EDN articles from January 2005

EDN archives from January 2005

Share and share alike.(leading edge: what's hot in the design community)
January 6, 2005... "Companies willing to share their expertise and skills can find new ways to overcome roadblocks and held lead the industry to the next generation of technology advancements." --Lisa Su of IBM on a recent collaboration with AMD for strained...

4-Gbps FibreChannel test module generates traffic, performs protocol analysis.(leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES' $20,000 1735A test module for 1-, 2-, and 4-Gbps FibreChannel optical networks not only performs real-time protocol analysis, but also generates traffic to stimulate the network under test. In combination with support...

Ultracapacitor-pack standardization reaches 15V.(leading edge: what's hot in the design community)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... FOLLOWING ITS INTRODUCTION of an ultracapacitor in a standard D-cell form factor, Maxwell Technologies has put six of its Boostcap ultracapacitors into a single plug-and-play battery pack with nominal 15V output. The packs are available as...

Servoamp drive is small, versatile, powerful, and networked.(leading edge: what's hot on the design community)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... THE ALL-DIGITAL Accelnet Micro servo-amplifier from Copley Controls squeezes the physical envelope and expands the performance envelope. The single-axis, 2.5 x 1.6-in., pc-board-mountable design can be part of the overall control,...

Host controller powers USB storage devices.(leading edge: what's hot on the design community)(Parvus Corp)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The USB104+, a new four-port USB 2.0 host controller from Parvus, can directly power attached devices and delivers transfer rates 40 times faster than legacy USB 1.1 products. This 3.55x3.775-in. PC/104-Plus form-factor module provides four...

Dilbert.(leading edge: what's hot on the design community)
January 6, 2005... CORPORATE WITCH-HUNT ALICE DID YOU TELL A REPORTER THAT YOUR PRODUCTS STINK? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I PROMISE ON THE HONOR OF MY FAMILY, AND ON ALL THAT IS HOLY, THAT I DID NOT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SO I GUESS YOU'RE...

Format-tuned codec, encoder contend for relevance.(leading edge: what's hot on the design community)
January 6, 2005... PROTOCOM HAS CHOSEN to hard-wire the video and ADPCM (adaptive-differential pulse-code-modulation) audio-encoding capabilities of its $19 (100,000) GoldenReel PR828 device, along with the incremental full-duplex video and ADPCM decoding...

Media, chip set address portable systems' requirements.(leading edge: what's hot on the design community)
January 6, 2005... SAMSUNG HAS SHOEHORNED a 1.5-Gbyte Cornice Storage Element into its latest model--SPH V5400 cell phone, a trendsetting first step in a bigger picture flash-to-hard-disk-drive shift that EDN predicted after last year's Storage Visions Conference...

Everything matters.(signal integrity)
January 6, 2005... THE RECENT IEEE CPMT (Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society) meeting in Portland, OR, produced a plethora of papers documenting interactions among system architecture, signal quality, RF interference, power-system noise,...

Sweating the details.(edn.comment)
January 6, 2005... IT IS NOT UNCOMMON for a malfunctioning monitoring device to shut down complex machinery. What regular airline passenger hasn't been victimized by an errant cockpit warning light? In mid-December, a faulty pantograph alarm on the Acela...

Achieving efficient battery life.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... BATTERY TECHNOLOGY: The proliferation of battery-powered products has introduced a new list of design challenges that engineers must address. This month, EDN Contributing Technical Editor Nicholas Cravotta explores the issue of optimizing...

Industry's lowest power, dual power mode op amp.(Product Spotlight)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The LMV422 is ideal for use in low-power embedded systems, AC-coupled circuits, battery-powered instruments, audio instrumentation, laboratory instrumentation, smoke detectors, battery-powered wireless security systems and CDMA basestations....

Video room service: products advances state of the art in wireless home-video networking. But there's still a long way to go.(digital den)
January 6, 2005... EDN'S DIGITAL DEN recently played host to one of the few shipping products that uses wireless technology to boldly send video to televisions in areas of a home where no wire has gone before. Although Belkin's PureAV RemoteTV system is...

Smart phones the next embedded interface: representing the convergence of PDA and cellular devices, smart-phone technology promises to be fitting user interface for the early stages of the pervasive-computing era.(Personal digital assistants)(Cover Story)
January 6, 2005... WITH EXCESS COMPUTING POWER, built-in programmable graphics, and multiple communications options, smart cellular phones provide a convenient and capable mobile user interface for many of the growing multitude of intelligent embedded devices. A...

A thousand points of bright: turning up the volume on solid-state lighting.(design)
January 6, 2005... ADVANCEMENTS IN BRIGHT-LED-FABRICATION PROCESSES, device designs, and assembly technologies have been driving up LED-illuminator performance and driving down the cost of ownership at an impressive clip. Junction formulations, reradiating...

Evolving to AdvancedTCA-compliant devices: chassis designs are shifting from proprietary to standard backplanes.(design)(Telecom Computing Architecture)
January 6, 2005... DESIGNING A NEW SYSTEM BACKPLANE involves many disciplines, including the application-specific functions and generic blocks that are part of any telecom or data system. These generic blocks, such as mechanical design, EMI integrity, backplanes,...

Laser simulator helps avoid destroyed diodes.(design ideas)
January 6, 2005... LASER DIODES CAN destroy themselves in a few nanoseconds, so testing the response and stability of a feedback-stabilized laser-diode driver can be expensive. The simulator circuit in Figure 1 shows a typical laser-diode package, which contains...

Differential driver doubles as versatile RF-switch driver.(design ideas)
January 6, 2005... DESIGNED AS a HIGH-SPEED driver for 12-bit ADCs, the AD8137 controls SPDT GaAs (gallium-arsenide) FET-MMIC (microwave-monolithic-IC) and PIN-diode RF switches and thus provides a low-cost and versatile alternative to conventional switch...

Pseudologarithmic thermistor signal conditioning spans wide temperature range.(design ideas)
January 6, 2005... GIVEN ITS LOW COST, small size, robust construction, accuracy, versatility and sensitivity, it's no wonder that the thermistor rates as one of the most popular temperature sensors available. However, in some applications, a thermistor can...

RF-telemetry transmitter features minimal parts count.(design ideas)
January 6, 2005... REQUIREMENTS FOR portable, short-range telemetry systems frequently include low power consumption, small size, and low cost. The circuit in Figure 1 meets these criteria and uses only three off-the-shelf ICs and a few passive components....

AdvancedTCA hot swap controller eases power distribution: design note 353.(Design Notes)(Advertisement)
January 6, 2005... Introduction AdvancedTCA[R] is a new modular computing architecture developed by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group for use in central office telecom environments. PICMG[R] 3.0 defines, among other things, the electrical and...

Zener diodes use less space.(Discrete Semiconductors)(product introduction)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The CMXZ2V4TO series of triple isolated zener diodes includes 32 voltages of 2.4 to 47V. It is arranged in an alternating configuration and packaged in a SOT-26 case that uses approximately 54% less board space than three individual DOD-123...

Dual P-channel power MOSFET offers low on-resistance.(Discrete Semiconductors)(AAT7357 20V )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The AAT7357 20V low-threshold dual P-channel power MOSFET suits battery-powered portable-system applications and comes in a TSOPJW-8 package that offers a 55% space savings compared with the standard TSSOP-8. It features a typical on-resistance...

PIN diode outperforms silicon-beam leads and chip devices in broadband-switching applications.(Discrete Semiconductors)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The AlGaAs flip-chip PIN diode (MA4AGFCP910) targets a variety of broadband (0.1 to 50 GHz), multi-throw-switch and switched-phase shifter circuits, including those common in electronic-countermeasure, radar, and high-speed instrumentation...

ESD-protection diodes come in ultrasmall packages.(Circuit Protection)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The VESCxx-02V ESD-protection diode offers one-line transient protection of 15 kV (air) and 8 kV (contact) as per lED 61000-4-2. The diode offers designers a choice of five working voltage values of 1 to 12V and maximum clamping voltages of 9...

ESD suppressor protects against 15-kV ESD threats.(Circuit Protection)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The 0603ESDA ESD suppressor is 55% smaller than the 0805ESDA and has a lower typical trigger voltage and capacitance. With capacitance as low as 0.15 pF, it suits high-speed data lines, such as USB 2.0, IEEE1394b, and Gigabit Ethernet. It...

TransFeed capacitors provide transient-voltage protection.(Circuit Protection)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The V3F4 series TransFeed device pairs the electrical characteristics of AVX's TransGuard multiplayer varistors and FeedThru filters and comes in a 0612 (3.2x1.6-mm) package. TransFeed features two electrical advantages over the standard...

15,000-rpm drives join disk-drive family.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The Cheetah 15K.4 drive delivers 30% more I/Os per second and 20% faster response times than 3.5-in. 10,000-rpm drives. It is available in Ultra320 SCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces and will likely be offered with the new SCSI (SAS) interface...

Mini hard drive is USB-powered.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive comes in 20- and 40-Gbyte capacities and receives 100% of its power from a standard USB data port. It is based on 1.8-in. hard-disk technology and features a 4200-rpm drive, a blue light signaling disk activity, and...

LCD monitors come in three sizes.(Computers & Peripherals)(liquid crystal displays)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The 15-in. LM-560 LCD monitor features 1024 x 768-pixel displayable resolution, two embedded stereo speakers, and a contrast ratio of 400-to-1.The 17-in. LM-760 LCD monitor offers a 450-to-1 contrast ratio, integrated speakers, and 1280 x...

DVD recorder features 16x recording and dual-layer technology.(Computers & Peripherals)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2005... The DVD Cruiser 160 external DVD recorder incorporates Alera Technologies' A-Connect I/O, which provides flexible connectivity options for both desktop and mobile users. It comes with NTI DragonBurn for Macintosh and the Nero DVD/CD Suite for...

Stick a fork in it.(leading edge)
January 20, 2005... "My interest in things electrical began at age three when I stuck a fork into a toaster and got a nasty--and presumably exciting--shock!" --Steve Woodward EDN contributor and free-lance technology consultant

Video-capture card drives multiple displays.(leading edge)(Curtiss-Wright Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... CURTISS-WRIGHT CONTROLS Embedded Computing recently launched a high-resolution PCI Mezzanine Card graphics-display controller and video-capture card for VME, CompactPCI, and PCI systems. The Topaz/PMC, powered by Silicon Motion's 128-bit SM731...

Wireless PC/104-plus module links industrial nodes.(leading edge)(WinSystems Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... WINSYSTEMS' NEW PPM-Wireless module provides industrial users with a high-speed data network based on Mini-PCI 802.11b/g wireless modules and Ethernet. The module allows designers to replace a standard Category 5 Ethernet cable with a radio...

Video processor embraces high-speed A/V link.(leading edge)(Silicon Image Inc.)
January 20, 2005... AT LAST YEAR'S CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Silicon Image rolled out a three-chip transmitter-and-receiver family supporting the HDMI (high-definition-multimedia-interface) audio-plus-video interface it pioneered. This year, the company takes...

Dilbert.(leading edge)
January 20, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: IN ONLY ONE WEEK MY PROJECT TEAM HAS CREATED A TIME LINE AND IDENTIFIED THE RESOURCES WE NEED. NEXT WEEK, WE PLAN TO REVISE THE TIME LINE AND RE-EXAMINE OUR RESOURCE NEEDS. GOOD WORK. THERE...

DMM puts 7 1/2 digits into PCI platform.(leading edge)(Peripheral Component Interconnect)(Digital Multimeters)(Signametrics Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The Signametrics SM2064 digital multimeter puts high precision into a PCI plug-in form, well-suited for test-system integrators and instrumentation users. Featuring measurement rates to 20,000 readings/sec without latency, the unit has...

Consumer-tuned chips exemplify integration trend.(leading edge)
January 20, 2005... AS A GIVEN APPLICATION increases in popularity, system shipments rise, competition emerges, and cost pressures consequently increase, Moore's Law inexorably comes into play. Chip vendors at the core of the system design pull functions that...

Graphics-memory-management scheme resurrects, advances past initiative.(leading edge)(accelerated graphics port)
January 20, 2005... WHEN INTEL BEGAN, in the late 1990s, championing the AGP (accelerated graphics port), one commonly touted capability was AGP Aperture mode--that is, the ability to employ system memory as part or all of the graphics card's frame buffer. Intel's...

Credit a fork's shorting the toaster: Q and A with Steve Woodward.(leading edge)
January 20, 2005... WITH MORE THAN 30 contributions to his credit, Steve Woodward is one of EDN's most prolific Design Ideas authors. His offerings started in 1974 with an idea entitled "Simple 10-kHz V/F features differential inputs," for which he won the annual...

The compiler advantage.(baker's best)
January 20, 2005... Choosing The Right C Compiler for your embedded-system projects may be a bigger challenge than you expect. The embedded-system-industry trend is moving from using assembly to using the higher level languages. Assembly language gives you more...

You be the judge.(EDN's 2004 Innovator/Innovation Program)
January 20, 2005... 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...

Best of 15 years.(EDN's 2004 Innovator/Innovation Program)(semiconductor industry)
January 20, 2005... IN CELEBRATION OF our 15th annual EDN Innovation Awards, we present a special Innovation Contest to select the best of the Innovation Awards winners in that period. Our editorial team went back to 1990 and evaluated every product that won an...

1 MHz to 2 MHz SOT-23 DC-DC converters improve system efficiency.(Featured products)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The LM3670/71 are step-down DC-DC converters optimized for powering ultra-low voltage circuits from a single Li-lon cell or 3-cell NiMH/NiCd batteries. These devices offer up to 95% efficiency and are ideal for powering digital processors in...

Low-voltage switched capacitor step-down DC-DC converter.(Design / idea: power supply design)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The LM2770 is a switched capacitor step-down DC-DC converter with an output voltage of 1.5V or 1.2V and an output current capability of 250 mA. The LM2770 is ideal for powering low-voltage circuits that operate from a Li-lon battery. The device...

Power supply design and the thinking engineer.(Design / idea)
January 20, 2005... Over the last 15 years, the design of switching power supplies has entered the mainstream. Now, no longer solely the responsibility of an expert, almost anyone involved in system design may end up putting together the switching power supply....

WEBENCH[R] online design environment.(Simulators )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... Save development time and costs. WEBENCH online design and prototyping tools deliver results faster than ever. Now you have the world's most powerful and award-winning online design environment right at your fingertips. Design, optimize,...

Industry's first single-chip, high-performance Power-over-Ethernet (POE) solution.(Featured products)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... While competitive solutions use two or three chips, the LMS070 is the first single-chip powered device (PD)interface port and pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller that meets the IEEE 802.3af standard. The LMS070 integrates an 80V, 400 mA...

Industry's highest power density Thin-SOT23 buck switching regulators.(Featured products)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The LM2734 and LM2736 are the first in a family of buck switching regulators. These high-frequency, PWM step-down converters are designed to improve local DC-DC conversion with fast transient response and precise regulation in the smallest...

15 years of recognizing innovation.(edn.comment)
January 20, 2005... This issue contains the names of the 41 product finalists in EDN's 15th annual Innovation Awards. As Ron Popeil of Ronco and Vegomatic fame would say, "But wait! There's more!" And, indeed, this year, there is To celebrate a decade and a...

Can benchmarks usefully compare energy efficiency?(Measured Response)(Cover Story)
January 20, 2005... BENCHMARKS FOR COMPARING the relative performance between processor alternatives are strictly design-productivity tools. They do not, by themselves, make a technical challenge solvable, but they can reduce the amount of time it takes a...

Hitting their stride: nonvolatile-memory upstarts draw near to established leaders.(design feature)
January 20, 2005... ONE NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGY IS FINALLY ON A LEADING-EDGE PROCESS, ANOTHER IS NEARING PRODUCTION AFTER YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT, AND A THIRD HAS ITS FIRST HIGH-VOLUME CUSTOMER. THE NONVOLATILE-MEMORY RACE HAS, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME,...

Universal amplifiers: high performance analog solutions from linear technology; outstanding AC performance with extremely low power.
January 20, 2005... Ever wished to simplify inventory by using a single chip to perform multiple functions? How about an integrated yet simple, flexible device that minimizes your bill of materials, board space, and development time... while increasing analog...

Interleaved forward converters transform voltage-regulation models: interleaved forward converters lower capacitor ripple currents, cut component cost and size, and increase reliability in low-voltage, high-current-output voltage regulation models.(design feature)
January 20, 2005... VRMs (VOLTAGE-REGULATION MODULES) that power the latest generations of computer CPUs have historically used multiphase, interleaved buck converters. These VRMs must meet the tight Pentium 4 and Athlon CPU voltage-regulation and --transient...

2-Phase boost converter delivers 10W from a 3mm x 3mm DFN package--design note 354.(Design Notes)
January 20, 2005... Introduction Small size, high efficiency, low noise and simplicity are all key features for battery-powered applications and point-of-load converters in low voltage systems. The LTC[R]3428 is well suited for these applications because it...

Enhanced battery "gas gauge" keeps its data through glitches.(design ideas)
January 20, 2005... TEXAS INSTRUMENTS' BQ2010 battery-"gas-gauge" IC offers a convenient method for recording available charge stored in a nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride battery. However, even though plenty of charge remains available, under certain...

Charge pump converts--5V to 5V.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... VERSATILE SWITCHED-CAPACITOR charge-pump voltage converters can provide a negative supply voltage from a positive-voltage source or double a positive source's voltage. However, certain applications that consist entirely of ECL...

JFETs offer LC oscillators with few components.(design ideas)
January 20, 2005... BY USING JFETs in unusual configurations, you can design simple, high-frequency LC oscillators with few passive components. The structure for implementing the amplifier stage comprises a WET transistor that you configure as a common drain...

Autostart circuit helps ATX motherboards resume operation after power interruptions.(design ideas)(Automatic Transaxle)
January 20, 2005... UNLIKE LEGACY PC motherboards, an ATX-style motherboard controls its power supply's on/off state. If ac power fails, many ATX motherboards do not automatically restart when power returns, and that behavior is unacceptable for a server system...

Panel-mount LEDs for 120V-ac applications suit front and rear mounting.(Optoelectronics/Displays)(Light Emitting Diodes)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... These 120V ac LEDs meet requirements for IP67 and are sealed against moisture and dust. The 3- and 5-mm LEDs fit 0.187- to 0.312-in. holes, and users can select from several lenses, including cartridge, fresnel, flush-mount, and domed. The LEDs...

99-die LED array offers high thermal conductivity.(Optoelectronics/Displays)(Light Emitting Diodes)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... This family of six devices in the 99-die LED-array line features a 110[degrees] beam angle and wavelengths of 405 to 870 nm. $200 (100). Opto Diode Corp, 1-805499-0335 ext 312, www.optodiode.com

Single- and double-contact LED lamps directly replace incandescent bulbs.(Optoelectronics/Displays)(Light Emitting Diodes)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The Series B618/619 single-contact and Series DB618/619 double-contact, 15-mm, bayonet-based 18- and 19-LED lamps directly replace incandescent bulbs #310 and #312. They also offer 12 to 15 and 20 to 30[degrees] light-emitting angles. The LED...

Silicon 4x4 array photodetector provides low crosstalk levels.(Optoelectronics/Displays)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The UDT-4x4 D superblue enhanced photodetectors have crosstalk of less than at 0.05% at 633 nm. The active-area diameter, 1 x 1 mm, exhibits sensitivity of 300 to 1100 nm with a peak responsivity of 900 nm and 50-pF capacitance. UDT...

Microcontrollers are available in 24 or 32 kbytes of enhanced flash memory.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... These flash PIC microcontrollers with Full-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity feature 24 or 32 kbytes of self-programmable enhanced flash memory; 2 kbytes of RAM, of which 1 kbyte can be a dedicated USB buffer; 256 bytes of data EEPROM; an EUSART for...

Multiservice processor family targets voice-over-IP-gateway applications.(Microprocessors)(Internet Protocol )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The MSP (Multservice-processor) devices, including the MSP2015, MSP2020, MSP4000, and MSP5000, use a 32-bit MIPS-architecture microprocessor core and one or two dual-MAC DSP cores. The MSP devices support a voice-processing software suite,...

8-bit microcontrollers feature memory of 8 to 128 kbytes.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The 78K0/Kx2 series of 8-bit microcontrollers includes 48 products with 8-to 128-kbyte memory capacities, 30-to 80pin packages, maximum 20MHz operating speeds, and 1.8 to 5.5V power-supply voltages. The vendor will ship samples of the 78K0/Kx2...

Chip family suits wide array of applications.(Microprocessors)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... A collection of OTP (onetime-programmable) microcontrollers from the ZGP323 family of products offers an operating voltage range of 2 to 5.5V; standard, extended, and automotive temperature ranges; 4 to 32 kbytes of OTP memory; 237 bytes of...

New chassis uses 33% less rack space.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The 2U AdvancedTCA development chassis features point-to-point connections in the two-slot backplane; ac input; and 5000W, 48V dc output. It requires no switch cards for prototyping. The device uses 33% less rack space than conventional...

PC/104 module has Linux drivers.(Embedded Systems)
January 20, 2005... The MPC555 provides 24 digital I/O lines, 16 12-bit analog-input lines, three 16-bit counter/timer channels operating from -40 to +85C[degrees], and device drivers for Linux. It also includes eight user LEDs and four general-purpose readable...

USB software allows developers to build applications without hardware.(Embedded Systems)
January 20, 2005... The Nucleus SIM software for USB enables developers to build Nucleus RTOS and USB software applications without the hardware. The software features an API for simulating hosts and functions and a demonstration of host- and client-side...

Chassis has removable handle and scratch-resistant cover for easy transportation.(Embedded Systems)
January 20, 2005... The VXS development chassis complies with the VITA 41 specifications and features options for a five- to 12-slot VXS backplane and advanced EMC shielding to meet CE and FCC needs. Prices start at less than $2500, depending on options and...

Notebook supports 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound.(Computers and Peripherals)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The PCM Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook enables hardware-accelerated EAX 4.0 Advanced HD and 3-D positional audio for games, CMSS (Creative Multispeaker Surround) 3-D support for surround sound over stereo headphones, 24-bit/96-kHz...

Video encoder supports Intel-developed sDVO interface.(Computers and Peripherals)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The CX2590X encoder family integrates a dual DVI (digital visual interface) transmitter with standard and high-definition TV-out and VGA outputs that operate simultaneously and independently from one another through the Intel Graphics Media...

QCIF LCD uses advanced TFT technology.(Computers and Peripherals)(Liquid crystal displays)(Quarter Common Intermediate Format)(thin-film-transistor)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The 2.2-in. QCIF LCD uses Advanced-TFT (thin-film-transistor) transflective-display technology. The devices feature a 176x220-dot RGB format, 0.066-dot-wide x 0.198-dot-high pitch, 262,144 colors, 42.1x56.6x4.2 mm outline dimensions, a 60-to-1...

2-D graphics board uses AGP 8X system interface.(Computers and Peripherals)(Accelerated Graphics Port )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The Nvidia Quadro NVS 50 features 64 Mbytes of DDR graphics memory, a DVI-I connector, and an AGP 8X system interface. The device sells for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99. PNY Technologies, www.nvidia.com

17-in. LCD monitor features high contrast ratio.(Computers and Peripherals)(liquid crystal display)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The SyncMaster711t features a 1000-to-1 contrast ratio with a brightness ratio of 250 cd/[m.sup.2], fine pixel pitch of 0.264 mm, and maximum resolution of 1280x1024 pixels. The monitor also includes an analog/digital interface, response time...

IC converts serial data to FAT file for universal storage.(Computers and Peripherals)(Integrated circuits)(file allocation table)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The fully compiled, linked, and programmed, 32-bit Alfat LPC2114 IC processor offers file-access speeds as high as 70 kbps. The IC receives data using a serial port or SPI and supports FAT (file-allocation-table) 12, 16, and 32 formats. The...

DC/DC converter blocks noise.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The 2A, 6V, 1.2-MHz LTC3426 step-up dc/dc converter from Linear Technology has a 1.6 to 4.2V input-voltage range. This range allows the device to operate from dual-cell alkaline/NiHM/NiCd to single-cell Liion batteries. The device can deliver...

Codecs suit use in handheld media.(Integrated Circuits)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... Two audio codecs, the stereo WM8980 and the mono WM8982, incorporate a video buffer to allow direct connection to a TV for image display. The third new device, the WM8978, is a full-featured stereo version of the WM8974 that the vendor...

Three power switches target switch-mode power supplies.(Integrated Circuits)
January 20, 2005... The 100W-rated FSCQ0765RT, 170W-rated FSCQ 1265RT, and 200W-rated FSCQ 1565R2 aim at quasiresonant offline switch-mode power supplies. These highly integrated switches combine a fully avalanche-rated SenseFET and current-mode PWM IC in one...

Video decoders suit high-definition digital broadcast TV.(Integrated Circuits)
January 20, 2005... The CX2418X family of video decoders implements the MPEG-4 advanced video coding/H.264 standard (also known as MPEG-4 Part 10), including both main profile and high profile up to level 4.0, with support for all broadcast formats and resolutions...

Low-cost HDMI receiver suits mass-market DTVs.(Integrated Circuits)(high-definition multimedia interface)(digital televisons)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The Sil 9011 HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) third-generation receiver supports HDCP, DVD-audio, and HDCP-repeater functions. It supports bandwidths to 165 MHz and a range of video resolutions including 1080p and UXGA. Software for...

COFDM demodulator is compliant with NorDig Unified standard.(Integrated Circuits)(Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... The STV0361 COFDM demodulator chip performs the front-end processing of terrestrial-digital-TV transmissions throughout Europe. The chip connects to the vendor's industry-standard Omega back-end devices. It's hardware- and software-compatible...

High-efficiency charge pump debuts.(Integrated Circuits)(AnalogicTech)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2005... AnalogicTech's AAT3119 fixed-frequency, high-efficiency charge pump works with 1-[mu]F capacitors at [V.sub.IN] and [V.sub.OUT]. Current levels for the AAT3119 reach 150 mA. The device delivers 300 mA of pulsed current, requires only three...