficient replacement for regulated linear transformer and discrete power supply designs * Targeted towards applications such as battery chargers and appliances that require fault...

Low noise, high linearity SiGe mixer.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Designed for 2.5G/3G wire less-infrastructure applications * Provides 8.3dB of conversion gain, 9.7dB of noise figure, and an IIP3 of 26.2dBm * 2RF-2LO performance at 67dBc for -10dBm RF level, and 62dBc for -5dBm RF level *...

High performance, multiphase CPU core controller.(ICs, SoCs & IP Cores)
March 1, 2005... * Provides precision voltage regulation system for advanced Intel Centrino platforms in notebook computers * Offers customers new level of flexibility for high current CPU core power needs * With integrated drivers * Requires less...

Multiplexer for high-channel-count data logging.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Multiplex more than 3,000 channels to single digital multimeter in one 3U PXI chassis * Data-logging applications in automotive, aerospace and consumer electronics test * Features 196 one-wire channels or 98 two-wire channels *...

DC to 8GHz real-time spectrum analyzer.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Enhanced resolution yielding 2000-fold improvement in analysis of power and frequency changes over time * Time correlating signal behavior in frequency, time, and modulation domains * Analyze time-correlated multi-domain views of...

Versatile compact test system.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Designed for testing modern comminications and automotive electronics * Comprehensive support for R&S CompactPCI- and PXI-based T&M equipment under Linux * Includes PXI kernel drivers, IVI runtime and generic device API *...

Load generation for VoIP and converged networks.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Spectra2 version 4.0 software and Tektronix' Wideband Trunking Interface (WTI) processing cards * Perform both sophisticated signaling and high-speed media generation from one system * Delivers up to 6 Gigabit Ethernet, STM-1, or...

Tests on WCDMA base stations simplified.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Combines the high-end Vector Signal Generator R&S SMU200A with the Vector Signal Analyzer R&S FSQ * Preconfigured for WCDMA, with one RF path and analyzer frequency range up to 26GHz. both instruments together test WCDMA base stations in...

Metrology tool for metal film measurement.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... * Designed for on-line and near-line measurements on semiconductor wafers, optical devices, high-density chip-scale packaging and substrate applications * Uses a combination of microbeam X-ray collimation technology and traditional energy...

CompactRIO embedded system platform.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... CompactRIO is a small, rugged, high-performance industrial control and acquisition platform that uses LabVlEW FPGA reconfigurable I/0 (RIO) technology to deliver a highly customizable embedded control and measurement system. The CompactRIO...

Hysteretic P-FET buck controller.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Easy-to-use control methodology * 0.8V to VIN adjustable output range * High efficiency (90% typ) * [+ or -] 0.9% feedback voltage ([+ or -] 1.5% over -40 to +125[degrees]C temperature range) * 100% duty cycle capable *...

Adaptor/USB input Li-Ion charger.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Powered from ac voltage-source adapter or USB port * Provides adjustable system and charging current up to 2.0A * Requires no external blocking diodes or current sense resistors * Overvoltage protection using an external power...

High power density ac-dc converter.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Simplify circuit design in 48V DPA applications * Operates across wide input voltage range of 85 to 264VAC * Delivers full-rated 600W of power with input voltages down to 90VAC * Incorporates active power factor correction to...

Li-Ion linear battery charger.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Charge current programmable up to 1A * Integrated 100mA adjustable low dropout linear regulator * Charges 1-cell Li-Lon batteries from USB port * Thermal regulation maximizes charging rate without risk of overheating * User...

Dual RF-power detector.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Monolithic solution for low-frequency-to-2.5GHz VSWR, gain, and power measurements * Also employed as fully integrated AGC loop controller * Maintains log conformance of [+ or -] 3dB over temperature * Provides dynamic ranges of...

Half-brick dc/dc converter.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Capable of delivering 200W of output power at 52.5V * Good thermal performance and full load efficiency of 92% * Comply with IEEE 802.3af standard * Provides increased input-to-output isolation of 2,250Vdc * Supports telecom...

DirectFET solution for dc/dc converter applications.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * Chipset solution for universal telecommunications input * (36 to 75V) and 48V fixed input systems * Designed for isolated or non-isolated dc/dc converter applications * Enhances system level power supply performance such as bulk...

TrenchMOS technology for CCFL and UHP.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)
March 1, 2005... * 150 and 200V power MOSFETs using TrenchMOS technology * Combines fast switching speeds with low RDS(on) values * Optimized for CCFL and UHP lamp driving * Comprises 200V devices with RDS(on) value of 65m and 150V devices with...

xScale microprocessor power in QFN package.(Power Components, Supplies & Devices)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The LTC3445 is a compact, high efficiency xScale microprocessor power supply in a 4x4mm QFN package. It contains a high efficiency monolithic synchronous current mode buck regulator, two LDO regulators, a PowerPath controller and an [I.sup.2]C...