EDN articles from June 2009

EDN archives from June 2009

Tee up your Multiprocessing options.
June 11, 2009... By Robert Cravotta, Technical Editor A good processor taxonomy helps you understand processing architectures' sweet spots. You should probably look at multicore options in the same way. Vendors categorize single-processor architectures...

USB 3.0: A simple idea full of challenges.
June 11, 2009... By Ron Wilson Executive Editor Combining 5 GbPs with the convenience of USB sounds like a sure win, but many issues are hiding behind the premise. Super-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0 sounds like a great idea. Just start with...

RF Engineers Automate Tests.
June 11, 2009... By Martin Rowe Senior Technical Editor, Test & Measurement World Many test engineers sidestep the built-in capabilities in today's RF-test equipment and devise their own algorithms, applications, and automated tests. Bill Drago, a...

Fast 10-line-to-one-line data selector/multiplexer comprises only two ICs.
June 11, 2009... Marián Eatofka, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia Edited By Martin Rowe and Fran Granville When dealing with logic operations over BCD (binary-coded-decimal) numbers, you often need a 10-line-to-one-line data...

Implement a simple digital-serial NRZ data-recovery algorithm in an FPGA.
June 11, 2009... Jef Thone and Bob Puers, ESAT-MICAS, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Edited By Martin Rowe and Fran Granville Serial-data links embed clocks in their data streams, and those clocks must be recovered at the receiver end....

LED strobe has independent delay and duration.
June 11, 2009... Michael C Page, Chelmsford, MA Edited By Martin Rowe and Fran Granville The circuit in Figure 1 is not complex, but it saved the day in an application involving visual inspection of the spray pattern of fuel injectors for quality and...

Cancel sensor-wiring error with bias-current modulation.
June 11, 2009... W Stephen Woodward, Chapel Hill, NC Edited By Martin Rowe and Fran Granville The approximately -2-mV/[degrees]C temperature coefficient of diode junctions is a popular means of temperature measurement, especially in cryogenic...

Simple FSK modulator enables data transmission over low-speed link.
June 11, 2009... Israel Schleicher, Prescott Valley, AZ Edited By Martin Rowe and Fran Granville FSK (frequency-shift keying) is a type of signal modulation for transmitting digital data over an analog communication link. An FSK modulator comprises a...

Designing portability into silicon IP.
June 11, 2009... By Joseph Pun - Gennum Corp, Snowbush IP Group Design foundry portability into IP cores, rather than applying it after the fact. Designing IP (intellectual-property) cores that you can port to various foundry protocols or process...

Troubleshooting a transaction-level model.
June 11, 2009... By Andrea Kroll, PhD - JEDA Technologies Seemingly minor violations of the TLM 2.0 standard can turn a system-level model into an agent of evil in your design flow. The goal of OSCI (Open SystemC Initiative) TLM (transaction-level...

Low-power audio codec incorporates Class D-loudspeaker amplifier.
June 11, 2009... Paul Rako National Semiconductor recently announced the low-power LM49352 audio codec (compressor/decompressor) for handheld consumer electronics. The part includes an audio codec with ground-referenced headphone amplifiers, Class...

New "nonblinking" nanocrystals promise increased efficiency in LED lighting.
June 11, 2009... Margery Conner HB LEDs (high-brightness light-emitting diodes) lose about 17% of their energy due to quantum losses, such as imperfections in the crystalline structure, or to a "blinking" effect. To address these problems, the University...

IMEC develops design for deep-brain-stimulation implant.
June 11, 2009... Gail Flower IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center) revealed a design strategy for brain-stimulation implants at the recent DATE (Design, Automation, and Test in Europe) conference in Nice, France. IMEC researchers claim to have...

Two-terminal current source supplies 200 mA.
June 11, 2009... Paul Rako Linear Technology Corp's new LT3092 two-terminal current source can supply 0.5 to 200 mA of current at a 1% initial accuracy. The device operates at 1.5 to 40V and exhibits less-than-1-mV typical load regulation and...

Agilent, ETS-Lindgren address A-GPS test.
June 11, 2009... Rick Nelson Agilent Technologies Inc has introduced GS-9000 A-GPS (assisted-global-positioning-system) test systems employing the company's 8960 wireless-communications-test set's new A-GPS-assistance-data-messaging-test capabilities....

Standardization boosts software reuse in micro-controllers.
June 11, 2009... Graham Prophet ARM licensees build ARM's CMSIS (Cortex-microcontroller-software-interface standard), a vendor-independent hardware-abstraction layer for processors, with Cortex-M processor IP (intellectual property). ARM intends to define...

Op amp has offset calibration to 200 µV.
June 11, 2009... Paul Rako Microchip Technology's new MCP651/2/5 operational amplifier targets use in microphone preamplifiers, optical-detector circuitry, digital scales, industrial instrumentation, H-bridge drivers, bar-code scanners, transmission-line...

CES 2009: the price of falling prices.
June 11, 2009... Brian Dipert Given the multiyear time span that elapses between when a new microprocessor architecture is proposed and when the first products based on that architecture appear, I honestly doubt that Intel (www.intel.com ) anticipated the...

Texas Instruments announces dual 14-bit, 250M-sample/sec ADC.
June 11, 2009... Rick Nelson Texas Instruments has introduced the dual 14-bit, 250M-sample/sec ADS62P49 ADC, which achieves 73-dBFS (decibels relative to full-scale) SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) and 85-dBc (decibels referenced to the carrier) SFDR...

Passive scope probes offer bandwidths to 1.5 GHz for high-speed-digital applications.
June 11, 2009... Dan Strassberg Agilent Technologies has introduced the N2870A family of miniature passive oscilloscope probes and accessories with bandwidths from dc to 1.5 GHz. The probes' 2.5-mm-diameter heads cover only one-fourth the surface area of...

Economy opens more doors to demand creation for distributors.
June 11, 2009... By Suzanne Deffree The ongoing downturn is causing an upturn for distribution-demand creation--using distributor-supplied suites of engineering services to encourage product training and guidance--as suppliers rely more on distributors to...

System ICs set for double-digit growth in 2010owth.
June 11, 2009... By Suzanne Deffree The global core-silicon market, including ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), ASSPs (application-specific standard products), and PLDs (programmable-logic devices), appears to have hit bottom and should...

EPA finding on gases could affect US IC manufacturing.
June 11, 2009... By Suzanne Deffree A recent move by the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov ) could discourage IC manufacturing in the country. In late April, the EPA issued a proposed finding that greenhouse gases contribute...

Is your amplifier offset way out of whack?
June 25, 2009... By Bonnie Baker Have you ever spent a great deal of time selecting the perfect operational amplifier for your circuit, only to find that the offset voltage is wrong at the manufacturer's bench-specified input? What if you find that it is...

Accelerating consumers' NAS adoptions: assessing your product options.
June 25, 2009... By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor Network storage is a notably bright spot in the otherwise-blah consumer-electronics economy. Carefully select and cull hardware, software, and their jointly implemented features to ensure product...

Diagnostic ultrasound gets smaller, faster, and more useful.
June 25, 2009... By Paul Rako, Technical Editor The signal path in Ultrasound machines is a multichannel transmitter-receiver system with blazingly fast data rates. engineers need to weigh a host of options in designing these complex machines. ...

Create a swept-sine function in LabView with just one virtual instrument.
June 25, 2009... Sean McPeak, University of California--San Diego Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville Swept sine waves are useful when you want to test a product over a wide frequency range. A large research project included the requirement to...

Charlieplexing at high duty cycle.
June 25, 2009... Luke Sangalli, Digital Designs, Melbourne, Australia Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville A few articles have recently appeared describing novel ways to increase the number of LEDs a microprocessor can drive with a limited number...

Serial port tests digital circuits.
June 25, 2009... Yury Magda, Cherkassy, Ukraine Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville A PC's serial port provides signal lines that you can use to read voltage levels of digital circuits. You can use the port to test digital TTL...

DAC calibrates 4- to 20-mA output current.
June 25, 2009... Ronald Moradkhan and Steven Lau, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville Industrial controls make heavy use of 4- to 20-mA current loops to transmit process measurements because current loops...

Alarm tells you to close the refrigerator door.
June 25, 2009... Boris Khaykin, TRW Automotive, Livonia, MI Edited by Martin Rowe and Fran Granville The circuit in Figure 1 is a simpler and safer device than a similar one I recently read about (Reference 1 ). A few years ago, I built the circuit...

Can't see the forest ...(marketing )(Editorial)
June 25, 2009... By Paul Rako, Technical Editor Analog design is all about trade-offs, so system-design expertise is vital to any company offering analog chips. For example, Dave Kress, director of technical marketing at Analog Devices, points out that his...

Peering into ultrasound machines.
June 25, 2009... Robert Cravotta, Technical Editor Ultrasound finds use in noninvasive imaging in cardiac, obstetric, gynecologic, and other diagnostic areas. What's inside this tool that is playing an expanding role in today's medical world? The...

Application engineers: serving the customer.
June 25, 2009... Interview conducted and edited by Paul Rako Jim Williams on the changing role of application engineering Jim Williams is a staff scientist at Linear Technology Corp. Longtime EDN readers recognize Williams as a vital contributor of...

Improving on PCB design.
June 25, 2009... Interview conducted and edited by Paul Rako In 1995, OrCAD had the most popular PC-based PCB (printed-circuit board)-schematic tool. Another popular tool was available from PADS, which Mentor Graphics now owns. Engineers designed PCB...

Little-known flash-memory features protect data and IP.
June 25, 2009... By Bill Stafford, Numonyx Features from block locking to encrypted-password-access mechanisms can prevent unintentional disruption, malicious damage, or copying. You design a system, and somebody messes it up. The damage is sometimes...

Scope-based tools support complete debugging and compliance testing of Superspeed USB 3.0.
June 25, 2009... by Dan Strassberg Tektronix's new DPO (digital-phosphor-oscilloscope)/DSA (digital-signal-analyzer) 7000B family is now available with a USB-TX option, which, with the press of a button, allows you to automatically and rapidly validate USB...

Analog Devices, Infineon collaborate on air-bag systems.
June 25, 2009... by Graham Prophet Analog Devices and Infineon Technologies have collaborated to produce next-generation automotive-air-bag systems. In the immediate future, the two companies will produce a hardware platform using parts from each company's...

1- to 4-GHz, 20G-sample/sec DSOs and MSOs integrate protocol analysis.
June 25, 2009... by Dan Strassberg Agilent Technologies has expanded its MSO (mixed-signal-oscilloscope) and DSO (digital-storage-oscilloscope) portfolios with the addition of the six-model Infiniium 9000 series. All of the units offer true analog...

Nonvolatile-RAM module swaps batteries for supercapacitors.
June 25, 2009... by Margery Conner Systems often need some form of nonvolatile RAM to protect against memory losses after a power interruption or loss. Battery-backed RAM has been the most common form of high-density nonvolatile memory, but it is bulky,...

Chip allows isolated USB.
June 25, 2009... by Paul Rako Analog Devices' new ADuM4160 bidirectional isolator provides UL (Underwriters Laboratories) 1577-rated, 5-kV isolation for 1.5- or 12-Mbps USB (Universal Serial Bus)-data lines. The isolator has propagation delay comparable...

POE ICs offer increased power efficiency for PDs.
June 25, 2009... by Margery Conner Akros Silicon cannily plays the efficiency card--for both energy and space--with its new AS1854 POE (power-over-Ethernet) PD (powered-device) IC. Akros claims that the integration of parts into the 1854 PD-controller...

Tool bundles target FPGAs.
June 25, 2009... by Graham Prophet Xilinx this year introduced two families of Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGAs that enable targeted-design platforms. The company is now adding domain-specific-tool support to the targeted-platform concept. Xilinx' ISE...

Avnet's Jeff Ittel: Think board to go broad.
June 25, 2009... Interview conducted and edited by Suzanne Deffree Jeff Ittel serves as senior vice president of business development and marketing at Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a division of components distributor Avnet Inc (www.avnet.com )....