Electronic Design articles from February 2006

Electronic Design archives from February 2006

Take a look into the future.(WHAT'S HAPPENING @)
February 2, 2006... What does the electronics industry have in store for 2006 beyond? Get a glimpse in the pages of our special 2006 Technology Forecast issue. Read through informative and insightful articles from our editors and numerous industry experts. Explore...

"Sound off".(WHAT'S HAPPENING @)
February 2, 2006... "If this is the best news of the year, we are in deep trouble!... Which of the various Chinese dialects do you plan to publish in when there are no longer enough English-speaking readers to justify publication in English? Do you also imagine...

ZigBee kits.
February 2, 2006... ZigBee is taking off. Although there's a movement toward using single chips that combine a ZigBee transceiver with a micro-controller, they don't offer the flexibility that a two-chip solution provides. Embedded/Systems/Software Editor Bill...

Best computer of 2005.(developed by software editor Bill Wong )
February 2, 2006... What do you get when you put together the best of everything? The Best Computer of 2005, of course. Embedded/Systems/Software Editor Bill Wong built the system, which is based on AMD's dual-core Athlon and Asus' ASN32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. It...

Check it out!!(WHAT'S HAPPENING @)
February 2, 2006... Electronic Design's new RndPowerProducts.com free online database provides technical information on a wide range of power-management products. No other single Web site covers the entire power-management product spectrum in such detail. Go to...

What's cool.(WHAT'S HAPPENING @)
February 2, 2006... Top 5 Articles on ED Online: 1 RFI-Free Ringer Generator Works Off Single 5-V Supply ED Online 7878 2 Satellite Radio Gets Serious ED Online 5603 3 EiED Online>>ZigBee Kits ED Online 11570 4 What's All This...

Polling.(WHAT'S HAPPENING @)
February 2, 2006... Which would you put at the top of your holiday wish list? 9% iPod 50% HD plasma TV 26% GPS navigation system 7% Smart phone 8% Satellite radio Express yourself through our current online poll. To vote, go...

Motorola apprentice contest fuels visions of "seamless mobility".(Motofwrd competition)(John Finan of Duke University won the award for mood phone)(Editorial)
February 2, 2006... While it may not have gained the high profile of Donald Trump's or Martha Stewart's The Apprentice contests, Motorola's Motofwrd competition offers the electronics world's equivalent. Its grand prize is an internship with Motorola CTO...

What's all this crampon stuff, anyhow?(ice climbing)(footwear )
February 2, 2006... Back in February 1955, when I was just 14, I snowshoed with Professor John A. Williams, "Alpine Fred" Torrey, and a group of Explorer Scouts up to Crag Cabin at the 4200-ft level on Mt. Adams in New Hampshire. I was strong enough to carry...

Graphical design holds the key to boosting productivity.(graphical dataflow programming)
February 2, 2006... To be successful in today's global economy, new products must reach the market faster than ever before, forcing a compression of the design cycle. At the same time, silicon gate costs continue to decline as densities increase. So, heterogeneous...

Nano batteries power artificial retinas.(National Center for Design of Biomimetic)
February 2, 2006... Artificial eyesight isn't science fiction anymore. Research institutions are developing electronic retinas that replace rods and cones damaged by diseases like age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. But achieving resolution...

An Ethernet Alliance? It's about time?
February 2, 2006... Ethernet, that ubiquitous local-area networking (LAN) technology, has been around for 33 years. Yet there has never been an organization devoted to its promotion, success, and expansion--until now. The Ethernet Alliance (EA) will help member...

Multiple-battery charger IC tackles larger portable products.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
February 2, 2006... Larger portables need lots of power, and Maxim's MAX8730 is up to the job. This precision constant-current, constant-voltage charger IC charges three or four lithium-ion cells in series at charge currents greater than 3.5 A. It also can charge...

Self-timed interconnect network eases SoC designs.(system-on-a-chip)(chip-area interconnection scheme from Silistix Inc.)
February 2, 2006... A chip-area interconnection (CHAIN) scheme developed by Silistix promises reduced power consumption and simpler system-on-a-chip (SoC) design by eliminating many problems associated with traditional global bus architectures. Generated by the...

Tool repairs lithography rule-check errors.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
February 2, 2006... The movement of true design for manufacturing into the hands of designers is beginning, and Aprio's Halo-Fix tool is a harbinger of more to come. Halo-Fix lets engineers use the results from any lithography rule-checking (LRC) or optical...

IC-design suite brings packaging into the picture.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
February 2, 2006... Thanks to an interconnect-synthesis approach, the RioMagic chip design and optimization suite lets designers account for the way signals leave an IC package, ensure their routability, and analyze those signals' electrical fidelity. RioMagic...

Digital scopes squeeze big performance in a little box.(Tech VIEW: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
February 2, 2006... The latest WaveRunner digital oscilloscopes from LeCroy eliminate the common tradeoff between performance, display size, and bench footprint. The 10.4-in. TFT-LCD color display provides SVGA resolution (800 by 600 pixels) while maintaining a...

Scopes' speed, record length simplify circuit debugging.(Tech VIEW: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
February 2, 2006... To meet the tougher design validation, debugging, and compliance test requirements created by today's increasing speeds and circuit complexity, designers need better real-time signal acquisition and instrument intelligence. That means fast...

ZigBee SoC. doubles transmission range.(Tech VIEW: WIRELESS)
February 2, 2006... The EM-250 system-on-a-chip (SoC) packs a host of features that fit ZigBee applications. Developed by Ember Corp., this radio includes a 2.4-GHz transceiver, the low-power XAP2 16-bit processor, 128 kbytes of flash memory, 5 kbytes of RAM, and...

UWB reference designs make wireless USB a cinch.
February 2, 2006... With a maximum data rate of 480 Mbits/s, wireless USB ports represent a key Ultra-Wideband (UWB) application. Wisair offers ready-to-go reference designs for a wireless USB hub and dongle that let manufacturers offer wireless USB products right...

A new player in the 32-bit processor field: the AVR architecture blends 32-bit power with the elegance of its 8-bit brethren.(Atmel Corp.)
February 2, 2006... Atmel took a turn away from the pack when it designed its 8-bit AVR. Now, the company is bucking the trend toward the 32-bit ARM architecture with its AVR32 processor architecture. Needless to say, ARM and its partners don't have the 32-bit...

The Laptop tug of war: speed versus battery life: striking performance gains in the latest laptops create unprecedented power issues.(Consumer Electronics Show)
February 2, 2006... Last month, key players revealed their latest laptop developments at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Not to be outdone, Apple followed the show with some startling announcements of its own. What's the underlying trend developing...

It's evolution, not revolution, for PCB tools: to conquer ever-stiffer challenges, pc-board design tools must perpetually evolve--particularly in the high-speed signal realm.(printed circuit boards design)
February 2, 2006... When it comes to pc-board (PCB) design, change isn't necessarily radical. Though IC design tools must keep pace with fast technological changes, tools for the PCB designer tend to embrace change in a more evolutionary style. That's not to...

Monolithic converter drives high power LEDs--design note 376.(LT3477 DC to DC converter)(light emitting diodes)(Advertisement)
February 2, 2006... Introduction High power LEDs are quickly expanding their reach as the lightsource of choice for flat panel computer and TV monitors, TV projection, signage, portable lights and automotive interior, trim and brake lighting. The input...

Making money with modules.(embedded in electronic design)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2006... Getting a solid product out the door quickly is more important than ever now, and incorporating a module in your design can help. Small modules are available for every thing, from the 8-bit Rabbit 3000 in Rabbit Semiconductor's RCM3750 to a...

PMC + SBC = serial RapidIO fabric solution.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
February 2, 2006... With the PMC-RIO serial RapidIO switch-fabric PCI mezzanine card (PMC), Thales Computers' Power-Node3 dual 1-GHz PowerPC 74587 single-board computer (SBC) can connect to a Serial RapidlO fabric. The quad 400-Mbyte/s port PMC-RIO has an...

OS provides remote management to 8-bit MCU.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
February 2, 2006... Rabbit Semiconductor's RabbitSys operating system enables developers to take advantage of the 8-bit Rabbit 4000 microcontroller's memory-management unit and Ethernet support. RabbitSys also provides remote updates and debugging via an Ethernet...

Motor Control Kit targets low-cost brushless DC motors.(Embedded)
February 2, 2006... The MC73110 Brushless Motor Control IC Developer's Kit (DK73110) from Performance Motion Devices comes with high-efficiency MOSFET amplifiers. The board can drive a three-phase brushless motor at up to 10 A. It also can handle analog or digital...

Card facilitates AdvancedTCA shelf management.(Embedded)
February 2, 2006... The IPM Sentry ShMM-500 with Shelf Management Controller (ShMC) cross-connect from Pigeon Point Systems can plug into a range of AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC, and CompactPCI boards to support shelf management. ShMC cross-connects improve redundancy...

16-bit MCU handles high-speed LIN.(Embedded)
February 2, 2006... Renesas' R8C/Tiny line now includes an on-chip oscillator and a separate oscillator that runs at up to 40 MHz for the low-over-head local interconnect network (LIN) interface, The smallest version is available in a 6.5- by 4.4-mm, 20-pin LSSOR...

PMC card gets graphics right.(Embedded)
February 2, 2006... The AtlasPMC/2 PMC card from Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing handles composite video, RGB, and DVI input capability. Its multimedia features include dual-head analog or DVI output display, stereo audio I/0, and an on-board USB 2.0...

Implement Ethernet over WAN connectivity.(wide-area network)
February 2, 2006... Undoubtedly, Ethernet has become the technology of choice for wide-area network (WAN) connectivity for both the enterprise and the carrier. The reasons behind this are a convergence of business requirements for higher data-connectivity rates...

Package sizes shrink for two high-capacitance MLCCs.(Component VIEW)
February 2, 2006... The AMK series of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) now includes what developer Taiyo Yuden claims is the industry's first 100-[micro]F device housed in an EIA 1206 case size. The 1206 case, which measures 3.2 by 1.6 by 1.6 mm, has a 36%...

The T499 high-temperature tantalum chip capacitors from Kemet Corp. are designed for applications with operating temperatures up to 175[degrees]C.(NEWS IN BRIEF: CAPACITORS)
February 2, 2006... The T499 high-temperature tantalum chip capacitors from Kemet Corp. are designed for applications with operating temperatures up to 175[degrees]C. The series expands the company's product line for harsh environments, such as under-hood...

Small case sizes deliver high capacitance values in the TAJ R series from AVX Corp.(NEWS IN BRIEF: CAPACITORS)
February 2, 2006... Small case sizes deliver high capacitance values in the TAJ R series from AVX Corp. The RoHS-compliant (Restrictions on Hazardous Substances) tantalum chip capacitors come in an R case size. Designed for applications with board-level height...

3M's Embedded Capacitor Material now complies with the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive.(NEWS IN BRIEF: CAPACITORS)
February 2, 2006... 3M's Embedded Capacitor Material now complies with the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. Used for embedding planar capacitance in circuit boards, the laminate can be made with a dielectric thickness down to 8 [micro]m and a...

Focus on resistors: the latest components at a glance.(Component VIEW)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 2, 2006... FOCUS ON RESITORS THE LATEST COMPONENTS AT A GLANCE RESISTANCE/ COMPANY TYPE/MODEL PACKAGE RANGE BI Technologies Power resistors TO-227 ...

Make a frequency mixer with op amps.(innovative designs)(operational amplifiers)
February 2, 2006... Frequency mixers are often implemented using a diode bridge or a Gilbert cell. Both types of mixers use a local oscillator (LO) to flip the polarity of the radio-frequency (RF) input. When the LO is positive, the RF input passes to the...

10-bit digitizer runs to 4 Gsamples/s on 3U PXI/CompactPCI cards.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
February 2, 2006... * The dual-channel DC152 and single-channel DC122 digitizers feature 10-bit, 4-Gsample/s capability with bandwidths of up to 3 GHz. The one-slot 3U cards fully comply with both the PXI and CompactPCI standards. The AcqirisLive and AcqirisMAQS...

Rack-mounted power supplies pack a 1200-W punch in 1U modules.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
February 2, 2006... * Four modules and two new mainframes extend the capability of the Agilent N6700 low-profile (1U) modular power system to 1200 W. The 600-W and 1200-W mainframes join the existing 400-W unit. Each can accept up to four modules. The four added...

USB-based data-acquisition modules boast high channel counts.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
February 2, 2006... * The DT9813-10V and DT9814-10V are high-channel-count, low-cost data-acquisition modules added to the ECONseries of USB 2.0-based devices. The DT9813-10V offers 16 analog inputs, four digital inputs, and four digital outputs. The DT9814-10V...

A new approach to streamlining the application of advanced technologies.(Cadence Kit from Cadence Design Systems Inc.)(Advertisement)
February 2, 2006... Today's increasing silicon complexity drives engineers to continually leverage the latest advances in electronic design. However, no company can afford to have its design teams consuming time and effort adopting individual technologies....

Embedded processors: talking among themselves.(basics of Design)
February 16, 2006... Efficient communication between processors is critical in multiprocessor and multicore embedded designs. How the software will take advantage of the underlying hardware support structure is equally important. Almost any software layer can be...

Redefining the workstation.
February 16, 2006... It's easy to picture the traditional workstation. Simply imagine a high-powered UNIX computer, somewhere between a PC and a minicomputer, that tackles power-hungry applications like computer-aided design/engineering (CAD/CAE), computer-aided...

Speech recognition gets intuitive, finds new life in mobile applications.(Editorial)(Editorial)
February 16, 2006... Speech recognition has been one of those technologies that's perpetually "just around the corner." But after a recent IBM press event showcasing advances in speech technology and a spate of impressive applications, I'm convinced the age of...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease PORRIDGE)(Editorial)
February 16, 2006... Dear Bob: I have a little microcontroller circuit powered from a 115-V ac to 24-V dc supply that is then further stepped down to 5 V with a buck converter. An RS-232 converter, whose switched capacitors Give [+ or -] 8-V swing, is used to...

Determinism means more than faster processors.
February 16, 2006... A bounded response to events is the key to defining a hard real-time system. Real-time systems require determinism to ensure predictable behavior. Without determinism, systems can't be called real-time. And without bounded determinism, systems...

Next-generation PCs take top prizes.
February 16, 2006... You can forget about the boring box-monitor-key-board setup on your desktop. Some new ideas are on the way, courtesy of the Next Generation Windows OS PC Design Competition. Sponsored by Microsoft and the Industrial Designers Society of...

Nascent 3D chip market likely to hit $1.3 billion By 2010.(Column)
February 16, 2006... Semiconductors have always lived in a two-dimensional world. But with the rising use of three-dimensional (3D) stacking technology, chips are making a foray into the third dimension. Today's systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) often contain a diverse...

Low-noise dual JFET fills gap left by discontinued 2SK389s.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
February 16, 2006... A functional replacement for Toshiba's discontinued 2SK389 low-noise dual JFET is available from Linear Integrated Systems, which devotes itself to specialty semiconductors. In fact, the LSK389 series of 1-nV n-channel monolithic dual JFETs...

Four-port PoE driver supports SOHO routers.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
February 16, 2006... Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af, or PoE) is expanding from mainframe Ethernet routers and midspans to small-office/ home-office (SOHO) implementations. According to PowerDsine's marketing VP Madhu Rayabhari, a new market for...

IC powers ethernet appliances from PoE or ac adapters.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
February 16, 2006... The LM5071 pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller can accept power from a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) IEEE 802.3af Ethernet cable. This single-chip device from National Semiconductor also can accept power from external ac adapters. Designers can...

Frequently asked questions.(Direct Digital Synthesis)
February 16, 2006... How does direct digital synthesis (DDS) work? There are at least three elements to DDS: a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) with a phase modulator, a block that converts the phase information to amplitude values, and a...

Content processor takes on multiple algorithms.(TechVIEW: DIGITAL)
February 16, 2006... With its nine onboard engines, Tarari's T9000 content processor delivers multigigabit throughputs (Fig. 1). Each of these engines has been optimized to implement one of the more CPU-intensive algorithms found in the enterprise network. ...

USB-based microcontroller packs 32-bit CPU for top-notch throughput.(Tech VIEW: DIGITAL)
February 16, 2006... The USS2828 system-on-a-chip (SoC) controller combines a USB 2.0 interface and a 32-bit embedded processor to triple the data-processing throughput of similar controllers based on 8-bit 8051 embedded processors. Developed by Agere Systems, it...

SystemC model library makes TLM reuse easier.(TechVIEW: EDA)
February 16, 2006... Would-be users of transaction-level models (TLMs) and electronic system-level (ESL) design approaches in general face a major hurdle. Traditionally, it has been difficult to construct TLMs that serve the needs of early software development,...

Optical proximity correction spreads its wings across the process window.(TechVIEW: EDA)
February 16, 2006... Variability in lithography processes can have a profound effect on IC yield, particularly at 90 and 65 nm. Process variability can destroy image fidelity even when the operating conditions of the lithographic process window are acceptable....

VSP adds bus protocols.(TechVIEW: EDA)
February 16, 2006... Support for additional bus protocols has been added to Carbon Design's Virtual System Prototype (VSP) product line in the form of bus-functional models or transactors. These models for the PCI, PCI-X, USB 2.0 Host, and double-data-rate SDRAM...

64-bit x86 dual core goes embedded.(TechVIEW: EMBEDDED)
February 16, 2006... Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been pushing its 64-bit processors into realms previously reserved for its 32-bit embedded processor line. Two things have made chips like the dual-core Athlon and Opteron more interesting--a minimum of...

Quad processor VPX board tackles rugged DSP chores.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
February 16, 2006... Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing's CHAMP-AV6 6U VPX single-board computer is designed for inclusion in a Serial RapidIO fabric. The board includes four Freescale 1.33-GHz 8641 PowerPC processors with DSP and Altivec vector processing...

Software targets aerospace and defense systems.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
February 16, 2006... Wind River's latest releases address a range of aeorspace and defense applications, starting with its Software Defined Radio (SDR) Platform. Based on the most recent VxWorks 6.2 kernel, the platform adds support for the CRC SDR Core Framework...

Powerline chips available.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
February 16, 2006... SmartLabs' Insteon powerline modem and RF chips are now available for $1.60 and $2.90, respectively. Insteon operates at 12.8 kbits/s in a mesh network that provides reliable communication for power and process control applications. ...

Novel digital isolators rely on capacitors: a new brand of isolator pushes CMOS signaling rates to 150 Mbits/s and magnetic isolation to six orders of magnitude beyond the specs.(PUTTING NEW TECHNOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE)
February 16, 2006... On the manufacturing floor, digital isolators permit high-speed data transmission in the presence of rotating machines and other sources of large magnetic fields. In high-impedance circuit paths, isolation causes noise to appear across the...

Spring "board" to FPGA design success: FPGA development boards run the gamut from simple evaluation cards to application-targeted models that let you explore options.(Field programmable gate arrays)
February 16, 2006... Here's a tip for the next time you need to evaluate a new FPGA architecture or develop an application: Try an evaluation board or even a full-blown development kit. The basic resources these tools offer help chop away at product development...

Improve EMC in class D amplifier applications.(Design SOLUTION: ANALOG)
February 16, 2006... The state of the art in class D amplification has progressed rapidly in the past few years, most noticeably for lower-power applications that require less than 50 W per channel. Class D is inherently more efficient than the traditional class AB...

Powerline dropout simulator tests reset circuits.(Design Briefs: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)
February 16, 2006... Short ac powerline dropouts can cause incomplete power-on resets, leaving the microcontroller and logic circuits in an indeterminate state. This susceptibility can be tested using a very low-cost eight-pin microprocessor and a solid-state relay...

One transistor gives clean HDTV and NTSC video sync separation.(Design Briefs: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)
February 16, 2006... The increasing number of audio and video sources (VCR, DVD, set-top box, etc.) in a typical home-entertainment system requires a simple way to select the desired source. The add-on mechanical switches available today are bulky and prone to...

[mu]P-controlled oscillator delivers rock-bottom distortion.(POWERFUL IDEAS FOR DESIGN)
February 16, 2006... Function generators often play a critical role in the design, testing, and operation of encoders, modulators, demodulators, and measurement instruments. Here's an inexpensive way to build a bus-controlled sinewave oscillator that has downright...

Telecom supply powers temperature sensor.(POWERFUL IDEAS FOR DESIGNS)
February 16, 2006... IC temperature sensors generally are preferred in data-acquisition systems when the accuracy demands aren't extreme. Sensor, signal-processing, and data-conversion electronics are all integrated in the IC along with an easy to use digital-I/O...

19-in. LCD monitor boasts 4-ms response time.(ComponentVIEW)
February 16, 2006... Innovative features and a 4-ms response time make the 19-in. SyncMaster 960BF LCD monitor an ideal choice for multimedia-driven applications and systems employing motion video or streaming video. Samsung's proprietary MagicSpeed technology is...

Fiber-optic panels that use a single LED light source offer manufacturers of digital pressure test gauges a practical, customizable way to backlight their LCDs.
February 16, 2006... Fiber-optic panels that use a single LED light source offer manufacturers of digital pressure test gauges a practical, customizable way to backlight their LCDs. Lumitex's patented Woven Fiber Optic panels let engineers design in a backlight...

With 400 nits of brightness, the 6-in. FPM-3060G flat-panel monitor from Advantech is 42% brighter than most laptop PCs.
February 16, 2006... With 400 nits of brightness, the 6-in. FPM-3060G flat-panel monitor from Advantech is 42% brighter than most laptop PCs. Thanks to its high luminance, it can work well in areas with a bright background. Its rugged enclosure can withstand harsh...

Designers can drive the LM67802 TFT LCD through an industry-standard 8051 bus interface.
February 16, 2006... Designers can drive the LM67802 TFT LCD through an industry-standard 8051 bus interface. The 320- by 234-dot display offers 32k colors, 300-nit brightness, and 5-V operation. Measuring 148 by 120 by 19.4 mm, it targets low- to mid-volume...

A combination of high brightness, low power, and the ability to withstand extreme temperatures makes InSync Peripherals' 15-in.
February 16, 2006... A combination of high brightness, low power, and the ability to withstand extreme temperatures makes InSync Peripherals' 15- in. LCDs well suited for outdoor, military, and industrial applications. The displays produce 1000 nits of brightness...

Focus on LEDs.(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
February 16, 2006... FOCUS ON LEDs Company Type/model Package American Bright LED light strips 16- or 32-unit Optoelectronics ABP series pc-board strips www.americanbrightled.com...

Security processor protects small and medium-sized organizations.(COMMUNICATIONS)
February 16, 2006... Targeted at securing the enterprise, the SafeXcel-5140 security processor provides a single-chip solution that can be used in virtual-private-network (VPN) gateways, broadband access devices, and home-networking equipment. The chip combines an...

10-Gbit ethernet adapters pack TCP/IP offload support.(COMMUNICATIONS)
February 16, 2006... Based on a state-machine architecture, the Xframe II 10-Gbit/s Ethernet adapter delivers full line-speed operation over its PCI-X 2.0 host-bus interface. Similarly, the Xframe E card does the same over a PCI Express host interface. Extensive...

Carrier-class ethernet switch chip supports 36 million packets/s.(COMMUNICATIONS)
February 16, 2006... The G8000 family of Ethernet switch chips claims the industry's highest level of integration for carrier Ethernet services. The three chips in the Packetry II family support wire-speed rates of up to 36 million packets/s for packet processing...

Partnership yields interoperable processing and switching solution.(COMMUNICATIONS)
February 16, 2006... A partnership between EZchip Technologies (a subsidiary of LanOptics Ltd.) and TeraChip Inc. combines high-speed network processing and switch fabrics to provide a highly integrated interoperable switching architecture. The solution combines...

Ethernet switch chip trims total latency to less than 200 ns.(COMMUNICATIONS)
February 16, 2006... The FocalPoint family of 10-Gbit Ethernet switch chips contains fully integrated solutions with as many as 24 10-Gbit Ethernet ports. At the core of each chip are the company's patented high-throughput Terabit crossbar and RapidArray packet...

Digital downconverter handles 64 channels, delivers 140 Msamples/s.(New PRODUCTS)
February 16, 2006... A fully flexible 64-channel digital down-conversion (DDC) core is tuned for use on FPGAs. The ChannelCore64 lets designers replace up to 16 specialized DDC ASIC devices with a single IP core, significantly reducing board area, lowering power...

Enhanced FPGA family adds 20 low-power high-speed serial channels.(DIGITAL ICs/DSP)
February 16, 2006... The Stratix II GX family combines the company's fastest and highest-density FPGA fabric (up to 132,540 configurable logic elements and up to 6.7 Mbits of embedded memory) with up to 20 low-power high-speed serial transceivers. Able to operate...

System controller for powerPCs packs the most support functions.(DIGITAL ICs/DSP)
February 16, 2006... A system controller that supports PowerPC-based system solutions, the Discovery V chip provides a full subsystem to support the host CPU. To support high-speed I/O transfers, the chip packs three 1-Gbit Ethernet interfaces, two USB 2.0 ports, a...

Advanced memory buffer supports full-buffered DIMM standard.(DIGITAL ICs/DSP)(dual-inline memory modules)
February 16, 2006... The IN581AMB advanced memory buffer provides the interface between the highspeed serial interface defined for high-capacity memory arrays and industry-standard DDR2 SDRAMs. The chip fully complies with the JEDEC AMB specifications for fully...