Electronic Design articles from December 2004

Electronic Design archives from December 2004

Tiny Grates reveal super-small motion.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)(Sandia National Laboratories' Motion detector)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... Motion detectors just got 1000 times better, thanks to researchers' efforts at Sandia National Laboratories and a little-known optical property. Light diffracted from very small gratings that move very small lateral distances undergoes a...

RFID chip helps prevent surgical mixups.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... Despite protocols that include signatures, "time outs" for doctors, and identification wristbands, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations still receives five to eight new reports of wrong-site surgery each month. This...

PlanetEE.com: the global resource for electronics engineers.(TechScope)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... Aimed at electronics engineers and engineering managers worldwide, PlanetEE serves as a gateway to the individual Web sites of the highly respected engineering publications and specifier's tools of Penton Media's Electronics Group. Find...

I turned the lights off, but what about standby power?(Editorial)(Editorial)
December 8, 2004... Preparing to leave my house for a Thanksgiving road trip, I followed my usual ritual of setting timers to control lamps, aiming for the right balance of lighting security and electricity conservation. But having just returned from the...

What's all this Merit Badge stuff, anyhow?(Pease Porridge)(Column)
December 8, 2004... Yes, I used to be a Boy Scout, and I think I earned about six Merit Badges. Did they have an Electricity or Electronics Merit Badge back in 1954? Probably, but I did not earn that one. I did pass swimming, though. So how can we get kids...

IPv6--it's not just about software anymore!(POV: point of view)
December 8, 2004... Discussions of the migration from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to version 6 (IPv6) have been lively and sometimes contradictory. Opinions vary widely as to why it is needed and what role stopgap measures, such as network address...

High-performance computing gets hot in Pittsburgh.(Conference Wrapup)
December 8, 2004... The SC2004 Conference on supercomputing heated up Pittsburgh as the weather got a little chilly last month in the Iron City. It was definitely the show for big iron, although high-performance computing has moved to racks of blade servers...

HTX InfiniBand adapter cuts latency for low-cost, high-performance supercomputers.(Conference Wrapup)
December 8, 2004... Latency is one of the biggest performance killers for supercomputers. But high bandwidth also is a problem. PathScale's HTX-based InfiniPath adapter addresses both challenges, melding the bandwidth of a 4X InfiniBand link to a low-latency...

Frequently asked questions: new industrial analog process technologies.(Power Design )
December 8, 2004... In the early days of analog ICs, chip designers had a large arsenal of circuit elements that let them create products with exceptionally high performance. Over time, to keep analog IC prices competitive, analog process technologies followed the...

15 new ICs bring submicron advantages to industrial applications.(integrated circuits)(industrial CMOS)
December 8, 2004... Analog Devices' iCMOS[TM] (industrial CMOS) process combines the best of CMOS and bipolar processes with innovative high-voltage technology to enable designers to put as much as 30 V across a chip with 0.6-[micro]m geometry. The features...

Multigigabit analog equalizer cleans up after backplane messes.(Analog & Power)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... Serial transmission over FR-4 backplanes of up to 6.25 Gbits/s, with trace lengths up to 30 in., is now possible for multigigabit switch, router, storage-area-network, and server backplanes. Slicing through the Gordian knot of jitter is the...

Platinum doping cuts diode leakage, raises operating temps.(Analog & Power)
December 8, 2004... Just like your credit cards, platinum trumps gold when it comes to ultra-fast high-voltage, medium-current diodes. The STTH series of diodes from STMicroelectronics is built with a planar, platinum-doped silicon process technology that helps...

Automotive ISM-band transmitter meets worldwide standards.(Analog & Power)
December 8, 2004... The AS3977, a novel multichannel narrow-band RF transmitter from Austria Microsystems, supports frequency-division multiple-access and time-division multiple-access modes for redundant data transmission over distances up to one mile for...

Frequently asked questions: ultra-low-voltage ac-dc converter ICs.(Power Design FAQs)
December 8, 2004... Why is it necessary to use ultra-low-voltage dc-dc converters? Published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) projects lower operating voltages and higher current...

2-MHz SOT-23 dc-dc converters improve system efficiency.(Product Q & As)(Advertisement)
December 8, 2004... National's new LM3670 and LM3671 are step-down dc-dc converters optimized for powering ultra-low-voltage circuits from a single Li-ion cell or three-cell NiMH/NiCd batteries. These devices are ideal for powering digital processors in...

Go hybrid on AMS verification.(Quick facts: a quick take on analog/mixed-signal verification)
December 8, 2004... * Meet in the Middle Although top-down analog/mixed-signal (AMS) design methodologies have been promoted by academia for many years, few people use them, especially in the U.S. Analog-flavored HDLs like Verilog-AMS and VHDL-AMS see duty...

SSL NIC has a knack for instantly securing transactions.(Communications)(Secure-socket-layer, Bitestream Network's network interface card)
December 8, 2004... Secure-socket-layer (SSL) software ties up servers and slows transactions. But Britestream Networks' self-contained BN1010 PCI bus network interface card (NIC) can speed things up. SSL and transport layer security (TLS) are the de facto...

AIGaAs pin diode extends bandwidth for new applications.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... PIN diodes are widely used as antenna switches and as switches in phase-shifter applications for phased arrays, radar, and broadband instrumentation. Silicon beam lead devices dominate the market. Now, M/A-COM's MA4AGFCP910...

Microwave antenna dishes out performance in 6- to 8-GHz apps.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... The HP8 microwave antenna comes equipped with a parabolic dish measuring eight feet in diameter, suiting it for point-to-point and back-haul applications from 6 to 8 GHz. Developed by Radio Waves Inc., a division of Smiths Interconnect, it...

Scalable ATE System spins out two developments for the bargain hunter.(Components & Test)
December 8, 2004... The world of test, always struggling with cost concerns, got a breather with two new advances in high-performance automatic test equipment (ATE). Both developments come from Agilent Technologies' expanded 93000 ATE system. At one end of the...

Serial data analyzers add total jitter measurement.(Components & Test)
December 8, 2004... With the ASDA-J jitter solution, LeCroy's SDA family of serial data analyzers can evaluate total as well as random ([R.sub.J]) and deterministic ([D.sub.J]) jitter using both reference-clock-based and non-clock based methods. High-accuracy...

Picture this: a PCI express image-acquisition board.(Components & Test)
December 8, 2004... Designed for Camera Link cameras, the NI PCIe-1429 PCI Express-based image-acquisition board specifically targets high-throughput vision applications like synchronized data and image acquisition, fault analysis, and advanced motion tracking....

Data soars along at 20 Gbits/s with Ethernet-optimized network processor.(Xelerated Inc's X11 network processor )(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... It's not a spaceship. But Xelerated's X11 network processor lets Ethernet-based data take flight, traveling at up to 20 Gbits/s full duplex. The processor also enables Sonet/SDH data transfers at 10 Gbits/s full duplex. The company's...

DSP speed bump helps boost channel densities.(Digital)
December 8, 2004... By pushing max clock speed from 400 to 500 MHz, the MSC8122 and MSC8126 quad core DSP chips can implement higher channel densities in codecs for wireless basestations. At the higher clock speed, these quad-core devices from Freescale...

One-time-programming storage becomes embeddable IP.(Kilopass Technology Inc)(blocks of intellectual property)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... One-time-programmable (OTP) nonvolatile storage arrays based on antifuse programming elements and floating-gate storage cells are now available as blocks of intellectual property (IP). The IP comes by way of Kilopass Technology Inc. and eMemory...

Startup looks to close the gap between manufacturing and design.(resolution-enhancement technology)
December 8, 2004... With 90-nm semiconductor processes ramping up, foundries and integrated device manufacturers find themselves in a quandary. They've been relying on very aggressive resolution-enhancement technology (RET) to get by on 193-nm lithography. The...

Tool fosters Web-based collaborative design.(EDA)
December 8, 2004... In the course of any system design project, pc-board and IC design files proliferate almost of their own volition. Any number of tools can create schematics, models, layouts, and other views of the design. But at any given moment, the design...

Enhanced formal verification.(EDA Roundup)
December 8, 2004... * ENHANCED FORMAL VERIFICATION is the domain of Cadence's Encounter Conformal 5.0. The upgraded tool helps ensure that tapeouts accurately reflect design intent. The tool now extends equivalency checking to FPGA prototypes through the...

Increased model interoperability and reusability.(EDA Roundup)
December 8, 2004... * INCREASED MODEL INTEROPERABILITY AND REUSABILITY will result from updated Open Core Protocol (OCP) 2.0-compliant transactional models implemented in SystemC. The models standardize the way in which OCP-based communication is modeled at...

Multicore MCUs propel performance to new highs: a trio of multicore microcontrollers expands computing-power and bandwidth boundaries.(Putting New Technology In Perspective)(Microcontroller unit)
December 8, 2004... Pushing the envelope? Get an extra shove by adding a few extra processor cores to that high-performance microcontroller (MCU). Just such an approach was taken by Broadcom, Freescale, and PMC-Sierra: Start with high-performance 64-bit processor...

Speed your design using hardware-assisted verification: today's hardware-assisted verification systems look to a transaction-based future.(Technology report: EDA)
December 8, 2004... Engineers have always relied on hardware to speed up simulation. Initially, it was considered a luxury used only by elite verification teams. But with 90-nm processes soon to go mainstream and system-on-a-chip (SoC) gate counts closing in on...

Where is real-time Linux?(Special editorial feature: in electronic design)
December 8, 2004... Hard real-time Linux has been around for ages, or it may never appear. It all depends on who you talk to. It also depends on your requirements. A two-second interrupt latency may be acceptable for some applications, and even many Linux...

Mixin' Linux and VxWorks.(Embedded News)
December 8, 2004... Wind River makes its largest announcement in years, and I have one paragraph to describe it. At the head of the list is Wind River Workbench 2.2, which is now based on Eclipse 3.0. It handles multicore and multilanguage development. It also...

Reusable DO-178B RTOS.(Embedded News)
December 8, 2004... LynuxWorks LynxOS-178 2.0 is working toward Reusable Software Component (RSC) certification. RSC certification will find use in DO-178B projects without having to certify the RTOS, significantly streamlining software testing procedures. The 2.0...

RTOS gets enhancements.(Embedded News)
December 8, 2004... FSMLabs' RTLinux 2.1 and RTCoreBSD 2.1 incorporate version 2.1 of RTCore with expanded processor support. This version also repartitions APIs and symbol references between RTCore and the Linux kernel services. And, RTCore extends its POSIX...

Who do you trust?(Embedded Security Series)
December 8, 2004... Secure communication comes down to a matter of trust. An authenticated message from an authenticated source can be used accordingly based upon the confidence level of the source. A source trusted to provide embedded-system updates can send new...

Chip handles hovering stylus.(News)
December 8, 2004... The W8002 controller chip crafted by Wacom supports the company's inductive pen-sensing technology. It can detect a pen that's hovering over a pad before it actually touches the pad, opening up new options for handheld-and tablet-based...

New C plus Ethernet module.(News)
December 8, 2004... Rabbit Semiconductor released version 9 of its Dynamic C compiler and development environment for the Rabbit 2000/3000 microprocessor. Dynamic C costs $210. When bundled with SSL, FAT, RabbitWeb, PPP, SNMP, and AES software modules, it goes for...

SBC attacks control and data-acquisition.(News)
December 8, 2004... The tiny 2- by 2.5-in. QCard sports a 16-MHz Freescale 68HC11F1 microprocessor with 512 kbytes of flash and 128 kbytes of RAM. The Mosaic Industries MCU has 320 bytes of EEPROM, eight lines of programmable digital I/0, 8-bit analog-to-digital...

Advanced scopes demodulate spread-spectrum clocks: once again, oscilloscopes come to the rescue by applying sophisticated analysis techniques to instantaneous frequency-versus-time measurements.(Design Solution Test)
December 8, 2004... Faster clock and data signals, along with more closely spaced signal lines on board layouts, have pushed the need for spread-spectrum clocking (SSC) to minimize radiated emissions. Because the spectral spreading is implemented as clock...

Drive pyrotechnic igniters from a microprocessor port.(Design briefs: innovative designs from readers)
December 8, 2004... Certain irreversible operations (like releasing a parachute, cutting a rope, or starting a solid combustible missile engine) may be performed by pyrotechnic igniters. These devices generally consist of an electrically controlled igniter, some...

Microcontroller handles LED brightness control.(Design briefs: innovative designs from readers)
December 8, 2004... Usually, an MCU is considered a digital device. By default, its output voltage level can be either high or low and nothing in between. With the requirement to create an LED brightness control, the first idea that comes to mind is using a...

Componet specifier.(New Products)
December 8, 2004... COOLING DEVICES TYPE/Model Features CPU COOLERS Consist of extruded aluminum fins that expose a Tiger CPU Coolers large surface area to incoming airflows; employ a...

Single-chip controllers facilitate resilient-packet-ring systems.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * The simplicity and bandwidth efficiency of Ethernet-based networks merge with the carrier-class features of Sonet/SDH infrastructure in the R-MAC family of resilient-packet-ring (RPR) media-access controllers (MACs). The single-chip R-MAC5 is...

Ethernet adapter delivers 10-Gbit/s data with iWARP enhancements.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * The NetEffect NE01 Ethernet channel adapter, which fully implements the iWARP Ethernet standards, can deliver data at up to 10 Gbits/s. Its high throughput permits concurrent access to networking, storage, and clustering connectivity over...

Wireless router, PC card adapter supply dual concurrent networks.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * Double up the throughput of standard 802.11a/b/g systems via the WGU624 wireless router featuring a built-in firewall, coupled with the WG511U wireless PC card adapter. Maximum data rate is 108 Mbits/s. The systems also permit two concurrent...

VoIP solutions combine silicon, software, and reference designs.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * A full set of voice-enabled solutions is available via the Z.Voice Voice over IP (VoIP) series. These include licensable ZSP processor cores, standard DSP products, industry-compliant vocoders, bundled device/software packages, and reference...

Bluetooth profiles ease message, image, audio transfers, and more.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * A new set of Bluetooth Profiles, including A2DP, GAVDP, HID, BIP, BPP, and HCRP, is now part of the aveLink profile family. Bluetooth A2DP and GAVDP profiles provide seamless distribution of high-quality stereo audio over Bluetooth wireless...

Security accelerator cards push SSL and IPsec processing.(Communications)
December 8, 2004... * Sporting four-lane PCI Express interfaces, the NITROX XL NPX Security Accelerator Card family accelerates IPsec, secure socket layer, and wireless local-area-network security applications. The cards employ NITROX security processors,...

Fast-cycle DRAM targets mobile systems and draws 10 [micro]A asleep.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * Mobile-phone applications can now dial up a 128-Mbit Mobile Fast Cycle RAM (FCRAM), because samples are now available. The memory chip implements burst-mode operations, complying with Common Specifications for Mobile RAM (COSMORAM) Revision...

Reference design kit helps optimize low-power systems.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * Engineers wishing to optimize their low-power designs that use QuickLogic Eclipse II FPGAs, as well as verify those designs in silicon, may want to take a look at a new reference design kit (RDK). The RDK includes hardware and software tools...

PC chip set adds PCI express I/O for AMD 64-bit CPU family.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * Staking its claim as the first PCI Express chip set for the AMD Athlon processor, the KST890 opens up the AMD64 processor platform (Athlon 64, Opteron, and Sempron CPUs) to PCI Express. It supports high-performance PCI Express x16 graphics...

High-bandwidth, low-voltage operation key to bus-switch family.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * A novel series of eight NanoSwitch digital bus switches is destined for servers, RAID storage systems, Super VGA, memory-bank switching, and high-performance networking/telecom backplanes. The PI3CH family of low-voltage (2.5/3.3-V),...

Registered buffers take on DDR2 loads up to 450 MHz.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * The SSTU32864 is a 25-bit 1:1 or 14-bit 1:2 configurable registered buffer designed for 1.7- to 1.9-V [V.sub.DD] operation at clock frequencies of up to 450 MHz. All clock and data inputs are compatible with the JEDEC standard for SSTL_18....

FIR filter tool generates low- or high-pass options at up to 160 MHz.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * The CoreFIR finite-impulse-response (FIR) intellectual-property (IP) core generator, the latest member of the DirectCore portfolio, is optimized for use with the company's flash- and antifuse based FPGA families. It generates filters that...

On-chip Viterbi coprocessor frees up DSP for additional tasks.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * Balancing cost, memory needs, and performance, the TMS320C6418 DSP chip takes aim at telecommunications, soft-radio, and broadcast applications. Based on the TMS320C64x core, the 'C6418 packs 512 kbytes of level 2 cache, a Viterbi...

Complete digital/HDTV decoder block meets all FCC TV mandates.(Digital ICs/DSPs)
December 8, 2004... * A block of silicon IP will make it easier and more cost-effective for TV manufacturers to meet the FCC requirement that half of all TV sets 36 in. or larger sold after July 1 include digital TV capabilities. The IP provides a complete,...

AdvancedTCA SBC grinds away at real-time processing chores.(Embedded)
December 8, 2004... * Need a pair of 1.3-GHz PowerPC MPC7447A processors in an AdvancedTCA blade? A possible solution may lie in the KatanaQp processor blade. It offers four open PCI Telecom Mezzanine Cards slots with Gigabit Ethernet connections. The board also...

Flash file system sets sights on small devices.(Embedded)
December 8, 2004... * NOR and NAND flash devices both can be used with the RTXCflashfile, which suits mobile devices like cell phones and MP3 players. It's designed to optimize performance while improving longevity through wear-leveling features. RTXCflashfile is...

DSP board swims with eight 600-MHz TigerSharcs.(Embedded)
December 8, 2004... * The T2-6U-cPCI, a 6U CompactPCI board, comes filled with eight of Analog Devices' TigerSharc ADSP-TS201 processors. Using the ATLANTIS (Advanced Transfer Link Architecture for New TigerSHARC) architecture, it tightly integrates the DSPs, PCI...

VxWorks welcomes InfiniBand drivers.(Embedded)
December 8, 2004... * The IB4X-VxWorks drivers for the VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS) are based on the company's ReadyDriver specification, so they can work over a wide range of processor architectures. The drivers are available to developers who use...

8-bit MCU kit stacks up with TCP/IP.(Embedded)
December 8, 2004... * A 50-MHz EZ80F91 processor module featuring 256 kbytes of flash and 16 kbytes of SRAM can be found in the Z80F91 Modular Development Kit. The module has a 10/100 Ethernet interface, real-time battery-backed-up clock, and expansion connectors....

Double your output current with parallel voltage regulators: sense resistors in series with the load can force current sharing between regulators, but using low-side sense elements yields even better results.
December 8, 2004... To improve efficiency in high-power applications, voltage regulators can be used in parallel to double output current capability--if a means of forcing current sharing is provided. One circuit approach uses sense resistors in series with...

The joy of tradeshows.(Analog & Power)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2004... Oh, the things you can learn trolling the aisles at tradeshows and talking to engineers! There was lots to check out last month at Power Systems World in Detroit. Tabtronics CTO Victor Quinn presented a seminar about evaluating transformer...

Time-shifting radioShark surfs the airwaves.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
December 16, 2004... Now that time-shift recording is popular for television, the medium is making some waves in radio. Once added to your PC or Mac, the radioShark can be programmed to record any AM or FM radio broadcast. Also, listeners can use it to "pause" live...

Small solution uses big money to fight cancer.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Backed by two collaborative research grants totaling $10 million, Georgia Tech and Emory University will plunge into developing cancer-fighting nanotechnology. A $7.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute will be used to integrate...

Super challenges ahead for the world's top supercomputers.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... They're the fastest in the world-supercomputers, that is. Top500.org has released its biannual list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers. IBM's BlueGene L beta System took the number one slot with a 70.72-Tflop/s Linpack benchmark...

The global resource for electronics engineers.(PlanetEE.com)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Aimed at electronics engineers and engineering managers worldwide, PlanetEE serves as a gateway to the individual Web sites of the highly respected engineering publications and specifier's tools of Penton Media's Electronics Group.

New: find the latest on Power products.(www.PowerDssign365.com)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Need a quick way to gather data on the latest power-related products and services from the world's leading vendors? Want to learn more about the latest introductions in power sources, power passives, power semiconductors, and power products for...

Magazines.(PlanetEE.com)
December 16, 2004... Access the Web sites of four leading publications in the EOEM community: Electronic Design EE Product News Microwaves & RF Wireless Systems Design

E-newsletters.(PlanetEE.com)
December 16, 2004... Sign up for some the industry's best e-newsletters focusing on EE design news, products, tips, and strategies: Electronic Design UPDATE EEPN Products of the Week EDA Alert Wireless Systems Design UPDATE Microwave & RF...

Santa's sleigh to be filled with best-in-class devices.(Editorial)
December 16, 2004... My kids are doing their part to support the electronics industry this Christmas. Visions of semiconductors will dance in their heads in anticipation of whether they'll get all the portable wizardry on their wish lists: iPods, Game Boy DS, cell...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease Porridge)(Letter to the Editor)
December 16, 2004... Dear Bob: It was with initial interest (eyes resting on the large-font title), then mounting dismay that I engaged in the misfortune of reading your article "What's All This Input Impedance Stuff, Anyhow?"* Being familiar with the Scriptures,...

Truly open tools can add value to eclipse framework.(Point Of View)
December 16, 2004... The Eclipse framework creates both opportunities and design challenges for vendors of integrated software development tools. The open-source nature and extensive built-in capabilities of the Eclipse framework force vendors to evaluate how they...

Firefox: a browser for embedded applications.(The industry: embedded software)
December 16, 2004... Unless you've been ignoring the Internet, you're probably aware of Firefox 1.0. This open-source Web browser has garnered a significant following--though not a following that severely impacts the reigning king, Microsoft's Internet Explorer....

OLEDs vs. LCDs: dual screens duel for attention.(Components)
December 16, 2004... The rising popularity of dual-screen, clamshell-design mobile phones has prompted developers to find ways to combine the hardware associated with the subdisplay and the main display. For instance, it's already possible for the two displays to...

[I.sup.2]C-programmable DC-DC converter chip gives handhelds a hand.(Analog & Power)
December 16, 2004... When I ask companies about design-ins, most bring up the worldwide lack of qualified power-supply designers. The need grows more acute as the number of rails in new products, particularly in battery-powered consumer products, increases. One...

GPS front-end chip shaves power, BOM cost.(Analog & Power)
December 16, 2004... A new single-chip global positioning system (GPS) RF front-end downconverter eliminates the need for costly surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) and bulky discrete IF filters. It also consumes extremely low power--as little as 41 mW at 2.4 V. ...

Expect a rush of new designs with arrival of VoIP codec.(Analog & Power)
December 16, 2004... According to Juniper Research, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will account for over 12% of all telephony revenues by 2009 as it evolves from a replacement service for the public switch telephone network to a new converged service for home...

Framer/concentrator streamlines Sonet line-card design.(Communications)
December 16, 2004... Though the financial health of telecom carriers is on the mend, their budgetary charts reveal continued cost-conscious operations. They'd rather not replace whole racks or modules to cope with the ever-growing capacity needs for...

49-port 1GE switch plus PHY trim switch and router cost and power.(Communications)
December 16, 2004... One-Gigabit Ethernet (1GE) local-area networks (LANs) are now migrating to the edge of the network where small-office/home-office and consumers are connecting. Agere Systems' ET4K family of 1GE switch chips supports this trend. The ET4000...

Frequently asked questions: Ethernet MAC and PHY.(Network Design FAQs)(media access controller)
December 16, 2004... How do you implement a single-chip Ethernet microcontroller? The trick is to incorporate the microcontroller, Ethernet MAC, and PHY on a single chip, thereby eliminating most external components. This enables the MAC and PHY to be matched...

The industry's first Single-Chip Fast-Ethernet Flash Microcontroller.(Product Q&As)(Advertisement)
December 16, 2004... MC9S12NE64 Single-Chip Fast-Ethernet 16-Bit Flash Microcontroller Based on the powerful HCS12 core, the MC9S12NE64 combines the following features, enabling design engineers to overcome the high costs, slow development times, and inherent...

15-Mbaud highly integrated optocouplers suit many applications.(Components & Test)
December 16, 2004... According to their manufacturer, the ACSL-600 family from Agilent Technologies represents the industry's first 3.3-V, 15-Mbaud multichannel and bi-directional digital logic-gate optocouplers. "The 15 Mbauds is the industry's highest rate for a...