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ISSUE DATE: FEBRUARY 2, 2004 OPTIONS
Success Story: Machine vision, Consumer Electronics Show, Power-management chip, Serial buses for test, Embedded in ED

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February 2, 2004 - In This Issue


New Products: More Digital ICs/DSP
Cell Library’s Power Islands Sandbag Chip Power Consumption According to its manufacturer, the VIP PowerSaver standard cell library is the first commercially available library to support the creation of power islands. It can support...  — Dave Bursky

[Success Story]
Cognex Brings In-Sight To Machine Vision
Chances are, many items that you use every day are made with the help of a machine-vision system. Whether it's a razor, soda cans, light bulbs, or the diaper on your baby, machine-vision technology is at the heart of that product's...  — Doris Kilbane

[Technology Report]
Gigabit-Per-Second Serial Buses Put Testing To The Test
Demands unleashed by high-speed multigigabit-per-second serial buses continually push the test-and-measurement (T&M) equipment envelope. Some of the latest equipment to enter the fray are real-time oscilloscopes, sampling oscilloscopes, digital...  — Roger Allan

[Leapfrog: Industry First]
Power-Management Chip Takes Charge In Handhelds
Offering the longest runtimes among the popular rechargeable chemistries, single-cell lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries can be found in many handheld devices. But multiple charging sources, multiple supply voltages within the product, demands for...  — David G. Morrison

[Design View / Design Solution]
Choose The Right Multiprocessor For Your Embedded System
Cost is king in many embedded-system designs. To suppress costs, designers will typically call upon a single microprocessor to run the whole show, figuring that fewer parts means lower cost. But splitting up the task among multiple processors...  — Steven Pope

[Ideas For Design]
Simple Off-Line Power Supply Minimizes Cost
Off-line applications that don't require isolation can take advantage of the circuit shown in Figure 1. It offers a very simple and inexpensive solution for supplying a regulated low-power dc output...  — Brian King , et al.

[Ideas For Design]
Get A Dual-Programmable LED Flasher "For Free"
There are many ways to design LED flashers using transistors, op amps, 555 timers, or even relays. And specialized ICs exist for driving LEDs, such as the LX1990...93 from Microsemi Integrated Products. But all of these approaches need extra...  — Abel Raynus

[Editorial]
Near-Field Communications Opens Vision Of E-Commerce
I've got a new vision for eradicating the seam-bursting array of IDs that jams my wallet, and it comes in the form of the ubiquitous wireless communicator that you already can't leave home without—the cell phone. Like some 70 million...  — Mark David

[POV: Point Of View]
Accelerating The Design Cycle In A Converging World
The headline is so common: "Design Engineers Face Increased Time-To-Market Pressures." Whenever I see such a headline, I smile. Is there ever enough time, budget, or staff to develop a new design and meet all of the project's expectations?...  — Mihir Ravel

[Pease Porridge]
What's All This Noise Gain Stuff, Anyhow?
On my recent seminar tour, I asked about 4000 engineers, "How many of you use noise gain?" About 2% of the people held up their hands. Sigh. Noise gain is often not very important or critical. That is one of the reasons why op amps are so...  — Bob Pease

[TechView: The Industry]
Entertainment Technologies Take Center Stage At CES
Entertainment has gone high-tech. Huge plasma flat-panel displays, 55-in. LCD screens, rotating disk drives no wider than a thumbnail, and advanced dual-layer DVD disks storing over 8 Gbytes were just a few of the developments on display at last...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: Analog & Power]
Active-Clamp PWM Controller Boosts Efficiency, Power Density
Crafted from National Semiconductor's analog bipolar-CMOS-DMOS process, the LM5025 is a 100-V pulse-width-modulation (PWM) controller for forward converters. Yet its integration of the active-clamp/reset technique, which is used in distributed power...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Analog & Power]
3-Msample/s 16-Bit SAR ADC Sports 1-LSB Accuracy
High-speed 16-bit successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are available, but many of them sacrifice integral and differential linearity (INL and DNL) to achieve high speeds. However, Analog Devices' AD7621 16-bit...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Analog & Power]
Low Noise, Wide Dynamic Range Define 14-Bit, 125-Msample/s ADC
Featuring more than half the power dissipation of other available 14-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), Texas Instruments' ADS5500 125-Msample/s ADC maintains high performance with resolution higher than any comparable device. Also, its power...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Communications]
Smart Antenna Chip Extends Wi-Fi Range, Speed, And Reliability
The key to microwave radio performance is a good antenna. While designers usually take the antenna for granted or see it as a necessary evil, it really is a major system component. Today, designers are paying more attention to what has often been an...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Communications]
Dual Log Converter Makes Optical Power Monitoring Easier Than Ever
Many optical data-transmission systems require accurate measurement of the light output at different parts of the systems. Some of these systems need light power as a feedback signal to optimize system performance. The hard part is accurately...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Communications]
New Books For 2004 Cultivate Continuing Education
While the communications/networking field continues to churn, some technical publishers have been working hard to keep up with the changes. These recent books provide an excellent and current look at the industry. In the wireless arena,...  — Louis E. Frenzel

[TechView: Components & Test]
Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers Target Leading-Edge RF Apps
According to their manufacturer, the RSA 2200A and 3300A series real-time spectrum analyzers are the first complete measurement packages for complex RF signals. These Tektronix series target engineers developing cutting-edge RF technologies, such as...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Components & Test]
High-Performance JTAG Controller Supports Both USB And LANs
The NetUSB-1149.1/E high-performance, intelligent boundary-scan JTAG controller can be connected either to a user's PC via the high-speed USB 2.0 or a 10/100BaseT Ethernet local-area network (LAN) interface. Devised by Corelis, the controller also...  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Components & Test]
Low-Cost Digital Audio Equalizer Automatically Adjusts Conference Calls
Using a sophisticated DSP-based approach, the OctiVox Clear Call module corrects the audio level on all incoming calls in an office conference-call setup, no matter how many parties are on the line. This low-cost 6- by 4-in. unit from Octiv Inc....  — Roger Allan

[TechView: Digital]
Memory Controller Pumps Up DRAM System Data Rates
Avoiding the need to change the native memory interface, a novel controller and buffering scheme pushes data-transfer rates for standard SDRAMs to 3.2 Gbits/s/pin and up to 12.8 Gbits/s/pin for first-generation double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAMs. A...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: Digital]
DRAM-o-Rama 2004: Speed, Density Advances Kickstart The New Year
Look for faster memories with greater capacity this year, thanks to advances from Toshiba Corp., Rambus Inc., and Elpida Memory Inc. First samples of a 512-Mbit high-performance DRAM sporting the new extreme-data-rate (XDR) interface are...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: Digital]
SoC Cuts Costs For Inkjet Fax Machines
The PI-301 single-chip controller trims the cost of electronic subsystems in inkjet fax machines by 30% to 50% by replacing an assortment of controllers and memory components. This Agere Systems system-on-a-chip (SoC) combines as many as eight...  — Dave Bursky

[TechView: EDA]
SoC Debug Environment Opens System-Level View
Complex system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs with multiple embedded processors and IP blocks present difficult debug challenges. First Silicon Solutions' (FS2) Multi-Core Embedded Debug (MED) system extends the JTAG infrastructure to create a new class of...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
Design-Rule Checker Sports Foundry Compatibility
Advances in design checking capability, including foundry-compatible design-rule checking (DRC) and background DRC, are among the features of HiPer Verify, the first tool in a line of IC layout and verification software. With HiPer Verify, users can...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
Breaking News: HDL Design And Simulation Environment
Doubling the performance of the previous release, Version 6.2 of Active-HDL is an integrated, Windows-based HDL design and simulation environment. Behavioral, gate-level, and timing simulation performance benefit from up to a twofold speed boost for...  — David Maliniak

[TechView: EDA]
Breaking News: Synthesis Tool
The blast create synthesis tool from Magma has been validated by IBM Microelectronics to show a high degree of correlation with IBM's Einstimer static timing tool. As a result, IBM is now accepting design data from Blast Create for ASIC...  — David Maliniak

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
RTOS Combines With Toolset
Take one compact real-time operating system. Mix thoroughly with a C/C++ toolset, and you get RTXC Quadros RTOS for the IAR Systems ARM Embedded Workbench. It includes a plug-in for the IAR C-SPY JTAG debugger, C/C++ compiler, assembler, linker,...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
PMC Packs Pair Of Processors
The PmPPC2750, developed by Artesyn Communication Products, hosts a pair of 800-MHz IBM PowerPC PPC750FX processors with their own 512 kbytes of L2 cache. The PCI mezzanine card (PMC) comes with a Marvell Discovery GT-64260B PCI bridge equipped with...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
DSP Gains Real-Time Kernel, Tools
Motorola's MSC8102 digital signal processor is now supported by OSEck from Enea Embedded Technology. OSEck and Enea's Illuminator diagnostic tool is integrated with Metrowerks' CodeWarrior Development Studio. OSEck uses Enea's link handler, which...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Optimizing 64-Bit Linux Compiler
The PathScale Compiler Suite includes C, C++, and Fortran 9X compilers for the 32- and 64-bit AMD64 architecture. Developed by PathScale Inc., the suite is compatible with the GNU gcc/g++ toolchain. It takes a balanced approach with integer and...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Pentium III Drives CompactPCI SBC
The 6U ZT 5551 uses a low-power, 1-GHz Pentium III processor to round out Performance Technologies' CompactPCI single-board-computer (SBC) collection. The ZT 5551 supports up to 2 Gbytes of PC-133 SDRAM with error-correction coding, 16-Mbyte flash...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Compact MB Powers Personal Servers
Via Technologies' EPIA CL motherboard (MB) is found at the center of Niveus Media's compact servers. The Mini-ITX motherboard is based on Via's 266-MHz C3 Eden processor. A pair of Ethernet ports and six USB ports suit it for personal...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Homegrown Expertise
A friend of mine had a recent run-in with Intuit's Quicken tech support. The harrowing details can be found in any forum post or discussion about tech support outsourcing. It starts with a problem like "The program fails after I do a backup" and...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
StarFabric Links Conduction-Cooled CPUs
Add StarFabric to a dual-processor, conduction-cooled single-board computer and you get a powerful system linked by a 400-Mbyte/s switch fabric. The Rhino DX from Synergy Microsystems includes one or two 1.3-GHz 7455 PowerPC processors with AltiVec...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Linux Targets TI DSP
MediaLinux DSP from Softier builds on Texas Instruments' DSP/BIOS kernel to support the TI TMS320C6000 fixed-point family of DSPs. The MediaLinux DSP Development Kit is integrated with TI's eXpressDSP tool chain. MediaLinux supports media-related...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
C Tool Targets FPGA Design
The CoDeveloper Tool Suite is designed to ease a software developer's job of creating an FPGA-based solution. Impulse Accelerated Technologies' collection of C-based libraries, tools, and compilers takes a hardware system definition written in...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Embedding Serial ATA
Serial ATA (SATA) and its cousin, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), promise smaller, faster, more reliable drives with features that system and embedded designers can really use. It has become the norm to replace parallel interfaces throughout...  — William Wong

[TechScope]
Iraq Enters The Wireless Age
Many phone calls made today in post-war Iraq require a computer with a microphone and a modem, and these calls can cost up to $4.00 a minute. Iraqis can look for relief, though, thanks to a wireless "plan" from VoEx International LLC and GlobalNet...  — Richard Gawel

[TechScope]
Flexible Sensor Analyzes Natural Gas Pipelines
All 1.2 million miles of natural gas pipelines that crisscross the United States are subject to corrosion caused by condensation, pressure, and other factors. Unfortunately, integrity examinations require excavation, sandblasting, and manual...  — Richard Gawel

[TechScope]
The Future Of Data Storage: Plastic
The next generation of memory storage is almost here—and it's smaller, simpler, and made from common plastic. Using a polymer material known as PEDOT, which is clear and conducts electricity, engineers at Princeton University and...  — Richard Gawel

[Basics Of Design]
Wireless Interfaces
Sponsored by: PHILIPS SEMICONDUCTORS
Wireless interfaces are fast becoming the norm for almost every handheld electronic system, from games to cell phones, and from PDAs to instruments. The wireless interface employed depends on the application—typically it’s either...  — Dave Bursky

[New Products]

• Components Specifier: Sensors/Transducers  — Roger Allan

• Digital ICs/DSP: CMOS 20-Bit Bus Switches Replace TTL Equivalents  — Dave Bursky

• Digital ICs/DSP: Chip Set Simplifies HDTV And Set-Top-Box Design  — Dave Bursky

• Digital ICs/DSP: High-Speed Serial EEPROMs Deliver Data At 10 MHz  — Dave Bursky

• Analog & Power: Two-Channel, 14-Bit ADC Samples Simultaneously At 3 Msamples/s  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: Low-Dropout Regulator Consumes Just 23 Microamps In Portable Systems  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: Dual Logarithmic Converter Watches Optical-Network Power  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: Dual-Output PWM Controller Touts Integrated LDO Controller  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: Schottky Rectifiers Provide High Current Density  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: White-LED Drivers' Analog Dimming Results In Reduced Output Noise  — Lisa Maliniak

• Analog & Power: Battery-Charger Output Ups Utility Of AC-DC Switching Supply  — Lisa Maliniak

• Interconnections & Packaging: SMA PC-Board Connectors Fit Standard Surface-Mount Process  — Roger Allan

• Interconnections & Packaging: Panel Light Pipes Use Dual-Lens Design To Enhance Display Intensity  — Roger Allan

• Interconnections & Packaging: Retractile Extension Cords Glow In The Dark For Better Safety  — Roger Allan

• Interconnections & Packaging: Locking-Screw Options Simplify Connector Board Mating  — Lisa Maliniak

• Interconnections & Packaging: Enclosures And Connectors Designed For The ExpressCard Bus  — Roger Allan

• Interconnections & Packaging: Low-Profile VRM Connector Suits 1U Server Applications  — Roger Allan

• Interconnections & Packaging: Ferrite-Chip-Bead Array Houses Four Beads In One Package  — Roger Allan





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