EDN articles from July 2009

EDN archives from July 2009

High-level software for embedded-system design doing your job?
July 9, 2009... By Rick Nelson, Editor-in-Chief Domain experts are gaining more control of embedded-system design, but electronic- and code-design skills remain key to successful projects. Powerful high-level software tools give domain experts in such...

FPGA verification in embedded video-processing systems.
July 9, 2009... By Harshal Chhaya and Tarak Patel, eInfochips FPGAs can be great at video processing, but verifying FPGA-based video systems requires careful attention to your approach. Participating in the consumer-electronics segment has many...

Small-delay-defect testing.
July 9, 2009... By Roberto Mattiuzzo and Davide Appello, STMicroelectronics, Chris Allsup, SynopsyS SDD automatic-test-pattern generation breaks the nanometer-quality barrier. Semiconductor companies have come to rely on delay testing to attain high...

EDA companies tout RF design, links to test.
July 9, 2009... By Rick Nelson, Editor-in-Chief From RF/microwave-circuit-design tools to electromagnetic simulation, EDA companies work with instrument vendors to get high-performance, high-quality products to market. EDA companies are introducing...

Illumination ring provides focused intensities.
July 9, 2009... William Grill, Honeywell Aerospace, Olathe, KS Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville If you use a camera-based inspection or soldering fixture, you need to see images in a small area. Often, side lighting produces shadows on an...

Digital variable resistor compensates voltage regulator.
July 9, 2009... Jason Andrews, Maxim Integrated Products Inc, Dallas, TX Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville A variable resistor that integrates a programmable, temperature-indexed look-up table can compensate for the temperature drift of a...

Hot-swap switch provides easy thermal protection.
July 9, 2009... Donald Schelle, National Semiconductor Corp, Santa Clara, CA Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville It is often difficult to design an effective thermal-management scheme that minimizes the risk of meltdown or fire. System...

Add headphones to a Class D amplifier.
July 9, 2009... Hiroshi Fukushima, Technical Research Center, D&M Holdings Inc, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville The MAX9704 from Maxim (www.maxim-ic.com ) is a small and efficient Class D audio power amplifier....

Circuit eases power-sequence testing.
July 9, 2009... Goh Ban Hok, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Ltd, Singapore Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville Systems on chip (SOCs) normally require one power supply for the core and another for I/O. To properly apply power to the device,...

Early verification and validation using model-based design.
July 9, 2009... by Brett Murphy and Amory Wakefield, The MathWorks With a model-centric approach, embedded-system designers can verify and validate their products as a parallel activity throughout the development process. When The MathWorks introduced...

MEMS-based motion sensors move lower in both size and price.
July 9, 2009... by Margery Conner The 16-bit, three-axis LIS302DLH digital MEMS (microelectromechanical-system) accelerometer from STMicroelectronics is 0.75 mm high and has a 3x5-mm footprint. It has a power-saving shutdown mode and wakes automatically...

Advance hints at all-optical add-drop multiplexers.
July 9, 2009... Edited by Ron Wilson A recent breakthrough at the University of Karlsruhe (www.uni-karlsruhe.de ), in collaboration with IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center), Lehigh University (www.lehigh.edu ), and ETH (Swiss Federal Institute...

Implantable sensor device promises continuous cancer monitoring.
July 9, 2009... by Suzanne Deffree Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim that they can implant a sensor device during a cancer-tissue biopsy and that the sensor can remain in patients for continuous monitoring of the disease's...

Arbitrary-waveform generator combines protocol- and physical-layer testing.
July 9, 2009... by Dan Strassberg The need is intensifying to investigate and identify performance impairments resulting from imperfections in the physical layers of serial buses such as Flexray, an advanced data-transmission technology for communication...

Ramtron expands serial-FRAM line with 32-kbit device.
July 9, 2009... by Rick Nelson Ramtron International Corp, a supplier of nonvolatile FRAM (ferroelectric random-access memory), has announced the FM24CL32, a serial-nonvolatile RAM that offers high-speed read/write performance, low-voltage operation, and...

Software upgrade brings logic-analyzer-style insights to audio testing.
July 9, 2009... by Dan Strassberg Audio Precision has announced several new features for its APx series of audio analyzers. These features relate to the display, analysis, and control of metadata in HDMI (high-definition-multimedia interface); IEC...

Distributors' education services blossom.
July 9, 2009... by Rob Spiegel Distributor-supplied services extending technical and product education are increasingly in demand as engineering teams at brand owners continue to shrink and the formidable stress on design teams continues to grow....