EDN Asia articles from October 2007

EDN Asia archives from October 2007

Closing in on open standards.(ednasia comment)
October 1, 2007... Open standards have been said to be the panacea for problems faced by designers, manufacturers, and consumers. From the designer's point of view, they provide coherent design or architectural models allowing for integration and evolution, and...

Industry's first location detection SoC for ZigBee wireless sensor networking.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Texas Instruments has launched what's said to be the industry's first System-on-Chip (SoC) solution with a hardware location engine targeting low-power ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networking applications. The CC2431, from the...

First through-hole power bead inductors for desktop architectures.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Pulse has launched what's said to be the industry's first series of through-hole power bead inductors for desktop architectures. The PA1894NL and PA2080NL series use a single-turn conductor with a ferrite core instead of a multi-turn conductor...

Evaluation platform with fast-track evaluates three Infineon 8-bit MCUs.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Infineon Technologies AG has announced a low-cost evaluation kit for the company's XC800 8-bit embedded-Flash microcontroller (MCU) family. The XC800 USCALE kit is contained in a USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick that provides full evaluation...

"System-in-a-package" ballast IC for compact fluorescent lamps.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... The FAN7710 from Fairchild Semiconductor is said to be the most highly integrated ballast IC on the market specifically developed for compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) designs. Offering a "system-in-a-package" approach, the device optimizes...

Software Defined Silicon to bring low cost flexibility to consumer product design.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... XMOS Semiconductor has revealed plans to introduce a completely new type of programmable semiconductor technology. The UK start-up's Software Defined Silicon (SDS) will provide consumer electronics system designers with the unit cost advantage...

Next gen 8-bit high-speed digitizers.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... GaGe has developed its next-generation 8-bit high-speed digitizers. The Cobra CompuScope family of digitizers provides the optimal combination of speed, memory and bandwidth, as well as a comprehensive suite of advanced features. Available with...

National Semiconductor optimizes energy efficiency in handheld multimedia devices.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... National Semiconductor has made energy-efficient breakthroughs that enable video in new converged devices that feature phone and multimedia functions. Six products have been introduced that enable high-resolution displays and sound quality,...

"World's first" MCUs with fully-integrated 10/100Mbps Ethernet solution with ARM architecture compatibility.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Luminary Micro's LM3S6000 series are claimed to be the first MCUs to feature a fully-integrated 10/100 Mbps Ethernet solution with ARM architecture compatibility. The devices combine both the Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY)...

VDSL2 line driver in small QFN package.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Intersil Corporation has launched its ISL1539, the latest addition to Intersil's family of line drivers featuring low power, a very small footprint and good linearity. The ISL1539 is the first monolithic, dual port, DSL line driver for 100Mbps...

Low power touch sensor for portable and cost-sensitive apps.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Following the signing of a technology-licensing agreement with Korean company ATLab, Inc., STMicroelectronics has released a family of ultra-low-power touch-sensor chips for portable applications such as mobile...

2.5Gbps GPON ONU transceiver solution.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Micrel's SY87725L is a single chip programmable SERDES (Serializer/ Deserializer) that supports multiple Passive Optical Network (PON) standards and rates including asymmetric Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) with data rates up to 2.5Gbps...

Ferroelectric-based nonvolatile state saver.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... Ramtron International Corporation launched the semiconductor industry's first nonvolatile state saver--a device that saves the state of signals on demand, and restores them to the correct state automatically upon power up. FRAM technology...

Spartan-3AN starter kit cuts development time for non-volatile FPGAs.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... This low-cost Spartan-3AN Starter Kit by Xilinx is ideal for prototyping high-volume nonvolatile applications where higher system integration or security is critical such as broadband access, digital displays, set top boxes, data acquisition,...

Thin optical mouse sensor with integrated LED bundle and trim lens.(INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
October 1, 2007... This series of small form factor (SFF) optical mouse sensors with an integrated chip-on-board (COB) LED illuminated optical navigation system is said to be the thinnest in the industry. With a compact package that is 97% smaller than its...

Eviscerating the Xbox 360 Elite.(prying eyes)
October 1, 2007... In late April, Microsoft refreshed its nearly 1.5 year old Xbox 360 product line with the high-end Elite variant, touting an upgraded-capacity 120Gbyte HDD and an HDMI v1.2 digital audio-and-video interface. When you crack open the Elite's...

Networking moves to home automation: after languishing for years, home automation is seeing a surge of activity as new technologies, emerging standards, and the networking of consumer devices converge to develop the intelligent residence.(Cover story)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The dream of an intelligent home that automatically controls the living environment and responds to individual preferences has been around since the advent of the microcontroller first suggested the possibility. High...

Wireless power transmission: no strings attached: receiving electrical power without the use of wires has long been an ideal for electronic devices. How feasible is it, and what are some of the other options?(design feature)
October 1, 2007... Any technology that offers to free applications from power cords and wall warts will confer a definite salable edge on electronic devices. Applications that would benefit from wireless power range from portable consumer electronics, such as...

The evolution of SERDES designs for cellphones: applying a systems approach to silicon design leads to success.(design feature)
October 1, 2007... Slimmer cellphones with more functions and features have created a number of system-design challenges. The problems are well-known: managing energy consumption and minimizing noise while moving data around in a handset. The situation provides...

"We are the top supplier of PLDs to India".(Interview)
October 1, 2007... With a heady 135 percent growth in revenues last year, Actel Corporation's India operation continues to gain momentum. EDN Asia recently spoke with John East, President and CEO, and Dennis Kish, Senior Vice President, Actel Corporation, on the...

Process flow optimization with absolute encoders in valve control.(special report)(Avago's AEAS-7000 encoder)
October 1, 2007... In process flow control, there are many factors affecting variability but the greatest contributor is the control valve's performance. Extensive studies on control loops have indicated as that high as 80% of all control loops do not perform...

Build a complete industrial-ADC interface using a microcontroller and a sigma-delta modulator.(design ideas)
October 1, 2007... Designers commonly use O- to 20-mA, 0 to IOV isolated inputs for industrial-applicationcontrol signals. A combination of isolated supplies, the builtin isolation of an Analog Devices (www.analog.com) AD7400 sigma-delta modulator, and a Texas...

Circuit guards amplifier outputs against overvoltage.(design ideas)
October 1, 2007... A universal requirement for automotive electronics is that any device with direct connections to the wiring harness must be able to withstand shorts to the battery voltage. Though brutal, this requirement is necessary for reliability and for...

Simplified LCD TV power system with TPS40K dc/dc controller.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The TPS40195 is a flexible, synchronous buck controller that simplifies power management design of LCD TVs and IP set-top boxes that use DSPs and FPGAs. It has several features to enhance the power performance of a...

High system throughput with tiny solid state relays.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With input drive as low as 2mA and fast switching speeds of less than 0.5ms, the ASSR-301C/302C and ASSR401C/402C are specifically designed for sensing and multiplexing applications such as test and measurement, and...

Voltage output DAC family integrates internal reference in SC70 package.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... The LTC2630 family of 12-, 10- and 8-bit DACs come in tiny 2.1x2mm SC70 packages--said to be the smallest available DACs with an internal reference. It offers the choice of an internal 2.5 or 4.096V 10ppm/[degrees]C full-scale reference,...

Superior power dissipation in small form factor.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By combining Fairchild's advanced PowerTrench and packaging technologies in one device, the MicroFET offers performance and space advantages over conventional MOSFETs. The MicroFET's 2x2x0.8mm molded leadless package...

PWM buck regulators with 3A current ratings.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... This family of 2MHz PWM buck regulators includes MIC4723 (3A), MIC4720 (2A) and MIC4721 (1.5A). The MIC4723 and MIC4720 are offered in a 3x3mm MLF-12 and thermally-enhanced MSOP-10 package, while the MIC4721 is offered in a MSOP-10. The ICs...

WLED charge pump integrates Class AB amp, saves 50% PCB area.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The MAX8678 is said to be the industry's only white-LED (WLED) driver to combine a highly efficient negative charge pump with a fully differential, bridged audio amplifier. Available in a tiny, 3x3x0.8mm TQFN...

Reference board for quick verification and design.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The BCIM is a reference design kit that contains a three-phase ac induction motor controller at its core. Designed to provide an interface between the controller and the company's IPM design kits, the BCIM board provides PWM signals for the...

XC800 USCALE start kit.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The XC800 USCALE kit is a low cost USB stick providing full evaluation capability for the XC866, XC886 and XC888 8-bit family of microcontrollers, all on a single platform. The kit includes development toolchains, demos and tutorials for quick...

Graphics card with upgraded overclocking features.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The XLR8 GeForce 8800 GTX OC graphics card features 768Mbytes of high-speed GDDR3 frame-buffer memory and a 621MHz core clock. The overclocked card provides a 1.45GHz shader clock and a 2GHz memory frequency, compared with a standard 1.35GHz...

Modularized design servo motion control card.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The PCI-8154 is a 4-axis pulse train modularized motion control card for controlling steppers, servos, and linear motors. It delivers high-frequency pulse rates of up to 6.55MHz, and features a hardware-controlled emergency stop to terminate...

Development and wireless connectivity board.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Wireless ARMite development and wireless-connectivity board features a 32-bit processor and embedded communication protocols, allowing wireless communications on Bluetooth and ZigBee protocols. Connecting the...

Master module for machine automation.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The AMAX-2050KW master module is an embedded Pentium III grade platform with an onboard AMONet controller that can control up to 2048 I/O points or 64 axes. It offers two USB interfaces, two RS-232 and one RS-422/485 communication ports with...

High-density analog modules with 16-bit resolution.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... Two analog expansion I/O modules for the MicroSmart and MicroSmart Pentra PLCs have been introduced. With fast conversion times, 16-bit resolution, and up to seven analog modules on the MicroSmart Pentra, as many as 56 analog I/Os can be...

Control board features six GbE LAN ports.(BOARDS, CARDS, AND MODULES)
October 1, 2007... The MB-06067 is a high performance control board designed for IDS/IPS, firewall, VPN gateway, and unified threat management (UTM) applications. It uses an Intel Pentium M or Celeron M processor with Intel 852GM express chipset and ICH4 I/O...

PCI Express waveform digitizers.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are 12 digitizer cards in the UF2e-4600 series. Using multiple 16-bit ADCs for true simultaneous sampling, the cards are available with maximum sampling rates from 200kS/s to 3MS/s and 2-, 4- or 8-channel...

Tesla power semiconductor device characterization system.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Tesla power device characterization system solves the on-wafer probing challenges for engineers and test technicians who need to characterize their power devices. The system features two wafer probes, including a...

One-box solution for MIMO receiver tests.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... Rohde & Schwarz has added MIMO test capability to its R&S SMU200A and R&S AMU200A signal generators. Each generator offers two signal sources and an internal fading simulator. With the R&S SMU-K74 or R&S AMU-K74 option added, each generator...

MPTA enables complete MIMO testing on current one-box testers.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... The LitePoint Multiport Test Adapter (MPTA) is targeted at low-cost R&D and manufacturing test of 802.11n MIMO devices. It enables both industry standard composite EVM along with fast-switching test methodologies allowing multi-channel MIMO...

Simulink design verifier tool.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... The Simulink design verifier generates tests and proves design properties for Simulink and Stateflow models using the Prover Plug-In from Prover Technology. Developers of embedded systems---especially complex or safety-critical systems--can now...

LabVIEW driver for UltraFast digitizer and waveform generator PCI boards.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Strategic Test Corp. has announced the availability of a LabVIEW driver for its UltraFast range of Digitizer, Arbitrary Waveform Generator and high-speed Digital I/O PCI cards. The driver supports all of the card's...

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2007... This year EDN Asia celebrates its 15th anniversary. As we look back at the last 15 years, we are proud to say that we have marched hand-in-hand with the Asian electronic design fraternity in the kind of partnership envisaged by the first Chief...

FPGAs evolution through 15 years.(GUEST COMMENT)(field-programmable gate arrays )
October 1, 2007... Fifteen years ago, FPGAs offered flexibility and fast time-to-market, but were considered big, slow, hot, and expensive. These early FPGAs found homes in large-form, powerful applications such as communications infrastructure equipment, their...

Congratulations.
October 1, 2007... DIGI-KEY CORPORATION [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ON behalf of Digi-Key Corporation, I congratulate EDN Asia on this milestone anniversary. As Digi-Key has expanded into Asia with country-specific catalogs and Web sites in recent years, we...

Remembering past editors.
October 1, 2007... "The past is only the present become invisible and mute; and because it is invisible and mute, its memoried glances and its murmurs are infinitely precious. We are tomorrow's past." --Mary Webb, British author [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Once upon a time.(EDN ASIA ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL)
October 1, 2007... The past comes and goes. But memories linger on. In the whisk of the past, many companies came and went, or changed their names and marketplace. Here we fondly remember some such companies that were frequently present on the editorial and ad...

Through years together.(EDN ASIA ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL)
October 1, 2007... "No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." --Robert Southey, English poet of the Romantic School A sneak peek at some of our advertisers in the first...

ASIC design center opens in Singapore.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... To better service ASIC designers in Singapore, Toshiba Electronics Asia Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corp, has opened a design center. The facility is staffed by three engineers and contains a workstation and CAD terminals linked via...

India pursues ASIC design.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... Indian technology companies are beginning to design ASICs for customers in India and abroad. The Bombay-based DCM Data Systems diversified into ASIC design from computers and software development. The company's ASIC Design Group has been...

Joint-venture wafer lab opens in Shanghai.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... Philips Semiconductor opened a wafer fab facility in Shanghai to manufacture bipolar and CMOS devices for low-power, low-voltage applications. The factory will produce ICs in 5-in. wafers for use in TV, telephone, remote controls, and radio...

Penang emerges as design center.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... Penang isn't just a great place to unwind and get some sun. More and more electronics companies are thinking of it as a great place to design products. Motorola established a manufacturing facility there in 1974; two years later it opened its...

Taiwan aims at 0.18[micro]m process.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... Bidding to make Taiwan a leader-rather than a fast follower--in IC technology, the government is sponsoring a project aimed at developing 0.18-[micro]m back-end processing modules. While the private sector is working to catch up with Korea and...

Korea moves from memory chips to ASICs.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... Korea's semiconductor exports expected to have touched US$11.5 billion in 1994. Just as Japanese semicon firms utilized their technical expertise in memories to develop other businesses in the 80's, Korean manufacturers of memory chips are...

Hong Kong serves a wireless test bed.(REGIONAL UPDATE)
October 1, 2007... With a large number of mobile-phone users in a cramped, radio-hostile environment, Hong Kong presents a serious challenge for wireless communications. Because of this, the territory is becoming a proving-ground for the latest technologies.......

Japan wraps itself in the World Wide Web.(REGIONAL UPDATE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Internet's latest craze, the World Wide Web, is increasingly driving the development of Internet use in Japan. While some companies scramble to use the Web to promote their wares, others are developing products for web applications....

Internet Protocol: the future route for telephony.
October 1, 2007... For years the Internet Protocol has been the future for telephony, and it continues to be so. IP telephony is one of those rare technologies that has been waiting to become mainstream for years but could merely remain on the margins. In March...

What system designers need to know about deep-submicron ASICs.(DESIGN FEATURE)
October 1, 2007... Facing the challenges of designing into deep submicron has become routine for the designer. He was facing these challenges decades ago; he is still facing them. However, the concept of "deep submicron" has been changing. When this Design...

Batteries: where do we go from here?(EDITORIAL)
October 1, 2007... Portable electronics is an important market and is providing growing opportunities for various types of rechargeable batteries, micro fuel cells, and a wide variety of power management ICs. But as portable devices get increasingly smaller, and...

Power chips on the move with mobile electronic devices.(Power Supplement)
October 1, 2007... The rapid popularization of portable electronic devices over the last two decades has driven incredible growth and turned the power semiconductor marketplace on its head. Twenty years ago, practically all power management integrated circuits...

Battery authentication for portable power-supply systems.(Power Supplement)
October 1, 2007... Battery authentication for portable power-supply systems is a growing trend, in part due to the recent increase in personal injuries related to the improper charge profile of counterfeit rechargeable batteries. The topic of battery...

AC/DC integrated power IC for various low power applications.(Power Supplement)
October 1, 2007... The ICE3BRxx65J PWM controller is the latest in the series of CoolSET-F3 (F3R). Particularly suitable for low power applications from 9 to 30W such as DVD players/ recorders, set-top boxes, adapters, auxiliary supplies, etc., this tiny,...

Deployment issues with portable fuel cells.(Case Study)
October 1, 2007... THE CHALLENGE Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) and other consumer size fuel cell devices are making headlines these days. With the struggle for efficiency and regulation of liquid fuel in power supplies, the allure of long operating life...