[Technology Report] New Interfaces Squeeze Top Performance From SRAMs
As system speeds continue climbing to new heights, memory subsystems must keep up. Standard asynchronous and synchronous-static RAMs can no longer deliver the data bandwidth needed to feed system buses that operate at 200-, 300-, and even 400-MHz...
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Dave Bursky
[Technology Report] Write Once, Debug Everywhere
The next platform for your embedded application will use a new processor, and the original software must run on it next week. Depending on the original system architecture and the tools available, the task can be either a breeze or a...
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William Wong
[Product Innovation] Switch-Fabric Chip Set Delivers Per-Channel QoS
As the amount of data that we send continues to escalate exponentially, network switch fabrics must be able to scale from today's tens of gigabit/s levels to the terabit levels needed for tomorrow's systems. Additionally, our dependence on networks...
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Dave Bursky
[Editorial] Are Legal Issues Getting In The Way Of Good Deeds?
Our legal system is perhaps the best in the world, protecting us from many of the consequences of our actions, or opening avenues of redress when others try to relieve us of our money or impact our freedoms. But sometimes it may intimidate us and make...
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Dave Bursky
[Pease Porridge] Bob's Mailbox
Dear Bob: I enjoyed your "What's All This Drilling Stuff, Anyhow?" column (Electronic Design, March 4, p. 81). Here's a good 1/4-in. 4000-rpm drill:...
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Bob Pease
[Viewpoint] EDA Tools Need Balance Between Integration And Innovation
Designs are moving aggressively toward 130 nanometers (nm). Just on the horizon lie new technologies at 100 nm. Given these small geometries, three fundamental barriers must be overcome to improve the turn-around time of large system-on-a-chip (SoC)...
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Kevin Walsh
[Celebrating 50 Years] Flashback
Flashback > 10 Years Ago MAY 28, 1992 A CONVERSION EFFICIENCY OF 17.1%, claimed as a world record, was attained using a polycrystalline-silicon solar cell. Scientists at Sharp Corp., Osaka, Japan,...
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Staff
[Letters] Letters
FOIL Method Comes In Handy I just read your article about the continued relevance of paper and pencil, and I couldn't agree more heartily ["Just Being New Doesn't Make It Better Technology," March 4, p. 22]....
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Various
[Forefront] Compression Magnifies ARM Trace Buffer
ARM's Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) captures real-time trace information on-chip, but its buffer size limits the amount of saved information. American Arium's SC-1000 ARM Emulator, though, moves trace information off-chip at 200 MHz and compresses it...
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William Wong
[Forefront] Self-Adaptive Silicon Boosts 14-Bit DAC's High-Frequency Performance
Aiming to attract developers of system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for broadband communications, Impinj has unveiled a 300-Msample/s digital-to-analog converter (DAC) development platform. The 14-bit DAC chip on this development board, the IPJ8114E, is...
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Staff
[Forefront] Smaller Fuel Cells Get Closer To Replacing Batteries
Imagine going for days or even weeks at a time without recharging your laptop or cell phone. Using a new fuel-cell design that circumvents the technology's limitations, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., may make this...
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Richard Gawel
[Forefront] SoC Design Methodology Harmonizes Digital, Analog, Power
Exploiting a dramatic improvement in the digital density of its super-smart power technology, SMARTMOS, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS) has created a design platform for complex integrated mixed-signal system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions....
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Ashok Bindra
[Forefront] Low-Cost DSOs Surpass Bandwidth And Sample Rate Standards
The TDS2000 and TDS1000 digital-storage oscilloscope (DSO) families boast high performance in the low-cost marketplace. The five models in the TDS2000 line deliver 60- to 200-MHz bandwidths and a 1- or 2-Gsample/s rate in both two- and four-channel...
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Lisa Fakhry
[Forefront] MIPS SoC Does Double Duty
Two high-speed Ethernet ports and two 16550 serial ports do wonders with the MIPS-based Vr7700 core in NEC's new Vr7701 system-on-a-chip (SoC). Running at 400 MHz, the Vr7701 has plenty of horsepower for high-performance embedded network applications...
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William Wong
[Forefront] Programmable IC Supplier Acquires Analog Design House
To further strengthen its analog signal processing capabilities, programmable mixed-signal IC supplier Xicor Inc. has acquired fabless design house Analog Integration Partners (AIP). This move will let Xicor penetrate markets like LCD monitors,...
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Ashok Bindra
[Forefront] Clock Oscillator Beats Temperature Extremes
With a guarantee of ±250-ppm frequency accuracy from -55°C to 200°C, the Series T4001 crystal clock oscillators endure environmental extremes from the cold of high-altitude rocketry to the heat of deep-well oil...
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David G. Morrison
[Forefront] Transformer Technology License Will Spur New Applications
Midcom Inc. of Watertown, S.D., has licensed its ferrite, multilayer, low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) technology to Tamura Corp. of Tokyo, Japan. The agreement provides a second source for the LTCC-based transformers while helping promote their...
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David G. Morrison
[Forefront] Simulation Models Go Online For Intel Flash Memory
An agreement between Denali Software and Intel will yield advanced simulation models for Intel's complete line of flash memories. Simulation models will be available online for all current Intel flash devices, including the recently announced 128-Mbit...
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David Maliniak
[Forefront] Tool Suite Addresses EDA's Last Frontier, Wire Harnesses
While the EDA industry has addressed just about every other aspect of chip, board, and system design, wire harness design automation has lagged behind. Wire harnesses have seen little in the way of commercial EDA tools. Many systems houses have for...
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David Maliniak
[Forefront] Pocket Java Goes Retail
Java has found a home in a variety of embedded mobile applications. But the Java JVM is often embedded too. Developers targeting the Pocket PC 2002 platform now have Hewlett-Packard's Mobile Chai, which will host their Java applications. It implements...
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William Wong
