EDN Asia articles from November 2005

EDN Asia archives from November 2005

New issues in implementing Ips.(ednasia comment)
November 1, 2005... When ARM Ltd bought Artisan Components Inc. last year for $913 million, there were doubts expressed about the logic behind the deal. ARM and Artisan were two companies with widely different technologies and distribution channels. ARM's forte...

Linear 16-bit SAR ADC for automated test equipment and medical imaging.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Texas Instruments has launched what it says is the "industry's most linear" 16-bit, SAR ADC. The ADS8372 features 16-bit no missing code performance, 600kSPS data rate, less than 0.75 LSB (max) integral nonlinearity (INL) and less than 0.5 LSB...

USB and USB OTG carkit transceivers for hands-free, mobile applications.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Royal Philips Electronics family of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and USB On-the-Go (OTG) carkit transceivers offers manufacturers a simple and cost-effective way to connect mobile devices to a carkit via a USB interface. Providing a single,...

Monolithic, 32-channel DACs feature offset and gain calibration.
November 1, 2005... Maxim Integrated Products' MAX5762-MAX5765 (16-bit) and MAX5773/MAX5774/MAX5775 (14-bit) are precise and compact 32-channel DACs that integrate a programmable offset and gain calibration algorithm. Tiffs algorithm senses and corrects for offset...

PLL clock generation IC replaces expensive crystal oscillators.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... ON Semiconductor's NB4N507A is the first in a series of fully-integrated phase lock loop (PLL) ICs designed to replace expensive crystal oscillators for clock generation in a wide variety of consumer and networking applications. Offering...

PIC microcontroller for passive-keyless-entry and wireless authentication.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Microchip has launched a Flash, 8-bit PIC microcontroller with a 3-channel, transponder analog front end and an integrated KEELOQ cryptographic peripheral. This combination on the new microcontroller provides a total solution for passive...

Complete three line protective solution from 9 corporation.( )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The Theon point of protection device jointly developed by 9 Corporation and Vortex Technologies offers true 3-line (live-neutral-ground) protection in a convenient, cost-effective package. Prior to this development there was no way to protect...

Agilent intros high-speed serial pulse data generator.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Agilent Technologies' high-speed, serial pulse data generator with stimulus capability up to 7GHz enables computer and semiconductor test engineers to accurately characterize components being developed for next-gen serial buses used in...

Low power 90nm WLAN single chip solution.(wireless local area network)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Marvells "ultra-low" power 90nm Wireless LAN (WLAN) single chip solution draws less than 400Mw. and comes in a small system footprint--less than 50m[m.sup.2]. The Marvell 88W8686 integrates an ARM compliant CPU. high speed serial host...

DC/DC converter yields low-profile PoE supply.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Addressing the needs of power-over-Ethernet (POE) IEEE 803.3af applications. Power Integrations has packed their DPA-Switch family of dc/dc converters into smaller, lower-profile S-PAK enclosures. With footprint that is 40% smaller and height...

Cellphone LED driver features 1A total output current & 95% efficiency.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Linear Technology's LTC3208 is a fully integrated, 850kHz, low noise, high efficiency lx/ 1.5x/2x charge pump multi-display LED driver that can drive up to 17 LED current sources: a 14 LED main display, 1-2 LED sub display, a 1-3 LED RGB...

EcoSmart charger reference design reduces energy waste.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... Power Integrations has unveiled a 3W charger reference design that consumes less than 30mW of no-load power. Typical applications for this design include cellphones, cordless phones, PDAs. MP3 players and other battery-powered portable...

MOSFET chipset supports notebook buck converters.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
November 1, 2005... The IRF6621/ IRF6612 synchronous buck converter from International Rectifier is a 30V MOSFET-based chipset for 14 to 18A multiphase dc/dc supplies, primarily in notebook PCs. Consisting of a control MOSFET (IRF6621) and a synchronous MOSFET...

Chinese chip vendors push TD-SCDMA terminals.(GLOBAL DESIGNER)
November 1, 2005... The TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance is this summer sponsoring field tests for TD-SCDMA (time-division synchronous-code-division multiple-access) networks in Beijing and Shanghai. If things go smoothly, separate trial TDSCDMA-network subscriptions...

Supercaps packaged for high energy storage tasks.(pulse)
November 1, 2005... Designers using supercapacitors for energy storage in systems such as hybrid or all-electric vehicles, or in power generators such as wind turbines, now have the option of a 6-cell module that offers a working voltage of 16.2V The working...

Cheap shot: an SOC makes a one-time-use video camera feasible. Will consumers embrace the minimalist feature set?(prying eyes)
November 1, 2005... Starting about a few months ago, a drugstore chain began selling a digital-video camera for the paltry sum of $30. The product of digital-imaging specialists Pure Digital Technologies, the bare-bones device probably will serve most often in...

Who are you buying your EDA software from?(Cover Story)
November 1, 2005... If three years ago you had asked EDA-software vendors about software piracy, they would have answered, "It's not a big problem." The addition of licensing software, such as FlexLM from Macrovision, to their tools acted as a good enough...

2012 X6S 10[micro]F with better DC bias performance.(direct current)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Samsung Electro-Mechanics has completed development of a 2012 X6S 10[micro]F MLCC with a very small fall-off in capacitance induced by DC bias voltage. The capacitance value of an MLCC is inversely proportional to the thickness of the...

Chip inductor now in 0603 size.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Samsung Electro Mechanics (Samsung) has come out chip inductor in a 0603 case size with a quality factor at least 6.5% better than that for competing devices when operating in frequencies of 100MHz or higher. The new device measures 0.6mm long...

Multi-layer BPF and balun in 1608 size.(band pass filters)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Bluetooth and wireless LAN modules are being installed in mobile products to enable wireless networks, and users are requiring ever-better performance module components that are smaller and smaller. At least 50% of all new mobile phones are...

WiFi and Bluetooth fight for bandwith: Bluetooth and WLAN are on a collision course--not in the market, but in the airwaves.(design feature)
November 1, 2005... WLAN (wireless LAN) using the WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) IEEE 802.1l b/g protocol is becoming standard in PCs and laptop computers, and it is making its way into PDAs and other portable data appliances. At the same time, Bluetooth is arising as a...

Choosing and using microprocessor memory interfaces: designers evaluating memory-interface options need to optimize the trade-offs among capacity, bandwidth, efficiency, and system constraints.(design feature)
November 1, 2005... Microprocessor-based systems are ideal for executing an essentially infinite number of tasks. The host microprocessors support a limited set of instructions that can combine to produce incredibly complex software programs. In other words, a...

Choosing the right "stacked" memory-packaging architecture for today's microelectronics applications: in each new memory-packaging architecture, system designers must weigh the attributes of stacked die versus stacked chip scale packages and other manufacturing issues.(special report)
November 1, 2005... Increasingly, memory chips--in combinations of all their flavors (i.e., DRAM, SRAM, Flash, etc.)--are at the forefront of microelectronics end-product functionality. This is true for cellphone handsets, broadband devices, networking components,...

Multioutput DC/DC converter.(Monolithic Dual Output DC/DC Converters: High Performance Analog Solutions from Linear Technology)(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... The LTC[R]3548 is a dual output, high efficiency, 2.25MHz, synchronous buck regulator that delivers up to 800mA of continuous output current from one channel and up to 400mA from the other. Using a constant frequency and current mode...

Single converter provides positive and negative supplies.(Monolithic Dual Output DC/DC Converters: High Performance Analog Solutions from Linear Technology)(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Charge coupled device (CCD) imagers, LCDs, op amps and many other circuits require both a positive and negative power supply. Typically, two DC/DC converters are used--one for the positive supply and another for the negative supply. However,...

600mA Ultralow noise synchronous converter.(Monolithic Dual Output DC/DC Converters: High Performance Analog Solutions from Linear Technology)(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... High efficiency, low ripple current and a small footprint are critical power supply design requirements for cell phones, MP3 players and other battery-powered portable devices. The LTC3448 delivers excellent performance in each of these areas....

"For designers we're a one-stop shop".(Interview)
November 1, 2005... Avnet, a global marketer and distributor, has two operating groups: $5.9 billion Avnet Electronics Marketing, specializing in electronic components; and $4.4 billion Avnet Technology Solutions, specializing in enterprise computing products and...

Power-supply interrupter fights ESD-induced device latch-up: Emerson Segura, Lifescale Global Diagnostics Inc, Toronto, ON, Canada.(design ideas)
November 1, 2005... Under certain conditions, ESD events can damage digital circuits by causing latch-up. For example, when ESD triggers them, parasitic transistors normally formed as parts of a CMOS device can behave as an SCR (silicon-controlled rectifier). Once...

Squeeze extra outputs from a pin-limited microcontroller.(design ideas)
November 1, 2005... Many of today's designs use low-cost microcontrollers from Freescale and Microchip, but during the last decade, device packages have resorted to ever-smaller footprints featuring as few as eight or even six pins. Although these packages...

Precision active load operates as low as 2V.(design ideas)
November 1, 2005... This Design Idea presents a self-powered, precision-active-load circuit that improves on a previously published design (Reference 1). Added features include a wider operating-voltage range of 2 to 50V or higher and several flexible...

LCD driver for standard and custom LCD displays for industrial applications.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Austriamicrosystems has introduced the ASl120, a RoHS compliant LCD driver which supports alphanumeric and bar graph displays. Targeted at industrial and automation markets, the chip can drive up to 46 segments of non-multiplexed LCD displays...

Power ICs combine discrete functions into low-power single-chip solutions.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Microchip's power management ICs offer low-power advantages for battery-operated and dual-output-voltage systems. The TC1303/TC1313 come in a thermally enhanced package (10-lead, 3X3mm DFN) which minimizes hoard space and allows for excess heat...

13-bit, 210MSPS ADC for wideband applications.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Texas Instruments 13-bit, 210MSPS ADC features 68dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 79dB spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR), at the maximum sample rate of 210MSPS and an input frequency of 230MHz. The ADS5440 enables improved receiver...

Intersil's single chip, low power optical sensor.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Intersil's EL7900 is an optical sensor that converts light to current. It operates in a wide range of lighting conditions from 1 to 10,000 lux. It allows devices such as cellphones, laptops or any handheld device to decrease overall system...

DC/DC converter offers 150 [degrees]C max junction temperature.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Linear's "H-Grade'" version of the LT1936 is a 36V, current mode PWM step-down DC/DC converter with an internal 1.9A power switch, packaged in a 8-lead thermally enhanced MSOP package. The "H" Grade version operates up to a junction temperature...

SiGe mixer delivers high performance and integration.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... The MAX2031 is said to be the industry's highest performance, fully integrated, 815 to 1000MHz SiGe passive mixer. This single IC provides 36dBm of IIP3 27dBm of IPldB, 7dB of noise figure, and a conversion loss of only 7dB. In addition, the...

LDO regulators combine low dropout with high current.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Vishay's two 150mA low-noise low-dropout (LDO) regulators have high current density in small five-pin SC-70 packages. The 2x2mm footprint makes them suited for battery-powered equipment such as cellphones, PDAs, pagers, digital cameras, MP3...

Improved processor companion family.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Ramtron's FRAM-based FM3104, FM3116, FM3164, and FM31256 devices combine a nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) with a real-time clock (RTC), a processor supervisor and additional peripheral functions. Providing commonly needed...

Low cost amplifiers deliver power and speed.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... ON Semiconductor has introduced four devices for the rapidly growing low power video applications space. The NCS25xx family of high-speed op amps enable designers to achieve good levels of power and speed without having to make a cost tradeoff....

Multi-standard DTV demodulators for HDTVs.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... The DRX-H family of multi-standard 8VSB/QAM/QPSK/NTSC demodulator products are targeted at applications in digital TV-sets, set-top boxes, multimedia-PCs, DVD recorders, PVRs and tuner modules. This feature-rich DRX-H product family from...

Hot swap controllers use 60% less board space.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Freescale's MC34652 and MC34653 minimize the need for external components by integrating the power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) required by most applications. This integration, with compact packaging, may reduce...

Ethernet transceivers enable new class of connected devices.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... The DP83848 PHYTER family of commercial (DP83848C), industrial (DP83848I) and extreme-environment (DP83848YB) Ethernet transceivers boasts error-free operation over 137 meters of cable, reliably exceeding the IEEE 802.3u specification of 100...

Three-wavelength compatible laser diode driver.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
November 1, 2005... Renesas' R2S35200NP three-wave-length compatible laser diode driver for optical disc drives offers features such as support of three wavelengths for BD/DVD/CD or HD-DVD/DVD/CD with a single chip, high slew rate, on-chip write strategy function...

Optically enhanced large TFT display.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... Global Display Solutions' Optically Enhanced Large TFT Display is readable in full sunlight, has high resolution and is designed to operate 24 hours a day. Ideal for use in outdoor applications such as railway stations, airports, bus stations...

Osram expands graphic display product line.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... Osram Opto Semiconductors is offering 12 new Pictiva standard products with four new colors to address expanding markets and applications in the industrial, medical and white good industries. The new set of colors includes lime green, jungle...

True color OLED driver for handheld devices.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... Solomon Systech's SSD1339 is a single chip driver IC with controller for color passive common cathode type OLED/ PLED panel. It supports panel resolution up to 132RGBx132. The driver reveals realistic color of images, by providing 262K true...

ICs drive white LEDs with high efficiency.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... Vishay's two new white LED drivers deliver high efficiency up to 80% during operation in compact handheld and battery-operated electronics. The SiP12401 boost controller and SIP12501 boost converter are optimized to provide efficient,...

Tricolor LEDs for backlighting mobile phones and PDAs.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... Agilent's two side-firing, tricolor surface-mount LEDs permit handset and PDA designers to mix separate red, green and blue light sources in any combination. Intended primarily for backlighting and status indicators in handheld devices, such as...

LVDT indicator for diverse applications.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... The DMI-A1 Series AC LVDT Indicator is an accurate, high performance, programmable single channel AC LVDT indicator that delivers precise measurement for applications using AC LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) inputs. The 5-digit...

1W full spectrum LED module.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2005... BivarOpto's 1W LED module has up to 60-lumen output for general illumination and specialty lighting applications. Immediate uses of the higher intensity single chip LED-module include safety, signaling, emergency lighting and general lighting...

Wave soldering machine for lead-free.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... The WS330 from Essemtec is a compact, professional wave-soldering machine for small and mid size volumes in standard and lead-free technology. The solder width of up to 330mm (13") and the universal pallet transport system allows users to work...

High-temp solder pallet material.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... Norplex-Micarta's WaveMax 5000 is a thermoset composite material for durable, high-temperature solder pallets. It provides good mechanical strength at a continuous operating temperature of 260[degrees]C. The material easily withstands exposures...

Altium releases P-CAD 2004.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... Altium's P-CAD 2004 offers upgraded technologies for layout and automatic and interactive routing, improved support for CAM file editing and circuit simulation, as well as a host of enhancements designed to give greater power and control over...

Debug Support for XC164S/D/N.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... The TantinoXC from Hitex is a compact OCDS Level1 JTAG debugger that supports the new XC16x series CPU features and embedded Flash programming at high download speeds via its USB host interface. The DProbeXC high-end in-circuit emulator allows...

Pb-free wave solder flux delivers excellent wetting.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... Indium's 1075-EXR 44 Wave Solder Flux is developed specifically for Pb-Free wave soldering of surface-mount, mixed-technology, and through-hole electronics assemblies. The 1075-EXR 44 is water-based and non-flammable, eliminating special...

Low temp poly-silicon tool for FDP manufacturing.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... TCZ GmbH and Carl Zeiss SMT AG have announced the TCZ 900X--a production tool for fabricating flat panel displays (FPD). The tool is designed to improve the throughput and reduce the cost of laser crystallization for LTPS (low temperature poly...

300mm thickness and composition metrology for ultra-thin films.(MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2005... Thermo Electron Corporation's fully automated Theta 300XT tool features twin loadports and full host integration and pattern recognition for measurement of product wafers. Them 300XT features 200 and 300mm wafer mapping of thickness, elemental...

WiFi RF modules with small size, low current.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... Epicom's family of four compact RF front-end modules for 802.11b/g and 802.11a/b/g WiFi products employ the company's linearized power amplifiers fully-integrated with T/R diversity switch, low noise amplifier, filters, diplexers, power...

ASUS' first motherboard with TV reception.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... Royal Philips Electronics has announced that ASUS is using an advanced solution for analog TV to deliver its first motherboard with TV reception. The two-chip solution from Philips includes a silicon tuner and audio/video decoder in a compact...

PCI dual RF synthesizer with quadrature sweep.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... The Synth300-TRIG PCI dual-channel direct dgital synthesizers (DDS) card from Furaxa incorporates two independent DDSs synchronized at 1GHz, each separately programmable for frequencies between 300KHz and 300MHz in 0.233-Hz increments. In...

Micrel announces QwikRadio modules.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... Micrel's QwikRadio modules feature a small form factor and come in fixed data-rates at standard frequencies (1KBPS Manchester at 315 or 433MHz). They enable customers to quickly design new products by taking a more time-effective and cost...

Low-cost modem for embedded systems.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... Xecom's XE2422H low cost modem module offers dial-up communications at 300, 1200 and 2400 bits per second and supports alarm industry Pulse and FSK signaling. The XE2422H is a complete modem packaged as a compact, surface-mount leadless chip...

Industrial ATX motherboard.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Advantech's AIMB-750 series is an Intel Pentium M/Celeron M processor-based industrial ATX motherboard with 64-bit PCI-X and 32-bit PCI slots. Featuring high performance, low power and advanced I/O technology, the board is also equipped with an...

High-speed universal PCI analog I/O board.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... Acces I/O Products' model LPCI-A 16-16A is a high-speed PCI 16-bit multi-function analog I/O board for precision PC-based Measurement, analysis, monitoring and control in space-limited embedded applications, including thin-client and...

VME to VXI adapter card.(BOARDS, CARDS & MODULES)
November 1, 2005... KineticSystems Company's VCDS VME to VXI adapter card is a functional replacement for the Colorado Data Systems Model CDS 73A-851. This single-width, C-size VXI module that adapts most B size VME modules for use in a VXI mainframe maintains the...