March 18, 2002 Magazine Archive

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ISSUE DATE: MARCH 18, 2002

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16-bit microcontroller, Backplane switch-fabric ICs, Li-ion batteries

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March 18, 2002 - In This Issue

[Technology Report]
Backplane Switch-Fabric ICs Go To The Next Level
This is the last Special Report that Ray Weiss, who passed away on New Year's Eve, prepared for us. We will miss his insight, his expertise, and his friendship. (See our tribute to him in our February 4, 2002 issue, p.... — Ray Weiss

[Technology Report]
Li-Ion Batteries Reach For Higher Performance
Over the last 10 years, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have emerged as the high-performance choice for powering cell phones and notebook computers. Their high energy density has enabled them to supplant NiMH and NiCd in many new designs, despite their... — David G. Morrison

[Product Innovation]
Background Debug Mode Speeds Up 16-Bit Microcontroller Application Development
Microcontroller designers typically strip down the hardware to the bare minimum. This generally requires an expensive in-circuit emulator (ICE) to debug applications. Now, Motorola has found a way around this. Its new HCS12 line of 16-bit... — William Wong

[Design Application]
Economical Flyback Converter Operates Off -48 V
In telecom applications, the most common power-supply input voltage is −48 V. For years, telephone company central offices have supplied −48 V to operate standard phones, and they continue to do so. So for standardization purposes, the... — Mehrzad Koohian

[Ideas For Design]
Consider The "Deboo" Integrator For Unipolar Noninverting Designs
The design of a standard inverting integrator is simple when bipolar supplies are available, but it's cumbersome with a unipolar supply. To allow adequate headroom for the output, the circuit must be biased away from ground, often at half the supply... — Elliot Simons

[Ideas For Design]
Simple Geiger Detector uses neon Glow Lamp
In these times of increased terrorist threats, the possibility of some type of nuclear incident exists. By using a few simple components, it's possible to build a low-cost Geiger detector. Detecting α radiation requires a special Geiger tube. But... — Peter Lay

[Ideas For Design]
Programmable Schmitt Triggers Are Digitally Controlled
The circuit in Figure 1 is a single-supply version of a programmable Schmitt trigger, or a comparator with hysteresis. A comparator, A1, and a digitally programmable potentiometer (DPP1) are used for the... — Chuck Wojslaw

[Editorial]
Personal Identity: Should We Move Toward Electronic IDs?
Last month's RSA Conference held in San Jose, Calif., on electronic security covered many topics, spanning personal identification, electronic signatures, hack prevention, cryptography, and more. But the most controversy swirled around the issue of a... — Dave Bursky

[Pease Porridge]
Bob's Mailbox
Dear Bob: In "What's All This Algebraic Equation Stuff, Anyhow? (Part 3)" (electronic design, Nov. 5, 2001, p. 94), you mention: "C1 should be a pretty good capacitor, mylar or metalized mylar." I haven't been able to... — Bob Pease

[Viewpoint]
Extending Formal Verification Methodologies Beyond The Gate Level
In recent years, formal verification has become the verification methodology of choice for many designers and verification engineers. It's now in the mainstream marketplace, as it's easy to use, integrates easily into the design flow, and finds bugs... — Kuang-Chien (K.C.) Chen

[Editor's Notebook]
Flaming FUD
Amazingly, marketing departments often turn to fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) as a tool to hype a really good product. I can see the benefit of this approach for a product that's not great. Companies hope to distract the buyer. But this method may... — William Wong

[Celebrating 50 Years]
Reader Polls/Flashback
Flashback > 10 Years Ago MARCH 19, 1992 WIRELESS NETWORKS FOR DATA-COMMUNIcations systems continue to establish themselves as alternative solutions to problems posed by hardwired networks.... — Staff

[Forefront]
Serial Interconnect Standard Expands RapidIO
Suited to DSP farms and backplanes, the RapidIO Trade Association's new specification defines a high-performance, low-pin-count switch-fabric serial interconnect. The Serial RapidIO specification adds a new physical layer to existing... — David G. Morrison

[Forefront]
Bus Synthesis Enhanced SoC Design System
One of the trickier aspects of system-on-a-chip (SoC) design is coming up with the bus structure for the circuit. Figuring out the best possible combination of bus masters, slaves, nodes, and layers is an arduous task that can make or break an SoC's... — David Maliniak

[Forefront]
Advanced 90-nm Process Packs 400 Million Transistors On-Chip
With over 400 million transistors on a single chip, Texas Instruments' next-generation 90-nm (0.09-µm) CMOS process will enable TI to pack DSP, microcontroller, memory, logic, analog, and RF functions on one CMOS die, with moderate power... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
FCC Approves Ultra-Wideband Wireless
Paving the way for a number of public safety, business, and consumer applications, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized the marketing and operation of a limited range of products based on ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless... — Lisa Fakhry

[Forefront]
Software Platform Enables MEMS VOA Development
A new software platform by Co-ventor Inc. of Cary, N.C., simplifies the development of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) variable optical attenuators (VOAs) and attenuator arrays. Designed for dense-wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) systems... — Roger Allan

[Forefront]
ASIC-EDA Alliance Lifts OLA Specification
The Open Library Architecture (OLA), an application programming interface specification collaboratively developed at the Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2), has gained a boost through an alliance between Si2's ASIC Council and a group of leading EDA... — David Maliniak

[Forefront]
Low-Jitter Clock-Recovery Modules Target 10-Gbit/s Systems
The M840 multirate clock-recovery (CR) module series from Micro Networks Corp. specifically targets long-haul, ultra-long-haul, and optical test systems in the OC-192 and 10-Gbit Ethernet systems. Its phase-locked architecture and high-stability,... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
SystemC Simulator Completes A Full Suite Of System-Level Tools
The concept of system architectural definition at a level of abstraction higher than RTL is a good one. Such methodologies become much more feasible as tools roll out in support. To that end, Synopsys is launching a SystemC simulator to complement its... — David Maliniak

[Forefront]
Charting App Integrates With MathCad And Excel
Number crunching is often necessary to justify a project or system design. Presenting that information is often most effective in a graphical context. MathSoft's Axum 7 makes the job easier, especially when coupled with math processing applications... — William Wong

[Forefront]
Adaptive linear Amp Cuts Line Driver's Dissipation
Thanks to an adaptive linear-power (ALP) amplifier architecture, Analog Devices' single-supply ADSL line driver slashes power dissipation and dramatically improves efficiency over competing solutions. The AD8393 is the first implementation... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
.NET Gains Graphical Programming Environment
Microsoft .NET's common language runtime (CLR) gets the support of another language courtesy of Softwire Technology's Softwire for Visual Studio .NET. This visual programming environment is an enhanced version of Softwire for Visual Basic. Visual... — William Wong

[Forefront]
Reflective Optical Sensors Set Size Benchmark
Design spaces are getting smaller and smaller. Elekon Industries has answered this challenge with the ERT-3280 series of reflective optical sensors, the smallest such sensors available. Models in the series measure just 2.7 by 3.2 by 1.4... — Richard Gawel

[New Products]

• Centrifugal Blower Fits High-Pressure Applications — Lisa Fakhry

• Predictive Fan-Failure IC Features Software-Free Operation — Lisa Fakhry

• Copper Pin Fin Heatsinks Cool SMDs Through Improved Conductivity — David G. Morrison

• Heatsinks Cool Where Extrusions Can’t — David G. Morrison

• Heatsink-Fan Combo Cools CPUs And Improves Their Performance — David G. Morrison

• Development Kit Includes PCI Motion-Control Board — Lisa Fakhry

• Three-Phase Motor Controller Boasts 3-A DMOS Drivers — David G. Morrison

• Four-Axis Step-Motor Controller/Driver Features Rates Up To 50,000 Steps/s — Lisa Fakhry

• Modular Housing Assemblies Enable Fast Installation Of Printed-Circuit Boards — Lisa Fakhry

• CompactPCI/PXI Chassis Cubes Boast Mounting Flexibility — Lisa Fakhry

• Enclosure Design Meets Increasing Power Density Needs — Lisa Fakhry

• Enclosures Use Horizontally Mounted Backplanes To Maximize Space — Lisa Fakhry

• Comprehensive Panel Unit Eases Control-Room Integration — Lisa Fakhry

• Phase-Change Material Provides Low Thermal-Resistance Interface Path — Lisa Fakhry

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