EDN articles from December 2005

EDN archives from December 2005

Are cell-based ASICs going away?(COMMENT)
December 5, 2005... I can't count the number of conference sessions I've attended at which a speaker shows a market graph of ASIC-design starts. This chart, which is seemingly in every PowerPoint deck, shows a peak in these starts over the past few years with a...

Advanced topics in powering FPGAs.(POWER / designer: Expert tips, tricks, and techniques for powerful designs)
December 5, 2005... FPGAs have established themselves as the most flexible and reconfigurable intelligence in applications from networking and telecommunications equipment to industrial and automotive segments. More recently FPGAs have proliferated into consumer...

Dual 600 mA step-down DC-DC converter with [I.sup.2]C interface.
December 5, 2005... Highest Efficiency LM3370 Maximizes Processor Performance through Dynamic Voltage Scaling Features * Highest efficiency: PFM-PWM mode control, 85% at 500 [micro]A, >90% at 200 mA * [I.sup.2]C interface for dynamic voltage scaling,...

PWI 1.0-compliant energy management unit for PowerWise[TM] adaptive voltage scaling.
December 5, 2005... LP5550 Digitally Controlled PowerWise[TM] Energy Management Unit for Reducing Processor Power Consumption LP5550 Features * High-efficiency PowerWise[TM] energy management unit (EMU) for adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) * Compatible...

SOT-23 synchronous constant-on-time switching controller.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... High-Efficiency LM1770 Synchronous Controller for Low-Voltage DC-DC Conversion LM1770 Features * Adaptive 0n-Time Control topology requires no compensation components * Synchronous operation: High-side PFET and low-side NFET...

Power design tools.
December 5, 2005... WEBENCH[R] Online Design Environment Our design and prototyping environment simplifies and expedites the entire design process. 1. Choose a part 2. Create a design 3. Analyze a power supply design --Perform electrical...

Popular benchtop-DMM line offers expanded capabilities.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
December 5, 2005... Agilent has enlarged its family of DM Ms and DVMs. The 34410A, 34411A, and 34405A widen the range of price and performance choices in the company's DMM line, expanding on the popularity of the industry-standard 34401A. The 34410A and 34411A...

EDA tool adds pc-board-layout, FPGA-design features.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
December 5, 2005... Mentor Graphics has bundled some of its PADS and VeriBest pc-board-design software with some of its other legacy pc-board tools and added new team-collaboration software to come up with its new Expedition Enterprise flow. "We've created this...

Feedback loop.
December 5, 2005... "It isn't only ham-radio operators that suffer: Broadcasters do, too, and, in Europe, are none too pleased with the idea! I'm both a ham and a listener to 'steam' radio and lose out on all counts. What's wrong with ADSL/ADSL2?" Michael...

12.5-Gbps serial BERT characterizes jitter.(pulse)
December 5, 2005... Agilent has announced a high-performance serial BERT (bit-error-ratio tester) with jitter-generation capabilities for jitter-tolerance testing of serial devices at speeds to 12.5 Gbps. The N4903A J-BERT provides jitter-tolerance testing for...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
December 5, 2005... I'M ADDICTED TO E-MAIL. MY ENDORPHINS SPIKE WHEN I GET A MESSAGE. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN THERE ARE NO MESSAGES, LONELINESS AND DESPAIR OVERCOME ME. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HAVE YOU TRIED SENDING E-MAIL TO YOURSELF? WE...

FPGA physical-synthesis tool knows the fastest routes.(pulse)
December 5, 2005... Synplicity boasts that its new graph-based FPGA physical-synthesis tool uses inside knowledge of FPGA architectures to deliver a 5 to 20% performance improvement over the company's popular logic-synthesis tool. In addition, the company claims,...

Flash, 8-bit processor targets motor control.(pulse)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... Zilog's Z8 Encore! MC family of 20-MHz, 8-bit flash micro-controllers targets sensorless BLDC (brushless-dc) and ac-induction motor-control applications. The eight-channel, 10-bit ADC samples in 2.5 [micro]sec and can couple a time-stamp...

Electronic maps track cell-phone use.(RESEARCH UPDATE)
December 5, 2005... Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Mobile Landscapes project have mapped the city of Graz, Austria, in real time by monitoring the usage of tens of thousands of cell phones. The researchers obtained anonymous cell-phone...

Ethernet-over-optical transmission achieves 100 Gbps.(pulse)
December 5, 2005... Lucent Technologies has announced the first transmissions of 100-Gbps Ethernet-over-optical technology. A research team at the company delivered a 107-Gbps optical-data stream, representing 100-Gbps data transmission and a 7% overhead for error...

Watt-balance method accurately defines the kilogram.(pulse)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have spent years conducting experiments to find a reliable definition based in nature to replace the current international standard for the kilogram, a century-old cylinder of...

Lithium ion gets a recharge.(GLOBAL DESIGNER)
December 5, 2005... The fuel cell--a cigarette-lighter-sized power source that you can refill--is one way to solve the problem of using heavy and short-lived batteries. That's the message Intel sent in its August announcement of a tie-in with Matsushita Battery...

IDEs enhance automotive-design productivity.(pulse)
December 5, 2005... To handle the complex development, testing, and integration of microprocessor-driven vehicle functions, design engineers are opting to use tools that offer IDEs (integrated development environments), According to a CG-Smith Software spokesman,...

Quality factor.(SIGNAL INTEGRITY)
December 5, 2005... What matters most in a capacitor depends entirely on how you use it. For example, capacitors in the Electra pulsed-power fusion-ignition system require a voltage rating of at least 5 million volts, with an incredible energy-storage density....

Anatomy of a current-feedback op amp.(ANALOG ANGLE)
December 5, 2005... A previous column dealt with the VFOA (voltage-feedback op amp, Reference 1). This column explains the CFOA (current-feedback op amp) and includes a performance analysis. Slew rate and frequency performance are the CFOA's strong points,...

Skunkworks project ends up smelling like a rose.(TALES FROM THE CUBE)
December 5, 2005... A fellow project team member encountered difficulty stabilizing a pneumatic valve developed from a skunkworks effort. His voice-coil-driven valve offered a new technology to our industry, and we were looking at the feasibility of using it as an...

Operating alone: autonomous systems are showing up in more places. Competitions such as the DARPA grand challenge are increasing their visibility.(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
December 5, 2005... The DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge is a highly publicized competition to encourage the development of fully autonomous vehicles that can complete an off-road desert course. On Oct 9, 2005, the Stanford Racing...

New battery technologies hold promise, peril for portable-system designers.(Cover Story)
December 5, 2005... FOR THE NEAR FUTURE, MOST PORTABLE SYSTEMS WILL HAVE TO RELY ON SOME FORM OF THE NOW-VENERABLE LITHIUMION BATTERY. FORTUNATELY, LITHIUM-ION CELLS ARE IMPROVING IN COST, ROBUSTNESS, AND EVEN ENERGY CAPACITY. BUT BEWARE THE PERILS THAT "CLONE"...

Hands-on review: analyzers reveal digital secrets: PC-based logic analyzers can reveal much about digital signals. Here's the lowdown on seven models we tested.
December 5, 2005... Logic analyzers capture digital signals and display state information, timing information, or both. When testing or troubleshooting electronic equipment, engineers use these instruments to extract microcontroller timing information, monitor...

BitScope BS-50 Pocket Analyzer.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)
December 5, 2005... Price: $345 www.bitscope.com This small module provides logic-analyzer and DSO (digital-storage-oscilloscope) functions, and it includes a single-channel AWG (arbitrary waveform generator). Setup went smoothly, although engineers may find...

Cwav USBee ZX test pod.(USBee ZX )
December 5, 2005... Price: $895 WWW.usbee.com This module provides eight digital inputs, a ground line, an external trigger, and clock lines. The built-in wires come with female adapters that slide onto 0.025-[in.sup.2] pins. The unit includes microclips that...

Dynon Instruments Elab-080.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)
December 5, 2005... Price: $495 www.dynoninstruments.com The Dynon Instruments Elab-080 provides a 16-channel logic analyzer, a twochannel digital oscilloscope, and a one-channel arbitrary- waveform generator. The package includes two 60-MHz 1X/10X scope...

Link Instruments LA-2124-128K.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)
December 5, 2005... Price: $800 www.linkinstruments.com Link Instruments provides a family of logic analyzers that operate with a PC over either a parallel-port or a USB-port connection. We chose the least-expensive model, which uses the parallel port. Users...

NCI GoLogic-72 System.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 5, 2005... Price: from $4300 www.nci-usa.com The GoLogic-72 System provides for as many as 72 digital inputs and eight clock inputs, which makes it a powerful tool for testing and debugging embedded systems that require monitoring of several buses,...

Saelig Ant16 USB logic analyzer.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)
December 5, 2005... Price: $333; 16-channel clip-lead set and cable, $39 www.saelig.com The Ant16 analyzer comes with an analyzer module, clip-lead set, getting-started guide, and mini-CD-ROM. The equipment provides a basic logic-analyzer module and software...

TechTools DigiView.(HANDS-ON REVIEW)
December 5, 2005... Price: $499 www.tech-tools.com Although the software setup instructions don't follow the printed user's guide, poking through menus leads you to the right choices: CDWeb [right arrow] More Links: Software [right arrow] d_dvl. The program...

High side current sensing: high performance analog solutions from Linear Technology.(Advertisement)
December 5, 2005... One of the most common tasks in analog circuit design is measuring current. A current sense circuit often resides at the heart of power and battery-life management, bias current control, load monitoring, fuse monitoring, fail safe circuitry and...

Minimizing switching-regulator residue in linear-regulator outputs: banishing those accursed spikes takes attention to detail and understanding the subtleties.
December 5, 2005... Designers frequently use linear regulators to postregulate switching-regulator outputs. The benefits of this approach include improved stability, accuracy, and transient response, along with lower output impedance. Ideally, markedly reduced...

Simplifying industrial backplanes: system designers turn to serial-communications strategies to boost reliability and extend service life in hostile factory or industrial environments.
December 5, 2005... Designing automation controls for a factory floor is a daunting task. You must consider the environment--hot, dirty, corrosive, electrically noisy, and generally hostile to anything electronic (or human, for that matter). Most PLC...

Common-driver-library architecture supports, maintains products: using a CDL-based architecture for device drivers can significantly reduce the time to develop, maintain, validate, and support device drivers for multiple platforms.
December 5, 2005... With the plethora of operating systems available, a common problem for an independent hardware vendor is how to develop, maintain, and support device drivers for products. Although using a CDL (common driver library) can apply to any OS, the...

Mind your I's and Q's.(THE DATA DETECTIVE)
December 5, 2005... Most people who use cell phones, portable PCs, and other wireless devices understand the benefits of radio-frequency communications. Because consumers always expect more capabilities, designers must push communications to higher frequencies,...

Using PWM servo amplifiers in noise-sensitive applications: digital PWM servo amplifiers are smaller, more efficient, less expensive, and easier to use than their linear counterparts.
December 5, 2005... A motor-drive servo amplifier's output voltage has a fundamental frequency and amplitude that corresponds to the motor speed, torque, and number of motor poles. PWM amplifiers, by their nature, also produce higher frequency voltage components...

Isolated converters have buck simplicity and performance design note 377.(Advertisement)
December 5, 2005... Buck converter designers have long benefited from the simplicity, high efficiency and fast transient response made possible by the latest buck controller ICs, which feature synchronous rectification and PolyPhase[R] interleaved power stages....

Low-cost BER tester measures errors in low-data-rate applications.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
December 5, 2005... You don't need an expensive pattern generator to produce a PRBS (pseudorandom-bit-sequence) signal for making elementary BER (bit-error-rate) measurements in low-datarate continuous-transmission systems (Reference 1). You also need not spend...

DMA eases CPU's workload for waveform generation.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
December 5, 2005... To generate analog voltages and waveforms, embedded systems often require one or more embedded or external DACs. To produce an analog voltage, the CPU must write the desired output value to the DAC at the appropriate time, a task that a...

Bipolar current source maintains high output impedance at high frequencies.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
December 5, 2005... Traditional current sources and voltage-to-current converters based on instrumentation and operational amplifiers offer high output impedances at low frequencies because of the amplifiers' good low-frequency CMRR (common-mode-rejection ratios)....

Power-cube-inductor series provides wide OCL range.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... Targeting PC motherboard and server markets, the PG0322NL series aims at VRMs (voltage-regulated modules), dc/dc converters, and point-of-load applications. With an operating temperature of -40 to + 130[degrees]C, the series also features a 32...

Compact 1206 chip inductors offer 1A-class power rating.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... With a maximum height of 0.9 mm, the CKP3216 series of 1206-case multilayer-chip inductors suits use in dc/dc-converter choke coils. The series features current ratings of 0.7 to 1.1A and 4.7 to 1 [micro]H. An internal-electrode printing press...

Thermal gap filler targets telecom and computing applications.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... Targeting use in computer and telecommunication applications, the T-flex 300 thermally conductive gap fillers provide component and device performance integrity. Peripherals include 1.2W/mK thermal conductivity, an ultrasoft interface pad that...

Interconnect technology suits a range of applications.(iQ interconnect connector)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... A Q-shaped contact provides the iQ interconnect connector with a low profile and a large working range. The 0.081 profile results in short signal paths with 0.6-nH self-inductance and 12-m[OMEGA] resistance, minimizing crosstalk. Features also...

Auxiliary LED flash enables autofocusing in low-light conditions.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... Providing illumination to operate the automatic-focus function of digital still cameras under low-light conditions at a range of 3m, the high-brightness ASMT-FJ10 LED features an 18-cd-at-20-mA light output. Instead of using infrared-emitting...

Ferrite-drum-core inductors have wide-ranging inductance values.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... The SPB-700 series of ferrite-drum-core inductors comprises 26 parts with inductances of 180 [micro]H at 15A to 22,000 [micro]H at 2.7A dc. Measuring 53.3 X 37.08 mm, the device also has a mounting hole through the center of the core, accepting...

ZD connector series adds female vertical version.(PASSIVES:)
December 5, 2005... * A new part in the high-speed ER-met ZD line, a four-row, vertical, female connector requires high-performance board-to-board connectors when expanding modern assembly systems, implementing mezzanine applications, or transferring signals...

Tantalum capacitor provides 3300-[micro]F capacitance.(PASSIVES)
December 5, 2005... * As an alternative to multiple lowvalue capacitors for sufficient capacitance in low-profile applications, the Sprague 592D tantalum capacitor provides 3300 [micro]F in a 2.5-mm-high package. This conformal-coated, solid-tantalum capacitor...

SOC supports perpendicular recording.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
December 5, 2005... * Targeting use in miniature hard-disk drives, the SC1200 SOC (system on chip) supports perpendicular recording, CE-ATA, and MMC (multimedia-card) host-bus-interface options. The chip has a 0.5-dB performance advantage, a 10% capacity increase,...

Hard-drive series has four models.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
December 5, 2005... * The P120 Series features 200- and 250-Gbyte parallel and SATA versions with 3-Gbps hard-disk drives. All P120 hard drives include a 7200-rpm spindle speed, an 8.9-msec average seek time, and an 8-Mbyte cache buffer. Targeting demanding...

Two-drive, 3-Gbps SATA processor eases RAID configurations.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
December 5, 2005... * The 1-Tbyte, 3-Gbps, two-drive SiI 4723 SATA storage processor employs the vendor's Steelvine architecture, which enables designers to easily configure RAIDs (redundant arrays of inexpensive disks). The device also supports data mirroring for...

4-Gbyte hard drive suits portable players, guards against damage.(4 Gbyte storage element)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... * The Crash Guard II raggedness feature protects the 4-Gbyte SE (storage element), which targets use in MP3 players, cell phones, GPS devices, and personal video recorders. Crash Guard II comprises an active latch, removing the head from the...

High-performance external hard drives have FireWire connectivity.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
December 5, 2005... * Two nine-pin standard FireWire 800 connectors allow for an 800-Mbps transfer rate for the Rocpro 800 AV. Capacities include 120, 160, 200, 250, 300, and 400 Gbytes, all with a 7200-rpm rotation speed. Additional peripherals include a standard...

Stereo codec suits midlevel and entry-level digital-audio applications.(CS4270)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... * Using a multibit delta-sigma architecture, the CS4270 provides an ADC and a DAC with 24-bit resolution at a 216-kHz audio-sampling rate. Single-ended inputs and outputs allow 95- to 105-dB total harmonic distortion plus noise. Able to operate...

Video processor has a variety of on-chip features.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
December 5, 2005... * Running at 500 MHz, the BSP-16 video processor includes on-chip processors featuring a fast 2-D DMA engine, a RISC coprocessor, an on-chip video filter, and a 3DES engine for hardware encryption and decryption. The chip's additional features...

CMOS image-sensor series adds a 3.2 million-pixel chip.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
December 5, 2005... * As part of the Dynastron CMOS image-sensor line, the 3.2 million-pixel ET8E99-AS chip has a 2.7-micron pixel pitch with a 1/2.6-in. optical format and incorporates an ADC. Features include a 15-frame/sec frame rate at QXGA output and 30...

Six-channel DAC has fewer "clicks" and "pops".(CS4361 digital-to-analog converter)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... * A multibit delta-sigma architecture is the core of the CS4361's six-channel DAC. Features include a 105-dB dynamic range, low-latency digital filtering, automatic sample-rate detection, and onchip level translators. The device also includes...

An abacus in your pocket.(realitycheck)
December 5, 2005... In 1972, market studies indicated that a pocket-sized scientific calculator would go nowhere, but that didn't deter Bill Hewlett and his company, Hewlett-Packard, from developing the Abacus HP-35 handheld calculator. Hewlett wanted to sell a...

A new approach to streamlining the application of advanced technologies.(ADVERTORIAL)(Advertisement)
December 16, 2005... Today's increasing silicon complexity drives engineers to continually leverage the latest advances in electronic design. However, no company can afford to have its design teams consuming time and effort adopting individual technologies....

High-stakes partnering: who has the hole card?(EDN.COMMENT)
December 16, 2005... It seems there have been a number of tech partnerships of late in which it's tough to figure out which partner is playing from a position of strength and which might be bluffing. Like poker players, tech companies play all-in for their own...

Tick-tock, tick-tock.(Rarely Asked Questions: Strange but true stories from the call logs of Analog Devices)(Advertisement)
December 16, 2005... Q. My clock is accurate to 1 ppm--what could possibly need improvement? A. The phase noise or jitter. The performance of any ac sampling system is critically dependent on the use of a sampling clock with adequately low jitter. A...

Device incorporates mixed-signal circuitry.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
December 16, 2005... Actel Corp has announced the Fusion PSC (programmable system chip), which incorporates mixed-signal analog, flash memory, and FPGA fabric on a single die. The company has also released design software that it claims makes a significant stride...

Feedback loop.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
December 16, 2005... "In the global economy, smart American kids can do a lot better then innovating for companies and a government that value them less than plumbers." John Lewicke, in EDN's Feedback Loop, at www.edn.com/ article/CA6280033. Add your comments....

FPGA-physical-synthesis tool knows the fastest routes.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
December 16, 2005... Synplicity boasts that, in a single pass, its new graph-based FPGA-physical-synthesis tool uses inside knowledge of FPGA architectures to deliver a 5 to 20% performance improvement over the company's popular logic-synthesis tool. In addition,...

Dilbert.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... WALLY, I ASKED YOU TO HELP ALICE ON HER PROJECT BUT ALL YOU DID WAS TELL HER TO WORK HARDER. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU CAN'T JUST TELL SOMEONE TO WORK HARDER AND EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AREN'T YOU DOING...

Embedded video card drives multiple displays.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... With security, medical, transportation, industrial, and aerospace applications in mind, VersaLogic recently announced a PC/104-Plus video module. The EPM-VID-3 supports embedded-system applications with 24-bit color and resolutions as high as...

Generator produces precise digital waveforms to 13.5 GHz.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... Agilent has announced a serial pulse/data generator with stimulus capability to 13.5 GHz. The Agilent 81142A, which-except for speed-is similar to a 7-GHz generator that the company announced less than a year ago, enables reliable...

ARM7 cores target FPGA users.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... Actel's microprocessor-core-licensing deal with ARM (www.arm.com.) has come to fruition with the announcement that Actel customers can now license a firm, Actel-architecture version of the 32-bit ARM7 TDMI-S core directly from Actel. ARM and...

POL power modules boast fast transient response.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... Power systems for networking and communications systems must respond to the transient-power needs of powerful system processors, such as DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, and microprocessors. To fulfill that need, Texas Instruments' new T2 series of POL...

Vendor triples power available from compact dc-supply system.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... By introducing four new modules and two mainframes. Agilent has extended the cutout capability of its N6700 MPS (modular-power system) to 1200W. Company officials claim that Agilent is now the industry leader in the number of outputs and amount...

Intel's Ron Resnick: wearing two hats.(VOICES)(Interview)
December 16, 2005... When it comes to multitasking, few people could beat Ron Resnick. He divides his time between working at his "day job" as Inters director of marketing for its broadband-wireless division and serving as president and chairman of the WiMax Forum,...

Trendy phones incorporate sophisticated engineering.(GLOBAL DESIGNER)
December 16, 2005... With their ultraslim form factors and cool looks, Motorola's Razr and Rokr mobile phones have helped transform Motorola's image from an engineering-focused company to a hip, trend-setting, marketing company. But few know about the company's...

Poland moves into technology.(pulse)
December 16, 2005... With its recent transition from the Soviet Block to the European Union, Poland now has the opportunity to make its mark on the world. President Lech Kaczynski has promised government support for high-tech companies and a more commercially...

The power of moving-average digital filters.(BAKER'S BEST)
December 16, 2005... Many times, ADC users employ averaging algorithms with their controller or processor on the output of several samples from the converter. You can "smooth" a converted signal using this technique (Figure 1), as well as improve the effective...

Thinking different: with the Mac Mini, Apple squeezes substantial computing horsepower into a diminutive form factor.(PRYING EYES)
December 16, 2005... The carefully thought-out design of the Mac Mini enables Apple to squeeze a solid-performing, quiet, and cost-effective computer into a 6.5 x 6.5 x 2-in., less-than-3.lb form factor. Read about some of its elements here, then visit...

Hot 100 products of 2005.
December 16, 2005... It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. Every year, EDN's editors receive thousands of product announcements, and it's their job to narrow these thousands of choices into the hundreds of newsworthy items that each year grace the pages of...

Quantum cryptography: when your link has to be really, really secure: combining quantum theory and single photons, systems can achieve security that the laws of physics--rather than an algorithm's complexity--assure.(HOT TECHNOLOGIES)
December 16, 2005... Keeping data and communications secure is a hot topic. Hackers access systems through open ports, through secret programs, and through various ruses or aliases. As a result, data-security products and strategies are top priorities for both...

Monolithic step-down regulator withstands the rigors of automotive environments and consumes only 100[micro]A of quiescent current--Design Note 378.(DESIGN NOTES)(Advertisement)
December 16, 2005... Introduction Automobile electronic systems place high demands on today's DC/DC converters. They must be able to precisely regulate an output voltage in the face of wide temperature and input voltage ranges--including load dump transients...

Got game? Living-room consoles grapple for consumers' eyes, wallets: the holidays are here, so it must be time for another round of game-gear hype. Only one of the next-generation platforms is in production. Regardless of when they emerge, they all plan to evolve their capabilities beyond gaming with an eye toward being the home's entertainment centerpiece.(HOT TECHNOLOGIES)
December 16, 2005... Three years ago, when EDN last covered gaining consoles in a Hot Technologies edition, that industry was at a notable inflection point (Reference 1). Sony had been shipping its PlayStation 2 in the United States for a little more than a year;...

Shunt regulator speeds power supply's start-up.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
December 16, 2005... In certain applications, design requirements may call upon a system's switched-mode power supply to more promptly deliver its output than would the garden-variety power supply. Figure 1 shows such a supply's bootstrap, or start-up, circuit. In...

Build a USB-based GPIB controller.(design ideas)(general-purpose-interface bus)
December 16, 2005... Contemporary research laboratories include a variety of instruments that connect using any of several interface methods to a PC for automating procedures and collecting data. Although different communication interfaces exist, the GPIB...

Programs calculate 1% and ratio-resistor pairs.(design ideas)
December 16, 2005... If you perform analog-circuit design, you'll occasionally need to use a resistor with a nonstandard value to produce a particular gain, ratio, or attenuation factor. You can create resistors of unusual values by connecting two standard-value...

Simplify worst-case PSpice simulations with customized measurement expressions.(design ideas)
December 16, 2005... During IC design, worst-case simulations help designers account for variations in characteristics of PNP and NPN transistors and base and polysilicon resistors. These four classes of devices alone produce more than 16 combinations of simulation...