Electronic Design articles from January 2007

Electronic Design archives from January 2007

Cell-phone Happy Meals aren't as "blue sky" as you may think.
January 11, 2007... Our mission is to keep you on the leading edge of new commercially available technologies, not the "bleeding edge." Still, it's valuable and fun to look at what's coming down the pike. Our annual Technology Forecast offers you the one-year...

What's all this gethuman stuff, anyhow?(Sears Holdings Corp.'s customer service)(Editorial)
January 11, 2007... We ordered a new refrigerator from Sears to replace our sick, dying 30-yearold icebox, and it was supposed to be delivered on December 7. The Sears salesman told us that we'd get a phone call about delivery on December 6. When Sears called, the...

Sign of the times: digital lanes merge ahead.(Digital)
January 11, 2007... According to the Chinese calendar, it's the Year of the Boar. But 2007 promises not to be boring as great changes lie ahead in the digital space, driven by one underlying theme: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. ASIC and ASSP vendors will...

ASIC/ASSP industry faces midlife crisis.(application specific integrated circuits, application-specific standard product)
January 11, 2007... Middle age takes its toll, be it animate or inanimate. The "application-specific" industry, regarding both ICs and standard products, is no exception. Don't expect any sporty red convertibles, though. Tough times await as customers expect...

Oh, those money-making microcontrollers.
January 11, 2007... Multicore, virtualization, and lots of little microcontroller chips are in the tea leaves this year. New technologies like Serial ATA (SATA) and PCI Express will materialize onto more chips and slowly move down the food chain. Continually...

FPGAs, structured ASICs bring home the bacon.(field programmable gate arrays)
January 11, 2007... FPGAs and structured ASICs are like Baby Boomers. They continue to look for ways to improve their position in life while reaping nice raises every year (in the form of revenue boosts). They're also more liberal than their elders. And, they...

DSPs here, there, and everywhere.(digital signal processors)
January 11, 2007... Applications ranging from multimedia distribution to power and motor control are looking to digital signal processors (DSPs) and digital signal controllers (DSCs) for optimal solutions now more than ever. The high end now trends toward multiple...

Analog firms must take a global stance.(analog integrated circuits)
January 11, 2007... As much as we'd like to think engineering is all about innovation, the essence of the profession often comes down to answering three questions: Who is the customer, what does it want, and how am I going to do it? As a result, interactions...

Fresh applications breed new amplifiers.(class D amplifiers)
January 11, 2007... Interesting new applications continue to emerge within the world of amplifiers. In some cases, the applications themselves are novel. In others, the combination of applications and their influence on architecture constitutes the story....

Specialized data converters move up the signal chain.(Data Converters)
January 11, 2007... Over the last several years, we've seen ICs wrap lots of application-specific functionality around a mixed-signal core, ultimately creating a canned solution for consumer-products OEMs. Expect more of the same this year. For example,...

Fast, quick, speedy ... it's all a comm game.(telecommunications transmission technologies)
January 11, 2007... Higher data rates remain the holy grail of communications and networking, with lower power consumption running just behind as a revered prize. And, what we're seeing in the chase for more performance using less power is the prominent role...

3G may be here, but 4G is on its way.(third generation wireless technology, fourth generation wireless technology)
January 11, 2007... We've been waiting for 3G cell phones for so long, most of us have forgotten what we were waiting for. Now the wait is finally over, but we still aren't seeing many handsets. Many carriers don't refer to 3G cell phones as 3G. As a result,...

DSL rules broadband for now.(digital subscriber line)
January 11, 2007... By far, the most widely used broadband technology to access the Internet around the world today is DSL. Over 70% of broadband connections in Japan and Korea are DSL, while penetration in Europe is approximately 60%. In the U.S., cable TV...

It's not just a matter of size for components.(Components)
January 11, 2007... Compactness and efficiency. Greater functionality at lower costs. These features--mainstays of the component world--are possible thanks to a steady stream of improved materials and manufacturing methods. Displays for large-screen TVs, outdoor...

Switch fabrics get scalable.(Interconnects)(Editorial)
January 11, 2007... It's raining board interconnect switch fabrics. Or so it seems, with last year's experimentation and development leading to a flood of deployments and new products. We're seeing clusters switch gears, going from dozens and hundreds of nodes to...

3D methods push the "thin is in" craze.(three dimensional technology)
January 11, 2007... More than three decades ago, Moore's Law predicted IC development would one day come to a halt, since the fundamental laws of physics would keep chips from shrinking any further. Though that prognostication hasn't come true yet, two surprising...

Down come the walls between software and hardware design.
January 11, 2007... It's becoming increasingly obvious: As 2007 begins, the prevailing paradigm in design is that software is king. Sure, state-of-the-art hardware is a must. But with market windows shrinking, there's no longer wiggle room to wait around for...

DFM remains the elephant in the room.(design-for-manufacturing )
January 11, 2007... With 65-nm processes going mainstream, designers will soon turn their attention to the 45-nm process node. And if you think 65 nm was tough to contend with in the fab, the 45-nm plateau opens the door to even uglier possibilities--trashing...

Complexity woes need an abstraction reaction.(designing system on chips using cae software)
January 11, 2007... The future of both design and verification is looking up--in an abstract way. The complexity of both the hardware and software will compel designers of complex systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) targeting 90- or 65-nm processes to move into the...

To build more, buy more boards and tools.(Embedded)
January 11, 2007... Unless you're building applications completely from scratch, the climate within the embedded sector couldn't be any better. Off-the-shelf hardware and software based on cutting-edge technologies like PCI Express, VPX, and Eclipse are available...

The wait is over for high-speed serial interfaces.(Hardware)
January 11, 2007... Without a doubt, standards-based hardware will be easier to apply this year. Last year's prototypes for the likes of VPX and EPIC Express will turn out in real products for use in production, providing access to high-speed interfaces like PCI...

Software attempts to match the multicore/cluster blitz.(Software)
January 11, 2007... Don't blink. As embedded hardware continues its rush toward more cores, giant clusters, video cell phones, and multimedia players, software developers turn to more third-party software and improved tools to keep pace. And programming paradigm...

Energy-hungry it centers see hope in digital power.(Power)
January 11, 2007... There's a new opportunity to design added-value power supplies and chips that help data centers conserve electrical power. The problems that IT managers face today are nothing less than monumental. Consider a historical analogy. Aluminum...

Synchronous rectifiers.(FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)
January 11, 2007... What is a synchronous rectifier? A synchronous rectifier is a circuit that emulates a diode, allowing current to pass in one direction but not the other without the losses associated with junction or Schottky devices. The circuit comprises...

Energy Star mandates power-efficient PCs.(personal computers)
January 11, 2007... In reaction to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently announced Energy Star 4.0 guidelines, power efficiency has become the dominant issue within power-management design. Hewlett-Packard will offer 80% efficient power...

Single-cell Li-ion systems spawn compatible ICs.(lithium ion batteries, integrated circuits)
January 11, 2007... For many handhelds, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have become the power source of choice. In response, IC manufacturers are developing devices that operate properly using the normal output voltage of these batteries. In other words, the...

R & D in T & M leads to new I & T--innovation & technology.(Test & Measurement)
January 11, 2007... Test-and-measurement challenges seem to intensify every year--faster circuits, larger ICs, new standards, increased complexity, shorter time-to-market, and, perhaps most importantly, shrinking margins. Never fear, though, because the T & M...

10 trends keep wireless T & M vendors on their toes.(Wireless Test)
January 11, 2007... Wireless and RF test equipment and systems are strong growth segments in the test and measurement (T & M) industry. But for wireless designers and production professionals, it's still a work in progress. T & M equipment companies do a good...

PXI and LXI set the table for a tasty test buffet.(Peripheral component interconnect Extensions for Instrumentation)(Local Area Network Extensions for Instrumentation)
January 11, 2007... With today's tighter customer deadlines and ruthlessly competitive industry, designers can't delay in getting their products to market. Fortunately, new testing options are accelerating the process. The PXI modular instruments and the new LXI...

Probing adapter for 92 pin DDR2 BGA.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 11, 2007... Ironwood Electronics' new high performance Probing Adapter LA-BGA92D-DDR2-SDRAM-01 allow probing of 92 pin BGA DDR2 SDRAM with logic analyzers such as the Agilent 167XX. These adapters are compatible with 19mm x 11mm, 0.8mm pitch BGA's. ...

Keithley's 2007 product catalog.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 11, 2007... Keithley's 2007 Product Catalog contains over 400 pages detailing the company's sourcing and measurement products, DC switching, RF switching hardware, RF signal generation and analysis instruments, data acquisition solutions, semiconductor...

Hard times ahead for hard drives--and the people who depend on them.(Editorial)
January 18, 2007... My PC dependency really hit me hard when my home desktop and my laptop simultaneously decided to go belly-up. While I'm pretty beholden to our IT experts at the office, at home, I'm the help desk. I've been scrambling to try to resuscitate both...

Bob's mailbox.(PeasePorridge)(Letter to the editor)
January 18, 2007... Hi Bob: I was just reading your column in the Nov. 16, 2006 issue of Electronic Design ("What's All This Si[O.sub.2] Stuff, Anyhow?" p. 18) and had some insights. The silicon dioxide (Si[O.sup.2]) added to foods for anti-caking is a little bit...

Leverage technology advances to support 3G wireless applications.(third generation wireless technology)
January 18, 2007... Much has been written lately about the expansion of 3G networks in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Asia, for example, has been zealous in its adoption of next-generation wireless services. In Europe and the Americas, though, the deployment of...

Hot technology produces cool chips.(University of Washington' designing new ion pumps)
January 18, 2007... University of Washington researchers believe their ion pump marks the coolest research breakthrough in decades. That's because the tiny device does only one thing--it cools chips. As chips get smaller and denser, they also run hotter. Yet...

Dual 14-bit 150-Msample/s ADC provides AGC input for receivers.(analog-to-digital converter)
January 18, 2007... Meeting the need for analog-to-digital converter (ADC) sampling at rates beyond 135 Msamples/s in WiMAX applications, Analog Devices' AD9640 is the first dual 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to offer 150 Msamples/s. It provides two...

Voltage regulator ICs.(integrated circuits)(Editorial)
January 18, 2007... What is the function of a voltage regulator IC? A voltage regulator generates a fixed output voltage of a preset magnitude that remains constant regardless of changes to its input voltage or load conditions. There are two types of voltage...

MoCA challenges wireless for home networking dominance.(Multimedia over Coax Alliance)
January 18, 2007... The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) sponsors a home networking technology that's significantly growing in popularity thanks to the need to transport video and audio around the home between consumer electronics. Its goal is to ensure a...

North + south = west?(TechView: Digital)
January 18, 2007... Life is full of funny scenarios, like the two situations where north + south = west. In Silicon Valley, 680 South becomes 280 North, even though you're really headed west. And second, Cypress Semiconductor's West Bridge product line integrates...

ASIC verification technology brings bugs to their knees.(application specific integrated circuits)
January 18, 2007... In an ideal world, ASIC verification would combine the bug visibility of simulation with the speed of FPGA prototype-based techniques. Synplicity's Total Recall technology is an attempt to achieve just that. Total Recall technology allows...

Turn Stream processing into a raging river: the R580 graphics processing unit is now liberated for general stream-processing applications.(LeapFrog)
January 18, 2007... PCI Express' impact on high-performance systems has become rather interesting now that interface standards like AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) are essentially dead. These days, high-end graphics link to a host via an x16 PCI Express (PCIe)...

Reconnecting the connected home: it's going to take a combination of wireless and wired technologies for the networked home of tomorrow to deliver the seemingly endless amount of content craved by end users today.(EngineeringFeature)
January 18, 2007... When researchers at the U.S. Department of Defense commissioned the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) to share data among agencies 50 years ago, they never could have imagined the importance such a network...

The ultimate test drive: high-octane oscilloscopes; Before you park one of these beauties on your benchtop, take a look under the hood to see what's driving that performance--and improving its effectiveness.(TechnologyReport)
January 18, 2007... Most electronic engineers use an oscilloscope, so they know what they are, how they work, and how to apply them (Fig. 1). Right? Well, sort of. Most of today's scopes are digital storage (or sampling) oscilloscopes (DSOs), which tend to be...

Multicore my way: the trend today isn't just putting multiple cores on one chip, but also connecting multicore chips to build large systems.(multiple core processors)
January 18, 2007... Multicore designs are all the rage, and the reasons why are easy to understand. Faster clock rates are shooting power consumption and heat dissipation through the roof. Major architectural improvements have been implemented, and larger caches...

Gain abstraction and accuracy from RTL power estimation.(DesignView)
January 18, 2007... Excessive power consumption can destroy a design's commercial viability. Modern cell phones are permitted to consume no more than a few hundred milliwatts for voice communications. Yet in the past, designers were forced to estimate power...

Innovative designs from readers: Create a high input impedance, rail-to-rail measurement system.(IdeasForDesign)
January 18, 2007... Two very desirable features for a precision measurement system based on an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) are high input impedance and a wide input range, ideally including or extending slightly beyond the power-supply rails. The circuit...

One transistor gives clean HDTV and NTSC video sync separation.(high definiton television)(Column)
January 18, 2007... Typically, ac line sensors use comparators. But I had to design a power supply to be as low in cost as possible, be self-powered, use through-hole components, and take up as little space as possible on a small two-sided pc board. So I developed...

ISI Lead Free Interposers for DDR2 BGAs.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 18, 2007... ISI Lead Free Interposers allow OEMs to use standard eutectic (leaded) SMT assembly processes, even when BGAs are only available in lead-free packaging. DDR2 memory chips are one common application, although ISI supplies interposers for a...

Magnetics new Kool M[micro][R] segments.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 18, 2007... Extremely large ([greater than or equal to] 4.00 inches or 101.6 mm) shapes are possible with Magnetics Kool M[micro] Segments. Available as either a complete geometry (toroids or racetracks) or as individual interlocking segments* (arcs and I...

Pulizzi Engineering's IPV42 series.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 18, 2007... Pulizzi Engineering's IPV42 series is a vertical mount power distribution and remote management device. This 42 inch tall rack unit features eight individually controlled outlets. Power to those outlets can be turned on or off over a network...

FAST injection molded plastic prototypes.(PRODUCT ALERT)
January 18, 2007... Protomold can turn your 3D CAD model into real plastic parts in as few as three days. Injection molded in your choice of engineering-grade resins, these plastic parts are ideal for functional testing, bridge tooling, or even short-run...