Electronic Design articles from January 2006

Electronic Design archives from January 2006

Finding your niche in '06.(OVERVIEW)
January 12, 2006... Predictions are upbeat for the electronics market this year, based on semiconductor consumption forecasts. Targeting a growth rate of 17.5% for 2006, market research firm Semico says key consumption drivers include the torrent of new digital...

What's all this future stuff, anyhow?(trends in power supplies)(Column)
January 12, 2006... I was down at an "Arrowfest" in Plano, Texas, a few months ago. We had a little panel session about the future with Bill Klein of Texas Instruments, Arnold Williams from Analog Devices, and myself. Most of the audience agreed with the three of...

2006 looks good for verticals.(VISIONARIES)
January 12, 2006... To read these visionary forecasts in their entirety, go to www.elecdesign.com and enter the Drill Deeper numbers indicated. Complex Auto Systems Must Have The Right Software Future applications for automobile systems will require much...

It's no longer a game of just speed and architecture: digital systems will look to innovations in processes and device structures to squeeze out more performance.(Digital ICs: Overview)
January 12, 2006... Over 1 billion transistors on a logic chip. Over 16 billion on the latest flash memories. Logic clock speeds of 3 GHz and higher. Such numbers are the fruits of advances in lithography, metallization, and other aspects of semiconductor...

MCUs look between the blurred lines.(DIGITAL ICs: Microcontrollers)
January 12, 2006... What's the state of microcontrollers? They've become more prevalent across the board. Low-end chips continue to shrink and consume less power. Developers gaining confidence in desktop PC programming are turning to 32-bit microcontrollers as...

Design FAQs: FlexRay.
January 12, 2006... FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What is FlexRay? FlexRay is a high-performance network designed for determinism, safety, and reliability. It supports single or dual-channel operation to provide fault tolerance, and it can be configured as a...

Cash in your chips by going multicore.(Digital ICs: ASICs)
January 12, 2006... It's time to place your bets. What's going to create the most buzz this year? Heavy odds say it Will be multicore processors and multicore system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions. Some multicore products will be implemented as standard products, while...

Design FAQs: ASICS, structured ASICS, and FPGAs.(frequently asked questions)(application specific integrated circuits)(field programmable gate arrays)(Column)
January 12, 2006... FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How close in performance and integration are FPGAs and ASICs? Advances in FPGA architectures and the use of 90-nm process rules have allowed the latest generation of FPGAs to achieve levels of integration and...

FPGA advances pave the way toward true SoC solutions.(Digital ICs: FPGAs)(Field-programmable gate arrays )
January 12, 2006... Move over, full-custom digital ASICs. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are taking over many applications once considered the exclusive domain of those full-custom chips. FPGAs have usurped the ASICs by increasing gate counts by more...

Design FAQs: flash FPGAs and mixed-signal design.(frequently asked questions)(field programmable gate arrays)(Column)
January 12, 2006... FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Where do I need analog and flash memory in a digital system? Many systems accomplish most of their tasks using digital logic. But the logic chips themselves--FPGAs, ASICs, ASSPs, etc.--all require some analog...

Audio and video DSPs do everything, go everywhere.(Digital ICs; DSPs)(Digital signal processors)
January 12, 2006... Applications that don't leverage some form of digital-signal processing are like the proverbial hen's teeth. DSP capability surfaces in standalone DSP chips, one or multiple DSP cores integrated into an ASIC, general-purpose CPUs enhanced to...

New consumer apps hop into the driver's seat: digital may think it rules the consumer space, but analog still has a place in many applications.(Analog/Mixed-Signal: Overview)
January 12, 2006... If you want to know what's going on, ask the folks with the most feet on the street. I spoke with engineers at several major companies to get a feel for what's in store for the analog/mixed-signal arena in 2006. Once again, consumer...

Delta-sigma rocks RF, as ADC designers jump on jitter.(Analog/Mixed-Signal: analog-to-digital converters)(radio frequency)(Column)
January 12, 2006... One significant development in the world of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) has nothing to do with how they're built and everything to do with how they're supported. Companies now recognize that the entire conversion signal chain--front...

Multichannel audio, DDS keep DACs humming.(Analog/Mixed-Signal: digital-to-analog converters)(direct-digital-synthesis)
January 12, 2006... To borrow a line from the Talking Heads' David Byrne, the basic digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is the same as it ever was. In today's designs, though, DACs rarely stand alone. They tend to be integrated into codecs and...

Amps in 2006: bargain prices and quieter Class D.(Analog/Mixed-Signal: amplifiers)
January 12, 2006... Let's begin with some broad observations. Precision amplifiers, originally designed for test and measurement equipment, recently migrated to sensor monitoring in automotive and industrial applications. The latest performance-monitoring...

Design FAQs: precision op amps.(frequently asked questions)(operational amplifiers)(Column)
January 12, 2006... FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What applications require precision op amps? Precision amplifiers originally evolved to fill the needs of the test and measurement community. This arena demanded test system elements with much more precision...

National's latest precision Op amps.(National Semiconductor LMP7701 operational amplifier)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... LMP7701 Precision, CMOS Input, RRIO, Wide Supply Range Amplifier The LMP7701 is ideal for sensor interface and other instrumentation applications. Its guaranteed offset voltage is less than [+ or -] 200 [micro]V, and its guaranteed input...

Components meld mini forms with max functions: major advances help perpetuate the component designer mantra: pack more features into smaller spaces.(Microelectromechanical systems)(electronic components packaging)
January 12, 2006... Honey, I Shrunk The Components is now playing at a manufacturer near you. But this "picture" isn't merely freeze-framed within the world of discrete components. The packages and interconnects that shape them into a final product are following...

Interconnects make the cut with the right fabrics.(components: interconnects)(Advanced Switching Interconnect)
January 12, 2006... Fabric backplanes are rolling off production lines. Also, maturing technologies continue to move systems from evaluation to deployment, creating very large blade clusters. This one-two punch sums up today's ever-evolving field of interconnects....

Different design routes solve packaging woes.(Components: electronics packaging)(Column)
January 12, 2006... Squeeze more functions onto a silicon chip--so what else is new? Getting that circuitry in ever smaller packages, though, can be a real head-scratcher. Two major hurdles stand in the way of these twin goals that, when met, can lead to a...

Portables prepare for new power challenges: hungrier laptops and busier handhelds keep power-supply designers on their toes.(power: overview)
January 12, 2006... Big changes loom on the power horizon. For instance, the new PMBus power-management bus standard is going mainstream in 2006. Also, alternative power sources like direct-methanol fuel cells are on the way, though they may take a bit longer. In...

PMBus: the new power-management paradigm.(Power: Power Management & Semiconductors)(Linear Technology's LTC2970)
January 12, 2006... PMBus Rocks The System-Power-Management World. Such a headline may seem trite. But not since embedded computer systems moved to the distributed power architecture (DPA) and intermediate bus architecture (IBA) has this arena seen such a change....

Portables eye micro fuel cells to replace batteries.(Power: Power Sources & Batteries)
January 12, 2006... Once commercialized, micro fuel cells promise more backup "green power" at lower costs than competing battery technologies. Batteries, closing in on their performance limit, may fall short in the next generation of power-hungry cell phones,...

Wireless speaks volumes in communications/networking: wireless will lead the way in driving growth in the communications and networking markets.(communications: overview)
January 12, 2006... If you're talking communications and networking, you're likely talking wireless. Cell phones represent one of the best-selling consumer products of all time. Meanwhile, short-range wireless technologies are penetrating every application. Wi-Fi,...

There's a bright light at the end of the fiber.(communications: optical fiber)(networking equipment)
January 12, 2006... Down in the dumps for so long, the fiber-optics industry nearly became a forgotten entity. But after years of low sales, bankruptcies, and consolidation, life is returning. All sectors are seeing a major upturn in sales, and new...

The cell phone--simply irresistible.(communications: cell phones demand and trends)
January 12, 2006... Pop quiz: Choose the most important electronic device in your business arsenal. Is it your laptop? Your PDA? Your iPod? Nah, none of the above. It's gotta be your cell phone. Nowadays, your cell phone can handle your laptop's job, your PDA's...

45 nm is on the way--can EDA methodologies cope? At 65 nm and below, approximations are out; detailed physical models are in.(electronic design automation: overview)
January 12, 2006... With 65-nm IC processes up and running, designers are nervously eyeing the 45-nm node. The physical design challenges at 45 nm are exponentially greater than they are at 65 nm. Gate-oxide thicknesses are only atoms wide. A variance of just a...

Add arrows to your quivers to meet UDSM challenges.(electronic design automation: design & verification)(ultra-deep submicron silicon)
January 12, 2006... Design in the era of ultra-deep submicron (UDSM) silicon is a constantly moving target. To hit the bullseye, you've got to fill many more gates per given amount of area, verify that much more functionality, and know that almost anything can go...

DFM and low-power design will dominate the back end.(electronic design automation: prototyping & implementation)(design for manufacturability)
January 12, 2006... Yield is on everyone's minds these days, particularly as 65-nm processes ramp up. Consequently, this year's big push in the implementation flow will be toward tools and methodologies that maximize yield and manufacturability. Overall, the IC...

A new approach to streamlining the application of advanced technologies.(Cadence Design Systems Inc. analog/mixed-signal Methodology Kit )(Advertisement)
January 12, 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....

In quest of Homo Futurus physical design.(electronic design automation: prototyping & implementation)(Column)
January 12, 2006... To better understand the evolution of physical design, one might compare it with the evolution of mankind. The similarities can help us understand where the next breakthrough might come from. The earliest automated design implementations...

Where is embedded headed? Perpetual change remains the norm for embedded hardware and software, even when it comes to standards.(Embedded: Overview)
January 12, 2006... Ubiquity defines embedded systems You may not know it, though, because you'll never see them. Flash memory and compact hard drives lead the way, filling the void with ever-larger capacities. Flash memory is the low-power winner, but hard drives...

Bored with boards? Not this year.(Embedded: Hardware)(computer peripherals)
January 12, 2006... Embedded designs often center around boards and modules. Expect both to be big this year. With time-to-market pressures reaching frenzied levels, buying a board or module can cut down development time. High-speed serial interfaces and...

Embedded software: an open-source territory.(Embedded: Software)
January 12, 2006... Open-source continues to propel embedded software growth, despite the fact that it's augmented by services or proprietary extensions. Open-source software brings a level of compatibility to operating systems, tools, and middleware that...

T&M takes the standard route: signal complexity plus a standards infusion call for custom measurements.(test and measurement devices: overview)
January 12, 2006... Much of the goings-on in test and measurement this year, and for years to come, will center on standardization. More than ever, the electronics industry depends on standards for communications systems and computer buses. Overall, this is a good...

New apps, rising clock rates test the T&M arena.(testing and measurement: New Applications)(Anritsu MP1797A)(Agilent Technologies' N4903A combo generator/bit-error-rate tester )
January 12, 2006... It's a pressure cooker for today's test-and-measurement equipment manufacturers. With electronics penetrating further into automotive, consumer, medical, industrial, and military applications, innovative test equipment is essential to ensure...

RF instruments must cope with massive market.(T&M: Test for radio frequency)
January 12, 2006... Test and measurement's greatest challenges lie in the RF spectrum. RF transmissions come from myriad sources, from cell phones to wireless local-area networks to RF identification. All of it permeates the shrinking communications frequency...

International Rectifier radiation-hardened, ultra-low dropout voltage regulators consume 60% less power.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 12, 2006... IR's new RAD-Hard[TM] 3A, fixed- or adjustable-output ULDOs consume as much as 60% less power compared to other solutions on the market. These regulators are ideal for satellites operating from near earth orbit to deep space and are available...

Keithley's 2006 Test and Measurement Product Catalog.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 12, 2006... Keithley's 2006 Test and Measurement Product Catalog offers details and specifications on the company's general-purpose and sensitive sourcing and measurement products, DC switching, RF switching and measurement, specialized power supplies,...

Long range wireless RS-232 via Bluetooth.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 12, 2006... LEMOS/INITIUM have developed a reliable easy to install, low cost, long range Bluetooth wireless serial communication link for the industrial, medical, commercial and consumer markets, The Promi-SD Class 1 allows long range of up to 1,200...

You define. We design. They deliver.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 12, 2006... Introducing Grayhill Custom Mobile Solutions: built-to-order, ruggedized mobile tablets and handhelds that can be efficiently tailored to take on your most demanding application, in quantities as low as 100 units. Our in-house production and...

Improving machinery vibration analysis.(SIGNAL PATH / designer[SM]: tips, tricks, and techniques from the analog signal-path experts)
January 12, 2006... Machinery downtime during normal shift operations is very costly due to lost production, but it is also avoidable. Preventative maintenance systems are being used to improve the operating efficiency of machinery used in factories, power plants,...

ZigBee zooms to market: this short-range wireless technology is now ready for action in your application.(electronic design)(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... Ushering in a new technology or standard to the market always seems to take longer than expected. In fact, the time between concept and actual adoption often can be measured with a stack of calendars. ZigBee is no exception. For years now,...

Low power, integrated features, give PIC[R] Microcontrollers edge in ZigBee[TM] designs.(Microchip Technology Inc.)(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... PIC[R] microcontrollers (MCU) with nanoWatt Technology feature up to six power-managed modes to give the designer flexibility to switch between various modes and incorporate power-saving ideas in the application. For example, the on-chip...

Chipcon: World's leading provider of ZigBee[TM] technology.(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... The #1 ZigBee[TM] provider--work with the leader! First to Market Chipcon's clear goal has been to become the world's leading provider of ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 technology--a goal we are proud to have achieved. Thanks to our industry...

Crossbow delivers first open platform for wireless sensor networks.(Crossbow Technology MoteWorks mesh network software)(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... Crossbow Technology, a pioneer in the wireless sensor network market and leader in deployed wireless sensor networks, recently introduced MoteWorks, a complete mesh network software platform which makes it easier and faster for OEMs to develop...

MeshNetics[TM] offers shortcut to ZigBee market.(Advertisement)
January 12, 2006... Cross-Platform ZigBee Stack The ZigBee revolution has opened a window of limitless growth potential to hardware vendors. This low-data rate, low-cost standard for ad-hoc mesh wireless networks is already used in industrial monitoring, HVAC...

Take a look into the future.(WHAT'S HAPPENING @ electronicdesign.com)
January 19, 2006... What does the electronics industry have in store for 2006 and 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....

"Sound off".(WHAT'S HAPPENING @ electronicdesign.com)
January 19, 2006... "Right on target--a decentralized architecture always has more reliability than a centralized one, and most importantly, individual contributions always outstrip bureaucratic ones. Amateur radio has made (and will continue to make) fundamental...

Polling.(on government aid to industrial research)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2006... Does the U.S. government spend enough money on scientific research and development? Yes, R&D spending is adequate 9% No, the U.S. should put more money into R&D 91% Express yourself through our current online poll. To vote go to...

Developing ARMs.(ARM7TDMI-S-based microcontrollers)
January 19, 2006... There's a glut of standard 32-bit, ARM7TDMI-S-based microcontrollers these days. Almost every major microcontroller vendor has its own version. Likewise, a host of tools is available. Embedded/Systems/Software Editor Bill Wong uncovers a couple...

Archived Webcasts: RoHS/WEEE--The Manager's Role.(Restrictions on Hazardous Substances)(Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment)(directives of European Union)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2006... Is the industry ready to comply with the European Union's Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives? Several surveys suggest it is not. While there's still a great deal of...

Top 20 Articles on ED Online.(WHAT'S COOL)
January 19, 2006... 1 Full-Speed USB Support Surfaces In The PIC Realm ED Online 9129 2 AC Motor Driver Features PC Programmability ED Online 2605 3 EiED Online>>ZigBee Kits ED Online 11570 4 Build Your Own PC Board: A Designer's Dream ED Online 11537...

Check it out!!(WHAT'S HAPPENING @ electronicdesign.com)
January 19, 2006... Free eBook: A Black-Box Approach To ADCs This eBook focuses un the common characteristics of all analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and what they imply for the system-level designer. Download the first two chapters today at...

Looking for the true innovations behind CES's tech for the masses.(Consumer Electronics Show)(Editorial)
January 19, 2006... It's a given that a trip to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be a safari--the shoulder-to-shoulder convention center halls, the snaking lines for cabs, the amped-up cacophony aiming to outshine even the lights of Las Vegas. My...

Bob's mailbox.(PEASE PORRIDGE)(Letter to the Editor)
January 19, 2006... Hi Bob: Back in the early '70s, I was an EE major at Lowell Tech in Lowell, Mass. Within easy walking distance of the dorms, there was an electronics surplus store in one of the old textile mill buildings. One day I found some Philbrick P65AU...

Meeting the due diligence challenges of RoHS.(Restrictions on Hazardous Substances directive of European Union)(Column)
January 19, 2006... Due diligence has become a major factor in the electronics industry as we near the July 1, 2006 deadline to comply with the European Union's Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS). One difficulty the industry faces is the lack of standard...

Connectivity and multimedia--two key themes for the 2006 ISSCC.(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Solid State Circuits Conference)
January 19, 2006... With today's emphasis on mobile communications and entertainment, it's no surprise that next month's IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Franscisco (Feb. 5-9) will focus on wireless connectivity, portability, and...

Digital power-management ICs will hit $1.5 billion by 2015.(integrated circuits)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2006... For many years, power supplies in electronic equipment (including at-to-dc and dc-to-dc converters) have been designed primarily using switch-mode topologies. These topologies usually use power MOSFETs as the main switching element....

Capacitance-to-digital converter simplifies touchpad design.(Analog Devices AD7142)
January 19, 2006... When it comes to touchpads, most OEMs buy complete subassemblies from outside vendors, essentially subcontracting the electronic design as well as the assembly. The AD7142 capacitance-to-digital converter from Analog Devices may change that,...

Utility metering gets easy.(Tech VIEW: Analog & Power)
January 19, 2006... Worldwide, electrical utility metering is undergoing dramatic changes. To deal this variety of applications, Microchip has introduced two chips and an online design center to help engineers create metering products. The company's standalone...

Industry's first 1310-nm VCSEL targets 4-Gbit/s fibre channel.(Tech VIEW: COMMUNICATIONS)
January 19, 2006... Most vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) operate at 850 nm in Ethernet and other shorter-range fiber-optic applications. With their small size and low cost, they have captured a large share of the laser market. In fact, they have...

InfiniBand transceiver set achieves 30-Gbit/s data rate.(Tech VIEW: COMMUNICATIONS)
January 19, 2006... The InfiniFlame 12X transceiver brings new life to the popular InfiniBand optical standard. XLoom Communications developed this short-range serial transmission technology, which connects servers and other networking equipment in a data center....

Statistics engine tracks events, improves host performance.(from Integrated Device Technology Inc.)
January 19, 2006... Statistics engines keep track of the types of data and other events that move across a network. That way, designers can develop new value-added services and functions for edge routers, broadband access equipment, multiservice provisioning...

Application processor subsystem eases SoC designs.(from LSI Logic Corp.)(system-on-a-chip)
January 19, 2006... A low-power processor architecture subsystem developed by LSI Logic Corp. takes aim at GPS navigation systems, electronic toys, personal media players, and many other low-power handheld applications. The Zevio architecture provides a baseline...

Microlithography simulator takes broad view of ICs.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
January 19, 2006... As early adopters of 90- and 65-nm processes have learned, there's a big difference between what you design at these nodes and what gets printed on the wafer. The fact that these microscopic structures are being patterned on silicon with, at...

Methodology Kit demystifies wireless design.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
January 19, 2006... Many challenges are inherent in designing RF transceiver chips. Some of these challenges can cause long, sleepless nights for designers insufficiently versed in analog black magic. These include, but aren't limited to, system-level...

Celebrating 25 years of VME and more.(Tech VIEW: EMBEDDED)
January 19, 2006... This week's Bus&Board show in Long Beach, Calif., kicked off a celebration of VME's 25-year run. It has been the longest-lasting bus standard, and it continues to evolve and grow with new high-speed serial fabric standards like VITA 41 (VXS)...

Development kits in USB dongles.(Tech VIEW: EMBEDDED)
January 19, 2006... Development kits get smaller and cheaper with offerings like Silicon Laboratories' MCU ToolStik demo kit and USB Radio (see the figure). Both are based on Silicon Labs' 8051 USB chip, which provides a USB-based debugging interface to other...

RAIDing SAS.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 19, 2006... Adaptec has attacked the SAS market with a range of products, from the $369 48300 SAS host bus adapter (HBA) to the $5995 SANbloc 5000f RAID Subsystem. The 335SAS Storage Enclosure targets small servers needing four hot-swap SAS/SATA drive...

One part UML. One part C/C++ IDE. Mix thoroughly.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 19, 2006... Green Hills Software's Multi gets intimate with ILogix's Rhapsody, providing developers with an integrated environment from model design to low-level debugging. Changes made to source code generated by Rhapsody in Multi are automatically...

More mixin': UML, SysML and RTOS.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 19, 2006... Telelogic's TAU supports the new SysML (Systems Modeling Language) open-source standard and Green Hills Software's Integrity real-time operating system (RTOS). Integrity integration provides access to the RTOS programming interface as well as...

Open-source platform dials into VoIP: downloadable Asterisk could become the star of your VoIP PBX.(Asterisk VoIP PBX software)(Voice over Internet Protocol)(private branch exchange)
January 19, 2006... Voice over Internet Protocol (VolP) continues to entrench itself throughout the communications sector, especially in mixed private branch exchange (PBX) implementations. Cracking this market often is a challenge for the embedded arena, though,...

Smaller sensors usher in new year's resolution: thanks to tinier pixels plus on-chip image-processing circuits, the latest sensors deliver higher-resolution images while lowering system costs.(image sensors)(Cover Story)
January 19, 2006... Whether it's the latest cell phone or a large space telescope, solid state imaging devices now fill nearly every image-capture need. Smaller pixel sizes enable existing VGA and multi-megapixel sensors to shrink, while still larger sensors with...

Working within the framework: a solid software framework builds in more flexibility for designers, relieving them of otherwise time-consuming tasks.(TECHNOLOGY REPORT: SOFTWARE FRAMEWORKS)
January 19, 2006... Writing an application completely from scratch is a royal pain. So, most developers turn to libraries and more sophisticated software frameworks to provide services that would otherwise gobble up precious time to develop and integrate. ...

Rail-signoff analysis ensures SoC power integrity.(electronic design automation)(system-on-a-chip)
January 19, 2006... More than ever, power integrity is vital to the successful creation of today's system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. That's because excessive rail voltage drop (IR drop) and ground bounce can create timing problems. Also, excessive current can cause...

One transistor gives clean HDTV and NTSC video sync separation.(DESIGN BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)(ISL59885 sync separator)(National Television System Committee composite signal)(high definition television)
January 19, 2006... The growing popularity and availability of high-definition television (HDTV) is creating a small revolution in the video industry. New video systems must be capable of handling the standard National Television System Committee (NTSC) composite...

Design a differential voltage-controlled current source.(DESIGN BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)(Column)
January 19, 2006... Demand for voltage-controlled current sources (VCCSs) and multipliers in a wide spectrum of electronics and communication devices always seems to exist. The multipliers employed in circuits like the Gilbert Cell, however, produce outputs...

High side current sensing: high performance analog solutions from Linear Technology.
January 19, 2006... One of the most common tasks in analog circuit design is measuring current. A current sense circuit often resides at the heart of power and battery-life management, bias current control, load monitoring, fuse monitoring, fail safe circuitry and...

Adaptive-gain charge-pump technique drives white LEDs.(POWERFUL IDEAS FOR DESIGN)(Column)
January 19, 2006... For white LEDs to maintain Constant luminosity, they're typically driven with a constant dc current source. In portable applications with a single-cell lithium-ion (Li-ion) source, the sum of the voltage drop across the white LED and the...

PDA Module.(Catalogue Literature Review)
January 19, 2006... Acquire, analyze, and present your data in the palm of your hand. The National Instruments LabVIEW PDA Module extends LabVIEW graphical development to handheld devices so you can easily create custom applications to run on Palm and Microsoft...

IC sockets & adapters.(Catalogue Literature Review)
January 19, 2006... Industry's largest selection of BGA sockets and test, prototype, and production adapters. Innovative products include family of solderless GHz Bandwidth BGA and MLF sockets, hundreds of adapters for IC package conversions and IC package...

PICmicro[R] development system.(Catalogue Literature Review)
January 19, 2006... ClearView[TM] Mathias is a full-featured ICE with a highly productive Development and Debugging environment for the PICmicro. Mathias fully emulates the selected device including air peripherals. See why Engineers choose TechTools. Request...

Free 2006 NI measurement and automation catalog.(Catalogue Literature Review)
January 19, 2006... Featuring new product information, comparison chars, key specifications, and information on: * NI LabVIEW 8 Distributed Intelligence * PCI Express M Series * PXI Flexible-Resolution Digitizer * USB Data Acquisition Modules ...