EDN articles from November 2007

EDN archives from November 2007

Globally, engineers share similar gratification and concern.(Company overview)
November 8, 2007... by Maury Wright, Editorial Director, EDN Worldwide Our first global salary survey shows that North American engineers receive higher compensation than counterparts in established regions, such as Japan and Western Europe. 'It was the...

Traffic management: a growing nightmare for SOC designers.
November 8, 2007... by Ron Wilson, Executive Editor Connecting the blocks on SOCs is becoming a primary problem in advanced-chip design. The SOC (system on chip) began life in the image of the board-level computers that preceded it: as a central processor...

High noon for FPGAs: Low-cost-versus- high-end showdown.
November 8, 2007... by Michael Santarini, Senior Editor Greenhorns in the high-end-FPGA Market, Lattice and Actel are shooting it out against old hands Xilinx and Altera in the battle for low-cost devices. Although the market for high-end, high-priced...

Handheld oscilloscopes offer varied features.
November 8, 2007... by Martin Rowe, Test & Measurement World A hands-on evaluation of four models shows a wide array of performance, features, and price. Engineers once thought of handheld oscilloscopes as the smaller cousins of bench models, but they now...

Battery monitor also enables constant-power-boost converter.
November 8, 2007... Rex Niven, Forty Trout Electronics, Eltham, Victoria, Australia Some microcontrollers permit operation below a supply voltage of 3V. This feature allows powering directly from a 3V alkaline or lithium battery without the voltage drop and...

Gain-of-two sample-and-hold amplifier uses no external resistors.
November 8, 2007... Marián A tofka, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia When you need to simultaneously sample a signal and amplify the signal level, you can cascade a common gain-of-one sample-and-hold amplifier and an amplifier with...

Circuit for measuring motor speed uses low-cost components.
November 8, 2007... R García-Gil, J Castello, and JM Espí, Escola Tecnica Superior d'Enginyeria, University of Valencia, Spain This Design Idea uses a microcontroller, a 16x2-key LCD, and a rotary encoder to measure and visualize the speed of a...

Global Report highlights careers and reference designs.(Report)
November 8, 2007... By Maury Wright, Editorial Director Once a year, EDN marshals its resources across Asia, Europe, and North America to produce a Global Report that we present in every edition of EDN worldwide. In the past, we've focused on global standards...

Reference designs worldwide: understanding the IP imbalance.
November 8, 2007... by Nicholas Cravotta, Contributing Technical Editor Does it matter how engineers in other countries are using reference designs? The answer is a resounding 'yes.' With the rising complexity of silicon and software design, it has become...

Aunt Judy: Beware relatives' repairs.
November 8, 2007... by Howard Johnson, PhD Old Aunt Judy approaches you at a wedding reception and, with a halting voice, says, 'You know about computers, right? Well, I've got this old eight-track-tape player [or black-and-white television, turntable, or...

Building bridges.
November 8, 2007... by Joshua Israelsohn, Contributing Technical Editor Technological innovation during the second half of the 20th century came at an unprecedented pace, and, unlike earlier times, many advances during this interval moved rapidly into the...

7W LED-driver IC provides 350 mA.
November 8, 2007... by Paul Rako Targeting use in tunnel-lighting, automotive-lighting, and similar applications, the new Catalyst Semiconductor CAT4201 buck-regulator driver can deliver 7W of power to a string of white LEDs operating from a 24V rail. The...

Power supplies help PCs get their graphics game on.
November 8, 2007... by Margery Conner A standard desktop PC might come with a 300W power supply-more than adequate for most PC chores. But if you need to do serious graphics work that requires a graphics board, such as Nvidia's (www.nvidia.com ) SLI 3D or...

Start-up Solido optimizes transistor-level statistical analysis.
November 8, 2007... by Michael Santarini With its new SolidoStat tool set, Solido Design Automation wants to help analog-system and full-custom-digital-system designers get more insight into the statistical-analysis step of the traditional tool flow....

Serial analyzers enhance comprehensive PCI Express 2.0 testing.
November 8, 2007... by Dan Strassberg Tektronix has announced the TLA7S08 and TLA7S16 serial analyzers for test and validation of PCIe (PCI Express) 1.0 and 2.0 designs. According to the manufacturer, unlike competing instruments, the new analyzers provide...

Dual-display, 5½-digit DMM's preset buttons ease repetitive testing.
November 8, 2007... by Dan Strassberg Fluke Corp has announced the 8808A DMM (digital multimeter), featuring 5½-digit resolution, multifunction-measurement capability, and a dual display that enables users to simultaneously measure two related...

Automotive Hall-effect rotary-position sensor uses novel flux-concentrator technology.
November 8, 2007... by Paul Rako Melexis uses its expertise in advanced process technology as well as a novel approach to magnetic concentration in the design of the new MLX90316 Hall-effect rotary-position sensor. The eight-pin-SOIC device provides 12-bit...

Frame grabber supports motion detection.
November 8, 2007... by Warren Webb For designs dealing with video from an analog source, consider using a frame grabber, which provides a quick and easy way to capture and digitize the video. For example, Sensoray's latest USB model 2251 frame grabber...

Osram, Fraunhofer up for award for their bright ideas.
November 8, 2007... by Ron Wilson Officials at the German Future Prize (www.deutscher-zukunftspreis.de ) have nominated Osram GmbH and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering for this year's award for outstanding technical...

AmberWave to research mesoporous materials.(Amberwave Systems Inc. and University of California-Santa Barbara )(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... by Ron Wilson AmberWave Systems announced recently that it is entering a joint-research and licensing agreement with the University of California-Santa Barbara for exploration of mesoporous materials. These materials constitute a broad...

Mobile WiMax moves a step closer with interoperability demonstration.
November 8, 2007... by Ron Wilson Many in the telecom industry view mobile WiMax, the extension of the fixed-WiMax standard to serve mobile devices with broadband connectivity, either as a solid interim step on the way to the full-mobile broadband-4G...

Scope.
November 8, 2007... Edited by Ron Wilson Looking Ahead To the Electronics Packaging Technology Conference Nobody should be in the dark at this point about the growing role of packaging technology in electronics design. It's not just about spreading...

Arrow targets nontypical distribution with foundry play.
November 8, 2007... Edited by Suzanne Deffree The NAC (North American Components) business of Arrow Electronics Inc (www.arrow.com ) is looking at distribution from a different angle. The Melville, NY, company recently established a relationship with IBM...

United Kingdom wants to know what you think of ROHS.(restriction-of-hazardous-substances)(Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform )(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Edited by Suzanne Deffree The United Kingdom is currently seeking opinions of electrical- and electronic-equipment producers about EU (European Union) ROHS (restriction-of-hazardous-substances) regulations, exempt applications, and...

Consumer-electronics demand high for the holidays.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Edited by Suzanne Deffree Demand for consumer electronics will once again be high this holiday season, with market-research company In-Stat (www.in-stat.com ) reporting that more than 80% of respondents to a recent survey plan to purchase...

Mechatronics vision requires data standards and interfaces.
November 22, 2007... by Maury Wright, Editorial Director This year, EDN , along with sister publications Design News and Control Engineering , launched the Mechatronics Zone Web site (www.designnews.com/mechatronicszone ). As you all know, engineers have long...

ADC voltage-reference errors impact full-scale conversions.
November 22, 2007... by Bonnie Baker SAR (successive-appoximation-register) analog-to-digital references have more influence on conversion accuracy than you may initially think. Figure 1 shows the transfer function of an ideal 3-bit ADC and the same converter...

Portable power: Features abound, thanks to new battery chemistries.(lithium-ion batteries)
November 22, 2007... by Margery Conner, Technical Editor Just two years ago, lithium-ion cells may not have met your system's power requirements. but take another look; you might be pleasantly surprised by what's available now. Things are changing in the...

Homeland security: monitoring and manipulating remote residences.
November 22, 2007... by Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor Interested in controlling a computer down the street or halfway around the world? How about switching an appliance's power, dimming the lights, or adjusting ambient Temperature, along with attaining...

Measure power-line distortion with a mixed-signal-THD analyzer.
November 22, 2007... John R Ambrose, Mixed Signal Integration, San Jose, CA Edited by Charles H Small and Fran Granville Because of the performance of compressors and other inductive loads, it becomes more important to monitor the distortion on a power...

Wireless *battery* energizes low-power devices.
November 22, 2007... Carlos Cossio, Santander, Spain Edited by Charles H Small and Fran Granville Wireless connectivity is a growing trend in portable consumer gadgets. Unfortunately, designs cannot achieve true mobility because of short battery life, so...

Solid-state analog-data recorder runs for 7.4 days.(Brief article)
November 22, 2007... S Vinay Kumar, Mysore, India Edited by Charles H Small and Fran Granville The solid-state data recorder in Figure 1 can continuously record the temperature for approximately 178.42 hours, or 7.434 days. The LM35DZ transducer converts...

Wideband peak detector operates over wide input-frequency range.
November 22, 2007... Jim McLucas, Longmont, CO Edited by Charles H Small and Fran Granville This Design Idea builds on a previous one (Reference 1 ) to realize a precision peak detector with a bandwidth of 15 to 30 MHz or more, depending on the maximum...

Plugging hardware-based compression into a server.
November 22, 2007... by Ron Wilson, Executive Editor Lossless data compression can be valuable in any number of storage, server, and networking situations, reducing both required bandwidth and storage space without damaging the data. It's too laborious to...

A –48V hot-swap-controller design targets high-power blades.
November 22, 2007... by Shyam Chandra, Lattice Semiconductor Designing circuits that allow safe removal and replacement of high-power plug-in blades in modern computing and communication systems is not a trivial exercise-especially when the system specs dictate...

Embedded computer aids military missions.
November 22, 2007... by Warren Webb Targeting military-embedded-system applications, such as mission-management computers, heads-up-display controllers, radar-signal processors, and IED (improvised-explosive-device) vehicle-protection subsystems, Aitech...

MEMS-based inclinometer brings accuracy, ease of calibration to industrial applications.
November 22, 2007... by Margery Conner Inclinometers, which are specialized versions of accelerometers, indicate deviation from the vertical by sensing the downward G force. Some consumer-game controllers have used versions selling for approximately $3, but...

Semiconductor-characterization system eases capacitance/voltage testing.(Keithley Instruments Inc.'s new product)
November 22, 2007... by Dan Strassberg Keithley Instruments has announced a new CV (capacitance/voltage)-measurement-instrument module for its model 4200-SCS (semiconductor-characterization system). The 4200-CVU module plugs into the 4200-SCS and allows...

Analog-output board packs in 32 channels.(United Electronic Industries releases DNA-AO-332 )(Brief article)
November 22, 2007... by Warren Webb With applications requiring multiple analog waveforms or accurate switched stimuli in mind, UEI (United Electronic Industries) recently released the DNA-AO-332 with 32 channels of 16-bit-resolution analog output covering a...

EDA start-up Pyxis unveils yield-driven IC router.
November 22, 2007... By Michael Santarini With Mentor Graphics' (www.mentor.com ) acquisition this year of Sierra Design, IC-design groups have more choices than ever when it comes to shopping for IC place-and-route tools. Now, start-up Pyxis Technology has...

Compact DMM/signal-switching system offers flexibility, speed.(Keithley Instruments Inc. offers digital multimeters)
November 22, 2007... by Dan Strassberg Keithley Instruments has announced its Series 3700 family of benchtop DMMs (digital multimeters) and signal-switching cards, from which you can configure automated-measurement systems for data acquisition or functional...

Mentor tool optimizes algorithms, flow for Altera DSP-centric FPGAs.
November 22, 2007... by Michael Santarini Altera Corp and Mentor Graphics' Catapult C Synthesis Group have collaborated to produce Altera-optimized Catapult libraries to help system architects squeeze the most performance from the DSP blocks in Altera's...

Dave Fullagar, analog-IC designer and entrepreneur.
November 22, 2007... by Paul Rako Dave Fullagar made his mark at Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1960s. He designed the ubiquitous [micro]A741 op amp, perhaps the most successful op amp ever. EDN recently had the chance to interview Fullagar. A portion of that...

Scope.
November 22, 2007... Edited by Ron Wilson Looking Ahead To the Consumer Electronics Show That great meat grinder of the consumer-electronics industry, the CES (Consumer Electronics Show), will struggle to life and lumber about Las Vegas Jan 7 through...