Electronic Design articles from January 2005

Electronic Design archives from January 2005

Retaining technology leadership in 2005.(semiconductor industry)(Industry Overview)
January 13, 2005... Most pundits in the Semiconductor marketplace expect 2005 to be relatively flat, with expansion returning in '06 and strengthening in '07. Likewise, you engineers designing tomorrow's chips and the products they power are cautiously optimistic...

Digital media drives the broad bandwagon.(Visionaries)(broadband usage)
January 13, 2005... Demand for broadband will drive the industry over the next few years. Wireless and wireline communications will converge within the enterprise, creating personal home and corporate networking that delivers speedy, seamless Internet and...

What's all this resonance stuff, anyhow?(Pease Porridge)(observation)(Editorial)
January 13, 2005... I was walking down a hallway on the top floor of NSC's building D, when something I heard made me suspicious. It sounded like a series clicks rattling around the hallway. I stopped and slapped my thigh to make a sharp sound. I heard TICK-TICK,...

Jumbo digital chips bank on a "small" future: two-billion transistor processors and four-billion-transistor memories, with process rules dropping to 65 and 45 nm shake up digital technology.(digital integrated circuits)
January 13, 2005... Smaller is better--that's the ongoing mantra within the digital spectrum. At least that's the case for transistors, which are getting mighty small indeed. Today's best production processes are based on 90-nm features. But companies are...

Transistor-jammed chips rely on process progress.(Process technologies)
January 13, 2005... More and more transistors per chip. There's simply no way around it as long as there's a need to create faster and smaller systems that consume less power. This will provide more gates for ASICs and greater amounts of storage for memory chips....

MCUs sift through overlapping solutions.(Microcontrollers)
January 13, 2005... The microcontroller market is getting larger and more confusing, but oh, the choices! All processor segments from 8 to 64 bits are growing both at the low and high ends, leading to considerable overlap. Increased demand for connectivity has...

Shrinking features broaden ASIC options.(application specific integrated circuits)
January 13, 2005... The basic premise of ASICs has remained the same over the past decade--integrate as much of the system as possible onto one chip to reduce chip count and system cost. Yet the ability to integrate more on one chip has changed. Advances such as...

Designing with structured ASICs.(application specific integrated circuits)
January 13, 2005... What makes the structured ASIC cost effective? It's a matter of per-unit cost, including all of the associated overhead, in volume. Many factors must be added up to determine the final per-chip cost, such as the quantity needed, the cost...

Altera's Hardcopy structured ASIC: ASIC gain without the pain.(application specific integrated circuits)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... Altera entered the structured-ASIC arena with its HardCopy[R] family in 2001, offering a unique FPGA front-end design methodology. As the industry's most compelling structured-ASIC offering, HardCopy offers a seamless and low-risk design...

Denser, faster FPGAs take on all markets.(field-programmable gate array)
January 13, 2005... Once considered just a logic replacement for small- and medium-scale logic devices, the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has come into its own as a total system solution. It can replace anything from a few gates to a full custom...

System-on-a-chip design with platform ASICs.(application specific integrated circuits)
January 13, 2005... Where does the platform ASIC itself versus other ASIC Solutions? A platform ASIC fills the design gap between the full cell-based ASIC design, which typically requires about 25 masks and a 12- to 18-month design cycle, and the in-system...

Constrained by FPGAs and ASSPs ... but can't afford cell-based ASICs?(Product Q&As)(Field Programmable Gate-Array, Application Specific Signal Processor, Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... The RapidChip[R] semiconductor platform combines the high-density, high-performance benefits of cell-based ASICs with the fast time-to-market and customization benefits of FPGAs and the proven IP benefits of ASSPs. Targeting consumer, storage,...

More embedded features provide easier analog designs: while suppliers at all levels focus on applications, analog IP enters its teens.(Analog/Mixed Signal)
January 13, 2005... By building in more value-added features, companies hope to remove some of the hocus-pocus from the analog-design portions of new products. Obviously, these features can't instantly move OEM customers to the cutting edge of performance. But...

Simpler solutions spark active ADC arena.(analog-to-digital converters )
January 13, 2005... Expert designers are hard to find. So, converter suppliers are making their products easier to use. Some suppliers simplify analog front-end design by choosing alternative architectures. Delta-sigma, both switched-capacitor and continuous-time,...

Evaluating timing IP.(Design FAQs: frequently asked questions)(internet protocol)
January 13, 2005... A phase-locked loop (PLL) is pretty basic, How much can one IP vendor's PLL differ from another's? While the high-level PLL schematic is simple, the simplest PLLs don't perform well. They all accept a reference clock and generate another...

True Circuits standardized PLL and DLL hard macros.(Phase Locked Loop, Dynamic Link Library)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... True Circuits, Inc. offers a complete family of award-winning, standardized PLL and DLL hard macros that spans nearly all performance points and features typically requested by ASIC, FPGA, and SoC designers. All TCI PLLs feature our...

Tiny footprints, sweet sounds, and higher IFs.(digital-to-analog converters, interpolation filter)
January 13, 2005... Two major trends will dominate digital-to-analog converters (DACs) this year. First, competition will intensify to even greater heights thanks to strides made in consumer audio in your home, car, and pocket. Second, DACs for communications...

Amplifiers preach painless performance.(Amplifiers)
January 13, 2005... The most conspicuous trend in amplifiers is the list of new features that I help systems engineers who aren't entrenched analog specialists avoid catastrophic design errors. Consider how it demolishes a system-development schedule when an...

Shrinking components pace the industry: flat-panel displays, passive components, MEMs devices, and oscillators drop in size, power, and price to match tough packaging requirements.(Components)
January 13, 2005... Miniaturization. Lower costs. Lower power dissipation. Smaller form factors. These demands are driving the consumer, medical, communications, automotive, industrial, and military markets. But rapid advances in components are giving design...

Crowded technology field heats up displays.(Flat-panel displays)
January 13, 2005... Aggressive competition continues in flat-panel-displays (FPDs). LCDs maintain an edge, particularly in desktop monitors, laptops, notebooks, cell phones, and multimedia consumer devices. Now they're making a charge for the large-screen home TV...

Get more flexibility for less cost and size.(High-growth components)
January 13, 2005... Industry demands within the passive components sector constitute a rather tall order: a wider range of values, higher-frequency performance characteristics, tighter tolerances, and greater levels of stability, all within small packages. ...

Ultracaps, fuel cells redefine power: groundbreaking advances have ultracapacitor prices plummeting and methanol fuel cells going mainstream.
January 13, 2005... Power management is ever-more critical as consumer applications eclipse computer applications and the whole dc-dc converter arena vibrates with innovation. Meanwhile, two trends should have a considerable impact on 2005. First,...

Auto power APPS bristling; portables need complexity.(Active Direct Current Output Control, power management)
January 13, 2005... Power-management activity whirls around dc-dc converters. Yet as Linear Technology founder and CTO Robert Dobkin points out, power management could prove an even greater challenge in battery-powered handhelds than on aserver system board (see...

DC-DCs in '05: better bricks, battling pols, brighter leds.(DC-DC converters)
January 13, 2005... Three trends are emerging in dc-dc converters. First, the news in bricks all about incredible power densities and efficiencies. Second, differentiation has become a matter of control and distribution architecture for point-of-load (POL)...

Power management for portable equipment lighting.(Power Design FAQs: frequently asked questions)
January 13, 2005... What is behind the move to white LEDs in portable equipment? The trend for color displays in handhelds has produced a parallel move to white LEDs for LCD backlighting. White LEDs provide the desired appearance for backlighting color LCDs....

LM3224 600-kHz/1.25-MHz step-up PWM DC-DC converter.(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... A step-up dc-dc converter, the LM3224 has a 0.2-[ohm] internal switch. It Converts a 3.3-V input to multiple outputs of 8, -8, and 23 V, making it an ideal IC for biasing thin-film transistor displays. It's also ideal for driving high-current...

LM27961 high-performance white-LED driver for multiple-display applications.(Light Emitting Diodes)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... National's M27961 is a complete solution for dual-display applications. The device uses no inductors, only tiny ceramic capacitors allowing for superior performance and cost savings. The LM27961 consists of a fixed-frequency x1.5 charge-pump,...

Online seminar: lighting solutions for portable devices.(Product Q&As)
January 13, 2005... This seminar introduces the fundamental technologies and architectures used to drive LEDs in today's portable devices. Examples of different boost and current regulation techniques will be evaluated, and performance metrics such as power...

Chip, product bonanza drives comm to the top of the charts: rapid-fire technological breakthroughs in cell phones, wireless LANs, and other systems have the wireless/communications arena percolating.(Communications)
January 13, 2005... "We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge."--Robert Naisbitt in his 1982 book Megatrends. Naisbitt certainly got it right more than 20 years ago, yet the situation is even worse today. Not only are we more inundated than ever...

Alternative tech ready to challenge cable/DSL lead.(Broadband)(Digital Subscriber Line)
January 13, 2005... Today, broadband services in the form cable TV and DSL lines give us high-speed Internet services as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in some areas. But these high-speed services are used by just over 20% of U.S. households,...

The wireless business sliced and diced.(Short-range wireless)
January 13, 2005... Wireless is where it's at. We have single-chip radios for virtually any application. It's cheap, easy, and fun to make virtually any product wireless. Just choose your technology and protocol, and away you go. WI-FI * From the very...

The all-in-one, do-everything handset.(Cell phones)
January 13, 2005... Cell phones may be the perfect all-time electronic product. Worldwide sales topped 670 million in 2004. In 2005, we should see sales top 700 million phones, with China being the largest market with over 250 million units. We love our cell...

Squeezed in the middle: EDA in the hourglass era: with emphases on the system level and design for manufacturability, EDA eyes its future from top- and bottom-heavy perspectives.(Electronic Design Automation)
January 13, 2005... Design automation has passed through distinct eras in its history, marked largely by seismic shifts in abstraction. The last great shift, back in the 1980s, saw Verilog lose its proprietary status and become open source. That's when the...

ESL: the post-RTL answer?(electronic-system-level, Register Transfer Logic)
January 13, 2005... The EDA industry's worst-kept secret is that the RTL design flow is broken. Implementing complex systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) in RTL simply takes too long and is too error-prone. Add the fact that simulation of RTL is too slow to effectively cover...

Enter the age of design for manufacturability.(Prototyping & implementation)
January 13, 2005... The broad adoption of virtual prototyping and physical synthesis tools have helped reduce the number of synthesis/place-and-route iterations. They also helped RTL coders avoid what they've long dreaded--having to become physical-design experts....

PC boards are just one aspect of system design.(printed circuit boards)
January 13, 2005... For decades, multiple ongoing factors have been influencing the design of integrated systems. Chief among them are smaller form factors, greater complexity coupled with improved performance, shorter design cycle times, and lower costs. Each...

PC-board design.(printed circuit boards)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2005... How do I combine Spice, IBIS, S-parameter, package, and pc-board models? With many board designs incorporating multigigahertz interconnect speeds, vendors often supply encrypted transistor-level Spice models rather than IBIS models....

What solutions does Cadence provide for managing high-speed PCB designs?(printed circuit boards, Cadence Design Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 13, 2005... The Cadence[R] Allegro[R] system interconnect design platform enables collaborative design of high-performance interconnect across IC, package, and PCB domains. The Allegro suite of PCB design tools gives engineers a leading-edge technology...

Embedded strides swiftly down the standard path: standardized platforms and cots options hardware and software development.(Embedded)
January 13, 2005... Platforms give embedded designers a standard base to build upon, be it hardware or software. These platforms and standards gain greater importance as developers interact with each other more, and as final products start to interact. Driving all...

Low-risk cots keeps a cutting edge.(Embedded)(commercial-off-the-shelf trends)
January 13, 2005... COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) products represent dependable, predictable, long-term solutions. But they also can deliver cutting-edge technology--and it doesn't take an expert to build a complete custom solution. COTS can provide the hardware...

Software development tools going embedded.(Software)
January 13, 2005... The real-time operating-system (RTOS) ruckus is all but a murmur this year. Linux is well established with the 2.6 kernel and a single-source code package for memory-management-unit (MMU) and MMU-less processors. Other major RTOS vendors...

Bridging the software complexity gap.(Expert view)
January 13, 2005... Embedded software projects are simply becoming bigger and more complex. Lines of code (LOC) in telecommunications applications, one measure of complexity, are growing at a 26% clip annually according to estimates from Venture Development Corp....

Pin-count and cost issues spark T&M breakthroughs: DFT, bist methods, and synthetic instrumentation are some of the techniques reshaping the test and measurement industry.(Test/Measurement)
January 13, 2005... The opportunities and challenges for test-equipment manufacturers have never been greater. Traditional T&M instruments are blazing a path toward greater performance capabilities for faster, wider-bandwidth, and more accurate test equipment for...

Gear accommodates evolving markets.(Changing end-user markets)
January 13, 2005... Traditional test and measurement instruments--oscilloscopes, logic and spectrum analyzers, multimeters, and signal sources--haven't lagged behind the advances occurring in electronic device technology. In some cases, they're exceeding the T&M...

ATE battles soaring IC device complexity.(Automatic test equipment)(integrated circuits)
January 13, 2005... Highly integrated IC devices like systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) are seeing pin counts balloon, creating untold complexity issues. As a result, it's becoming harder for automatic-test-equipment (ATE) systems to boost performance levels at lower costs...

SystemC bridges the gap: with a new version 2.1 and its emphasis on transaction-level modeling, SystemC is finding its role as the glue that binds architectural analysis and the RTL implementation world.
January 13, 2005... When the SystemC language appeared on the scene as a new open-source language in 1999, it caused considerable confusion among designers. What is this SystemC thing? Is it a hardware design language? It can't be if it's based on C++, can it? Is...

Mentor Graphics fully supports SystemC for design and verification.
January 13, 2005... As the industry shifts to nanometer design, the need for ESL is more apparent. SystemC tools can play an important role in addressing the emerging challenges. SystemC enables engineers to capture designs at higher levels of abstraction and...

Synopsys' System Studio delivers integrated SystemC[TM]-based ESLsolution for system-on-chip designs.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2005... Substantially reducing the design cycle for today's sophisticated system-on-chip (SoC)-based products requires thorough algorithm and architectural analysis, software development early in the design cycle, and a tight integration with RTL...

Summit attacks embedded system design pain points.(Summit Design Inc.)
January 13, 2005... ESL design is embedded system design, and not just designing a chip at a level above RTL. Summit's world-class ESL design solutions have been developed with this focus in mind. Using our solutions, our customers have developed not only...

SystemC and OCP converge at Sonics.(Over-Clocked Processor )(Brief Article)
January 13, 2005... Sonics, Inc. is a leading provider of SMART Interconnects[TM] that deliver high SoC design predictability and increase design efficiency. Major semiconductor and systems companies including Broadcom, Samsung, Texas instruments and Toshiba have...

Bridging System and RTL.(about the products from Calypto Design Systems, Register Transfer Logic)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2005... Are you facing verification overload? Do you have the power to meet your power goals? Is your design methodology at the right level of abstraction? Do really know that your chip will match its original system specifications? Calypto Design...

From algorithm to low power implementation.
January 13, 2005... ChipVision Design Systems is the leading supplier of analysis, estimation and optimization solutions for design teams of System on Chips (SoCs). ChipVision's power estimation and optimization offering ORINOCO is the only design tool that works...

CoWare's SystemC-based ESL design solutions transform risk into opportunity.
January 13, 2005... CoWare is the leading supplier of system-level electronic design automation (EDA) software tools and services. CoWare offers a comprehensive set of electronic system-level (ESL) tools that enable SoC developers to "differentiate by design"...

Getting complex SoCs right the first time with ESL: new advanced verification flow bridges the gap between ESL design and successful implementation.
January 13, 2005... Today's complex chips and shorter design cycles are driving greater investments in design and verification teams--and the tools they require. But many companies are finding that throwing more engineers at the problem is not enough. By...

Forte Design Systems: innovation in behavioral design.
January 13, 2005... Forte Design Systems helps designers of ASICs, SoCs, and FPGAs achieve considerable reductions in overall design and verification time through the use of previously unavailable design methods. Forte's innovative behavioral synthesis technology...

"Sound off".
January 20, 2005... "I am really glad to see you are writing about the progress of renewable energy sources.... The EE profession has a large role to play in addressing global warming and reducing America's dependence on costly foreign oil sources." ...

Polling.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... Are you considering use of system-in-a-package technology in your upcoming design projects? Yes 35% No 18% Thinking about it 24% Never heard of it 24% Express yourself through our new online...

Building a Mini-ITX system.(EiED Online)
January 20, 2005... Embedded/Systems/Software Editor William Wong uses a pair of tiny Mini-ITX motherboards to build a file server/gateway and a multimedia PC that are only slightly larger than a standard DVD-ROM drive. Check out the step-by-step instructions on...

What's up?
January 20, 2005... FREE Webcast: Selecting the Best ASIC Solution, II January 27 at 2:00 p.m. EST An important consideration when starting an ASIC design is which platform to use: a full-cell-based design, a structured or platform ASIC, or a...

What's cool?
January 20, 2005... Top 5 Articles on ED Online: 1 Build A Smart Battery Charger Using A Single-Transistor Circuit ED Online 1823 2 Bright Outlook For Solar Power Cogeneration ED Online 9322 3 Bidirectional H-bridge DC-Motor Motion Controller ED...

Rise to the responsibility of global tsunami monitoring.(Editorial)(Editorial)
January 20, 2005... In the aftermath of last month's catastrophic tsunami came a rising chorus questioning the absence of a warning system. Fueling the furor was news that the seismic monitoring station run by the U.S.'s National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease Porridge)(Letter to the Editor)
January 20, 2005... Hi, Bob: I have a problem and could use your help. It initially sounded easy to me, but proved not so. I need to find an analog circuit for the following problem: I have 13 resistors with different values. I know the list of values and need to...

Putting design for manufacturing into action.(Point Of View)
January 20, 2005... "Design for manufacturing," or DFM, is such a buzzword these days. Everybody seems to agree that DFM is critically important. However, there is also an ironic consensus that the term DFM is vaguely defined. This is especially true for those in...

UL program tests for RoHS compliance.(Standards)
January 20, 2005... The European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive won't take effect until July 2006, but many OEMs are already concerned. Failure to comply could keep their products out of the EU or even result in civil or criminal...

Dutch Team grows III-V semiconductor nanowires on Ge And Si.(European Watch)
January 20, 2005... A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS FROM Philips and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in Delft, the Netherlands, has successfully grown III-V semiconductor nanowires on germanium and silicon substrates. III-V semiconductors cannot be fabricated on silicon...

California sets green power-supply standards.(Analog & Power)
January 20, 2005... The California Energy Commission's (CEC) latest standards place new energy-efficiency requirements on a host of products. Taking effect over the next two years, the standards must be cost-effective based on a reasonable use pattern. In other...

Dual idea.(Analog & Power)
January 20, 2005... Two monolithic ideal diodes (see the figure)--both able to supply up to 2.6 A from 2.5- to 5.5-V input voltages--have been integrated into the LTC4413 power control. Housed in a 10-lead, 3-by 3-mm DFN package, this Linear Technology device...

Programmable wireless chip refines ISM VHF/UHF radios.(Communications)
January 20, 2005... The popular FCC-assigned industrial-scientific-medical (ISM) bands for unlicensed wireless applications are used for everything from remote keyless entry for cars to industrial telemetry applications. On top of that, many companies offer...

Digital PLL perks up performance in T1-E1, other TDM apps.(Communications)
January 20, 2005... Thanks to a digital phase-locked loop (DPLL), the ZL30109 DS1/E1 System Synchronizer chip brings timing and synchronization to multitrunk DS1 and E1 transmission equipment. DPLLs typically use a DSP filter in the PLLs loop filter to greatly...

Stunning advances to captivate ISSCC attendees.(Digital)
January 20, 2005... A truckload of the latest innovations awaits designers attending next month's IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference, Feb. 7-10 at the San Francisco Marriott. In fact, the 2005 ISSCC will offer the conference's largest technical...

Chip set does it all for small disk drives.(Digital)
January 20, 2005... Miniature disk drives with form factors ranging from 1.8 to 0.85 in. often lack the full suite of functions needed to support the mechanical head-and-disk assembly. The TrueStore chip set hopes to fill that void. Developed by Agere...

Reconfigurable OPC tool revamps ECOs and re-spins.(EDA)
January 20, 2005... At process geometries of 90 nm and below, IC yield is virtually impossible to achieve without optical proximity correction (OPC). But runtimes for OPC tools become very lengthy at 90 nm. Furthermore, design modifications that require quick...

Front-end tool shoves verification into the limelight.(EDA)
January 20, 2005... Many design teams now strive to create a viable design specification for early hardware/software coverification. Esterel Technologies' latest Esterel Studio release fills that bill by allowing designers to capture a design specification and...

Support for the spirit 1.0 specification.(EDA Roundup)
January 20, 2005... > SUPPORT FOR THE SPIRIT 1.0 SPECIFICATION is now offered by Mentor's Platform Express tool, an XML-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) design creation platform. The SPIRIT 1.0 spec defines a standard XML data set to ease intellectual-property (IP)...

Major expansion.(EDA Roundup)
January 20, 2005... > MAJOR EXPANSION for CoWare's ConvergenSC library of SystemC models comes with the addition of ARM PrimeCell peripherals. CoWare used golden RTL and testbenches to create its SystemC PrimeCell models. The models include PrimeCell System...

Modules attack signal processing, video.(Embedded)
January 20, 2005... PCI mezzanine card (PMC) modules offer expansion capabilities for single-board computers with PMC slots. Two new entries in this arena have expanded the designer's playing field. Bittware's T2-PMC contains a Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGA; a...

PC/104 modules manage motion-control, wireless apps.(Embedded)
January 20, 2005... PC/104 continues to expand into all embedded areas. Priced at $540, Performance Motion Devices' MagellanPC/104 Motion Controller handles multiple motors with up to four axes. It supports dc brushed, brushless dc, and step motors. Also, it can...

Inside iPod: Apple doesn't want to spill the secret sauce, but we tear down its mega-seller music machine.(Success Story)
January 20, 2005... It was an unusual strategy for a design engineer, but it was appropriate for the job. Elaine Wherry, manager of usability and design at Synaptics Inc., put on her hooded sweatshirt so she would blend in at college campuses. Her mission was to...

Nanometer yield enhancement begins in the design phase.(Design View EDA)
January 20, 2005... In moving to nanometer process technologies at 130 nm and below, semiconductor designers face a variety of physical and electrical effects that can significantly degrade circuit performance. For these nanometer designs, traditional corrections...

High-power LED driver accepts wide input-voltage range.(Innovative Designs From Readers)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The advent of high-power LEDs that can replace incandescent bulbs has produced a need for circuits that efficiently match the LEDs to available power sources (batteries, car electrical systems, etc.). The circuits should also be able to...

Standalone circuit converts square waves to sine waves.(Innovative Designs From Readers)
January 20, 2005... Many microcontrollers or PICs will have uncommitted digital-to-analog converter (DAC) outputs that can be used to generate sine waves. But these are generally low resolution (8 to 10 bits), yielding a total harmonic distortion (THD) in the 1%...

Multi-output monolithic power solutions: high performance analog solutions from linear technology: multi-output DC/DC converter operates from wall adapter, USB and 2 AA cell inputs.(Advertisement)
January 20, 2005... The LTC[R]3456 is a complete system-level power supply IC used to power portable GPS navigators, MP3 players and other handheld devices. It takes power from one of three sources: 2 AA cell alkaline/NiMH/NiCd batteries, USB or 5V AC wall...

USB MCU is a single-chip solution.(Embedded)
January 20, 2005... * The CP2102 packs an on-chip 48-MHz clock and 1 kbyte of EEPROM for a high-performance, single-chip USB-to-UART bridge. The EEPROM includes a security lock function. The UART interfaces run up to 1 Mbit/s. The USB interface supports the...

8-bit kit tackles GPRS/GSM communication chores.(Embedded)
January 20, 2005... * The GPRS/GSM Application Kit comes with a Spider SA-GL Quad Band GSM/GPRS cellular modem from Enfora. The modem provides wireless communication support for cellular-based applications. The kit is based around a 29.4-MHz RabbitCore RCM 3100...