EDN articles from March 2006

EDN archives from March 2006

Stanley's Law: IC design follows pc-board design.(EDN.COMMENT)
March 2, 2006... Last year, on the last day of the last session of the DAC (Design Automation Conference), I attended a panel on IC-power management that Ron Wilson moderated. Then with EE Times, Wilson is now EDN's executive editor. The power problem--in...

Agency-approved power supply cuts cost, leadtimes.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Applications requiring nonstandard power-supply voltages, especially for industrial, IT, or medical markets, usually require a custom power supply, with the attendant added expense and delivery time. Targeting that problem, XP Power has...

From the vault.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... By 2006, electronic devices will be self-diagnostic and probably self-repairing to some extent. In many ways, they will be like a cat--with at least nine lives--and you'll be able to tell how many lives remain at any given time. Terminally...

$99 development kit supports 8051 microcontrollers.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Ramtron International recently launched the UniVersaKit, a development and evaluation system that supports Ramtron Versa product families, as well as most industry-standard 8051 microcontrollers. The board includes 3.3 and 5V voltage...

DSOs boast low noise, automatic search for long-waveform records.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Many purchasers don't want to pay now for scope bandwidth that they won't use for several years, so Agilent's new Infiniium 80000B series brings back upgradable bandwidth, a feature that disappeared from oscilloscopes in the days of analog...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
March 2, 2006... DOGBERT'S TECH SUPPORT YOU HAVE A BAD CASE OF COMPUTER ROT. YOUR COMPUTER IS DESIGNED TO BECOME SLOWER AND MORE RELIABLE OVER TIME SO YOU HAVE TO UPGRADE. BUT IF YOU'D LIKE SOME FALSE HOPE, I CAN TELL YOU HOW TO DEFRAGMENT YOUR...

GPIB card simplifies configuration.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... The new PXI-3488 from Adlink Technology provides the interface between GPIB instruments and PXI (PCI Extensions for Instrumentation)equipped test-and-measurement systems, and it simplifies the required hardware/software configuration. The...

Instruments characterize single-lane and multilane, multigigabit/sec bus components.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... A new jitter-tolerance-compliance-test suite for Agilent's N4903A high-performance, 7- and 12.5-Gbps serial BERTs (bit-error-ratio testers) provides quick and accurate testing with an extensive library of standard and custom curves, adjustable...

AdvancedMC module boasts 2-GHz processor.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Concurrent Technologies recently announced a new, lead-free AdvancedMC (Advanced Mezzanine Card) processor module targeting wireless-base-station, security, test-and-measurement-system, voice-over-Internet Protocol, and sewer applications. The...

Microrobot crawls under remote control.(RESEARCH UPDATE)
March 2, 2006... Engineers and computer scientists at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) have developed what they claim is the world's smallest steerable, untethered robot. The machine, which measures approximately 250x60x10 microns, integrates a wireless power...

LED there be white.(pulse: INNOVATIONS AND INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Researchers at Vanderbilt University have discovered a formula for a quantum-dot coating that transforms the light emitted by a blue LED into a broad-spectrum white light with a slightly yellow cast-similar to that of incandescent bulbs. The...

Doppler effect enables portable vein finder.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 2, 2006... Despite all the expensive technology at their disposal, doctors find that treatment often grinds to a halt due to difficulty inserting an intravenous line--a task that can be especially tricky when the patient is dehydrated, obese, or a young...

Handset-technology advances dominate Barcelona confab.(GLOBAL DESIGNER)
March 2, 2006... The mobile handset continues to drive the global high-tech industry, and the adoption and enabling of new features, such as multimedia, typically happen first outside North America. The industry gathered Feb 13 through 16 at the 3GSM World...

Terminator.(SIGNAL INTEGRITY)
March 2, 2006... My friend Lloyd builds timing analyzers for high-energy physics experiments. In these experiments, an array comprising hundreds of detectors senses the times of arrival for the spray of particles emanating from a cascading sequence of atomic...

Version inquiry.(TALES FROM THE CUBE)
March 2, 2006... I was supporting the system-build and -integration effort, in the field, of an R&D flight system. The system was an iterative evolution of a quick and dirty proof-of-concept vehicle that the team had demonstrated several months previously. Most...

RF-interface-design considerations for portable-device batteries: today's use of ever smaller yet more complex batteries in mobile-communications applications requires designers to use advanced design techniques to protect batteries from RFI. Users must consider a number of phenomena and design issues to ensure that their designs conform to both RF and battery-management-system parameters.
March 2, 2006... Designers face increasing challenges from RFI (radio-frequency interference) when integrating batteries and protection circuitry into systems. At a basic level, a battery pack is an energy-storage device comprising cells and support-circuit...

Subpar wars.(Cover story)
March 2, 2006... High-resolution-disc formats fight each other, consumers push back: with blue-laser competitors Blu-ray and HD DVD both gearing up for high-volume production, a clear picture of the format winner hasn't yet emerged. Red-laser formats remain...

Interfacing electronics to people: electronic embedded systems continue to find their way into more medical systems.
March 2, 2006... As electronic embedded systems are finding their way into and replacing more mechanical-control systems, it might reasonable to expect to see them finding their way into organic systems, such as the human body. Indeed, electronic embedded...

Optimizing heterogeneous architectures: a systems approach to multicore-DSP architectures extracts the high performance that today's applications require.
March 2, 2006... The myriad DSP (digital-signal-processing) applications requiring the performance and integration of SOCs (systems on chips)--from consumer communications to multimedia products--have created new challenges for developers. Many of these...

Op amp can source or sink current.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 2, 2006... When you design for electronics applications, such as sensor or amplifier bias supplies or special waveform generators, a controlled constant-current source or sink circuit can serve as a useful building block. These circuits exhibit high...

Simple digital filter cleans up noisy data.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 2, 2006... Many systems use an ADC to sample analog data that temperature and pressure sensors produce. Sometimes, system noise or other factors cause the otherwise slowly fluctuating data to "jump around." To reduce higher frequency noise, designers...

Single switch selects one of three signals.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 2, 2006... This Design Idea shows how you can use a single-pole momentary-contact switch to select one of three signal sources by scrolling through three output states. The circuit in Figure 1 comprises commonly available components from the CD4000...

Low-cost audio filter suppresses noise and hum.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 2, 2006... The low-cost composite passive filter in this Design Idea requires no dc power and can enhance the performance of audio equipment and instrumentation by rejecting power-supply hum and spurious pickup from AM, FM, and low-band VHF transmissions...

Microprocessor's single-interrupt input processes multiple external interrupts.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 2, 2006... On the lower end of the performance spectrum, many widely available and inexpensive microcontrollers pay for their small pc-board footprints by omitting functions. For example, most low-end processors provide only one external-interrupt input...

Point-of-load converters minimize need for external components.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... The surface-mount LSM2 and through-hole LSN2 nonisolated, point-of-load dc/dc converters require no heat sinks or external filter components. These devices feature 0.75 to 5V user-selectable outputs and 2.5 to 5.5V or 9 to 14V...

Converters target wireless power amplifiers.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... Delivering a 250W output power, the JHW250 series of dc/dc converters comes in a half-brick format for RF power-amplifier applications. Targeting wireless base stations and similar telecom equipment, these isolated converters operate over a 36...

Switcher integrates FET device, supports 5.5 to 36V input.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... The high-efficiency, 500-kHz, non-synchronous TPS5430 Swift converter provides 90% efficiency and 2% output-voltage accuracy as low as 1.23V. This step-down dc/dc IC integrates an FET delivering a continuous 3A output current and supports 5.5...

400-mA dc/dc converter delivers 0.5 to 5V outputs.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... From a single-cell lithium-ion input, the synchronous LTC3444 dc/dc converter delivers as much as 400 mA of continuous output current to 0.5 to 5V outputs. A buck-boosting design enables operation from input voltages above, below, and equal to...

Lithium-ion-battery charger includes a cold-temperature offset.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... The linear, single-cell SC804 lithium-ion-battery charger integrates a cold-temperature-offset pin that allows an external resistor divider to adjust the charging-temperature range. The device allows a board design to function in multiple...

Power-conversion-IC family uses an on/off-control scheme.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... Using a 700V MOSFET with low-voltage control circuitry on a monolithic IC, the TinySwitch-III also features an integrated autorestart, input-undervoltage and output-over-voltage protection, hysteretic thermal shutdown, and frequency jittering...

Power supply targets PC modification.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... Measuring 31 x 45 x 20 mm, the picoPSU-120 is 10 to 20 times smaller than standard PC power supplies. Using HyperWarr technologies, the device provides 120W of power for small PCs using a 12V power source. Suiting PC modification,...

Compact ac/dc power supplies use regulated triple outputs.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... Providing 20W output power in a compact, fan-cooled case, the HF20W-TL series ac/dc switchers have an 85 to 264V-ac input and robust filtering. Three models provide 5/ [+ or -] 12, 5/ [+ or -] 15, or 5/12/-5V-dc regulated triple-output...

4W single-output switching power supply provides 5.5V dc.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... With a 90 to 264V-ac universal input and regulated output voltages, the single-output DA4 series switching power supply delivers 5.5V dc with 4W total power and 15-msec typical holdup time. For 0 to 0.75A loads, the device features overload and...

VR11 PWM controllers integrate a load line.(POWER SOURCES)
March 2, 2006... The ISL6306/07 family combines with the vendor's FET drivers to provide control and switching functions for VR11 CPU-core, multiphase, buck dc/dc converters on desktop, workstation, server, and industrial-PC motherboards. These devices feature...

ICs feature iTMDS technology.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 2, 2006... Enabling manufacturers to build high-resolution HDTVs supporting 30- and 36-bit RGB deep color, the SiI 7170 transmitter and SiI 7171 receiver use iTMDS (internal-transition-minimized-differential-signaling) technology. HDTV internal links allow...

Two advanced DVD-codec series incorporate DEPF.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 2, 2006... These advanced DVD codecs incorporate a 108-MHz video DAC and DEPF (diagonally enhanced picture formatting). The MS9300 chip series suits optical-DVD recorders, and the MS9400 chip series targets DVD recorders and includes a hard-disk drive...

Image processor uses VXP technology.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 2, 2006... As the latest addition to the vendor's family of image processors, the GF9351 image processor uses VXP technology, providing enhanced features in fourth-generation broadcast-quality algorithms. The product includes TruMotionHD, providing...

Dual-channel video decoder features video-compression technologies.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 2, 2006... Video-compression technologies in the BCM7400 dual-channel video decoder include AVC (advanced video coding), VC-1, and MPEG-2, providing support for HD (high-definition-) and standard-definition-television programming. Additional features...

Stereo-codec card suits digital video.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 2, 2006... Targeting sound cards, digital televisions, and portable video recorders, the 103-dB-SNR, 24-bit sigma-delta-DACWM8569 stereo codec includes oversampling and digital-interpolation filters. The device also features a 100-dB-SNR sigma-delta ADC...

SATA RAID storage systems run at 3 Gbytes/sec.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
March 2, 2006... Comprising hardware-accelerated iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and U320 SCSI host systems, the vendor's Vtrak M-Class SATA RAID (redundant-array-of-inexpensive-disks) system now includes the M200p, M300p, and M500p U320 SCSI host systems. These...

LCD monitors target professional, corporate markets.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
March 2, 2006... This family of high-end LCD monitors includes the 60-in. SyncMaster 460pn, the 40-in. SyncMaster 400pn, the 60-in. SyncMaster 460p, and the 40-in. SyncMaster 400p. The 400pn and 460pn provide an Ethernet connection and the vendor's MagicNet...

Four- and eight-port RAID controllers use NCQ technology.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
March 2, 2006... The four-port 2420SA and eight-port 2820SA SATA-II controllers build on the vendor's SATA product line with NCQ (native-command-queuing) technology. The vendor also offers a data-protection suite, which includes support for RAID...

Barracuda drives have 0.5-Tbyte capacity.(COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS)
March 2, 2006... The Barracuda 7200.9 family combines an 80-Gbyte to 0.5T-byte capacity with 3-Gbyte/sec Serial ATA 2.5 throughput and NCQ (native-command-queuing) technology. Ultra ATA 100 interface drives are also available. Seagate Technology,...

S-100: the first "industry-standard" bus.(reality check: YESTERDAY'S HYPE MEETS TODAY'S REALITY)
March 2, 2006... The PC era exploded when the January 1975 cover of Popular Electronics magazine announced the Altair 8800, a $397 computer kit that included the Intel 8080 microprocessor, 256 bytes of memory, and an open expansion bus. The bus. originally...

Intermediate Frequency (IF) sampling receiver concepts.(ANALOG / edge[SM]: Expert tips, tricks, and techniques for analog designs)
March 16, 2006... This article will discuss Intermediate Frequency (IF) sampling concepts of sub-sampling (or under sampling), noise processing gain, and the effects of interfering signals. Examples will be based on the GSM/EDGE communications standard where the...

ADC12DL080 dual, 12-bit, 80 MSPS analog-to-digital converter for high-IF sampling.(Featured Products)
March 16, 2006... The ADC12DL080 is a dual, low-power monolithic CMOS analog-to-digital converter. This device is capable of converting an analog input signal into 12-bit digital words at rates up to 80 Mega-Samples Per Second (MSPS). The ADC12DL080 is designed...

ADC12DL040/65 dual, 12-bit A/D Converters for excellent signal conditioning and acquisition.(Featured Products)
March 16, 2006... The ADC12DL040 and ADC12DL065 are dual, low-power 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) capable of converting analog input signals at 40 and 65 Mega-Samples Per Second (MSPS), respectively. These ADCs provide excellent dynamic performance...

Differential, high-speed op amps.(Featured Products)
March 16, 2006... The LMH6550 and LMH6551 are high-performance voltage feedback differential amplifiers. The fully differential topology allows balanced inputs to the ADCs and can be used as single-ended-to-differential or used as differential-to-differential....

ADC14L020/40 14-Bit, 20 and 40 MSPS ADCs.(Featured Products)
March 16, 2006... The ADC14L020 and the ADC14L040 are low-power, monolithic 14-bit 20 and 40 Mega-Samples Per Second (MSPS) Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC). These ADCs provide excellent dynamic performance and 150 MHz full-power bandwidth. The ADC14L020...

Slack EDA-market growth doesn't portend chip trends.(EDN.COMMENT)
March 16, 2006... A less-than-stellar record of recent growth in the EDA industry has been a hot topic. Clearly, such trends matter greatly to the companies that sell EDA tools. But, too often, observers relate tough times in the EDA market to potential softness...

Ultracapacitor family targets minimal series resistance and cost.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Ultracapacitors, also sometimes called supercapacitors or electric double-layer capacitors, have long offered promise in power applications alongside of and in place of batteries. The products can handle a million charge/discharge cycles and...

Platform captures, processes, displays broadband data.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Targeting transceiver applications, such as military radios and commercial wireless base stations, Pentek recently introduced the VME-based RTS 2502 development platform for real-time wideband-data acquisition, signal processing, and recording....

Cores lower entry cost for custom SOCs.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Tensilica based its new Diamond Standard family of processor configurations on the Xtensa architecture. Each core implements the Xtensa instruction-set architecture in a five-stage-pipeline, 32-bit architecture. The cores support modeless...

From the vault.
March 16, 2006... By 2006, homes worldwide will be plugged into an international broadband network... Dozens of technically feasible and marketable broadband functions will come into common use over the next 25 years, including video shopping, alarm and...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
March 16, 2006... I HAVE TO CUT YOUR PROJECTS BUDGET BY TEN PERCENT. TEN PERCENT?? THAT'S THE SORT OF ROUND NUMBER YOU WOULD PICK IF YOU DID NO THINKING WHAT-SOEVER. ANYTHING CAN BE CUT BY TEN PERCENT WITHOUT AFFECTING THE RESULT. COOL! I'M...

Sigma-C and Mentor make strides in DFM.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)(design-for-manufacturing)
March 16, 2006... Announcements from Sigma-C and Mentor Graphics bode well for IC-design groups wanting to spot and fix lithography hot spots in their IC layouts before they send their designs to the mask shop. Sigma-C has announced the Solid+ microlithography...

Thermal escalation drives need for controlled active cooling.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Thermal issues continue to escalate in the PC-processor sector. Early processors required huge passive heat sinks and then fans dedicated to the processor-cooling task. Now, reliable systems need active monitoring of systems and even chip...

Round table mulls hard-IP-at-board-level concept.(VOICES)(Discussion)
March 16, 2006... Sometimes, a panel discussion ends up more like a round table. That scenario happened at DesignCon in February, with a panel that design consultant Pallab Chatterjee organized on hard IP (intellectual property) and whether it can exist for...

Korea gets WiMax certification lab.(GLOBAL DESIGNER)
March 16, 2006... Momentum for WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) wireless-broadband technology continues to build-especially outside North America. Korea is an early adopter of wireless services and is leading the WiMax charge with a new...

Soc house partners with Malaysian Fab.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Belgium company Essensium, a provider of SOC (system-on-chip)- and ASIC-design services, recently received a significant boost with a funding infusion from investment company Atlantic Quantum, which Khazanah National (www.khazanah.com.my) owns....

SOM concept adds versatility to embedded computing.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)(system-on-module)
March 16, 2006... According to Advantech, SOM (system-on-module) computing is set to grow rapidly this year as more companies adopt the concept. The company sees SOM as a good fit for applications that have product volumes of 1000 to 10,000 units. At less than...

Oscillator pushes to 192 GHz for detection applications.(pulse: INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS)
March 16, 2006... Taiwan-based UMC claims to have produced the highest frequency VCO (voltage-controlled oscillator) yet to be fabricated in silicon, The University of Florida's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Gainesville, FL, www.ece.ufl.edu)...

Choosing SAR versus high-speed delta-sigma ADCs.(BAKER'S BEST)
March 16, 2006... Delta-sigma-ADC technology has caught up to that of SAR (successive-approximation-register) ADCs in sampling frequency. A crossover in the sampling-time regions of approximately 100 kHz to 1 MHz exists in both types of devices. These two types...

Figuring out the no-cost route.(PRYING EYES)
March 16, 2006... Last month, EDN dissected a $20-on-clearance (previously $50) USB audio peripheral. This month, we continue our fiscally focused analysis with ABS's NW-203-RT $0-after-rebate 802.11g- and four-port switch-inclusive router. What's inside the...

ROHS compliance: it's not easy being green: European environmental directives take effect soon, leaving many US companies struggling to overcome the challenges of implementing compliant designs.(reduction-of-hazardous-substances)
March 16, 2006... On July 1, 2006, electronic equipment sold in the European Union will have to comply with the ROHS (reduction-of-hazardous-substances) directive or face both removal from the market and assessment of substantial fines. However, some exemptions...

Wireless-sensor networks find a fit in the unlicensed band: welcome to the new world of wireless connectivity, thanks to recently introduced standards, protocols, and enabling hardware for the unlicensed RF bands.
March 16, 2006... Low-power, short-range, low-data-rate wireless networks use the unlicensed RF band. In addition to their overriding need to operate on severely constrained energy sources, such as using one battery for their entire lifetimes or employing energy...

System architects get help from emulators: emulators, which designers once used only for debugging at the last stages of design implementation and for regression testing, are now becoming useful tools for system architects, as well.
March 16, 2006... Engineers involved in designing leading-edge ICs face a number of difficult challenges. They have to deal with complex physical phenomena on die that require special DFM (design-for-manufacturing) methods and tools, and they have to handle...

The economics of structured- and standard-cell-ASIC designs: structured ASICs offer cost and performance that fall between FPGAs and traditional standard-cell ASICs. But their introduction has complicated the choice of the right silicon.
March 16, 2006... Although structured ASICs promise a shorter schedule than standard-cell ASICs, this abbreviation comes at a price. Structured ASICs are more expensive on a per-unit basis, allow less customization, and offer lower performance than standard-cell...

Mobile applications challenge test-and-measurement tools: advances in probing and triggering and in simultaneously monitoring multiple buses--including high-speed serial buses--are adapting logic analyzers to the world of fast, low-power mobile applications.
March 16, 2006... Mobile technology is clearly a force in the market. Laptop-PC sales have overtaken those of desktops. Compact multimedia devices ranging from DVRs (digital video recorders) to set-top boxes and gaming platforms are now in millions of homes. The...

Audio-test accessory isolates and matches loads.(Transformer need)
March 16, 2006... Connecting a 600[ohm] audio circuit to a 50 or 75[ohm] circuit or test instrument requires an impedance-matching circuit or, when isolation of the circuits is necessary, a transformer. Both approaches offer advantages and disadvantages. A...

One oscillator drives multiple solid-state relays.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 16, 2006... Thanks to a combination of low initial cost and low on-resistance, a conventional electromechanical relay often makes sense for switching large amounts of load current on and off and when proportional control of the load's current or voltage is...

Low-dropout linear regulators double as voltage-supervisor circuits.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 16, 2006... Many low-dropout voltage regulators include an enable-input pin that can also serve as an inexpensive alternative to a voltage-supervisor IC. Although the enable pin normally serves as a means of shutting down the regulator's output to save...

External components provide true shutdown for boost converter.(design ideas: READERS SOLVE DESIGN PROBLEMS)
March 16, 2006... The step-up switching-converter circuit in Figure 1 presents a familiar problem: If you shut down boost converter [IC.sub.1] by pulling its SHDN input low, external inductor [L.sub.1] and forward-biased Schottky diode [D.sub.1] allow the load...

Class D amplifier provides high output power.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... This filter-free, audio-power Class D amplifier suits gaming, polyphonic ringers, and speakerphone applications. The TS4962 provides a 3W output power into a 4[ohm] loudspeaker when operating on a 5V power supply. It achieves an improved 88%...

Ground-referenced amplifier generates a negative reference voltage.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... Using a new circuit technology, the ground-referenced LM4922 fixed-gain, audio-power amplifier uses a charge pump to generate a negative reference voltage. This approach allows the outputs to be ground-based, eliminating the need for output...

Low-offset, 18-MHz CMOS amplifiers feature low noise.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... Traditionally known for having a low-input-bias current and being inherently noisier than bipolar designs, the LTC6241 dual- and LTC6242 quad-CMOS amplifier provide a threefold reduction in voltage noise, compared with other CMOS amplifiers....

Operational amplifier features an enable pin.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... Featuring a triple 1.1-mA, 200-MHz current feedback, the NC2530 monolithic operational amplifier has a 450V/[micro]sec, 100-mA output current; a low differential gain and phase error; and an enable pin. The amplifier suits portable-video,...

Dual-protocol-transceiver family claims industry's highest ESD rating.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... Claiming the industry's highest ESD rating, this dual-protocol-transceiver family comprises the ISL81334 and ISL41334 dual-port ICs and the ISL81387 and ISL41387 single-port devices. Each transceiver features 15-kV HBM (human-body-model) ESD...

Amplifiers enhance digital-television-audio performance.(AMPLIFIERS, OSCILLATORS, AND MIXERS)
March 16, 2006... These two stereo Class D audiopower amplifiers suit digital televisions, including DLP HDTV, LCD, and plasma displays. Features include Class D operation, pop/click-minimizing circuitry, low total-harmonic distortion, and high SNR. Targeting...

Microstepping drive accepts commands over communications network.(EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
March 16, 2006... The Ion microstepping digital drive supports two-phase bipolar motors and automatically switches between user-defined current modes. With a 256 microstep/step-programmable resolution, the drive provides RS-485 asynchronous-serial or...

Rugged 6U VME unit uses two 1.6-GHz processors.(EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
March 16, 2006... A 6U VME clone of the IBM JS20 blade design, the PowerNode5 comes in convection-cooled and rugged-conduction-cooled versions for harsh environments. Features include two 1.6-GHz IBM 970FX processors and 2 Gbytes of DDR SDRAM ECC memory with...

Tool suite simplifies 8-bit-system application development.(EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
March 16, 2006... Targeting HC(S)08 microcontrollers Version 5.0, the CodeWarrior Development Studio comprises 8-bit Fast Track CodeWarrior development tools. These tools suit ANSI C/C++ and compact C++ compilers and include more than 60 advanced optimization...

6.4-in. LCD-panel computer incorporates a 667-MHz processor.(EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
March 16, 2006... The ARP-2606AP panel computer incorporates a 6.4-in. LCD, a 3.4-in. embedded board, and the 667-MHz Via Eden processor. System memory includes an SO-DIMM-144 socket with 512 Mbytes of memory. The LAN uses a Relateck8139C PCI plug-and-play BaseT...

Image-system controller supports a two-camera subsystem.(INTEGRATED CIRCUITS)
March 16, 2006... Based on the vendor's STV0984 image-system controller, the two-camera subsystem supports two SMIA-compliant sensors. Mounted on the face, toward the user, the lower resolution camera is dedicated to video conferencing, and the high-resolution...