Electronic Design articles from October 2006

Electronic Design archives from October 2006

"Sound off".(Letter to the editor)
October 12, 2006... "Ethics (or lack of) determines how technology is used. Superior technology provides the means to protect and defend a nation, as well as unjustly assault others. If history has taught us anything, it is that without the capability to defend...

Poll.(Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill for solar power generation)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that would make his state one of the world's largest producers of solar power. Could a similar program on a national level reduce America's dependence on foreign oil?

Parallax propeller.(Parallax's new multicore microprocessor)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Parallax took a major turn from its bread-and-butter Basic Stamps and SX processors with the Propeller architecture, which packs eight 32-bit processors into a single package. Combining eight identical processors and shared memory may seem like...

Building a multimedia home control center, Parts 1 and 2.
October 12, 2006... Looking to control everything in your house? Home multimedia centers are popping up in stores, but most are relatively closed boxes or full-blown PCs. Besides, engineers love to get under the hood and do it themselves. See how...

All-media emergency broadcasts enhance disaster-monitoring systems.
October 12, 2006... This issue's cover story is about natural disasters. Yet there's a gap between the time we wrote it and the time you'll read it. Things are quiet now, with a mild hurricane season. Still, that can change in an instant. We depend on...

What's all this bicycle stuff, anyhow?(George A. Philbrick)
October 12, 2006... A friend wrote to me that flying a plane is like riding a bicycle. It took me about four seconds to rebut him: "No, flying a plane may be a little similar, but it's much different from riding a bike." A plane can fly fairly stably with no...

FPGAs: architectural innovations open up new applications.(field programmable gate arrays)
October 12, 2006... Over the last few decades, designers seeking to integrate functionality into fewer chips have faced the same question: Do they embed that circuitry into a fixed-function ASIC or use an FPGA for the same result? FPGAs have always offered...

Liquid lens focuses on low cost and power.(Rogers Corp. and Varioptic have collaborated to create a miniature high-resolution auto-focus system )
October 12, 2006... A typical digital camera lens system can be extremely clever and effective. Yet it's also mechanically complex, requiring intricate gears and motors. Size, cost, and power consumption are key considerations, especially in camera phones. A new...

DTV chip market tunes in to success.(Digital television)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... The U.S. Congress mandate that all analog television transmissions cease by early 2009 is spurring accelerated sales of digital televisions (DTVs) and boosting the growth of the associated DTV chip market. DTV shipments are rising as the...

Something new in PGAs.
October 12, 2006... What do you call a family of 900-kHz, selectable-gain amplifiers that provide a gain-select pin in place of a negative-input pin? Microchip Technology calls it the MCP6G0x family, with single, dual, single with chip select, and quad models. The...

Simple-to-interface delta-sigma adds mux.(Linear Technology launched multiplexer)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... One challenge in using delta-sigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is that their input sampling currents can overwhelm high source impedances or low-bandwidth, micropower signal conditioning circuits. Last year, Linear Technology came up...

Z-One digital IBA gets a boost.
October 12, 2006... Power-One has gained an ally for its Z-One digital intermediate bus architecture (IBA) standard. Micrel's MIC68000 family of linear regulators are interoperable with Power-One's Z-One point-of-load converters (POLs) and ZM7300 digital power...

The key to IP theft prevention is, well, a set of keys.(intellectual property)
October 12, 2006... If you've ever been to the Far East, you know you can get a genuine pair of designer shoes or jeans on the "black market" (okay, out in the open) for pennies on the dollar. That's because the factory is officially supposed to be closed at 5...

Digital design tip: FPGA signal assignment ordering.(field programmable gate array)
October 12, 2006... FPGAs are complex beasts these days, and the once trivial task of assigning signals to pins can be complicated and iterative. These guidelines for assigning signals to multipurpose pins force you to think about your signal assignments up front...

"Missing link" generates HDL code from Simulink/Matlab models.(MathWorks launched mathematical software "Simulink HDL Coder")
October 12, 2006... A persistent bugaboo in adopting electronic system-level (ESL) design methodologies is how to avoid wasting the work done above RTL. Certainly, designers of DSPs in particular have enjoyed using the MathWorks' Simulink/Matlab environment to...

First Galileo IC receiver fully complies with GPS.(SiGe Semiconductor Inc. launched GPS receivers)
October 12, 2006... GPS isn't the only navigation system around. The European Space Agency (ESA) is developing the Galileo Navigation System for the European Union. Unlike GPS, it will be under civilian control. But the two systems aren't all that different. SiGe...

Back to the future with the 68K: The venerable Motorola 68000 architecture takes a leap ahead with a unique real-time microcontroller architecture from Innovasic Semiconductor.
October 12, 2006... Looking for a deterministic microcontroller that can be a good target for legacy applications? Then check out Innovasic Semiconductor's fido1100 microcontroller family. These devices are based on the 32-bit Motorola (now Freescale) 68000...

Anticipating "the big one": homeland security is getting most of the attention, but technologies that forecast and track natural disasters are gaining support to help save lives and property.
October 12, 2006... More than a year after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Americans are still wondering how prepared the nation is for the next "big one." They have reason to be concerned. A recent assessment by the Department of Homeland Security...

Back to cool school: faced with faster operating speeds and denser systems, today's designers must expand their knowledge of thermal management to keep heat levels in check.
October 12, 2006... The heat is on for designers. Whether crafting nanoscale packages or giant supercomputers, today's engineers are under increasing pressure to get the heat out of their ever-higher-octane designs. To do this, designers look to solutions that...

Tiny analog MCU ideal for dedicated functions.(microcontrollers continue to shrink in size and cost)
October 12, 2006... Microcontrollers continue to shrink in size and cost. For example, Microchip's latest six- and eight-pin PIC10Fs have a footprint of only 2 by 3 mm, which is 30% less than a SOT-23 package (Fig. 1). Many discretes are larger than these devices....

$100 x86 PC runs Puppy Linux, fits on the back of flat-panel displays.
October 12, 2006... Norhtec's tiny, fanless MicroClient Jr. houses a 166-MHz SiS 550 and 128 Mbytes of SDRAM. It's ideal for kiosks and embedded applications requiring a low-cost, networked processing element. The case matches the VESA FDMI mounting standard,...

Low-power SBC delivers high-performance video.
October 12, 2006... EValue Technology's compact (5.7 by 4 in.) ECM-3711 single-board computer (SBC) runs a low-power, 1-GHz VIA Eden V4 processor with a CN700/VT8251 chip set with integrated ProSavage graphics. It can drive up to two low-voltage differential...

Touchpad integrates fingerprint security system.
October 12, 2006... Synaptics Securepad combines a touchpad pointing interface with a compact fingerprint sensor. It uses Validity's LiveFlex technology, which uses high-frequency pulsed RF to look beyond the skin surface for a more accurate reading. It's located...

RTOS and IDE support freescale i.MX31 and ColdFire processors.
October 12, 2006... Freescale's i.MX31 and Coldfire processors got a boost from Mentor Graphics, which now supports both with its Nucleus RTOS and its Eclipse-based EDGE Tool Suite. The suite's EDGE Debugger provides basic execution and memory control, plus...

IP networks and emerging video apps need video transcoding.
October 12, 2006... Digital video compression is already an important technology in virtually every type of video application. As the trend toward media convergence continues, compression and interoperability will only become more critical. Among the most...

Dual-phase inverting buck/boost supply gets 25.2 V/15 A from 12 V.(MOSFET (Transistors))
October 12, 2006... The most common use for a synchronous buck controller is high-efficiency conversion of a positive voltage to a lower positive voltage. But it can also produce a negative voltage from a positive voltage. In negative output applications, a buck...

Frequently asked questions.(High-Voltage Integrated Circuits (HVICs))
October 20, 2006... What are HVICs? High-voltage integrated circuits (HVICs) translate low-voltage control signals to levels that are suitable for driving power switches in high-voltage applications. HVICs also can translate signals from high voltage levels...

An issue devoted to understanding your world: the EE job market is strong, but there is an underlying uncertainty about the future.
October 20, 2006... Is this your "most important issue of the year"? Well, "staying current with new and emerging technologies" is your top concern and the main reason you read Electronic Design. But we do believe in the value of this annual special issue, as we...

EEs at work: what you make and what you think: more than 2500 of you took time from your hectic schedules to speak up about the issues that matter to you as an engineer the most.(electronics engineers)
October 20, 2006... In their professional lives, engineers always strive to come up with optimal, elegant solutions to complex problems. The engineering profession itself, however, doesn't lend itself easily to such solutions. The influx of H-1B workers and a...

Finally, salaries are rising again: despite insourcing, outsourcing, benefit losses, and the gender gap, your paychecks may see some small increases.
October 20, 2006... Few issues generate more passion these days than the controversy surrounding H1-B visas. Many U.S.-born engineers, including those who already have been displaced or consider themselves vulnerable to displacement, say the program costs...

Are you satisfied? Mixed feelings mark the industry: despite your own insecurities about the future of the profession, many of you still would recommend a career in engineering.
October 20, 2006... Engineers truly are a conflicted bunch. Only 40% of the respondents to our 2006 survey feel strongly secure in their job, and fewer than half (47%) believe that a career path in engineering and the potential for salary advancement are as...

The future of engineering: a rapidly shifting electronics culture has many experts pondering the state of engineering over the next five to 10 years.
October 20, 2006... You name it, and electronics has changed it in some capacity--personal and business communications, healthcare, energy conservation, entertainment, education, photography, even voting. And there'll be no letup in its landscape-altering effect....

Is there a shortage of analog engineers? Nearly 70% of Electronic Design readers say there isn't. Analog/Power Editor Don Tuite says it depends on whom you ask.
October 20, 2006... Is there a shortage of analog engineers? Some industry data suggests there is. But when Electronic Design asked its readers earlier this year if their organization is having difficulty finding qualified analog engineers, more than half said...

The changing face of engineering.
October 20, 2006... More than 2500 readers took time from their busy schedules to take our 2006 Reader Survey. And we're not surprised so many of you responded, since this year's study tackled so many issues that hit close to home--including outsourcing and the...

Engineering Hall of Fame.(Electronic Design induct six new members into its Engineering Hall of Fame)(Brief article)
October 20, 2006... Their accomplishments span decades, from the dawn of the electric age to this year's hottest products--and beyond. Electronic Design is proud to induct six new members into its Engineering Hall of Fame. They may not have household names, but...

Arthur A. Collins: a hero among hams.(Biography)
October 20, 2006... Throughout history, seemingly ordinary men and women have achieved extraordinary things. One such person was Arthur A. Collins. While a select few may have realized his potential at the time, the young Collins appeared to be no different from...

Gordon Gould: the long battle for the laser patent.(Hall of Fame)
October 20, 2006... From the moment that Gordon Gould first conceived of the laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), he knew his invention would have a lasting effect on every aspect of the world around him. The realization was so great...

Ray Kurzweil: inventor, futurist, life changer.(Biography)
October 20, 2006... He successfully predicted the emergence of the World Wide Web and a computer beating a chess champion. He invented the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first music synthesizer that could realistically recreate the grand...

Charles Proteus Steinmetz: genius, forethinker.(electrical engineer)(Biography)
October 20, 2006... Charles Proteus Steinmetz was both an electrical engineering genius and a great forward thinker in educational and social issues. In the scientific field, Steinmetz is remembered for many electrically related inventions. He invented a...

Andrew Viterbi: the key to communications 40 years early.(electrical engineers)(Biography)
October 20, 2006... Andrew Viterbi simply wanted to fill in the blanks in several theories when he developed the Viterbi Algorithm. Little did he anticipate its widespread applicability in error-correcting codes in 2 billion cell phones, magnetic recording, most...

Edward Weston: a dynamic electrical engineer.(Biography)
October 20, 2006... From the time he took his first job in America at a metal plating factory in 1870 until his death in 1937, Edward Weston strove for perfection. "The fact is that Weston never did and never could relax mentally," wrote David Woodbury in his...

A day in the life.(PHOTO ESSAY CONTEST WINNER)
October 20, 2006... Based on your submissions, designers everywhere face the same challenges--producing more functionality while maintaining an elegant design. The latest project at Intelix, the Audisey Series Athena, exemplifies these demands. Available...

"Sound off".(Letter to the editor)
October 26, 2006... "Very insightful article. With the cost of power these days, a new focus on real-time utilization of digital power makes sense... " Mitch Beasley, Electronic Design reader, commenting on "A Short Guide To Making Money From Digital Power"...

Are you taking global warming seriously? MIT offers perspective.(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)(Editorial)
October 26, 2006... This year's Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT left me more on-edge than energized. The message from a keynote panel was a wakeup call to the seriousness of global warming and the need for immediate action. "It's not too late, but we...

For truth in testing, try an independent lab.
October 26, 2006... Despite industry standards, OEMs often face massive challenges in designing systems that integrate components from different vendors. Products often fail to truly comply with the specification--or fail to be fully interoperable with other...

Ion trap marks a step toward practical quantum computing.
October 26, 2006... A quantum computer would be nothing less than a marvel. Unlike conventional two-state computers, it would encode information as quantum bits, or qubits. A qubit can be a 1 or a 0, simultaneously both 1 and 0, or some point in between. ...

Flash set to Complement HDDs.(hard-disk drives )
October 26, 2006... The notion of replacing PCs' hard-disk drives (HDDs) with solid-state NAND flash memory long has been pondered, but never given much serious consideration. Yet the success of Apple's flash-based iPod nano is spurring speculation that NAND could...

Adding a FIR filter after an ADC gets simpler.
October 26, 2006... The QF1D512 SavFIRe configurable finite impulse response (FIR) filter chip can follow any analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in industrial monitoring applications like vibration sensing, flow measurement and leak detection, medical patient...

PoE plus gets a boost.(Power-Over-Ethernet)(Texas Instruments has introduced a 26-W powered device controller)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... Another company has joined PowerDsine in introducing a Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) controller that anticipates the higher power capabilities addressed by the IEEE 802.3at PoE Plus task force. While PoE Plus is still very much a work in progress,...

Big Brother is watching ... your semiconductors.(Toshiba Teli launched industrial camera "Toshiba Teli CS3930UV")(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... Ever wish you could spy on your semiconductors and make sure they're behaving properly? Now you can with Toshiba Teli's CS3930UV (see the figure). [FIGURE OMITTED] Made specifically for the detailed surface inspection of...

Use serial RapidIO to increase I/O bandwidth in DSP applications.(digital signal processors)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... As bandwidth requirements for applications increase at rapid rates, they depend on DSPs to provide the real-time signal processing. DSP applications that perform this real-time processing have hard real-time I/O requirements. A DSP with Serial...

Pondering: what technology has most influenced your life?
October 26, 2006... Besides personal computers and the Internet, what technology has had the most positive influence in your life? The most negative? E-mail your responses to dharris@penton.com. ED ONLINE 13800

Advanced search, analysis speed ID and diagnosis.(Lecroy's developed oscilloscopes WaveRunner Xi and WaveSurfer Xs )
October 26, 2006... It's difficult to do any serious design or troubleshooting without an oscilloscope. But even with the best scopes, some problems are so elusive they defy solution. Intermittent problems are the worst. In some cases, it may be possible to sit...

IP/security controller chip makes wireless M2M applications a snap.(machine-to-machine,)(Connect One Semiconductors Inc. launched IP coprocessor)(Connect One iChipSec CO711AG)
October 26, 2006... Don't look now, but the machines are talking to each other. They're not plotting to take over the world, though. They're using the M2M (machine-to-machine) protocol to perform simple telemetry or control operations. M2M applications are finding...

Hello! VoIP in a kit.(voice over IP, MultiCore Plus SDK 1.0 software development kit)
October 26, 2006... Getting a product out the door quickly means starting from on top of a solid platform, not building from ground zero. That's one reason why I look at development kits in EiED Online. The better platforms get you started quickly and provide a...

Fingerprint Sensor integrates with trusted pre-boot authentication systems.
October 26, 2006... Fujitsu's Full Speed USB 2.0-based MBF320 Sweep Sensor uses the TrustedCore preboot authentication (PBA), fingerprint-matching algorithms, and biometric software from Cogent Systems. The ultra-thin (16 by 6.5 by 0.9 mm) capacitive sensor has a...

48-Port PCI Express switch provides flexible port configurations.
October 26, 2006... PCI Express is replacing PCI-X in high-performance systems, increasing the need for flexible PCI Express switching. PLX Technology's PEX 8548, a 48-port PCI Express switch, can handle a range of configurations from three x16 PCI Express ports....

MNTs serve up solutions for tightening space and military specs: micro and nano technologies foster successful commercial satellite, space-probe, unmanned-vehicle, and military applications across the globe.(micro and nano technologies)(Canada-Europe-USA-Asia (Micro-Nano-technology development for aerospace applications))(CANEUS 2006 Conference)
October 26, 2006... The CANEUS 2006 Conference opened many eyes to one fact: Nearly every space program worldwide has found remarkable and successful roles for micro and nano technologies (MNTs). It's in response to the lighter-weight, smaller-size,...

Industrial-strength networking: the integration of Ethernet and wireless interfaces into microcontrollers make networking even easier in industrial automation.
October 26, 2006... Every line of microcontrollers includes a model with at least one Ethernet interface. That's why it isn't surprising to find Ethernet up and down the industrial control pyramid (Fig. 1). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Ethernet has always been...

New audio technologies resound on many fronts: Mozart would have loved it. From codec algorithms to chips, there's something for everybody in the latest design technology for audio.
October 26, 2006... Some fascinating developments have reverberated within the world of audio this year (see "Multichannel Audio, DDS Keep DACs Humming" at www.electronicdesign.com, ED Online 11763). For one thing, the trend toward more channels in...

Reducing the design impact of DFT in the nanometer era.(Design-for-test)(automatic testing equipment, integrated circuit fabrication)
October 26, 2006... Design-for-test (DFT) is essential to ensure that complex designs can be thoroughly tested. Testing demands continue to increase as designs grow in gate count and fabrication process technologies evolve. Fortunately, advances in DFT techniques...

Use PLLs for accurate at-speed test.(phase lock loop)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... An external clock is used during scan testing to load the scan chains for each pattern. Supplied by a tester, this clock usually operates at a relatively slow frequency. To apply at-speed scan tests, high-frequency clock pulses must be applied...

Non-intrusive memory test.(memory built in self-test)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... It makes sense to test large embedded memories using BIST. Memory BIST controllers can support many algorithms and very high-frequency test. But a testing problem arises when numerous small, embedded memories are distributed throughout the...

Reduce top-level test signal routes from blocks.(electronic test equipment)(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... Often, design teams try to have as little top-level logic and routing as possible. If many scan chains exist, then many top-level routes are necessary. Test-compression techniques have been developed to support the increase in test patterns,...

Controller-based one-shot creates extended delays while saving space.(microcontrollers)
October 26, 2006... When I needed to create a simple tool to generate a long, event-triggered pulse, I started with a classic one-shot and a really large capacitor. This worked pretty well, owing to the classic nature of the problem. There seemed to be no...

Tiny, lightweight toggle switches light up your application.(NKK Switches Inc.)
October 26, 2006... Their extremely small size and light weight suit two series of illuminated toggle switches well for use in handheld devices or front-panel interfaces. The B series subminiature and G series ultra-miniature switches from NKK Switches feature...

A miniature 1-Form-A solid-state relay, the VO1400AEFTR from Vishay Intertechnology features an on-resistance of 5 [ohm], a trigger current of 1 mA, and a load-voltage of 60 V.
October 26, 2006... A miniature 1-Form-A solid-state relay, the VO1400AEFTR from Vishay Intertechnology features an on-resistance of 5 [ohms], a trigger current of 1 mA, and a load-voltage of 60 V. The low input trigger current makes it easy to interface the...

CIT Relay & Switch's J115 series relays come in three versions: PC termination, combination PC and QC for contacts, and panel-mount QC for both coil and contacts.
October 26, 2006... CIT Relay & Switch's J115 series relays come in three versions: PC termination, combination PC and QC for contacts, and panel-mount QC for both coil and contacts. The relays exceed UL standards--40-A contacts, 2 hp, and Class F insulation...

Capable of switching 16 A at 250 V ac, the G5LE-E series of power pc-board relays comes in the industry-standard 19.6- by 22.5- by 15.2-mm "sugar cube" and pinout for drop-in compatibility with existing pc-board layouts.
October 26, 2006... Capable of switching 16 A at 250 V ac, the G5LE-E series of power pc-board relays comes in the industry-standard 19.6- by 22.5- by 15.2-mm "sugar cube" and pinout for drop-in compatibility with existing pc-board layouts. The series includes 5-,...

Give your projects under- and overvoltage protection with hysteresis.(Brief article)
October 26, 2006... This circuit provides undervoltage and overvoltage protection for dc input supply voltages (see the figure). Its undervoltage cutoff is 6 V, and its over-voltage cutoff is 11.5 V. [FIGURE OMITTED] When [V.sub.IN] is less than about 6...

High performance sockets and adapters.
October 26, 2006... Includes GHz bandwidth sockets for BGA and QFN only slightly larger than the IC with integral heatsink for medium power and optional heatsinking to over 100 watts. Up to 500k insertions. Adapters for prototype, test, and more. Quick turn volume...

PICmicro[R] development system.(Catalog Literature Review)
October 26, 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 all peripherals. See why Engineers choose TechTools. Request...

Spray down protection for less than the cost of drip.
October 26, 2006... Bud Industries announced its SN Series NEMA-rated sheet-metal boxes--the newest addition to Bud's complete line of environmentally sealed enclosures. Because of economies in manufacturing, now engineers can get an SN Series steel box rated for...

New snap mount aluminum electrolytic capacitors deliver 50% more life without added cost.
October 26, 2006... For high-reliability power supply applications, the new LBB series snap mount capacitors offer up to 3,000 hours life at 85 [infinity]C, with full-rated voltage and ripple... 50% longer life than standard products of comparable price. Its low...

Caplugs' catalog released.
October 26, 2006... (Buffalo, N.Y.)--Caplugs' product catalog features more than 80 new parts along with our existing product lines of caps, plugs, edge liners, grommets, wraps, nettings, and Clearview[TM] tubing. The 150-page, full-color catalog highlights more...

ISI Lead Free Interposers for DDR2 BGAs.
October 26, 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...

Compact, robust high-voltage ICs simplify HID ballast circuits and extend lamp life.(PRODUCT ALERT)
October 26, 2006... The IRS2453D family of 600V self-oscillating full-bridge driver ICs for HID ballast applications utilizes IR's proprietary HVIC technology, integrating two highside and two low-side gate drivers for improvements in device capabilities and the...

Tiny 10.0 GHz socket for 0.4mm QFP.(PRODUCT ALERT)
October 26, 2006... New high-speed 10 GHz socket--SG-QFE-7000 allows 0.4mm pitch, 14mm body, QFP IC's to be socketed and operate without compromising performance. Designed to dissipate up to several watts without extra heatsinking and up to 100 watts if...

AFL high performance digital magnetic sensors.
October 26, 2006... NVE's AFL series devices are digital switch products designed to run at very low voltages and very low currents. Operation with single battery supplies is possible with these parts. The output is configured for use as a "switch" to detect a...

What's all this PLL stuff, anyhow?(phase locked loops)(Column)
October 26, 2006... I can't believe it took me so long to write this column. I designed some good, low-frequency phase-locked loops (PLLs) about 33 years ago and wrote them up but never got it published. When I moved from Philbrick to National 30 years ago, I got...