EDN articles from February 2004

EDN archives from February 2004

Pick a car--any car.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Yahoo)
February 5, 2004... "It's like Yahoo has a bunch od sports cars idling in the garage and now it just has to pick which one to drive." --The Kelsey Group's Greg Sterling on Yahoo's many new search technologies, in Wired, Jan 14, 2004

Communications analyzers quantify jitter components in 40-Gbps serial data.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES has introduced what it calls the industry's first jitter-subcomponent-analysis function that accurately separates random jitter and deterministic jitter and their subcomponents from 50-Mbps to 40-Gbps data streams. The...

90-nm devices increase speed and shrink cost.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... TEXAS INSTRUMENTS is rolling out its fastest DSPs ever. These DSPs take advantage of a 10-stage instruction pipeline, dual-data architecture with 32 32-bit register files per datapath. The architecture balances data-functional units to match...

Data-acquisition boards slash prices, simplify application development.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)
February 5, 2004... NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS has announced five low-cost digital-input/output and analog-output boards, With prices starting at $295, these boards implement NI-DAQmx software technology for industrial automation and control, test and measurement and...

Dilbert.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Cartoon)
February 5, 2004... HOW MANY BUSINESS CARDS SHOULD I ORDER? IT DEPENDS. I USE A COMPLEX FORMULA BASED ON YOUR BURN RATE AND YOUR LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING DOWN-SIZED. I USE ABOUT THREE PER WEEK. YOU'LL NEED THREE CARDS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Leading edge: what's hot in the design community.
February 5, 2004... * According to data from the American Society for Engineering Education, US universities awarded 21,812 bachelor's degrees in electrical and computer engineering in 2002. This figure represents a 5.7% average annual growth since 1999. *...

Even digital TV gets the analog blues; here's help.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Even though your design may have a digitally encoded signal, it needs analog-signal processing. For such designs, the ISG510067 IF amplifier IC from ISG Broadband combines two linear-input AGC amplifiers and two video-IF amplifiers in a 5x5-mm,...

Real-time spectrum analyzers catch RF signals that elude conventional instruments.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... TEKTRONIX HAS ANNOUNCED a new series of RT-SAs (real-time spectrum analyzers) that, according to the company, provide a complete measurement package for engineers developing RF applications that range from identification tags to radar systems....

Tiny trackball meets portable needs.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Although the trackball has been a popular interface, other devices have superseded it for many applications. ITT Industries, Cannon claims that its tiny Trackball 360[degrees] is the industry's first miniature, which may restore the track...

RF increasingly gets the passive blocks it needs.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... THE RF AND WIRELESS worlds need many unique specialty building-block components, and vendors are developing smaller versions with better specifications than their predecessors. A trio of recent introductions, all offering similar functions,...

Tool tackles complex FPGAs.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(programmable logic arrays)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... DESIGNERS TODAY can consider FPGAs as viable alternatives to many ASICs when deciding how to implement products. Yet, they often have had to depend on tools that were more primitive than those available for ASIC design. At the beginning of the...

BER analyzer handles 12.5-Gbps serial data.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... THE $135,000 BERTSCOPE 12500A analyzer makes bit-error-rate, jitter, and eye-diagram measurements on 0.1- to 12.5-Gbps serial-data streams. These streams' data rates are more than eight times those that the manufacturer's BitAlyzer1500...

Devices target cost-sensitive motor control.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(PIC18Fxx31 devices)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY'S new PIC18Fxx31 family of 8-bit flash microcontrollers offers greater integration to improve the energy efficiency and enable quieter and more reliable operation of motor-driven applications. Electronic-motor control can...

Rectifier packs 3A into SMA package.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Basic rectifiers are vital to efficient power supplies and circuits, but their size is a potential problem. A new series of Schottky rectifiers from Vishay, SSA23L through SSC54, can help. The units are available in 3A SMA (DO-214AQ, 4A SMB...

Storage processor offers complete TOE offload.(Leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Tcp/Ip Offload Engine )(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... SILVERBACK SYSTEMS' latest SNAP (storage-network-access processor), the iSNAP2110, features two GE (Gigabit Ethernet) ports that completely offload iSCSI and TOE (TCP/IP-offload-engine) functions from a system's host processor. These tasks...

Measuring differential skew.(signal integrity)(Skew)(Device)
February 5, 2004... THE TOTAL DIFFERENTIAL SKEW at points x(t) and y(t) in Figure 1 equals the delay in the top path minus the delay in the bottom path, [t.sub.skew] = [t.sub.1]+[t.sub.3]+[t.sub.5] - ([t.sub.2]+[t.sub.4]+[t.sub.6]). Rewriting this equation to...

Innovation casts its own spell; you should cast your votes.(edn.comment)(Innovation)
February 5, 2004... THE WORD "INNOVATION" IS ONE that generates conflicting responses. Society praises it, many individuals fear it, academics analyze it, entrepreneurs are driven by it, and our industry segment is based on it. Yet, despite extensive...

Puff to be cool.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(thermal management)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... THERMAL MANAGEMENT cause even the coolest designer to sweat. As ICs get denser and products get smaller and more power-conscious traditional techniques based on fans and metallic heat sinks may be insufficient or even impractical. To help...

DSP at light speed.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(digital signal processors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... CONCEPTUALLY, OPTICAL COMPUTING offers the potential for speed far beyond that of any electronic engine, but practical implementations are few. Israel-based Lenslet (www.lenslet.com) has unveiled an optical DSP that it claims can reach...

Solar eclipse.(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... RESEARCHERS AT SIEMENS (www.siemens.com) claim to have created organic solar cells that surpass previous generations in efficiency. Laid on foil using a printing process, organic solar cells offer lower weight, lower manufacturing cost, and...

A cure for wall warts?(Sightings: the outlook for new technology)(power adapters)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... BULKY POWER ADAPTERS ARE necessary evils for most electronic products. But piezoelectric technology may reduce those ugly "wall warts" to a quarter of their current size or less. according to a Pennsylvania Slate University www.psu.edu...

EDN's 2003 innovator/innovation program.(EDN innovation)
February 5, 2004... EDN's editors have chosen this year's finalists from the scores of candidates in our annual Innovator and Innovation Program. Now we're calling on you to help select the winners. Go to our Innovation Web Site, www.edn.com/innovation, to read...

The search for the perfect language: the electronics industry is racing to find a solution to system-level design that integrates with the current development methodology.(Cover Story)
February 5, 2004... MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIES have been the driving force that fueled the development of new and more capable EDA tools since the industry's inception. We have now reached a technological inflexion point that will redefine the industry. The use of...

Design-planning guidelines prevent chip surprises: sensible floorplanning and power-planning techniques pay off with smooth back-end design flows.(design feature)
February 5, 2004... DESIGN-PLANNING STRATEGIES become common sense once you grasp the complex trade-offs they involve. One way to achieve that intuitive grasp is to understand some rules of thumb for good design planning. These practical considerations come from...

Choosing the perfect TFT display: part one: understanding TFT trade-offs lets you better match the display and interface to your application.(design feature)(Thin Flim Transistor)
February 5, 2004... AS THE COST OF TFT (thin-film-transistor) displays drops and the desire for more user-friendly and graphical interfaces increases, more companies are asking engineers to design these products into their own. Although many engineers have...

High input voltage monolithic switcher steps up and down using a single inductor--design note 330A.(Design Notes)(Input Voltage)(Advertisement)
February 5, 2004... Introduction Ultrawide input voltage requirements are a common design problem for DC/DC converter applications, but when that range includes voltages both above and below the output voltage, the converter must perform both step-up and...

Double DAC rate by using mixers as switches.(design ideas)(Digital to Analog Converters)
February 5, 2004... YOU CAN EFFECTIVELY double the sample rate of a DAC by interleaving two DACs into a single unit. Updating each DAC on an alternating basis and switching to the appropriate output double the effective throughput of the overall system, it is...

DDS IC plus frequency-to-voltage converter make low-cost DAC.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... PRECISION DACs are essential in many consumer, industrial, and military applications, but high-resolution DACs can be costly. Frequency-to voltage converters have good nonlinearity specifications--typically, 0.002% for the AD650--and are...

Low-noise ac amplifier has digital control of gain and bandwidth.(design ideas)
February 5, 2004... IN LOW-NOISE ANALOG circuits, a high-gain amplifier serves at the input to increase the SNR. The input signal level determines the input-stage gain; low-level signals require the highest gain. It is also standard practice in low-noise...

1-kV power supply produces a continuous arc.(design ideas)
February 5, 2004... DESIGNING A HIGH-VOLTAGE switching power supply that can produce a sustained arc can be challenging. This compact and efficient design delivers 1 kV at 20W and can withstand a continuous arcing, or short-circuit, condition (Figure 1). It uses...

Polymer tantalum electrolytic caps minimize ESR.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Constructed with a solid functional polymer as the electrolyte and Pb-free noncombustible materials, both the PT and PTB series of tantalum chip capacitors boast low ESR and high reliability over a rated life of 1000 hours at 105[degrees]C. The...

Tiny ferrite beads suppress EMI into the gigahertz range.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Murata has reduced the size of its BLM 15H series of ferrite beads from an EIA 0603-sized case to a 1.0x0.5x0.5-mm 0402 sized case. With this miniaturization, the series is one of the smallest available that can provide noise suppression in the...

Array packs four ferrite beads in one compact package.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Able to simultaneously handle four separate lines, these surface-mount multilayer ferrite chip bead arrays provide high-performance EMI suppression in miniature telecommunication devices and portable computer equipment. Package dimensions are...

Current-compensated power chokes span 3.3 to 100 mH.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Used for line filters in switch-mode power supplies in consumer electronics and electronic lamp ballasts, the E-core series of power chokes features a current-compensated double choke with a ferrite EE-type core. Additionally, the devices...

Surface-mount inductors measure just 5.0 mm tall.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Shielded shaped-core inductors in the PG0138 series come in tiny surface-mount packages that offer a low profile and small footprint for high-density board configurations. You can use the PG0138 series for ac/dc switching power supplies and...

Tantalum chip caps leverage low profile, high capacitance.(Passives)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Two devices join the 592D family of solid tantalum chip capacitors offering 2200-[micro]F capacitance in a 2-mm case height and 3300-[micro]F capacitance in a 2.5-mm case height. The X and Y cases have dimensions of 0.570x0.290 in. (14.5x7.37...

Low-noise op amp.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Achieves low-voltage noise and distortion of 0.95 nV/[square root of (Hz)] and -90 dB at 10 MHz, respectively * Provides a 1600V/[micro]sec slew rate and a 5-GHz gain bandwidth product at a gain of 10 * AD8099, $1.98 (1000) ...

SRAM multichip package.(Integrated Circuits)(static random access memory)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Asynchronous device stores 2M x 32 bits in a 255 plastic BGA module * Offers access times of 12, 15, 17, and 20 nsec * W82M32V-XBX, $250 (100) White Electronic Designs Corp, 1-602-437-1520, www.whiteedc.com

256-Mbit flash devices.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * 3.3V superAND devices supply four on-chip memory-management functions * Boast write speeds of 4 Mbytes/sec * HN29V256A series, $11 (10,000) Renesas Technology America Inc, 1408-382-7500, www.renesas.com

Ultra-low-power logic devices.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Allow 73% more battery life than standard 3.3V logic options * Provide propagation delays of 2.0 nsec at 3.3V and 3.0 nsec at 1.8V * Advanced Ultra Low power (AUP) Little Logic series, 11 cents (1000) Texas Instruments Inc,...

3-D comb-filter front-end processor.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Integrates a 3-D comb filter with a multistandard color decoder and 4 Mbits of embedded DRAM * Comes in a QFP100 lead-free package * TC90A92AFG, $9 (10,000) Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc, 1-949-455-2000, www.chips....

Set-top-box decoder.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Based on a 133-MHz ARM9 32-bit RISC processor core and integrated Nucleus +, pSOS, and VxWorks runtime libraries and driver software * Supports DVB common interface modules * CX2414X series, from $11 (OEM) Conexant Systems Inc,...

Audio subsystem.(Integrated Circuitsf)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Combines Hi-Fi and PCM codecs on one chip * Operates at voltages down to 1.8V (analog) and 1.42V (digital) * WM8753L, $5.74 (1000) Wolfson Microelectronics Inc, 1-858-676-5090, www.wolfsonmicro.com

Power-supply controller.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Configurable to track as many as four power supplies, typically within 100 mV of each other * Operates down to 2.7V and controls supplies as low as 0.9V * SMT4004A, $8,65 (10,000) Summit Microelectronics Inc, 1-408-436-9890,...

FPGA configuration memory.(Integrated Circuits)(Programmable logic arrays)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * In-system-programmable device stores 16 Mbits in an eight-pin leadless array package that measures just 36 [mm.sup.2] * Employs a two-wire interface * AT17FI6, $12.50 (100,000) Atmel Corp, 1-408-441-0311, www. atmel.com

MIL-qualified antifuse FPGAs.(Integrated Circuits)(Programmable logic arrays)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Versions include MTP (military-temperature plastic), MTH (military-temperature hermetic), and hermetic packaging fully screened to MIL-STD 883B * Offer as many as 2 million system gates and as much as 288 kbits of memory *...

RS-485/422 transceiver.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Operates at maximum rates of 20 Mbps over distances in excess of 400 ft * Provides [+ or -] 15-kV of ESD protection on the transmit output and receive input pins * ISL4485E, $1.30 (100) Intersil Corp, 1-408-945-1323,...

1394b-to-IDE bridge chip.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Achieves a transfer rate of more than 88 Mbytes/sec * Provides backward compatibility with IEEE 1394-1995 and 1394a PHYs * OXFW912, less than $10 (10,000) Oxford Semiconductor Inc, 1-949-348-1235, www.oxsemi.com

DC/DC controller.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Secondary side dc/dc regulator integrates an optocoupler driver lot dual-output isolated power supplies * Converts 36 to 72V supplies to output voltages of 5, 3.3, 2.5, 1.8, 1.5V, and lower at as much as 50W per output * LT3804,...

Low-light image sensor.(Integrated Circuits)(Peripheral Imaging Corp)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * 600-dpi CIS chip accommodates sequential cascading of multiple sensors using chip-onboard technology * Provides a pixel output rate of 5 MHz maximum * PI3045, $1000 for a single 6-in. water with approximately 1500 good dies ...

Programmable logic devices.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * ispXPLD 51024MX furnishes as many as 1024 logic macrocells and as much as 512 kbits of on-chip memory * ispXPLD 5256MX furnishes as many as 256 logic macrocells and as much as 128 kbits of on-chip memory * ispXPLD 51024MX, from $42;...

8051 microcontroller.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Integrates a 100-MIPS CPU and a two-cycle 16 X 16 multiply-accumulate unit in a 64- or 100-pin TQFP * Includes a 12-bit, 100k-sample/sec ADC; two 12-bit DACs, 128 kbytes of flash memory, and 8448 bytes of RAM * C8051F120, from $9.44...

Mobile-phone processor.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Furnishes an on-chip MPEG-4 accelerator, LCD controller for TFT color LCDs, and UXGA camera interface * Powered by a 32-bit, 133-MHz SH3-DSP CPU core with 192 kbytes of RAM * SH-MobileV2, approximately $36 (10,000) Renesas...

Native X88 processor.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Provides on-die security features, including an advanced cryptography engine and two hardware-based RNGs * Operates at 533 MHz, 800 MHz, and 1 GHz with thermal design power of 4, 6, and 7W, respectively * Eden-N, from $100 (1000) ...

8-bit microcontroller-unit-development boards.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Enable the evaluation of NEC's 8-bit KO and KOS microcontrollers * KORE9418-KB supports the [micro]PD78-F9418 KOS with flash memory and LCD controller; KORE81-DK two board set supports the [micro]PD789881 microcontroller unit; KOREwriter...

32-bit SOC-development kit.(Microprocessors)(system on chip)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Targets Sharp's BlueStreak LH7A400 ARM9-based SOC (system on chip) * Comes with a product-ready computing module for handheld and embedded networking applications, as well as cross development tools * Zoom Starter Development Kit,...

Media-processor-evaluation kit.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Battery-operated platform speeds the development of media-rich mobile phones based on Atsana media processors * Includes a 1.3M- or 2M-pixel CMOS camera module, evaluation board with a 2.2-in. color TFT LCD module, and embedded...

32-bit ARM-based microcontrollers.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Operate at 60 MHz from a 1.8V supply * Furnish as much as 256 kbytes of flash memory, 16 kbytes of SRAM, PWM timers, UARTs, 10-bit ADCs, and 46 GPIOs in a 64-pin SO package * LPC2114, LPC2124, contact vendor for prices Philips...

Linux-powered processor.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Linux Pro V3.0 teams with the Motorola MPC5200 embedded processor for automotive telematics and other networked applications * Subscription includes the Linux kernel, utilities, development tools, software updates, and deployment...

Microcontroller-development suite.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Targets the Motorola 56F8300 16-bit hybrid controller * Leverages the UNIS Processor Expert application builder, which automatically generates C/C+ + code * CodeWarrior Development Studio for Motorola 56800/E V6.0, from $495 ...

Digital signal controllers.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Integrate a CAN controller, a watchdog timer, and event managers * Flash memory supports program execution at 85 MIPS and stores as many as 64k words with code-security protection * TM320F2801, less than $5; F2806, less than $7.50;...

External hard drives.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Boast backup and restore functions at the push of a button * Provide 120- to 300-Gbyte storage capacities, plus USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces * OneTouch, $199.95 to $399.95 Maxtor Corp, 1 408-894-5000, www.maxtor.com

Slim DVD-RW drive.(Computers & Peripherals)(Digital videodisk recorders)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * External drive measures just 6 X 5.5 X 0.75 in. and weighs less than 1 lb * Comes with Firewire and USB 2.0 ports, as well as Mac and PC software * Boa Slim, $359 EZQuest Inc, 1-714-694-0031, www.ezq.com

Flash-memory cards.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Deliver minimum write speed of 9 Mbytes/sec and minimum read speed of 10 Mbytes/sec * CF cards come in 256-Mbyte, 512-Mbyte, and 1-Gbyte versions, while SD cards come in 256- and 512-Mbyte versions * Ultra II CF, $104.99, $209.99,...

USB flash-card readers.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... * Transfer digital data from flash memory cards to a PC at maximum speeds of 480 Mbps * Versions include a seven-in-one plug-and-play model and two single-slot readers * Hi-Speed 7-in-1, $25.99; Hi-Speed CF/IBM Microdrive, $19.99; and...

Weigh in on your way.(Reading edge)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... "'You ate too much! Don't do it next time!' It will tell you in a friendly way, 'Oh, you're overweight! What happened?'" --Yefim G Kriger, who recently won a patent for a vehicle that can regularly weigh drivers, track pounds lost or...

Legacy backplanes get boost to 5 Gbps.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR has further extended the life of legacy backplanes with the SCAN50C400, a quad SERDES (serializer/deserializer) transceiver. The four-channel transceiver maintains signal integrity at 5 Gbps over FR-4 backplanes designed...

Package extends the capabilities of development tools.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... IMPULSE ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGIES has released the CoDeveloper C-language-design tool for programmable platforms based on the Altera (www.altera.com) Nios and Xilinx (www.Xilinx.com) MicroBlaze embedded processors. The product complements...

50M-sample/sec, 8-bit, two-channel PCI ADC-board prices start at $995.(leading edge)(AlazarTech)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... ALAZARTECH'S ATS850 PCI-BASED waveform digitizer provides 8-bit, 50M-sample/sec conversion simultaneously on two channels with flexible triggering and fully programmable front ends. The company says that a programmable-chip-based design...

Laptop-sized emulator validates IP.(leading edge)(intellectual-property)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... The Aptix Pathfinder IP (intellectual-property)-validation Station provides a prototyping platform for small, embedded designs or for embedded-IP blocks. The device measures 9.5x 11.5x2.75 in. and incorporates an Altera (www.altera. com)...

Dilbert.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT HALF OF YOU WILL GET HUGE RAISES. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE BAD NEWS IS THAT HALF OF YOU WILL BE DOWNSIZED TORORROW. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IS IT THE SAME PEOPLE? YEAH, WE RAN THE NUMBERS. ...

Single-board computer multiplies VMEbus transfer rates.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... MOTOROLA COMPUTER GROUP has recently announced the MVME6100 single-board computer employing the 2eSST (two-edge source-synchronous-transfer) protocol for significantly faster VMEbus data-transfer rates. Compared with VME64's typical...

Tool tackles complex FPGAs.(leading edge)(Field Programmable Gate-Array)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... DESIGNERS TODAY can consider FPGAs as viable alternatives to many ASICs when deciding how to implement products. Yet, they often have had to depend on tools that were more primitive than those available for ASIC design. At the beginning of the...

Single-chip add-drop multiplexer integrates cross-connect.(leading edge)(Parama Networks)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... PARAMA NETWORKS' ADM (add-drop multiplexer)-on-chip offers all the functions required to build applications such as SONET/SDH terminal equipment; metro digital-cross-connect systems; and transport and aggregation multiplexers, including...

Adaptive-computing platform yields flexible hardware control.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... QUICKSILVER HAS INTRODUCED its first product in the adaptive-computing market. This technology allows designers to dynamically modify the hardware architecture of a device, depending on the functions a device requires at a given time. This...

Handheld DMMs offer non-contact ac-voltage sensor.(leading edge)(Digital Multi-Meter)(Brief Article)
February 19, 2004... THE SHOCKING TRUTH is that accidentally coming into contact with ac-line voltage is no fun and, on occasion, can be lethal. Following the philosophy that it should do its utmost to keep all of its customers in the best of health, Meterman, the...

Three alternatives to your aliasing problems.(baker's best)
February 19, 2004... SO, YOU NEED A LOWPASS FILTER in your data-acquisition circuit. And you know it's not a good idea to implement this function after the ADC as a digital filter in your controller or processor. The best place for this filter is before your ADC,...

Is greed good?(edn.comment)
February 19, 2004... CH'AN PRIEST HENG SURE probably doesn't fit the image that most of you think of when you hear the words "Buddhist monk." A Caucasian native of Maine, Sure is steeped in the high-tech culture at the University of California--Berkeley, where he...

The greed for speed: evolving 802.11: when faster isn't necessarily better.(digital den)
February 19, 2004... GO DOWN TO your local electronics superstore, and you can witness what could be labeled the Starburst Wars. Companies that sell 802.11 WLAN (wireless-LAN) products believe that speed sells, and they all want to feature a big maximum-bandwidth...

Squeeze play wring the power out of your design; your system's power efficiency depends on how well you match your hardware- and software- design decisions with your application's operating behavior.(Cover Story)
February 19, 2004... LOWER SYSTEM-POWER DISSIPATION is not a design constraint just for battery-powered applications; it is also a primary concern for many high-performance wired systems. The processor or processors you use in an embedded design may represent a...

What you lose from a lossy line: at clock frequencies greater than 1 GHz and interconnects longer than 12 in., transmission-line-loss effects dominate signal integrity. A flexible simulation tool helps you make early trade-offs to optimize cost and performance.(design feature)
February 19, 2004... ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS are running on Moore's Law's relentless treadmill. Traditionally, Moore's Law says that the number of transistors per chip doubles every 18 months--thanks to advances in photolithography, which allow smaller transistors at...

Programmable silicon oscillators: high performance analog solutions from linear technology.(Advertisement)
February 19, 2004... If you need a stable frequency source, the best bet is a crystal, right? The correct answer is a resounding "maybe." It turns out, there are lots of reasons to abandon the tried and true. Traditional docks involve crystals, modules and...

Choosing the perfect TFT display: part two: learning the types of TFT interfaces, the electronics that drive and control them, basic connection schemes, and some often-missed fine points can help you select a TFT.(design feature)
February 19, 2004... PART ONE OF THIS SERIES covered some of the physical attributes, designer options, and backlight options that exist with TFTs (EDN, February 5, pg 59). Part two discusses the types of TFT interfaces and the electronics that drive and control...

Equalization enhances RS-485 links: system designers can use receiver equalization to extend RS-485 data transmission with longer cable and higher signaling rates.(design feature)
February 19, 2004... RS-485 DATA TRANSMISSION, conforming to the ANSI TIA/EIA-485-A standard, is a common method of communicating data across distances as far as 1200m at signaling rates as high as about 30 Mbps. The nonideal characteristics of the typical...