Electronic Design articles from February 2005

Electronic Design archives from February 2005

Gaze into our crystal ball.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... Get a heads up on technology trends coming this year and beyond in the 2005 Technology Forecast. Read detailed forward-looking reports from our technology editors and industry experts, including in-depth analysis articles only available online....

"Sound off".(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... "No other word can describe the results of outsourcing as [well as] 'catastrophic.' U.S. college students realize that you've got to be a fool to major in engineering with such dim job prospects. Consequently, law schools will be packed as this...

EiED online.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... Highlights Of The Bus And Board Show Embedded Technology Editor Bill Wong gives you the scoop on what's hot and what's not at this year's Bus and Board Show in Long Beach, Calif. Get the highlights from the presentations, the best of the...

Polling.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... What is your personal outlook for design projects in 2005? Concerned about slowdown/layoffs 28% Fewer projects, but still feel secure in my position 12% Good, stable workflow continues in '05 ...

What's up?(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... FREE Webcast: Next-Generation In-House PCB Prototyping February 3 at 12:00 EST Fierce competition is pushing engineers to adopt in-house prototyping because of its enhanced technological capabilities and clear advantages over...

What's cool.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com)
February 3, 2005... Top 5 Articles on ED Online: 1 Outsourcing: How Safe Is Your Job? ED Online 7993 2 Monitor Your PC's CPU Core Temperature ED Online 4698 3 Build A Smart Battery Charger Using A Single-Transistor Circuit ED Online 1823...

You were the star at CES even if you didn't get to go.(Editorial)(Editorial)
February 3, 2005... How many of you got the chance to visit the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month? A Quick Poll question on our Web site showed that almost a third of you made the trek. Previous research shows that CES is the event our readers...

What's all this comparator stuff, anyhow?(Pease Porridge)
February 3, 2005... There are many comparators that you can buy to provide quick (sub-microsecond) response when a large signal changes and crosses a threshold voltage, such as a reference voltage. Unfortunately, comparators don't work well when the input signals...

The trouble with debuggers.(POV: point of view)
February 3, 2005... You know what has bugged me for years? Software debuggers, the applications engineers use when debugging anything from embedded systems to server applications and beyond. Now, don't misunderstand me, my livelihood depends on these things and...

Conference sheds light on "takeback" laws.(The industry: conference preview)
February 3, 2005... Ecological concerns about electronic waste materials are growing in the industry. The European Union (EU), China, Canada, and other countries are all regulating electronic waste. So is California. OEMs are concerned about how these rules will...

LED market shines as LEDs replace light bulbs.(The industry: conference preview)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Recent developments in ultra-high-brightness LEDs have opened the door for the technology to invade territory traditionally dominated by the light bulb. Suppliers have made tremendous advances in packaging technologies and materials processing,...

Combo enables three-month development cycles.(Analog & Power)
February 3, 2005... Analog engineers are in short supply. Yet IC makers prudent enough to have substantially invested in analog EEs, particularly those who can straddle the digital and analog domains, are using their talents to win business with consumer-products...

Converter process marries 5-V CMOS, high-voltage bipolar.(TechView: analog & power)
February 3, 2005... A new process technology allows system designers to avoid adding external signal conditioning, signal biasing, and external op amps in industrial-control and medical applications. Analog Devices calls this process iCMOS, and the company has...

ADC'S conversion chains tag-team to boost throughput.(TechView: analog & power)
February 3, 2005... Rather than waste months of engineering time on tricky applications with low to moderate production volumes--like digital X-ray equipment, digital telescopes, military imaging, and sonar and radar--try an off-the shelf analog-to-digital...

Frequently asked questions: boost converter ICs step up to the plate.(Power Design FAQs)
February 3, 2005... What are the types of boost converter topologies? Primarily, boost converter ICs are used in battery-operated or portable electronic devices to "boost" or "step-up" the battery voltage to a higher level. These non-isolated converters...

LM2731 and LM2733 boost regulators support portable applications.(Product Q&As)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2005... National Semiconductor's LM2731 and LM2733 are fixed-frequency current-mode boost regulators. The LM2731 features a 22-V, 1.8-A internal switch, whereas the LM2733 features a 40-V, 1-A internal switch. Both regulators include internal...

LM5000 supports isolated, higher-voltage boost applications.(Product Q&As)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2005... With an internal 80-V, 2-A power switch, the LM5000 monolithic IC is intended and optimized for flyback, boost, or forward power converter applications. Cycle-by-cycle current limit and thermal shutdown protect the power switch. Current mode...

High-def interface streamlines HDTV video processor.(Digital)
February 3, 2005... A high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) has finally been integrated into a video processor, namely the Sil 8100. Developed by Silicon Image, the processor targets mainstream direct-view digital televisions (DTVs) like low cost LCD and...

Budget-conscious flash FPGAs meet volume demands.(Digital)
February 3, 2005... DUE TO THE SHORT PRODUCTION LIVES OF many of today's consumer and communication products, it's essential for the logic used to implement the functions to be flexible. And, this flexibility must be available without a cost premium to keep the...

Low-power CPU drives next-generation portable video.(Digital)
February 3, 2005... The Alchemy Au1200 processor gives system designers a low-power, high-performance system-on-a-chip that provides living-room quality video entertainment for on-the-go consumers. Optimized for personal media players, Advanced Micro Devices'...

Design out soft-error susceptibility.(EDA)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 3, 2005... Soft errors--which are induced by cosmic rays, alpha particles, and thermal neutrons--increasingly dominate IC reliability at nanometer geometries. Yet a new design platform from iRoC Technologies gives designers a way to accurately project the...

Design platform beefs up its wireless resume.(EDA)
February 3, 2005... According to recent industry data, analog/mixed-signal and RF content occupies some 5% to 10% of the area of an increasing number of systems-on-a-chip and systems-in-a-package. However, that percentage alone can chew up 50% of the design effort...

Validation of OCP-IP cores.(EDA Roundup)
February 3, 2005... VALIDATION OF OCP-IP CORES is easier than ever with the Open Core Protocol International Partnership's CoreCreator 4.0. The tool provides a single graphical or command-lined-based environment for creating and validating OCP-IP implementations....

Enhanced parasitic extraction.(EDA Roundup)
February 3, 2005... ENHANCED PARASITIC EXTRACTION to better address 90-nm design challenges is the strength of Magma's QuickCap NX. Improved process modeling, technology model encryption, a parallel execution mode, reference-level Spice netlist generation, and a...

PFC takes the stress out of power applications.
February 3, 2005... Conventional offline switch-mode power converters create nonsinusoidal input currents with a high harmonic content. This causes stress for the power wiring, circuit breakers, and electric utility. In addition, these harmonics can affect other...

Get back to basics!
February 3, 2005... Previously published tutorials on keg technology areas are yours FREE for the downloading. The full catalog of Basics of Design is posted in PDF format on elecdesign.com. Publication Date Topic September 29, 2003 SoC Design 7...

Real-time spectrum analyzer handles 36-MHz bandwidth.(Test)
February 3, 2005... RF signals aren't just becoming more prevalent in consumer and industrial designs, they're also becoming more complex and transient. Frequency hopping, bursting, and modulation can help systems avoid interference, maximize peak power, and avoid...

Analyzers offer advanced Sonet/SDH Jitter testing.(Test)
February 3, 2005... THE J7233A AND J7231B OMNIBER OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK (OTN) analyzers deliver accurate and repeatable jitter with ITU-T 0.172 jitter accuracy maps and advanced next-generation Sonet/SDH (NG Sonet) capability in one instrument. This capability...

"Black box" platform relieves Bluetooth design woes.(Wireless)
February 3, 2005... Bluetooth chips are shipping at a rate of over 3 million per month, more than all other wireless chips combined. But while the chips are inexpensive, simple to use, and highly interoperable thanks to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group's...

Class D amplifiers challenge "golden ears": audiophiles will find that delta-sigma modulation with closed-loop feedback makes a difference.(Putting New Technology In Perspective)
February 3, 2005... Conventional wisdom has it that class D amplifiers occupy an applications niche in which efficiency is paramount, and that several factors compromise sound quality. The latter includes difficulty in implementing feedback, mediocre power-supply...

DSOs reveal serial I/O secrets: new probes and software simplify standards compliance.(Putting New Technology In Perspective)
February 3, 2005... Engineers who design the latest high-speed serial-data products based on standards such as PCI-Express, Serial ATA, Ethernet, XAUI, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, and Serial Attached SCSI must jump a number of hurdles to prove that those products...

Think small: can you meet the design challenges at 90 nm and below? While the transition from 130 to 90 nm has magnified some issues, scaling down to 45 nm and beyond will spawn even tougher design challenges.(Engineering Feature)(Cover Story)
February 3, 2005... TRANSITIONING FROM 130 TO 90 NM DIDN'T INITIALLY PRESENT THE CHALLENGES that popped up when going from 180 to 130 nm. But as more designs move to 90 nm (0.09 [micro]m), engineers are once again running into various anomalies and quirks. ...

Power integrity comes home to roost at 90 nm: IC designers moving to 90-nm processes can place power integrity atop their list of most worrisome design issues.(Technology report: power integrity)
February 3, 2005... IC designers know the litany backwards and forwards: Area, power, and speed are the primary tradeoffs when it comes to optimizing your designs. You can usually have two out of the three, but a design rarely manages to optimize all of them. ...

XML: flexibility where it counts: XML (eXtended Markup Language) is the hottest thing since HTML. In embedded applications, flexibility is more important than efficiency.(Special Editorial Feature)
February 3, 2005... Text-based XML is simply a way to encode structured information. It looks a lot like Lisp symbolic expressions with lots of angle brackets instead of parentheses. It's used in configuration files for applications like Eclipse, and it is the...

CAN MCU tinier than ever.(Embedded News)
February 3, 2005... Controller-area-network (CAN) microcontrollers (MCUs) continue to shrink, judging from the release of Microchip's 28-pin PIC18Fxx80 CAN MCU. It comes in a 6- by 6-mm QFN package. The family incorporates an ECAN controller to offload the 8-bit...

Media Gateway Module integrates VolP apps.(Embedded News)
February 3, 2005... The MTN4300 Media Gateway Module series targets wired and wireless carrier-grade media applications. The PCI mezzanine module (PMC) boards can handle up to 2000 ports. Performance Technology's MTN4300 works with the company's NexusWare...

XML basics for embedded apps: the extended markup language (XML) consists of just a bunch of tags.(Language Series)
February 3, 2005... XML, or the Extensible Markup Language, is a standard managed by the World Wide Web Consortium. The flexible text format was initially designed for data exchange on the Internet. Yet it's become much more, despite having simple syntax and...

PC/104 plus performs a wireless act.(News)
February 3, 2005... The PPM-Wireless, a PC/104-Plus module from WinSystems, supports 802.11b and 802.11g. It contains a Mini-PCI card socket for wireless interfaces like Intel's PRO/ Wireless 2200BG Mini-PCI card. The PPM-Wireless is shipped without the Mini-PCI...

Module made for .Net embedded CLR development.(News )
February 3, 2005... The $199 .netcpu development platform is well suited for .Net embedded-based applications that use the Common Language Runtime (CLR) engine. Created by .netcpu Corp., the module has a 27-MHz ARM7TDMI processor with 384 kbytes of SRAM and 4...

2U ATCA development chassis targets prototyping.(News)
February 3, 2005... Elma Electronic's 2U ATCA chassis features a two-slot full mesh backplane with point-to-point connections plus ac input and 500-W, 48-V dc output. A single removable fan tray and filter is standard. Dual fan trays are optional. The chassis...

USB 2.0 adapter handles high-current devices.(News)
February 3, 2005... High-speed, 480-Mbit/s USB 2.0 transfers are just the ticket for the USB104+PC/ 104Plus board. These include transfers from high-current-draw devices. Two downstream ports provide 500 mA, while the remaining two ports handle up to 2000 mA....

Design-for-test the smart way: dFT with a "big T" and "little d".(Test)
February 3, 2005... Design-for-test, or DFT, should facilitate high-quality test, not change the design. Test techniques and strategies need to supply a high-quality test that screens out defective devices, preventing their shipment to customers. Any change to the...

Just one microcontroller pin sets programmable timer's interval.(Innovative Designs from Readers)
February 3, 2005... Most digital timers require a set of dip switches or rotary BCD encoders to preset their interval. But those techniques consume eight or more inputs from a microcontroller's (MCU's) I/O lines. To alleviate the problem, this circuit forms a...

Use excel to develop a traceability matrix.(Innovative Designs from Readers)
February 3, 2005... In large projects, a single contractual document often known as the Contract End Item (CEI) governs the final product design. Each requirement of the contract is individually numbered to allow for performance verification of the end item....

Fully autonomous IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet midspan PSE requires no microcontroller--design note 350.(Design Notes)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2005... Introduction The IEEE802[R].3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard defines how power will be delivered over CAT5 lines. Despite the differences between legacy devices and those that adhere to the new standard, there is no need to...

Resistors/potentiometers/capacitors.(Component Specifier)
February 3, 2005... RESISTORS/POTENTIOMETERS/CAPACITORS ED Online 9516 TYPE/Model Features RESISTORS CURRENT-SENSE Current-sense chip resistor capable of RESISTOR ...

Host of new options expands high-speed connector line.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * The Q2 second-generation high-speed connector system (QMSS/QFSS) series now has options like power pins, positive alignment features, edge-mount designs, and single-ended and differential-pair signal routing. Electromagnetic-interference...

Clear-cover fuse blocks suit automotive, marine applications.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * Designed with clear covers, the Mini fuse blocks fit general automotive and marine applications. They're available with four, six, eight, and 10 mini (ATM) fuses per block, with respective maximum loads of 30, 45, 60, and 90 A. The maximum...

Solderable center-probe socket eases universal package debug.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * Users can debug a wide range of package types, such as BGAs, UBGAs, MLFs, QFNs, and others, on the same package footprint thanks to an unusual solderable center-probe socket. The device provides O.060-in. (1.52-mm) clearance for O.80-mm and...

Modular connector enclosures veer toward commercial vehicles.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * The ModICE family of integrated modular connector enclosures complements electronic control applications for commercial vehicles in construction, mining, agriculture, industrial, and highway areas. It consists of two enclosure sizes, allowing...

Ultra-high-density interconnects tackle 15-GHz applications.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * The UHD interconnect is a cable-to-board and cable-to-cable coax system for ultra-high-density applications with 15-GHz performance. Data rates up to 10 Gbits/s are supported. The interconnects consist of pc-board-mounted interposers/headers...

Card edge connectors get aboard PCI Express.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * Recently released straddle-mount card edge connectors support high-speed serial PCI Express applications. They're available for one, four, eight, or 16 PCI Express lanes to match different bandwidth requirements. Each lane comprises...

Low-friction rubber cable jacket stands up to tough conditions.(Packaging & Interconnects)
February 3, 2005... * Steriline low-friction silicone rubber cable jackets are intended for tough medical, surgical, and power-tool autoclave sterilization applications. They feature a smooth feel as well as flexibility and strength, even after many repeated...

How much do you know about SystemC?(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... SystemC acts as the bridge between the "what-if" work done by system architects and the nuts-and-bolts implementation work. This supplement to our January 13 Technology Forecast will bring you up to date on what SystemC is today, how it's being...

"Sound off".(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... "Thanks for the inside story on the creation of the greatest gadget known to man--well, since the advent of the microchip, anyway." "Good stuff. I love going retro, even if retro means going back just three years." Anonymous...

Polling.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... Do you agree with Editor-in-Chief Mark David that the U.S. should lead a global effort for a tsunami warning system? Yes 25% Yes, but only if the rest of the world helps pick up the tab 41% Lend the expertise, but let the Indian...

EiED online: Bus and Board Show: take 2.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... Last month's Bus and Board Show in Long Beach, Calif., was only two days long, but there was more activity than could be covered in a single issue of EiED Online. Embedded/ Systems/Software Editor William Wong wraps up his coverage of the show...

What's up?(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... Archived Webcast: Next-Generation Physical Verification--Beyond DRC to Yield Enablement If you missed this very popular webcast from last month, you can still view it in our archives. This Synopsys-sponsored presentation explores how...

What's cool.(What's happening @ elecdesign.com: keeping the EE community connected)
February 17, 2005... WHAT'S COOL From the Top 20 Articles on ED Online: 1 Inside iPod ED Online 9500 2 Ethernet: 30 Years And Still Going Strong ED Online 5766 3 TFT-LCDs Get Bigger And Better,...

High-tech tracking tools secure incoming cargo.(Editorial)(Editorial)
February 17, 2005... "You read about all these terrorists. Most of them came here legally, but they hung around on these expired visas, some for as long as 10 to 15 years. Now, compare that to Blockbuster. You're two days late with a video, and those people are all...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease Porridge)
February 17, 2005... Hello Bob: I am looking for professional opinions/experiences regarding pc-board assembly using eyelets. I was told by Sam Reaves that you had written on the subject and could probably offer some good information. The problem that I am facing...

IP vendors can ease the pain of IP reuse.(POV: Point Of View)
February 17, 2005... Providing completely reusable IP that needs no modifications from design to design without overly constraining the IP integrator is not feasible, so IP developers use strategies to maximize "painless" IP reuse. These techniques include making...

Hiring boom is on for security-cleared engineers.(TechView)
February 17, 2005... It's no secret there's a huge demand for technical professionals with security clearances, particularly EEs and computer scientists. The TechExpo Top Secret job fair recently listed 1459 open positions on its Web site, TechExpoUSA.com, 1239 of...

Organic transistors, photodiodes create scanner with no moving parts.(Scope)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... An optical scanning array based on high-quality organic transistors and photodiodes on a clear plastic sheet could revolutionize scanning systems. Developed by the University of Tokyo's Quantum Phase Electronics Center and Center of...

Speaker amps generate high drive voltages from 3-V supplies.(Analog & Power)
February 17, 2005... Ceramic and piezoelectric speakers feature very low dissipation losses and compact size. They're an attractive alternative to moving-coil speakers in applications ranging from fiat-screen TVs and monitors to cell phones. Their low dissipation...

Class D chips shrink footprint, power, and noise.(Analog & Power)
February 17, 2005... A filter-free stereo class D audio power amp from Texas Instruments maximizes cell-phone talk time and audio quality. With about two-thirds lower quiescent current and 80% lower noise floor than its nearest competitor, the TPA2012D2 is a 2.1-W...

Power transistors warm up to thermal-sensing diodes.(Analog & Power)
February 17, 2005... High-fidelity audio amplifiers consistently encounter a major hurdle: maintaining output bias while achieving thermal stability within the AB output section over the amp's full operating temperature range. The usual approach mounts one or more...

Clock requirements for data converters.(Design FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions)
February 17, 2005... What's the relationship between jitter, phase noise, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in data converters? Clock jitter is a problem in data conversion because it introduces uncertainty (noise) into the conversion process. Jitter in the time...

New clock ICs provide clean clock generation and distribution with sub-picosecond jitter performance.(Product Q & As)(Advertisement)
February 17, 2005... ADI's new clock ICs deliver low jitter, low phase noise, and low spurs, making them ideal for clocking high-performance data converters. These products improve system performance through the integration of several key functions that...

Home-networking scheme takes advantage of existing installed coax.(Communications)
February 17, 2005... Wireless is the hot ticket to home networking, but it's just one of many different methods out there. For instance, a new option uses the installed cable-TV coax in your home. It serves up probably the best wired arrangement, because coax has...

SFP MSA coax transceiver cuts costs in Sonet/SDH systems.(Communications)
February 17, 2005... A new small-form-factor pluggable (SFP) coax transceiver from ITT Industries, Cannon, conforms to standard multisource agreements (MSAs). This unit features the same size and layout of similar optical modules. Designated the SFP-155E, this...

SOI drops the capacitor, doubles embedded DRAM capacity.(Digital)
February 17, 2005... For over two decades, manufacturers of dynamic RAMs have used a simple one-transistor/one-capacitor structure for the basis of each storage cell. But an alternative to that design based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology may double the...

Secure comm processors push throughput to new levels.(Digital)
February 17, 2005... Up to 140 Mbits/s of IPsec virtual private network (VPN) performance. Firewall throughput reaching 200 Mbits/s. Over 100 IPsec Key Exchange (IKE) or secure socket layer (SSL) transactions per second. Though the numbers may seem somewhat lofty,...

IP begins building in yield-enhancing features.(EDA)
February 17, 2005... At 130 nm and below, it's essential that designers get a leg up on yield. IP providers have begun to understand that they're in a good position to help their customers do so by building process awareness into their products. To that end, Virage...

Analyzing both package and PC board.(EDA Roundup)
February 17, 2005... ANALYZING BOTH PACKAGE AND PC BOARD. Optimal's Power-Grid power-integrity toolset performs IR-drop and ground-bounce analysis of power distribution networks. The tool is based on a model-based full-wave extraction engine that's 100 times faster...

Concerned about support for axis hardware-based verification systems?(EDA Roundup)
February 17, 2005... CONCERNED ABOUT SUPPORT FOR AXIS HARDWARE-BASED VERIFICATION SYSTEMS? Tharas Systems has launched its T-SWAP (Tharas Switch from Axis Products) program. In a limited-time offer, Tharas will replace installed Verisity SpeXtreme/Axis products...

Fast-Spice simulator zeroes in on transients.(EDA)
February 17, 2005... Many nanometer-IC design issues have a transient, current-based nature: IR drop, leakage currents, electromigration, and cross-coupling effects. Nascim, a fast-Spice simulator from Nascentric, is the first in a suite of tools that will address...

Where is serial RapidIO?(Embedded)
February 17, 2005... It's coming, according to Iain Scott, executive director of the RapidIO Trade Association. Parallel RapidIO may have carried the RapidIO flag for the past year, but developers are waiting for Serial RapidIO . Interest was evident at last...

You got game: tap into the design secrets of gaming systems.(Engineering feature: the gaming frontier)(Cover Story)
February 17, 2005... Remember Pong? One of the first--and simplest-video games, Pong opened the door to a fascinating new frontier in gaming. Of course, it's now a dinosaur compared to games played on some of today's popular consoles, like Sony's PlayStation 2,...

POL power supplies come in many flavors: an influx of novel point-of-load converters wrangles with tougher semiconductor demands.(Technology report: point-of-load converters)
February 17, 2005... As per usual, the power-supply industry is feeling the heat from the semiconductor industry to meet upgraded requirements for voltage, current, power, and switching speed. That pressure is no more apparent than with point-of-load (POL)...

Latest scopes look to satisfy engineer wish lists: making the designer's job simpler is the driving force behind many DSO "dream" features.(Technology report: scopes)
February 17, 2005... Those 6- and 8-GHz digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs) that were sufficient a year or two ago are now becoming overrun. Silicon and motherboard designers' scopes seemingly have lost the ability to handle the lightning-fast speeds of the latest...

Optimize timing margins for your high-speed interface.(Design view: digital)
February 17, 2005... High-speed digital buses have evolved dramatically over the past decade. Not only are they faster, but they're also changing how systems clock data. To improve data throughput, emerging synchronous digital buses are sending data multiple times...

LPT port drives programmable slewing-voltage control.(Innovative Designs from Readers)
February 17, 2005... This design modifies a simple first-order, low-pass filter into a slewing-voltage control that is programmable for its slope and amplitude through a PC's LPT port. These control parameters a re typically required for metallurgy studies like...

Drive white LEDs using a boost converter in buck mode.(Innovative Designs from Readers)
February 17, 2005... Low-voltage halogen lighting for decorative and architectural use continues to gain in popularity. Due to the comparatively short lifetime and low reliability of halogen bulbs, however, high-power LEDs are emerging as the preferred solution....