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ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 OPTIONS
Online design resources, ASIC alternatives, Co-emulation environment, CICC preview, Illuminate chip integration with new development tools

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September 15, 2003 - In This Issue


New Products: More Test & Measurement
10-MHz To 4.5-GHz Field-Strength Detector Is Sensitive Down To 100 µV Microwave/UHF/VHS applications can take advantage of the Zap Checker Model 270’s extreme sensitivity: With a bandwidth of 10 MHz to 4.5 GHz, input...  — Roger Allan


New Products: More Analog & Power
Motion-Control Development System Leverages Algorithm IP Library Designed for high-speed spindle motor-control applications, the IRMCS203 development system and IRMCO203 intellectual-property (IP) library of motion-control algorithms can...  — Lisa Maliniak


New Products: More Embedded
Embedded Ethernet Switch Takes On Layer 2/3 Switching The CPC4411 and CPC4416 offer 24 10/100BaseT ports and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports that support copper or fiber. Both handle 802.3AD Link Aggregation, 802.1q virtual local-area...  — William Wong


TechView: Analog & Power -- More Li-Ion Charger ICs
Maxim Integrated Products (www.maxim-ic.com) has made the USB battery-charging option available in a tiny five-pin SOT23 package. The company offers two such devices, the MAX1551/MAX1555 USB/ac-adapter, single-cell lithium-ion (li-ion)...  — David G. Morrison

[Engineering Feature]
24/7 Design Resources Just A Click Away
Nowadays, the term "online" is synonymous with convenience. The 24-hour, self-service Web allows its users to be in the driver seat. Vast amounts of information and resources are available at our fingertips instantly, whenever we may need it. Of...  — Lisa Maliniak

[Technology Report]
Tool Up For Alternatives To Standard ASICs
Unfortunately for all of us, the electronics OEM remains in a funk. Yet design work must go on, or the industry's malaise will linger. Although some 4000 ASIC starts are projected for 2003, not all of them are going into high-volume applications,...  — David Maliniak

[Leapfrog: Industry First]
Co-Emulation Rides Standard To New Heights
When it comes to systems on a chip (SoCs), you can't build what you can't verify. With ingredients like multiple processors and DSPs, other IP blocks including memory and I/O, as well as custom logic all in the mix, verification stands as the...  — David Maliniak

[Leapfrog: First Look]
Optimization Breeds Application Efficiency
To create efficient applications written in a high-level language like C++, developers usually turn to compiler optimizations. Green Hills Software's latest toolchain includes a number of new compiler and linker optimizations. Together they deliver...  — William Wong

[Design View / Design Solution]
Combat Integration's Dark Side With New Development Tools
DESIGN VIEW is the summary of the complete DESIGN SOLUTION contributed article, which begins on Page 2. Heisenberg stated in his studies that the observer is no longer external and neutral, but rather part of the...  — Gary Swoboda

[Ideas For Design]
Novel PC-Compatible AC Power Controller Uses Solid-State Relay
This design describes a simple, cost-effective solution for an ac power controller using PC-compatible conduction-angle control. A solid-state relay (SSR) is activated through a pulse-width-modulated (PWM) transistor-transistor-logic (TTL) timing...  — J. Jayapandian

[Ideas For Design]
Protect Your Microphone Pre-Amp Against Overload
Typically, microphone pre-amplifiers for consumer electronics are designed in one of two ways. In Figure 1a, the microphone gain is set high to accommodate low-level signals and the output is attenuated as...  — Jim Walker

[Ideas For Design]
Current-Shunt Monitor Modulates Fan Speed
For maximum reliability, cooling-fan speed should be based on current rather than temperature. Commonly available thermal-sensing fan-control ICs require elevated temperatures to start fans, and even higher temperatures to turn them on harder. In...  — Jerry Steele

[Editorial]
Post-Blackout Push Creates Opportunity For Engineers
While most of you practice the science of power management on a daily basis, for the rest of the population, the Great Blackout transformed "power management" from something taken for granted to an issue of utmost urgency. A report on NPR on my drive...  — Mark David

[POV: Point Of View]
Active Mixer ICs Challenge The Passive Status Quo
Radio-frequency (RF) technology is revolutionized almost daily. This loud and noisy revolution has attracted lots of attention. Most of that attention focuses on the glamorous DSPs and highly integrated RF transceiver chips that are now ubiquitous in...  — Robert G. Swartz

[Pease Porridge]
Bob's Mailbox
Dear Mr. Pease: I have been reading your column for nearly 15 years. I'm a mechanical stress analyst with no knowledge of electrical engineering. But I still get Electronic Design to read your column. You make me think. That is one of...  — Bob Pease

[Beyond Technology]
Unresolved H-1B Issue Tempers Modest Economy
The economy is picking up, as we're told by the people who keep track of such things, and the news is slightly encouraging on the employment front for engineers. But it's still a tough market out there, especially for jobs. After climbing to 7% in...  — Ron Schneiderman

[TechView: The Industry]
Emerging Technologies Fortify CICC's Silver Anniversary
Although the Custom Integrated Circuits Conference is marking its 25th anniversary Sept. 21 through Sept. 24 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, the show isn't resting on its laurels. Instead, its educational and technical sessions and exhibits will...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: The Industry]
MIT Forum Highlights Technology Groundbreakers And Salutes Innovators
For a closer look at cutting-edge technology, just head to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Emerging Technologies Conference, cosponsored by Penton Media (www.penton.com) and Technology Review (www.technologyreview.com), will...  — Laurie Collins

[TechView: Analog & Power]
Power ICs Charge Ahead In One-Cell Li-Ion Applications
Unrelenting growth in applications powered by single-cell lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries, such as PDAs, cell phones, and digital cameras, continues to propel the development of battery-management chips. In the latest round of IC introductions,...  — David G. Morrison

[TechView: Analog & Power]
Offline Switching Regulators Keep Standby Power Low
Four monolithic, offline switching regulators with integrated power switches simplify implementation of switch-mode power supplies with low standby power, facilitating compliance with Energy Star and Blue Angel recommendations. The NCP1012...  — David G. Morrison

[TechView: Analog & Power]
Digital Ink Technology Debuts In Thin Touchscreen
With a sensor thickness range of 0.36 to about 50.8 mm for the glass, a new flat panel takes advantage of "digital ink" technology, which lets users write on a computer touchpanel as if they were writing on paper with liquid ink. This form-fitting,...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Communications]
Versatile E-pHEMT Fits 6-GHz-Range Applications
Designers of microwave power amplifiers and low-noise amplifiers have a new weapon: the ATF-501P8 enhancement-mode pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility field-effect transistor (E-pHEMT FET). The device was designed for applications like...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Communications]
Digital Timing Chip For OC-3 Line Cards Drops Jitter To New Lows
Optical networking equipment using the OC-3 (155.52 MHz) Sonet/SDH standard has another option to exploit in the ZL30410 digital phase-locked loop (PLL). The chip generates and synchronizes clock signals on line cards that are part of framers,...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Communications]
Standards Work Propels Ultra Wideband
Standards are evolving in the development of ultra wideband (UWB). Its speed potential is greater than other forms of wireless, from about 100 to 480 Mbytes/s depending upon range—usually up to 10 meters. IEEE Task Group 802.15.3a is focusing...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Embedded]
Are Two Reconfigurable CPUs Twice As Good As One?
Reconfigurable processors offer a dynamic approach to system optimization. QuickLogic's QuickMIPS combines a MIPS core with an FPGA, but some applications need even more computing horsepower. That's why QuickLogic teamed up with Pact XPP...  — William Wong

[TechView: Embedded]
Faster X Sims
VXPS 2.0 delivers faster PXA250 simulation of Intel's popular XScale architecture. The new generation of Virtio's Virtual Platform, which is twice as fast as version 1.0, incorporates a range of improvements, including the VPXS-WM 2.0 Virtual...  — William Wong

[TechView: Embedded]
Nexus Trace Tackles Time Warp
Debugging complex real-time problems may become easier thanks to the new SuperTrace Probe combined with TimeMachine, a diagnostic application for analyzing trace data. The SuperTrace Probe contains a considerable 1 Gbyte of SDRAM with a...  — William Wong

[TechView: Embedded]
Managing CompactPCI
A PICMG 2.9-compliant shelf manager is the centerpiece to Performance Technologies' IPnexus Advanced Managed Platform line of CompactPCI racks and boards. The $999 Linux-based CPC7301 supports the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)...  — William Wong

[TechView: Components & Test]
80-MHz Vector Spectrum Analyzer Has 8-Second Capture Memory
The PSA-80BW Vector Spectrum Analyzer offers 80-MHz demodulation bandwidth and an eight-second capture memory for multicarrier power amplifier, signal monitoring, radar, and satellite measurement applications. Since the device saves so much time,...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Components & Test]
Serial-Attached SCSI Analyzer Supports Wide Links
Billed as the industry's first Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) analyzer, the SASTracer can support "wide" links. It's software-upgradable to support Serial ATA II (SATA) protocol analysis. The analyzer forms a single flexible...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Digital]
Vector Processor Makes Short Work Of Complex DSP Algorithms
With four vector pipelines, Telairity Semiconductor's TVP400 combines the signal-processing features of a high-performance DSP and the control capabilities of a 32-bit microcontroller (see the...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: Digital]
Hot Product: Flash-Based FPGA Family
Members of the ProASIC Plus family of flash-based FPGAs are the first FPGAs to meet the full Mil-Std-883B screening for use in military applications. They were tested and verified to operate over the full military temperature range of...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: Digital]
Video, Voice, Image Processing: Configurable DSPs Handle It All
The first two configurable processors from Cradle Technologies target video and voice communications. The ECE3400 video and voice communications engine and the MPE3400 media processing engine deliver up to 28 GMACs of DSP throughput by integrating...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: EDA]
SystemC Draws Interest From Target Group
In the several years since it first arrived, the SystemC modeling platform and design language has struggled with an identity crisis. Is it for designers of bleeding-edge processors from the likes of Intel or nVidia, or for the systems houses in which...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
X Initiative Strikes Copper With First 90-nm Test Chip
The industry's first 90-nm test chip for X Architecture interconnect designs has been produced by Applied Materials (AMAT) at its Maydan Technology Center in Sunnyvale, Calif. The fabricated chip validates design rules and the manufacturability of X...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
EDA Update
> A new consortium will pursue industry standards for easier integration of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and IP tools. The consortium, named Structure for Packaging, Integrating and Reusing IP within Tool-flows (SPIRIT), will...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
Desktop RTL Timing-Analysis Tool Tackles Timing Issues Early
Achieving timing closure in system-on-a-chip designs in a reasonable amount of time can be daunting. You can wait until you get to the block-level integration stage, but you'll probably have an easier time of it if the RTL designers of each block...  — David Maliniak

[TechScope]
Home Security At Your Fingertips—Literally
If you often find yourself fumbling for your keys on your front porch, perhaps you should look into the Shepherd 210 and Shepherd 220 from ArrowVision Technologies. These devices add fingerprint recognition technology to your doorknob. Powered by...  — Richard Gawel

[TechScope]
Development Tools Help Rovers Get To Mars
Green Hills Software's latest project is truly out of this world. Spirit and Opportunity, NASA's newest Martian rovers, are equipped with software written by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory using Green Hills Software development tools....  — Richard Gawel

[TechScope]
Group Sees Growth In PON Market
Believe it or not, there is a light at the end of the passive optical networking (PON) tunnel. Technology refinements, regulatory issues, and a slow economy have all stung this market. But according to the Probe Group, an analyst company, total...  — Richard Gawel

[Letters]
Readers Respond To Decision On Justice
Dear Mark: I'll begin by saying I agree with you that a controlled-circulation magazine must enforce certain subscription requirements if it is to maintain its relationships with the advertising industry. In most cases, you should not be...  — Various

[New Products]

• RF MCU Design Kit Puts System Design On The Fast Track  — William Wong

• Free 8051 Core With Each Pod  — William Wong

• Dial Pentium M For Motherboard  — William Wong

• 1394a Single-Board Computer Provides Compact Imaging Soultion  — William Wong

• PCI Mezzanine Card Packs 1-GHz ADC  — William Wong

• Platform Links Wireless To Dual Ethernet Networks  — William Wong

• Speedy Serial-Access Flash Memories Deliver Data At 33 MHz  — Dave Bursky

• Unified Platform Brings Top TPC-H Scores To Servers  — Dave Bursky

• Interface Transceivers Cut Board Space But Add Flexibility  — Dave Bursky

• Low-Power x86 CPU Adds Data Encryption And Multimedia Support  — Dave Bursky

• Test Board Validates DDR2 Memory DIMM Performance  — Dave Bursky

• Ultra-Small Dual PLL Won't Run Down Batteries  — Lisa Maliniak

• 24-V, Eighth-Brick DC-DC Converter Delivers Up To 15-A Output  — Lisa Maliniak

• Dual Comparator Is Stable Over Temperature And In Noisy Environs  — Lisa Maliniak

• Standards Reference Thermometer Is Intrinsically Safe And Portable  — Roger Allan

• PXI Digitizers Step Up Sampling Rates/Memory  — Roger Allan

• DDR Logic-Analysis Probe Captures Signals At 266 Mtransfers/s  — Roger Allan

• Real-Time Development Tools Provide Inverse Assembly Of Traces  — Roger Allan

• High-Throughput PCI Digitizer Cards Cut Test Times Up To 100-Fold  — Roger Allan

• Programmable Universal Counter Offers High Accuracy Up To 2.6 GHz  — Roger Allan





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