Electronic Design articles from March 2004

Electronic Design archives from March 2004

Robots, start your engines!(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
March 1, 2004... Twenty-five robots will meet in Barstow, Calif., on March 13 to compete for a million bucks in the DARPA Grand Challenge, a 250-mile-or-so on- and off-road race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. There's only one catch, though. There will be no...

Videophone system enables ASL communication.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
March 1, 2004... The deaf and hard-of-hearing are no longer tied to just their teletypewriter (TTY) devices for telephone calls. The Sorenson VP-100 videophone now makes these calls as simple as turning on the TV. It also enables real-time communication that...

Software instantly activates PC entertainment.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
March 1, 2004... Why waste all that time booting up your PC to just watch a movie or look at some snap-shots? InterVideo's InstantON software eliminates the wait. Users can access consumer PC-entertainment applications after a mere 10-second boot-up in Linux....

PlanetEE.com.
March 1, 2004... THE GLOBAL RESOURCE FOR ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS Aimed at electronics engineers and engineering managers worldwide, PlanetEE serves as a gateway to the individual Web sites of the highly respected engineering publications and specifier's tools...

Protect American jobs by winning at global R&D; it was a reality check to hear recently from so many of you who are feeling down on engineering as a career. Many of you fear that too much engineering is moving offshore and that the future of your profession in the U.S. is bleak.(Editorial)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... The National Science Board shares your concerns, and it voices them in a recent report (www.nsb.gov/nsb/documents/2003/nsb0369/). The bottom line, says the NSB, is that the U.S. benefited from minimal competition in the global market for...

What's all this mnemonic stuff, anyhow?(Pease Porridge)
March 1, 2004... "On Old Olympus' Topmost Top, A Fat-Eared German Viewed A Hop." Isn't it amazing? I read that back in '56 in Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith. That is a little rhyme to help medical students remember all the nerves in the head. I never learned all...

PC-based instruments meet traditional instruments.(POV: point of view)
March 1, 2004... Lately, a lot of hype and publicity have been given to PC-based instruments, and in particular to PXI. Yet PC-based instruments account for less than 2% of the test and measurement market. Why? Faster processors? PC-based instruments use...

Products, optimism abound at Bus & Board Conference.(The industry: conference wrapup)
March 1, 2004... Long Beach, Calif., was home to a great Bus & Board Conference this year. The mood was upbeat and the booths were full of shipping products, compared to last year's plethora of prototypes. But the success stories were the big difference this...

Femtosecond amplified laser pumps out 4 W at 1048 nm.(For R&D)
March 1, 2004... Titanium-sapphire lasers can step aside. According to its manufacturer, SpectraPhysics, the ytterbium-tungstate (Yb:KGW) Eclipse high-power femtosecond amplified laser offers the simplest and most rugged architecture as well as the lowest cost...

Wireless systems design conference and expo heads south-to San Diego.(Conference Preview)
March 1, 2004... Wireless technology is worming its way into almost every sector of the electronics industry. With wireless popping up everywhere, a little wireless knowledge could go a long way in helping you with your career, and you may be wishing you knew...

High-efficiency Class D audio amp goes filter-free.(Tech view: analog & power)
March 1, 2004... The originator of the "best-in-class" Boomer audio technology, National Semiconductor Corp., has unveiled a filterless, high-efficiency Class D Boomer audio amplifier. It comes in a tiny micro nine-bump surface mount device (SMD) package that...

Data-converter trio zeroes in on high-level motor control.(Tech view: analog & power)
March 1, 2004... Two high-performance data-converter ICs, coupled with a monolithic resolver-to-digital converter (RDC), add advanced motor control to industrial and automotive applications. These Analog Devices chips include the AD7266 analog-to-digital...

Tiny package houses powerful 35-V, 3-A boast DC-DC converter.(Tech view: analog & power)
March 1, 2004... DON'T BE FOOLED by the small, 16-pin thin-shrink small-outline package (TSSOP) for the step-up LT3436 dc-dc converter. The device delivers a sizable punch--a 35-V output (within 2%) at 3 A. Its input voltage ranges from 3 to 25 V. Also, it can...

Monolithic CMOS power amplifier a first for GSM cell phones.(Tech view: communications)
March 1, 2004... Power amplifiers (PAs) for GSM cell phones tend to be separate chips made from expensive gallium-arsenide hetero-junction bipolar transistors or silicon-germanium bipolars. In fact, many cell-phone PAs are actually complete modules made up of...

Dual-channel chip brings HDTV, PVR to consumer electronics.(Tech view: communications)
March 1, 2004... Large-screen LCD and plasma televisions and the previously ignored high-definition (HD) TV sets are flying out of retailers' doors. DVD sales also are terrific, as are the personal video recorders (PVRs) that let users record their TV shows on...

Short-run serial interface may become standard.(Tech view: communications)
March 1, 2004... The new Mobile Pixel Link (MPL) physical-layer (PHY) chips from National Semiconductor are cheap and simple serial interfaces for transmitting data between chips and other subsystems in multimedia cell phones. These phones now use 8-and...

Probing, hosting add depth to logic-analyzer capabilities.(Tech view: components & test)
March 1, 2004... Three technological advances from Agilent Technologies bring logic analyzers to a new plateau of functionality: modular logic analyzers with hosted capabilities; connector-less probes that are claimed to be the industry's smallest; and an FPGA...

Carrier/noise generator sees 66% hike in reliability.(Tech view: components & test)
March 1, 2004... THE UFX-EBNO SERIES OF PRECISION CARRIER/NOISE (C/N) GENERATORS from Noise Com now features a swept-frequency software upgrade that boosts reliability by up to 66% when testing wireless local-area network (LAN), cable modem, satellite, and...

Space-saver 0402-size silicon RF capacitors kick up performance.(Hot Product)
March 1, 2004... The HPC0402A/B/C silicon-based surface-mount RF capacitors come in low-profile (0.40 mm, 0.18 mm, and 0.25 high for the A, B, and C versions, respectively) 0204-size packages measuring 1.02 by 0.51 mm, with values over 22 pF. Built on a...

Mini CPU ramps up throughput at low power.(Tech view: digital)
March 1, 2004... Taking aim at high-performance embedded applications, the ARC-700 CPU core from ARC International delivers the smallest chip area for a 400-MHz, 32-bit RISC processor. This configurable and extendible core can be tailored for speed, area, and...

Pentium 4 line expands to 2.8- to 3.4-GHZ editions.(Hot Product)
March 1, 2004... A HALF-DOZEN HIGH-SPEED PROCESSORS have been added to Intel's Pentium 4 family. They sport 800-MHz front-side buses, hyperthreading technology, and clock speeds of 2.8, 3.0, 3.2, and 3.4 GHz. Manufactured with the company's 130-nm process,...

Memory-interface cores push data at 1.6 Gbits/s.(Tech view: digital)
March 1, 2004... Reaching new memory-interface performance levels for graphics memories, the GDDR (graphics double-datarate) III memory controller can handle date rates of up to 1.6 Gbits/s per I/0 pin. Developed by TriCN, it employs the JEDEC standard...

Too tweaks algorithms for low-power operation.(Tech view: EDA)
March 1, 2004... It's no secret that the performance of digital systems relies heavily on the memory subsystem and the algorithms that control memory accesses. The catch is that these memory accesses consume a great deal of power. Two tools from startup...

The first IP library.(IP News Roundup)
March 1, 2004... THE FIRST IP LIBRARY to support the creation of power islands is Virtual Silicon's VIP PowerSaver. Targeted at TSMC's 130-nm process, this standard-cell library lets SoC designers use power islands to dynamically control voltage and frequency...

Through Alliances with major IP vendors.(IP News Roundup)
March 1, 2004... THROUGH ALLIANCES WITH MAJOR IP VENDORS, Magma Design Automation has lined up a slate of "Magma-ready" IP. Partners will provide synthesis and reference methodology support for soft-IP products and verification of industry-standard views for...

Mobile jukebox engine jazzes up digital audio, JPEGs: one chip encodes/decodes digital audio files as well as decodes JPEGs for a total entertainment solution.(Leapfrog: first look)
March 1, 2004... Handheld digital music jukeboxes storing thousands of songs have quickly created a burgeoning market segment. But simple audio capture and playback leaves little room for differentiation. Now, a second-generation solution from PortalPlayer adds...

I/O bus bridges the chasm between can and Ethernet: racing along at 48 Mbits/s, the Ultiwire I/0 bus uses a proprietary protocol that may become a standard.(Leapfrog: first look)
March 1, 2004... A large gap separates low-end networking solutions like CAN (controller-area network) or [I.sup.2]C and Ethernet. The Ultiwire I/O bus from Ultimodule Inc. looks to fill that void by using a novel single-wire protocol. Ultiwire is...

Controller ICs energize power supply design: new "do-it-yourself" controller and driver Ics give systems builders options to tackle the difficult task of providing power supplies for today's demanding equipment.(Cover feature: power management)
March 1, 2004... Build or buy? That question tops the list when systems designers decide how to supply dc power at the growing number of voltage and current levels present in virtually every type of electronic system. As supply voltage levels drop and currents...

Excuse me for interrupting.(Embedded in electronic design)
March 1, 2004... Hard real-time operating systems help designers meet hard goals. Keeping interrupt latency low is only one of the ways that hard RTOSs make a difference. Reservation-based RTOSs make it easier to guarantee that jobs get done on time and...

VME A/D board drives dual powerPC FPGAs.
March 1, 2004... Analog Devices' 210-MHz AD9430 feeds a pair of Xilinx Virtex II Pro FPGAs on Pentek's 6U 6821. Each FPGA incorporates a pair of PowerPC 405 cores. The FPGAs and quad processors can process the analog input and deliver it to front- or...

Pentium M drives processor blade pair.
March 1, 2004... Diversified Technology's cPB-4610 and cPB4616 contain a Pentium M with a 400-MHz front-side bus. They can handle the 1.1-to 1.7-GHz processor thanks to an 855PM chip set. The cPB4610 has two PMC sites, a serial port, a parallel port, an SCSI...

Race++ board packs pair of FPGAs and PowerPCs.
March 1, 2004... The PowerRace-3 provides direct Race++ links to two 533-MHz 440X PowerPC processors and two Xilinx Virtex Pro FPGAs. Each FPGA has a pair of 405 PowerPC cores for a total of six PowerPC processors on a single board. Each FPGA provides two...

Rugged pentium M found in SBS.(News)
March 1, 2004... SBS Technologies' CR9 incorporates a 1.6-GHz Pentium M in a rugged, CompactPCI 6U board. It features dual Gbit Ethernet PICMG 2.16-compatible links and two PMC slots. Storage includes up to 2 Gbytes of DDR SDRAM and a 2.5-in. hard-disk or...

PMC FPGA handles data acquisition.(News)
March 1, 2004... The PMC-FPDP from Thales Computers is a rugged, air-cooled PMC card with a front-panel VITA-17-compliant data port. A PLX PCI 9656 interface chip links the 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI bus to an Altera EP1S10 FPGA. Drivers for LynxOS are provided. It...

Enclosure manages AdvancedTCA.(News)
March 1, 2004... A five-slot AdvancedTCA system from Schroff provides a full mesh backplane with two hub slots. Its cooling support equals up to 200 W per slot. The Shelf Manager Mezzanine Module comes from Pigeon Point. Cost starts at under $500. ...

FPGA is the key to RACE++ I/O board.(News)
March 1, 2004... The PowerRace-3 delivers processing performance and FPGA customization in a 6U VME board. A dual RACE++ switch fabric ties a pair of 533-MHz 440GX PowerPC processors and a pair of Xilinx Virtex Pro VP30 FPGAs to the rest of the system. The...

PMC packs pair of PPC processors.(News)
March 1, 2004... The PmPPC2750 PMC developed by Artesyn Technologies holds two 800-MHz PPC750FX processors. Each has a 5/2-kbyte L2 cache. A Marvel Discovery GT-64260B bridge chip links the processors to a 133-MHz bus and up to 5/2 Mbytes of RAM, two Fast...

Build complex ASICs without ASIC design expertise, expensive tools: to read this article in its entirety, go to www.elecdesign.com.(Design view: EDA)
March 1, 2004... To implement custom digital logic for system-level prototyping and qualification, OEM system designers have switched from costlier FPGAs to ASICs. However, the only ASIC option was a cell-based version. Recently, though, structured ASICs...

Pulse-width modulator features versatile operating parameters.(Design briefs: innovative designs from readers)
March 1, 2004... Included among the many applications for pulse-width modulation (PWM) are voltage regulation, power-level control, and fan-speed control. A PWM circuit for such systems can be implemented with three op amps on a single quad-op-amp chip (Fig....

Temperature strip-chart recorder uses parallel port.(Design briefs: innovative designs from readers)
March 1, 2004... A simple, inexpensive method for building a temperature strip-chart recorder involves a parallel port that communicates with four TMP121 IC temperature sensors (Fig. 1). The sensors communicate via the parallel port using a basic serial...

Component specifier.(New Products)(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... Component Specifier TYPE/Model Features DISPLAYS MULTIMEDIA LCDs Multifunction unit acts as computer, TV, VCR, DVD, Tek Panel 370 and CD in 5-in. profile; 37-in. diagonal wide-screen...

High-voltage test fixture goes where the DUTs are.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * Coupled with a conventional oscilloscope or meter, the TF series test fixture makes accurate inline measurements of high-voltage power supplies and systems up to 40 kV dc. It offers the capacity of much larger units in just [16.24 in..sup.3],...

Resolvers measure speed, position in demanding environments.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * The Harowe line of resolvers suits motor speed and position measurement where inherent durability is required. Frameless units range from size 10 to size 55, while housed resolvers range from standard-grade size 11 to heavy-duty,...

Linear voltage regulators deliver dropout voltages from 0.4 to 0.66 V.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * Featuring dropout voltages from 0.4 V to 0.66 V, a line of linear voltage regulators comes in high-density hermetic packages for military and aerospace applications. The ultra-low-dropout dc-dc post-regulator devices possess low ripple and...

Current-feedback amplifier provides high bandwidth.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * With high bandwidth at both low and high gains, the OPA695 low-power, current-feedback amplifier will find homes in video signal processing, cable modems, and test instrumentation. At higher gains (G = +8), the device offers a 4300-V/[micro]s...

Modular converters offer dual inputs, redundant outputs.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * With dual inputs and redundant outputs, the DRC150 modular dc-dc conversion system suits mission-critical railway, marine, public utility, telecom, and industrial applications. Units deliver 150 W from a 125-V dc input. The primary output...

Point-of-load converters mesh with standard format.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * Fully compatible with the Point-Of-Load Alliance's recently announced form, fit, and function standards, the ATH series of dc-dc converters includes units that supply from 6 A to 30 A of output. The converters feature the company's AutoTrack...

Synchronous step-up converter offers true output disconnect.(Analog & Power)
March 1, 2004... * The LTC3421 is a 3-MHz, current-mode, synchronous boost dc-dc converter with true output disconnect and inrush current limiting. The device's internal switches provide a 3-A minimum current limit and deliver output voltages of up to 5.25 V...

White LED light guides for 3G cell phones up backlighting efficiency.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * The MicroLens family of molded white LED light guides provides bright, efficient, and cost-effective backlighting for 3G cell phones. These guides feature enhanced brightness (up to 10,000 nits), crisper colors, extreme thinness (0.65 mm),...

Central-office shelf expands Advanced TCA functionality.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * The CO-Star 19-in. shelf with 14 slots (in dual, dual-dual star, and full-mesh versions) enhances the functionality of the PICMG 3.0 AdvancedTCA standard. It meets GR-63, GR-1089, UL/EN, 60950, and EN55024 for NEBS Level III specifications....

Board-stacking interconnect system transmits data over 6.25 Gbits/s.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * Thanks to controlled-impedance pc boards with embedded ground planes, the HSC8 series of RISE-UP interconnects enables data transmission in excess of 6.25 Gbits/s and up to 3.5 GHz/differential pair in board-stacking applications. Connector...

Cable assembly for ZD connectors fields bandwidths of 5 Gbits/s.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * The Eye-Opener cable assembly for ZD backplane interconnects can operate at up to 5 Gbits/s. An expanded helically wrapped polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) dielectric core for the digital interconnect cable ensures controlled electrical...

Spring-loaded contacts come in low profiles, double rows.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * Ultra-low-profile spring-loaded contacts as well as double-row contacts on carrier tape have been added to the 811 series of contacts. The 811 series features contacts on 0.100-in. grids in eight heights from 0.137 to 0.295 in. supplied in...

19-in. cabinet enclosures provide aesthetic styling.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * Cost-effective 19-in. cabinets now come with aesthetic styling in addition to high durability and versatility. The full-size Eurorack and mid-size Minirack series cabinets are well suited for packaging electronics in a variety of...

Soft-touch collet knobs have an eye-catching appeal.(Interconnections & Packaging)
March 1, 2004... * A firm rubberized material highlights a new line of "soft touch" collet knobs that features an eye-catching design. The knobs work with most round shaft switches and potentiometers and come in 15-mm and 21-mm diameters that accept shaft...

PC/104 module line delivers easy I/O expansion.(Embedded)
March 1, 2004... * A new line of expansion boards is designed to work with PC/104 and the company's EBX single-board computers. These modules support USB2, IEEE 1394, serial ports, and Ethernet. Interface modules include 12-bit analog-to-digital converters and...

High-performance graphics card plugs into PMC slot.(Embedded)
March 1, 2004... * Need the power of ATI's Mobility Radeon 9000? Plug in the PMC-704 for high-performance 3D graphics support with a 64 Mbyte, 128-bit wide double-data-rate SDRAM frame buffer. The PMC-704 features two independent analog video input channels and...

Going up? First to commercial space travel nets $10 million.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
March 15, 2004... Space tourism may be closer to reality than you think. A private foundation has put together a $10 million prize with the goal of inspiring commercial space travel. The first team to privately finance, build, and launch a spaceship that can...

Back up your PC games.(TechScope: electronic technology at work and at play)
March 15, 2004... Parents of garners--and grown-up gamers, too--needn't worry anymore about losing or damaging their favorite PC games. With the Games X Copy software from 321 Studios, they can copy games to their hard drive or onto blank CDs and DVDs. Games X...

PlanetEE.com.(TechScope: electronics technology at work and at play)
March 15, 2004... THE GLOBAL RESOURCE FOR ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS Aimed at electronics engineers and engineering managers worldwide, PlanetEE serves as a gateway to the individual Web sites of the highly respected engineering publications and specifier's tools...

Get back to basics!(Basics of Design)
March 15, 2004... Previously published tutorials on key technology areas are yours FREE for the downloading. The full catalog of Basics of Design is posted in PDF format on elecdesign.com. Publication Date Topic Sponsor September...

New crimes for new times: blazing a trail to jail.(Editorial)(Editorial)
March 15, 2004... As a designer of electronic products, do you ever see yourself as a criminal accomplice? While electronics permeate every moment of our lives, they're also becoming the accessories for a panoply of crimes, from the humorous to the heinous. ...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease Porridge)(Letter to the Editor)
March 15, 2004... Dear Bob: As I'm sure you know, field service work often requires extreme engineering. But sometimes, the quick fix doesn't do the trick. Some years ago, we were in a situation where we needed about 18 V ac from a 220-V source. A junior...

Addictions cause problems in the board business.(POV: point of view)
March 15, 2004... The board business is changing dramatically, not just technologically, but fundamentally. By "board business," I mean off-the-shelf circuit boards meeting PCI, CompactPCI, and VME specifications and standards. In the 1990s, the primary...

New initiative expands fuel-cell commercialization.(Power)
March 15, 2004... The fuel cells are ready. Do you have the application? Then Hydrogenics Corp. is looking for you. Specifically, the company wants to enlist compatible mobility OEMs and component providers in hydrogen storage, electrical storage devices, power...

Nano research receives mega funding.(Research And Development)
March 15, 2004... NANOTECH RESEARCH IS EXPLODING as universities scramble to uncover the mysteries of tiny technologies. These institutions don't have to work alone and depend solely on their departmental budgets, though. The National Science Foundation (NSF)...

Two-phase dc-dc power blocks deliver dual outputs in BGAs.(TechView: analog & power)
March 15, 2004... Synchronous buck applications can take advantage of a pair of two-phase dc-dc power blocks provide a choice of single or dual outputs. International Rectifier's iPowir iP2101 and iP2102 blocks come in a single BGA package that measures just...

Enhanced power-management IC scrimps on board space, cost.(TechView: analog & power)
March 15, 2004... THE AS3603 TAKES UP 60% LESS PC-BOARD SPACE at half the cost of its predecessor, the AS3601 programmable power-management IC. Aimed at mobile devices like cell phones, PDAs, and digital cameras, this Austriamicrosystems device features a highly...

Power-supply sequencer ICs expand functional range.(TechView: analog & power)
March 15, 2004... TWO SUPERVISOR/SEQUENCING ICs bring fault protection and sequencing logic to multi-power-supply systems. Analog Devices' ADM106x Super Sequencer and ADM 108x Simple Sequencer families expand the company's portfolio of supervisor/sequencing ICs...

Short-range WirelessUSB could give ZigBee fits.(TechView: communications)
March 15, 2004... How many short-range wireless solutions are there? There's 802.11, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Utlra Wideband (UWB), and a hodgepodge of other products using the 27-, 433-, 868-, 915-, and 2400-MHz unlicensed bands. Now, there's WirelessUSB from Cypress...

UWB continues to linger on the horizon.(TechView: communications)
March 15, 2004... ULTRA WIDEBAND (UWB), the short-range wireless technology that offers the highest potential data rate of any other wireless technology (>110 Mbits/s with a 10-meter range), continues to gestate as various companies squabble and jockey for...

SERDES chip upgrades backplanes to 6 Gbits/s.(TechView: communications)
March 15, 2004... Networking equipment manufacturers who want to enhance their current backplanes to support higher data rates--yet still remain backward-compatible with installed line cards--can look to the PM8359 Quad PHY 6G. Developed by PMC-Sierra, it...

DPOs employ intuitive learning to raise productivity bar.(TechView: components & test)
March 15, 2004... Sporting an intuitive menu that accelerates the operator's learning curve, Tektronix's midrange TDS5000B series digital phosphor oscilloscopes (DPOs) are easy to use. Customization through MyScope and right-click menus simplify design...

Interactive software streamlines analysis and report generation.(TechView: components & test)
March 15, 2004... THE DIADEM 9.0 INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE from National Instruments does more than manage, inspect, analyze, and report test data. It provides a uniform environment that transforms test data into the information needed to drive engineering decisions...

Design platform eases configurable computing system creation.(TechView: digital)
March 15, 2004... Designers who use the QuickSilver Technologies adaptive computing platform can now take advantage of a complete development environment. The development tools let designers define a custom silicon solution based on the company's adaptive...

[I.sup.2]C bus buffers meet CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA challenges.(TechView: digital)
March 15, 2004... WITH THE PCA951x FAMILY of Philips Semiconductors hot-swappable [I.sup.2]C bus buffers, designers can implement larger [I.sup.2]C systems to handle the maintenance and control functions required in CompactPCI (PICMG2.9) and AdvancedTCA...

Image sensors capture VGA and larger images with higher sensitivity.(TechView: digital)
March 15, 2004... Targeting highly integrated CMOS camera solutions, Micron Technology's single-chip 1/4-in. CMOS image sensor combines the imaging array and key functions for a camera system that typically required a separate ASIC or multiple dedicated chips to...

ARM, Synopsys partner for SystemVerilog verification.(TechView: EDA)
March 15, 2004... A reference methodology to define a coverage-driven verification architecture using SystemVerilog is in the works from ARM and Synopsys. The companies will publish the methodology in the coauthored SystemVerilog Verification Methodology Manual...

Altera updates its design tools for Stratix II FPGAs.(TechView: EDA)
March 15, 2004... TO ACCOMPANY THE RELEASE of its Stratix II FPGA family, Altera has updated its Quartus II design software with version 4.0 to handle the new devices' advanced architecture and expanded gate capacities. The Stratix II FPGAs sport an...

TSMC'S libraries.(EDA Roundup)
March 15, 2004... TSMC'S LIBRARIES will now be distributed through Synopsys' DesignWare IP library. Over 25,000 DesignWare users gain desktop access at no added cost to standard-ceil and I/O libraries created by TSMC and optimized for its 0.15- and 0.13-[micro]m...

An automated path.(EDA Roundup)
March 15, 2004... AN AUTOMATED PATH from algorithmic specification to DSP implementation is the goal of Catalytic's business plan. The startup plans to formally Introduce products later this year that will provide fast, efficient Implementation of DSP...

PCI Express links InfiniBand.(Embedded)
March 15, 2004... Combine two serial bus architectures into a host bridge chip and you get Mellanox's third-generation InfiniHost III EX. This dual-port, 10-Gbit/s InfiniBand host controller links the host processor to an 83 PCI Express interface. It also...

A change in the Wind (River).(Embedded Software)
March 15, 2004... THE BASTION OF PROPRIETARY PLATFORMS, Wind River, is changing the form and function of its entire product line. Wind River's Enterprise Licensing Model (ELM) has a traditional royalty as well as a pure per-seat development subscription model,...

ARM9 MCU hits secure highs and lows.(Embedded Hardware)
March 15, 2004... A pair of ARM9-based Microcontrollers complete with security expand Cirrus Logic's ARM-based processor line. Both the entry-level EP9301 and the high-end EP9315 employ Cirrus Logic's MaverickKey security technology and secure boot ROM. The...