Electronic Design articles from May 2006

Electronic Design archives from May 2006

Virtual RF design and testing: software and virtual instrumentation meet the design and testing challenge of growing wireless adoption.(basics of Design)
May 11, 2006... Wireless ubiquity--even if we aren't quite there yet, we soon will be. The number of wireless technologies developed and implemented over the past decade is astonishing. Cell phones definitely top the list of key applications, but there are so...

Elliptical curve cryptography targets tiny 8-bit nodes.(Embedded IN ELECTRONIC DESIGN)
May 11, 2006... Certicom Security for Sensor Networks looks to handle security for not dozens but hundreds to thousands of nodes in a distributed wireless network. The key (pun intended) is Elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) that requires significantly fewer...

Feature Pack enhances embedded operating system.(Embedded IN ELECTRONIC DESIGN)
May 11, 2006... The Windows CE 5.0 Network Media Device Feature Pack may be a mouthful, but it's going to make Windows CE easier to swallow. Microsoft is working to add functionality to its popular Windows CE platform by using the Feature Pack approach, so...

Keeping connected sometimes means turning off mobile media.(Editorial)(Editorial)
May 11, 2006... Connected everywhere--that seems to be the goal in this wireless age. Consumers activate close to a billion new cell phones each year. And now, these phones offer data, music, video, and games as well as communications. In this issue's...

What's all this license plate stuff, anyhow?(Pease PORRIDGE)(puzzle)(Editorial)
May 11, 2006... Let's call this the License Plate Game, because that's the easiest place to get three nearly random letters. You start with three given letters, and you have to make them into a word. And you start with eight points. If you add one (or...

Don't sacrifice performance for low sleep-mode power.(to increase battery life)(Column)
May 11, 2006... The accuracy and performance of battery-powered systems need not be sacrificed to achieve long battery life. Designers can use techniques that provide both high performance and low sleep-mode power consumption. Applications such as keyless...

Students' tracking system keeps tabs on emergency personnel.(Tech VIEW)(University of Florida College of Engineering's Integrated Product & Process Design Program)
May 11, 2006... As soldiers, firefighters, and other first responders face the challenges of the 21st century, many of them rely on 20th century technology. They carry walkie talkies into danger while their support teams have no idea where they are. Thanks to...

Power-meter ICs reflect different nations' needs on a common platform.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)(Cirrus Logic CS5464)
May 11, 2006... Designers who target the global market must account for the differences in submarkets and accommodate them within the confines of their basic designs. Two variations on an electrical power-meter IC from Cirrus Logic vividly demonstrate this...

Rugged lead-acid charger packs a 500-W wallop.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
May 11, 2006... This is no tiny smart-charger IC for lithium-ions. Instead, Absopulse Electronics' BCH501-BTC is a constant-voltage charger with high power density for big lead-acids. Only 6 by 2.63 by 13.82 in. and 5.7 lb, it nonetheless cranks out 500 W. ...

When analog/mixed-signal circuits feel the heat, tool diagnoses it.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
May 11, 2006... Analog/mixed-signal IC designers are feeling the heat these days, and it's not just from their ever-shrinking design cycles. It's from their designs themselves. Now more than ever, from the start to the finish of the design flow, designers need...

By building On-Chip Variation (OCV).(EDA Roundup)
May 11, 2006... BY BUILDING ON-CHIP VARIATION (OCV) analysis into its TimeCraft static-timing analysis tool, Incentia has given TimeCraft users a means of improving the accuracy and efficiency of static timing analysis. The tool's OCV engine enables users to...

Arithmatica and sequence design.(EDA Roundup)(introduced CellMath 3.0)(electronic design automation)(Brief article)
May 11, 2006... ARITHMATICA AND SEQUENCE DESIGN have joined forces on low-power SoC design. Version 3.0 of Arithmatica's CellMath data-path tools incorporates power-knowledgeable synthesis and an extended Verilog interface that can specify robust datapath...

FPGA design suite builds in timing analysis with native support for SDC format.(Tech VIEW: EDA)
May 11, 2006... With FPGAs pushing aside ASICs in many complex designs, the limits of traditional FPGA timing-analysis tools are being stressed to the breaking point. So if you want to use today's high-end FPGAs in place of ASICs, you'll need to use ASIC-like...

Chips and NICs set the stage for 10GE networks.(Tech VIEW: COMMUNICATIONS)(NetXen NX2031 and NX2035)(network interface chips)(Editorial)
May 11, 2006... Ten Gigabit Ethernet (10GE) has been around for a few years. But it hasn't enjoyed widespread deployment, mainly because of its high cost. With optical interfaces coming down in price and a 10GE copper solution forthcoming, though, 10GE is...

Next-generation Ethernet PHY chip breaks power and performance barriers.(Tech VIEW: COMMUNICATIONS)(NX2031 from NetXen Inc.)(physical-layer)
May 11, 2006... We often take Ethernet physical-layer (PHY) chips for granted. But with 1-Gbit Ethernet (1GE) moving into the PC mainstream, it's time to give them another look. As a member of the SimpliPHY line of next-generation Ethernet chips, Vitesse...

Convert C code to FPGA hardware with a click of the mouse.(Tech VIEW: DIGITAL)(Nios II C-to-Hardware Acceleration Compiler from Altera )
May 11, 2006... The Nios II C-to-Hardware Acceleration (C2H) Compiler from Altera greatly simplifies the job of accelerating functions in a C program using hardware (see the figure). It also simplifies the chore of linking the instruction stream with the new...

Low-cost DSPs do multichannel audio.(Tech VIEW: DIGITAL)
May 11, 2006... The Texas Instruments DA707 and DA705, which build on the C6000 DSP architecture, are pin-compatible with the DA708. Both chips have 192 kbytes of SRAM and 768 kbytes for ROM. They also have 32 kbytes of instruction cache. Each chip has two...

Flash memory speaks double SPI.(Tech VIEW: DIGITAL)
May 11, 2006... Winbond's 25X SpiFlash family delivers nonvolatile memory in capacities up to 64 Mbits. Its maximum transfer rate is 75 MHz, and its dual data pins provide an effective rate of 150 MHz. This throughput is in the range of parallel flash. Such an...

Multifunction data-acquisition system takes advantage of USB 2.0.(Tech VIEW: TEST & MEASUREMENT)(National Instruments CompactDAQ)(Editorial)(Brief article)
May 11, 2006... USB refers to Universal Serial Bus, of course. But it could just as easily stand for Ubiquitous Serial Bus. It has become that popular. Manufacturers of all kinds of T&M equipment--standalone or computer-based--have taken advantage of it. The...

Serial RapidIO analyzer probe supports Agilent logic analyzers.(Tech VIEW: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
May 11, 2006... Designers looking for reliability, high bandwidth, low latency, and faster bus speeds for their computer and peripheral projects often turn to Serial RapidIO (SRIO) technology. To help these designers perform protocol analysis on their designs,...

Low-G sensors mold a new MEMS market: configurable in any combination up to three axes, these accelerometers and E-field sensors target consumer, automotive, industrial, and medical uses.(PUTTING NEW TECHNOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE)(Freescale Semiconductor MMA6270Q, MMA6280Q and MMA7261Q)(microelectromechanical systems)
May 11, 2006... Three new highly sensitive low-g acceleration sensors, along with an electric-field (E-field) sensor, will look to deepen the market penetration of microelectromechanical-system (MEMS) devices. The sensors, developed by Freescale Semiconductor,...

The cell phone now that's entertainment: with music, games, and now video populating today's cell phones, who has time to talk?(ENGINEERING FEATURE: NEXT-GENERATION CELL PHONES)(Cover story)
May 11, 2006... There was a time when children could convince their parents they needed a cell phone because wherever they were, they would always be just a phone call away. It's hard for a teenager to use that excuse now. Today's cell phones are as much...

Rear-projection HDTV microdisplays fire back: improved LCD, LCoS, and DLP light-engine technologies bring low-cost, home-theater rear-projection TVs with diagonal sizes upward of 50 in. to the market.(TECHNOLOGY REPORT: MICRODISPLAYS)(high definition)
May 11, 2006... Not long ago, consumer electronics giants were clamoring to get out of the microdisplay market. Sub-par technology, combined with high manufacturing costs and a stiff price tag, all contributed to the demise of the microdisplay. No longer...

Building a box fast.(Embedded: IN ELECTRONIC DESIGN)(Cirrus Logic EDB9315A, Freescale MPC8349)(Editorial)
May 11, 2006... So you want to turn a network-based micro into a product, and your boss wants it done yesterday? No problem. Chip vendors like Freescale and Cirrus Logic are going to make your job much easier. Their solutions are platforms that build on...

X86 system-on-module cuts time-to-market.(EMBEDDED NEWS)(Logic Product Development and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)(Brief article)
May 11, 2006... Logic Products and AMD have teamed up to deliver AMD's Geode in an ETX (4.5- by 3.7-in.) module. The module has a 500-MHz Geode LX 800 processor that uses 0.9 W. It can handle up to a 1-Gbyte small-outline dual-inline memory module package. The...

160-MHz flash MCU runs single-cycle flash and can handle up to a pair of motors.(EMBEDDED NEWS)
May 11, 2006... Renesas' SH7211F 32-bit superscaler microcontroller cranks out 320 MIPS. Located on the SH-2A CPU core, it comes with 512 kbytes of flash memory and 32 kbytes of RAM. An external bus controller can handle a range of interfaces, including flash,...

768-way SMP drives Java VM network attached processing.(Embedded: IN ELECTRONIC DESIGN)(Azul Systems)(Virtual machines)
May 11, 2006... Virtual machines (VMs) move into the massively parallel processing realm with Azul's Network Attached Processing (NAP) appliances. The latest crop is based on Azul's new chip, with 48 64-bit processing cores that can be combined into a 768-way...

8-bit module custom carrier board takes less than a week.(Embedded: IN ELECTRONIC DESIGN)
May 11, 2006... The RabbitFlex is a custom carrier board for Rabbit Semiconductor's line of Rabbit 4000-based plug-in modules. The big difference is that it lets designers configure the carrier board over the Internet with delivery within five business days....

900-MHz ZigBee kit available.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 11, 2006... ZMD AG's support for the 40-kbit/s, 900-MHz ZigBee is easier to try out with ZMD's ZMD44102SKB starter kit bundle priced at $399. The 900-MHz implementation offers superior range (over 250 m at 0 dBm) performance. A low-cost, two-node version...

Tiny RTOS targets tiny 32-bit MCUs.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 11, 2006... The CMX RTX real-time operating system (RTOS) now supports a range of 32-bit processors, such as Freescale's Coldfire and ARM microcontrollers. CMX's other products like CMX-Micronet TCP/IP stack and Swell Software's C/PEG graphics environment...

First freescale dual-core simulation.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 11, 2006... Virtutech Simics now supports Freescale's MPC8641D dual-core embedded processor, which contains a pair of PowerPC cores. It lets developers start work without the need for hardware. Also, it runs unchanged production binaries with advanced...

Yes, you can do digital audio with real-time Java: one proposal for a resource-constrained and safety-critical Java definition maintains the language's portability, maintainability, and scalability benefits.(Design SOLUTION SOFTWARE)(Real-Time Specification for Java)
May 11, 2006... Java has become the preferred programming language in the traditional information-technology domain. That's because it offers improved developer productivity, greater software reuse, lower software-maintenance costs, more flexible and general...

Handy expert tip simplifies resistor segments on ICs.(Design BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)
May 11, 2006... For analog IC design engineers, using matched components in circuits is one of the keys to creating highly accurate circuits. I have worked on many types of power-management chips, and a small, yet very important, part of them would be the...

R-C twin-tee circuit reduces power-supply hum.(Design BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)(Column)
May 11, 2006... The R-C twin-tee passive circuit supplies band-reject (notch) filtering to portable applications. It has a circuit Q (loaded) of 0.25. Satisfactory rejection can be achieved when the bridge is balanced (close tolerances of adjustable...

1.5-bit stages in pipeline ADCs: high-speed pipelined ADCs can take advantage of basic 1.5-bit stages to enhance performance and suppress cost.(IFD: POWERFUL IDEAS FOR DESIGN)(analog-to-digital converters)
May 11, 2006... Use of pipeline analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) continues to expand, both as standalone parts and as embedded functional blocks in system-on-a-chip (SoC) ICs. They boast acceptable resolution at high-speed operation and can be integrated...

DBMS speeds embedded transactions.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The royalty-based Encirq Framework V2.2 is a small-footprint (starting at 24 kbytes) database management system (DBMS) designed for embedded applicatioons. The Encirq PL programming language, an enhanced SQL language, compiles directly to C...

Fast-booting PC/104 plus SBC.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The SBC1491ET x86 PC/104 single-board computer offers a 133-MHz STPC Atlas processor, 64 Mbytes of RAM, and a 576-Mbyte flash memory disk that boots DOS in under 5 seconds. The board also has two serial ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports,...

Tiny SBC targets industrial Apps.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The Nano I/O Server packs a 1.8-MHz Pentium M and a plethora of peripherals into a 120- by 125-mm package, including PC/104-Plus expansion and peripheral connectors. This single-board computer (SBC) has right-angle-mounted connectors for VGA,...

8-bit MCU does DSP duty.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The 8051-based, 40-MIPS, single-cycle VRS51L2xxx family incorporates digital signal processing (DSP) extensions, including multiplication and addition calculator (MAC) support and a 32-bit barrel shifter. It saves board space with an on-chip...

SBC integrates data-acquisition peripherals.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The Poseidon single-board computer (SBC) sports up to a 2-GHz VIA Eden ULV or 1-GHz VIA C7 processor with up to 512 Mbytes of 533-MHz DDR2 (double-data-rate) RAM. It includes the latest interfaces, such as four USB 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and...

Stacked PC/104-Plus SBC sports 1.6-GHz Pentium M processor.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The Cheetah single-board computer (SBC) uses a two-board stack to house its 1.6-GHz Pentium M processor with a 400-MHz processor-side bus and 855 GME chip set, which handles up to 1-Gbyte double-data-rate SDRAM. It can plug into the top of a...

Hard real-time Hypervisor blends RTOS and OS.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The RT-Hypervisor targets the latest Intel CPUs with VT-x virtualization support. RT-Hypervisor can meld a real-time operating system (RTOS) and a high-level operating system such as Windows XP or Linux, providing each with a protected...

Print circuits on almost any substrate with standard Gerber Files.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The DMP-2800 materials deposition system is easier to use now that it can handle standard Gerber layout files with the Gerber File Import (GFI) software. The new support also handles bitmap files. With the GFI, the DMP-2800 printer can handle...

15k RPM hard drive hits 300 Gbytes.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The 3.5-in. Cheetah 15K.5 is a high-performance (15k RPM), high-reliability drive designed for server applications. It's 20% faster than standard 10k RPM drives. The drive is available in a choice of 3-Gbit/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS),...

32-bit MCU has 20-channel ADC.(... EMBEDDED)
May 11, 2006... * The MB91470 is ideal for applications that require high-performance analog monitoring. This 80-MHz MCU is based on the company's FR60 32-bit RISC microcontroller core with 32-bit multiplication and addition calculator (MAC) support that has a...

Free bud industries enclosure catalog.(PRODUCT ALERT)
May 11, 2006... A complete line of enclosures, cabinets, chassis, and racks are described in Bud's new Short Form Catalog. Whether it's plastic or metal, standard or custom, Bud quality means that it's always on time, always on spec, and always built to last....

ISI Lead Free Interposers for DDR2 BGAs.(PRODUCT ALERT)
May 11, 2006... 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...

Slash part count by 75 percent, reduce MOSFET temperature by 10 degrees with IR's SmartRectifier' IC.(PRODUCT ALERT)
May 11, 2006... The International Rectifier IR1167 SmartRectifier[TM] IC for AC-DC power converters increases system efficiency by 1 percent, reduces MOSFET temperature by 10 degrees, and slashes synchronous rectification part count by 75 percent. The IR1167...

Ready-to-go wireless!(PRODUCT ALERT)
May 11, 2006... A compact network processor module, WiPort[TM] enables you to build wireless networking into virtually any electronic device with serial or Ethernet capability. With WiPort your products can be wirelessly accessed and controlled over a network...

Hot Hands for some cool rock: motion sensing meets Audio engineering.(Hot Hand controller from Source Audio)(Editorial)
May 25, 2006... As an electric guitarist and rock aficionado, I was excited to see the recent announcement of a new company developing motion-controlled guitar effects--Source Audio, with its debut product, the Hot Hand controller. Hot Hand embeds an...

Bob's mailbox.(Pease: PORRIDGE)(Letter to the editor)
May 25, 2006... Dear Bob: Just read your recent "Mailbox" column (ELECTRONIC DESIGN, March 16, p. 20). You commented on a reader (Mike Smolin) who stated that his tire dealer put nitrogen in his tires. There are good reasons for this. The main advantage is...

E-mail is broke! Authentication can fix it.(POV: POINT OF VIEW)(Column)
May 25, 2006... Despite 1 billion people using e-mail every day and 80% of office workers valuing e-mail above the telephone, no other electronic medium suffers so greatly from abuse. Some 80 billion of the 100 billion e-mails sent each day are spam, ranging...

The transparent IC--now you see it, now you don't!(Tech VIEW)(John Wager of Oregon State University )
May 25, 2006... John Wager, a professor of electrical engineering at Oregon State University, has to squint hard when he looks at his research team's latest invention, a transparent integrated circuit. "You can put it in a window and not even know it's there,"...

Blue-laser DVD sales will soar--if standards fight is resolved.(Tech VIEW)
May 25, 2006... More than 10 years after the invention of their key enabling technology, blue lasers finally are starting to appear in PCs this year, bringing high-density DVD recording to computers for the first time. However, continuing standards battles...

Controller anticipates PoE plus.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)(PowerDsine PD83000)(Power over Ethernet Plus)(Brief article)
May 25, 2006... Power over Ethernet Plus (PoEP) is still a work in progress. At its March meeting, the IEEE 802.3at PoEP Task Force was still considering test methods simply for evaluating the current-carrying capacity of bundled data wires, and most...

Low-[V.sub.TH] depletion-mode MOSFETs enable zero-power monitoring and supply switching.(Tech VIEW: ANALOG & POWER)
May 25, 2006... Consider the newest precharged floating-gate MOSFETs from Advanced Linear Devices as very fast alternatives for normally closed relays that consume virtually zero power, and you won't go far wrong. (Typical turn-on and turn-off delay is 10 ns.)...

Quad-core DSP targets multimedia and wireless infrastructure.(Tech VIEW: DIGITAL)(Freescale Semiconductor MSC8144)
May 25, 2006... Multimedia and wireless infrastructure platforms require massive amounts of compute power--just like the kind that the MSC8144 from Freescale Semiconductor can deliver. This silicon-on-insulator (SOI) chip uses 90-nm technology. On-chip...

IP helps characterize intra-die process variability.(Tech VIEW: EDA)(StratoPro from Stratosphere Solutions)(electronic design automation)(Editorial)
May 25, 2006... DFM techniques can go only so far in ironing out intra-die process variability. That's because DFM techniques to date haven't fully addressed parametric yield issues. Stratosphere Solutions, a Sunnyvale-based startup, thinks it has an answer to...

Small RTOSs tackle 32-bit microcontrollers.(Tech VIEW: EMBEDDED)(real-time operating-system)(Embedded Systems Conference)
May 25, 2006... Vendors of 32-bit microcontrollers were out in force at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose in April. So were real-time operating-system (RTOS) vendors eyeing this lucrative platform. Linux and many other operating systems simply don't...

Java gets smaller and smarter.(Tech VIEW: EMBEDDED)(Applications Programming Interface from Sun Microsystems Inc.)(Brief article)
May 25, 2006... Sun Microsystems showed off its new Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) and an early access release of Java Real-Time System version 2.0 at San Jose's Embedded Systems Conference last month. The reduced-footprint Java SE platform now...

Quadrature modulator advances basestation performance.(Tech VIEW: WIRELESS)(Analog Devices F-MOD modulators)(Editorial)
May 25, 2006... Perhaps the most critical circuit in a broadband wireless system today is the modulator that translates the I and Q baseband signals into RF and upconverts them to the final operating frequency. Such circuits must have extremely low...

USB branches out: SMSC's controller lets hosts share USB devices, while Newnham Research's controller links displays via USB.(PUTTING NEW TECHNOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE)(Standard Microsystems USB2524)(universal serial bus)
May 25, 2006... USB has long played the role of a single-host, peripheral link for mice, keyboards, and flash drive dongles. With the arrival of two new chips, however, USB will be turned on its proverbial head. Standard Microsystems' (SMSC) USB2524 lets...

Virtually real: hardware acceleration and parallel processing yield realistic gaming.(ENGINEERING FEATURE: GAMING)(computer entertainment systems)
May 25, 2006... You're on the five-yard line, and you've got your sights set on a rookie wide receiver who's wide open. The rain is coming down hard, but it's always raining in East Rutherford. As you raise your arm to throw, you see Paul Grasmanis in the...

SystemVerilog gains a foothold in verification: intended as a unified language supporting both design and verification, SystemVerilog has, at least initially, taken off as a verification vehicle.(TECHNOLOGY REPORT: SYSTEMVERILOG)
May 25, 2006... In its plain-vanilla form, the Verilog hardware description language is purely a designer's language that contains all of the constructs one would need to assemble an IC netlist for synthesis to gate level. But for today's extremely complex IC...

Consider fast Ethernet for your industrial applications.(Design VIEW: NETWORKING)
May 25, 2006... With the increasing desire and necessity to deploy the Internet everywhere, the need for Industrial Ethernet is on the rise. RS-232 and RS-485 data transmission no longer satisfy industrial customers. Rather, these customers demand the benefits...

Addressing variable latency.(HIGHLIGHTS)(ethernet installation )(Brief article)
May 25, 2006... To reduce latency jitter in the network, the Ethernet Powerlink Group (EPL) recommends using 100BaseTX/FX Ethernet Repeater Hubs. Real-time performance isn't possible using switches that employ a Store and Forward architecture, which depends on...

Get powerless indication of video signals for less than $1.(Design BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)
May 25, 2006... Lots of modern monitors feature an indication of incoming video signals, even if the monitors are switched off. In most cases, an LED provides this indication by fading (slowly increasing and decreasing) its light intensity. This type of...

Battery backup uses delay to avoid glitches.(Design BRIEFS: INNOVATIVE DESIGNS FROM READERS)(diode-or circuit)(Brief article)
May 25, 2006... The simplest link from a main supply and backup battery to a load is the diode-OR connection. But a diode-OR doesn't work when the backup battery's voltage exceeds the main supply voltage. The circuit in Figure 1 handles that condition. Its...

Multibyte arithmetic in an 8-bit world:.(quick Facts: An 8-bit MCU can tackle DSP chores with the proper hardware)(microcontrollers, digital signal processors)(Editorial)
May 25, 2006... Why an 8-bit microcontroller needs more than 8-bit arithmetic A wide range of control applications uses data with more than 8 bits of precision. Most 8-bit microcontrollers can handle limited, multibyte operations such as addition and...