EDN articles from April 2004

EDN archives from April 2004

Computerside manner.(leading edge)(Digiticians)
April 1, 2004... "You're walking into a firestorm. Something has broken, and there are possible catastrophic ramifications. If you freak out... It's like a doctor walking into an operating room and saying, 'Oh my God!" Ken Smith, co-founder of The...

Light guides improve your inner and outer glow.(leading edge)(MOLDED WHITE-LED LIGHT GUIDES from Global Lighting Technologies )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... MOLDED WHITE-LED LIGHT GUIDES from Global Lighting Technologies provide the backlighting for the full-color, high-resolution displays on 3G cell phones. The MicroLens light guides feature crisp color and brightness as high as 10,000 nits. You...

Matched MOSFETs provide in-circuit trim.(leading edge)(ALD1121E and ALD1123E from Advanced Linear Devices are matched dual and quad N-channel Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... DESPITE HYPERINTEGRATION and systems on chips, many designs require bits of glue logic to complete or customize an interface. Similarly, many linear circuits use discrete transistors to implement or optimize functions, particularly within or...

Customize your scope's user interface.(leading edge)(TDS 5000B series Digital Scopes )
April 1, 2004... TODAY'S DIGITAL SCOPES are replete with features. Although the myriad features add to the instruments utility, most users take advantage of only about 20% of the capabilities. Yet, each engineer seems to want a different feature set. This...

Dilbert.(leading edge)
April 1, 2004... LET'S OFFER EMPLOYEES UNPAID VACATION TIME, AS LONG AS THEIR MANAGERS APPROVE IT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THEN WE'LL DOWNSIZE ANY WORK GROUP THAT USES IT, BECAUSE IT PROVES THEY'RE OVER-STAFFED. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXCUSE...

EMI filter passes only good vibrations.(leading edge)(Electromagnetic Interference passes only good vibrations)
April 1, 2004... The KNA21 Series of EMI filters from AVX/Kyocera lets you suppress the noise that high-speed digital lines generate. You can tuck these multilayer, 2x1.25x0.85-mm devices into tight spaces, such as cell phones, and keep RF noise from LCD and...

ZigBee radio goes IP.(leading edge)(Jennic)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... JENNIC HAS ANNOUNCED the availability of a suite of IP (intellectual-property) cores for ZigBee (www.zigbee.org) wireless applications. The ZigBee Alliance, an association of companies working toward standardization of wireless-network...

Optical/electrical jitter analyzer guarantees peak-to-peak errors of less than 0.02 unit intervals.(leading edge)(MP1590A-30 high-precision jitter-analysis option added to MP1590A network-performance tester)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... ANRITSU HAS ADDED a $20,000 MP1590A-30 high-precision jitter-analysis option to its $57,285-base-price MP1590A network-performance tester. The company says this option makes the tester the first instrument whose internal jitter--less than 0.02...

10-Gigabit PHY devices hit new low.(leading edge)(Physical Layer Devices)
April 1, 2004... BOTH QUAKE Technologies and Mitsubishi have announced 10-Gbps PHY (physical-layer) devices. Quake's third-generation, 10-Gbps QT2022 serial-to-XAUI (10-Gigabit-attachment-unit-interface) device consumes less than 900 mW and targets applications...

Embedded encoder compresses real-time streams.(leading edge)(PARVUS CORP unveiled the MPEG104, a PC/104-Plus form-factor encoder)
April 1, 2004... PARVUS CORP recently unveiled the MPEG104, a PC/104-Plus form-factor encoder that captures high-quality analog-video and audio streams, encoding them in compressed MPEG1, M-JPEG, or JPEG formats, and sending them to a host computer over a...

Small-footprint, moderate-price scopes provide big picture.(leading edge)
April 1, 2004... LECROY unabashedly proclaims that its new WaveSurfer series of digital scopes targets Tektronix's (www.tektronix.com) market-leading TDS3000 family. The TDS 3000s have won the hearts of many users who need compact, moderately priced scopes but...

Free download solves start-up shortcoming.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Many of you have developed software for Microsoft's Pocket PC 2000/2002 and Windows Mobile 2003 operating systems or for the Windows CE operating-system versions from which Microsoft derived them. And those who have done so may have struggled...

FPGA adopts a revolutionary stance.(leading edge)(Field Programmable Gate-Array )(Stratix II ALM )
April 1, 2004... DARWIN FIGURED out that measured evolutionary steps, not abrupt revolutionary leaps, are the preferred way of the world. In your engineering-problem-solving approaches, many of you have figured it out, too. Sometimes, though, the rules of the...

Slippery slopes.(signal integrity)
April 1, 2004... NOISE IN A SERIAL LINK causes jitter. The relationship between additive noise in your circuit and the incremental amount of jitter that that noise causes depends on the slope of your data waveform. For example, suppose you have a 1V p-p...

Holographic memory not a mirage.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(postage-stamp-sized holographic ROM developed)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... NTT (NIPPON Telegraph and Telephone) has unveiled a prototype of a postage-stamp-sized holographic ROM that stores 1 Gbyte. Dubbed Info-Mica. the device features 100 layers of a thin-film material sandwiched between strata of cladding. Each...

Bus brakes for clean air.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(ISE ThunderPack II)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... REGENERATIVE BRAKING, which captures energy from braking and feeds it to an electric motor, plays a key role in powering pollution reducing hybrid vehicles. Batteries work well enough for storing and releasing that electricity, but reliability...

Battery's form follows function.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... BY DOING AWAY WITH the need for a metal shield to hold together a battery stack, a technology from Philips enables free-form lithium-ion battery design. The Lithylene technology involves making microscopic holes through the battery's electrodes...

Portable power anywhere--at a price.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(thermoelectric power cubes developed by NASA can provide power for several years)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... THINK YOU HAVE problems keeping all your batteries charged? Then think about the challenge of powering deep-space probes or undersea modules. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have devised thermoelectric power cubes fueled by heat...

My interoperability dream.(edn.comment)
April 1, 2004... ONE ASPECT of the Star Trek series that has always fascinated me was the crew's ability to interconnect their systems to anything they came across. Whether it was a several-hundred-year old Earth spaceship or a vessel from an alien or unknown...

The source of all streams: designing a digital-video router for next-generation connected homes.(digital den)
April 1, 2004... IN THE NOT too distant future, digital homes will contain a multitude of digital-video sources and a multitude of video-display devices. To move video in various formats from the numerous sources to the proper destinations, these homes may...

Hurry up and wait: interchip interconnections now choke traffic flow and limit peak performance. New standards may be the way to overcome this imbalance.(PCI Express)(Cover Story)
April 1, 2004... FOLLOWING THE INTERCONNECT wars is almost interesting. The HyperTransport Consortium says it's not directly competing with PCI Express, yet the consortium's own bandwidth comparisons line it up against PCI Express. The PCI Express folks claim...

Letter from the editor.(A Special Supplement)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... EDN's 2004 "The Convergence of Today's Embedded Systems" supplement series will focus on the product trends that represent major opportunities for the electronics community. The three topics we've selected for this year's series are: the...

One processor, two processor, three processor, more?(A Special Supplement)
April 1, 2004... The expanding array of functions proposed for handheld convergence devices is raising an architectural question for semiconductor suppliers: what type of processor will best serve the application's needs? Depending on the supplier and market,...

OS'es vie for handheld acceptance.(A Special Supplement)(qperating systems)
April 1, 2004... The phrase "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" applies perfectly to software for handheld convergence. The software demands of convergence devices can easily go beyond a simple combination of their computing and telephony...

Designing mobile software.(A Special Supplement)
April 1, 2004... The software for a handheld convergence device has a wide variety of tasks. It must handle signal processing, such as echo canceling and voice coding, provide call management and data protocol stacks, control the device's power management,...

Not quite convergence.(A Market Overview)
April 1, 2004... When cell phones added cameras with color displays, they started looking more and more like handheld computing devices. At the same time, PDAs and other portable computers started adding wireless communications capabilities. It appeared that...

If you can't build it, it isn't worth much: designers and EDA vendors developed design-for-manufacturing, design-for-test, and design-for-yield methods to improve a design's chances for success.(tech trends)(Electronic Design Automation)
April 1, 2004... LITHOGRAPHY TECHNOLOGY has crossed the boundary between visible light and ultraviolet light, and, at around 193 nm, new classes of problems began to impact IC designers. Figure 1 shows the band on the electromagnetic spectrum currently used for...

Hot-swap MOSFET reliability: hot-swap controllers can increase system reliability, but not if they fail themselves.(design feature)(Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transitor)
April 1, 2004... A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS use hot-swap controllers, often to increase the reliability of a system. However, a failure in the hot-swap circuit would defeat that purpose. When you use MOSFETs in their active region to control current, such as you...

Powering innovation: national's product update.
April 1, 2004... Linear regulators Ultra-low noise 150 mA LDO for RF and analog applications * 10 [mu][V.sub.RMS] output noise from 10 Hz to 100 kHz * 60 mV typical dropout with 150 mA load. [V.sub.OUT] > 2.5V * Accurate output voltage ([+ or...

Alternative techniques accelerate flash-memory-programming speeds: as flash-memory densities grow, consequent longer programming times lead to increases in manufacturing costs. To meet this challenge, manufacturing engineers are seeking new methods for quickly programming and verifying memories.(design feature)
April 1, 2004... NO MATTER which flash-memory programming method you use, optimization of the programming algorithm is a key consideration. It has the potential to reduce flash-programming time and, therefore, increase the manufacturing beat rate (the number of...

Managing your supervisor: a look at monitoring and controlling processor voltages.(design feature)(power-on-reset supervisory circuit)
April 1, 2004... FOR MANY YEARS, the supervisory circuit has faithfully ensured that microprocessors and microcontrollers properly function. Despite the popularity of the POR (power-on-reset) supervisory circuit, it is sometimes unclear how to select and apply...

Positive feedback yields fast amplifier with precision dc offset.(design ideas)
April 1, 2004... SOME SIGNAL-PROCESSING applications require a high-speed, low-noise, de-coupled amplifier that incorporates a precision de-offset adjustment. Examples include oscilloscopes, in which the offset adjustment typically acts as a "position"...

Buck regulator forms high-power, inverting--5V supply.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... CONFIGURING A STEP-DOWN switching-converter IC as an inverter yields an efficient, high-power, -5V supply that can of deliver currents as high as 4.5A at the 12V input or 3.2A at the 5V input (Figure 1). Conventional inverting power supplies do...

Low-loss circuit powers solar lantern.(design ideas)
April 1, 2004... THE SOLAR-LANTERN CIRCUIT in Figure 1 is a low-loss configuration that uses a 7W, four-pin CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) and a 12V, 7-Ahr, sealed, maintenance-free battery. The inverter features greater-than-85% efficiency, less-than-2-mA...

RC network quashes auxiliary winding in quasiresonant converter.(design ideas)
April 1, 2004... QUASI-SQUARE-WAVE-RESONANT converters, also known as QR (quasiresonant) converters, allow the design of flyback-type SMPSs (switchmode power supplies) with a reduced EMI (electromagnetic-interference) signature and improved efficiency. You can...

Low-power CMOS oscillator has push-pull output.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... DIGITAL OSCILLATORS often generate TTL- or CMOS-level outputs, referred to ground. Generating a symmetric bipolar output with respect to ground presents a challenge. In this design, four 1.5V flashlight cells create [+ or -] 3V voltage sources,...

2-phase DC/DC controller makes fast, efficient and compact power supplies--design note 334.(Design Notes)(Linear Technology Corp.'s LT03708)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... High efficiency, fast transient response and small size are often at odds in power supply designs. Fortunately, the 2-phase LTC[R] 3708 PWM controller makes it possible to simultaneously achieve all three. Figure 1 shows the LT03708 in a...

The industry's first digitally programmable, signal conditioning auto-zero amplifier.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The AD8555 is the industry's first digitally programmable, signal conditioning auto-zero amplifier for strain bridge and other sensors widely used in automotive, medical, industrial, and communications applications. ADI has integrated a full...

A dual logarithmic converter optimized for power monitoring in optical networking systems.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Analog Devices' new ADL5310 dual logarithmic converter offers the functionality of two discrete converters on a single chip, providing designers of optical communication systems an alternative to using multiple individual logarithmic...

A next-generation quad-band power amplifier module for cellular handsets.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The new ADL5552 X-PA power amplifier module for GSM/GPRS cell phones features an integrated control loop architecture and single-point calibration, both of which ease the design process and minimize manufacturing costs. For improved signal...

The industry's first 3.3 V CMOS cable line driver for cable modem and set-top box designs.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... With the AD8324 cable line driver, Analog Devices allows designers to lower supply voltages and reduce system costs in their DOCSIS, EuroDOCSIS, and OpenCable[TM] designs. The next generation of Analog Devices' AD8328 cable line driver, the...

A 50 MHz, precision, low distortion, low noise, CMOS amplifier.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Analog Devices' AD8651 is the fastest member in the growing DigiTrim precision amplifier family, a high precision, low noise, low distortion, rail-to-rail CMOS operational amplifier running at single-supply voltage from 2.7 V to 5 V. The...

Precision JFET input amplifiers feature single-supply operation, low power consumption, and rail-to-rail output.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Applications for the AD8627 family include photodiode transimpedance amplification, ATE reference level drivers, battery management, line powered and portable instrumentation, and remote sensor signal conditioning including automotive sensors....

Combining the industry's highest performance 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with a 4- or 6-channel digital downconverter (DDC).(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The AD6654's digital downconverter can process four or six CDMA20OO, UMTS, Or TD/SCDMA channels simultaneously. Each channel is dynamically reconfigurable, operates independently, and includes cascaded signal processing elements: a frequency...

Trio of converters optimize performance of motor control applications.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(ADI Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... ADI's three new converters for motor control applications solve challenges associated with current and voltage monitoring, optical encoder feedback, and resolver-to-digital conversion. These processes are vital to industrial applications such...

Industry's smallest accelerometers for cost and size sensitive applications.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The [+ or -] 5 g ADXL320 and [+ or -] 10 g ADXL321 iMEMS[R] accelerometers are the first dual-axis MEMS accelerometers available in thin 4 mm x 4 mm x 1.45 mm plastic LFCSP packages--the lowest cost and smallest accelerometer footprint...

Digitally controlled VGA features wide bandwidth at maximum frequency of 750 MHz.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The AD8370 is a high linearity, fully differential, digitally controlled variable gain amplifier (VGA) designed for use in wireless and wired communication networks. It provides a 750 MHz bandwidth (-3 dB), allowing the part to be used at the...

iCoupler[R] dual-channel isolators are industry's smallest isolation solution.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(ADI Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Configured in 8-lead SOIC packages, the ADuM1200 and ADuM1201 are ADI's newest digital isolators. These dual-channel isolators reduce board space requirements associated with opto-coupler solutions by up to 70%. Bidirectional data flow is...

Power supply sequencer families offer exceptional power management and control capabilities.(Currents: your first look at new high performance analog components from analog devices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... ADI expands its portfolio of solutions for power supply monitoring and sequencing in multisupply systems with two new families of supervisor/sequencing ICs designed for infrastructure systems, such as routers and add-drop multiplexers, as well...

Automotive 30V MOSFETs.(Discrete Semiconductors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * PowerTrench n-channel devices are qualified to the AEC-Q101 standard * Available in D-PAK and I-PAK cases for surface and through-hole mounting * FDD044AN03L/FDU044AN03L, $1.36; FDD068AN03L/FDU068-AN03L, 93 Cents (1000) ...

Matched MOSFET arrays.(Discrete Semiconductors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Dual (ALD1121E) and quad (ALD1123E) devices ensure tight matching and tracking of on resistance, thresh-old voltage, and drain-on current * Provide typical input impedance of [10.sup.12][ohm] and are typically matched to within 1-mV...

Protected low-side MOSFET.(Discrete Semiconductors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * 60V n-channel device handles a continuous current of 1.6A * Offers protection against overtemperature, overcurrent, overvoltage, and ESD * IntelliFET BSP75G (SOT-223), contact vendor for price Zetex Inc, 1-631-360-2222,...

250V power MOSFETs.(Discrete Semiconductors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Si4434DY and Si7434DP have a maximum on-resistance of 155 m[ohm] at a 10V gate drive and a typical gate charge of 34 nC * SUM45N2558 has an on-resistance of 58 m[ohm] and a gate charge of 95 nC * Si4434DY (Little Foot SO-8), Si7434DP...

Process-simulation tool.(Electronic Design Automation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Targets less-than-90 nm semiconductor-device manufacturing * Accelerates the development of semiconductor processes and improves yield * Taurus Process Atomistic, from $63,000 for a perpetual license Synopsys Inc, 1-650-584-5000,...

Transaction-based verification platform.(Electronic Design Automation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Teams Zaiq Technologies' SYSTEMware and EVE's ZeBu to accelerate verification by as much as five orders of magnitude over pure logic simulators * Integrated platform is available from vendor for use with off-the-shelf standard...

RFIC/MMIC design tools.(Electronic Design Automation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * RFDE (RF Design Environment) 2003C and ADS (Advanced Design System) 2003C now support Verilog-A * Verilog-A option enables the development of highly accurate analog behavioral and compact device models that simulate at speeds comparable...

RTL debugging software.(Electronic Design Automation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Adds a new source-code encapsulation and encryption function * Synchronization feature allows multiple debuggers to run on the same PC and talk to the same hardware board via one JTAG connection * Identify V1.3, from $9000 ...

Single-channel voice codec.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * 3V device targets a variety of mobile voice applications * Includes pin-selectable [micro]-law and A-law companders that comply with ITU-T G.711 and G.712 specifications * W681310, 98 cents (25,000) Winbond Electronics Corp, 1-408-943...

Cellular/GPS front-end receiver.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Dual band LNA/mixer suits CDMA and JCDMA applications * Integrates an optional LO prescaler to allow flexible VCO selection * RF2890, $2.45 (10,000) RF Micro Devices Inc, 1-336-664-1233, www.rfmd.com

Step-down controllers.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Provide last response to load-step transients and dramatically reduce required output capacitance * Gate drivers rated at 1.4[ohm] allow output currents of 1 to 25A * MAX8553 (tracking), MAX8554 (nontracking), from $1.69 (1000) ...

100V half-bridge MOSFET drivers.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Drive 1000-pF loads with rise and fall times of 10 nsec * Come in a 4x4-mm DFN (dual flat no-lead) package * HIP2100, HIP2101, $1.88 (1000) Intersil Corp, 1-408-935-4300, www.intersil.com

Dual-axis MEMS accelerometers.(Integrated Circuits)(Microelectromechanical systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Provide a measurement range of [+ or -] 5g (ADXL320) and [+ or -] 10g (ADXL321) * Operate on supplies as low as 2.7V and typically consume 450 [mu]A * ADXL320, ADXL321, $2.40 (10,000) Analog Devices Inc, 1-800-262-5643,...

Configurable FPGA/ASIC device.(Integrated Circuits)(Application specific integrated circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Furnishes 6.4 million system gates, 2.3 Mbits of on-chip memory, and 680 I/Os * Operates at 500 MHz * Gladiator CLD6400, $99 (100,000) Leopard Logic Inc, 1-408-777-0905, www.leopardlogic.com

64-Mbit SDR RAM.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Offers low power consumption and increased bandwidth for cellular products * Versions operate at 133 MHz (2.5V) and 100 MHz (1.8V) * 64-Mbit SDR Mobile RAM, $4.50 to $5.50 (samples) Elpida Memory Inc, 1-408-970-6600,...

HDTV/PVR chip.(Integrated Circuits)(High definition television)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Incorporates a 3-D Y/C separation circuit, multiframe deinterlace circuit, and quad video scalers * Handles PVR (personal-video-recorder) functions such as pausing live programming and recording * BCM7038, $60 (10,000) Broadcom...

Serial ATA II IP.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Built on UMC's 0.18-micron standard CMOS logic process * Produces a very low jitter of less than 60 psec * SATA II PHY IP, $425,000 for a single-use license Faraday Technology Corp, 1-408-522-8888, www.faradayusa.com

Set-top-box two-chip set.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Simultaneously records two channels to a hard disk for dual PVR functions * Decodes two separate video and audio streams, allowing two TVs to connect to a set-top box * STi5528, $25; STi4629, $5 (10,000) STMicroelectronics Inc,...

AC'97 audio codec.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Two-channel, 20-bit device offers independent sample rates for the ADCs and DACs * Universal Jacks eliminate connection mistakes by determining what device has been plugged into the audio connector and adjusting the internal codec...

18-Mbit synchronous SRAMs.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * No-wait-state and standard versions run at 300 MHz * Operate from 2.5 and 3.3V supplies * 300-MHz, 18-Mbit BGA SRAM, $35 (10,000) Integrated Silicon Solution Inc, 1-408-969-6600, www.issi.com

Fast FPGAs.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Provide 57,120 (EP1S60) and 79,040 (EP1S80) logic elements * Deliver digital-signal-processing speeds of 333 MHz and data rates of 300 MHz * Stratix EP1S60, from $380 (10,000); EP1S80, from $660 (5000) Altera Corp,...

Charge pump/LDO regulator.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Provides a clean 5V power supply from an input supply of 3.0 to 5.5V * Delivers as much as 200 mA of continuous current for use in audio applications * CM3702, 57 cents (10,000) California Micro Devices, 1-408-263-3214,...

PC/104-plus video framegrabber.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Simultaneously captures and digitizes single frames from as many as four devices * Handles NTSC, PAL, and SECAM at 768 x 576 pixels and 30 frames/sec * FG104, $144 (100) Parvus Corp, 1-801-483-1533, www.parvus.com

Data-logging computer board.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Furnishes a SmartMedia flash-memory-card interface, one RS-232 port, and one RS-485 port * Provides 512 kbytes of SRAM and 2 Mbytes of onboard flash memory * DL7000, from $384 Kg Systems Inc, 1-800-292-4303,...

6U CompactPCI single-board computer.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Powered by a Pentium M processor running at 600 MHz to 1.6 GHz * Supplies two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two PMC slots, and five USB 2.0 ports * CT9, from $3800 SBS Technologies Inc, 1-505-875-0600, www.sbs.com

FPGA computing platform.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Employs two Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGAs, plus high-bandwidth memory and I/O subsystems on a 6U VMEbus board * Serves as a front-end processor for radar, sonar, and signal-intelligence applications in harsh environments * CHAMP-FX,...

Embedded Linux OS.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Based on the Linux 2.6 kernel * Offers improved real-time performance, easier porting to new computers, an enhanced I/O system, and support for large memory models * BlueCat Linux 5.0, from $8449 LynuxWorks Inc, 1-408-979-3900,...

Ultra320 SCSI controller card.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Delivers a throughput rate of 320 Mbytes/sec on each of two channels * Leverages a 133-MHz, 64-bit PCI-X interface on a PMC form factor * PMCX-SCSI, from $725 Dynatem, 1-949-855-3235, www.dynatem.com

Fabric-enabled I/O processor card.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * Combines two FPGA coprocessors, RACE++ fabric, dual 533-MHz Power-PC CPUs, and PMC interfaces on a 6U VMEbus board * Performs high-speed FFTs, pulse compression, and image processing * PowerRACE-3, from $17,500 TEK Microsystems...

EE wars.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2004... "What is it about electrical engineers? These guys just can't get along. A group of them brings a wonderful new technology to market, and another equally brilliant band creates another way of doing the same thing." --Hiawatha Bray, on the...

Float like a battery, sting like a capacitor.(leading edge)(Evans Capacitor Co.)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2004... A NEW BUTTON-CELL HYBRID from Evans Capacitor looks like a standard button-cell battery, and it uses the same 2325 holder as a battery, but it's not a battery. It's an 1800-[micro]F, 50V super-capacitor that targets use in aerospace, medical,...

Microcontroller adds precision analog.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2004... ANALOG DEVICES' ADUC702X family of devices integrates a 32-bit ARM7TDMI core with 12-bit data converters targeting industrial, optical-networking, and automotive-monitoring and -control applications. The analog peripherals include a 12-bit ADC...

Floating-point DSP gets "RISCy".(leading edge)(Digital Signal Processing)(Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
April 15, 2004... PROCESSORS THAT INTEGRATE a DSP core with a microcontroller core on one device are becoming increasingly common. Atmel's Diopsis AT572D740 continues this trend by integrating a VLIW (very-long-instruction-word) mAgic DSP core with an ARM7TDMI...

Dilbert.(leading edge)
April 15, 2004... THE NEW PRODUCT BROCHURES HAVE ALREADY WON DESIGN AWARDS! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THAT'S GREAT, BUT OUR PRODUCT WON'T DO ANY OF THE THINGS YOU CLAIM HERE. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WELL, WHO SHOULD WE BELIEVE--THE AWARD-WINNING...

Simple device picks off line current.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2004... It's sometimes the little things that make your test and monitoring task go smoothly and safely. For example, the ELS2 ac-line splitter from Wavetek Meterman plugs into a standard ac outlet and physically splits the conductors, so you can hook...