May 15, 2000 Magazine Archive

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ISSUE DATE: MAY 15, 2000

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Reconfigurable processor, VLIW cores, Communications test, VoIP DSP engine, Boundary scan

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May 15, 2000 - In This Issue

[Technology Report]
Advanced VLIW Architectures Unleash Raw DSP Horsepower
Emerging broadband wireless basestations and handheld phone services, as well as other consumer multimedia systems, are demanding more processing horsepower from programmable DSPs. Simultaneously, the power-consumption and operating-voltage... — Ashok Bindra

[Technology Report]
High-Speed Networks And 3G Wireless Hike Demands On Test Gear
For the design engineer, building communications equipment is a tough challenge. Speeds have increased to the multigigabit range and standards are changing every day. It's no wonder there's a pressing need for improved communications test equipment... — Joseph Desposito

[Product Innovation]
Scalable, Reconfigurable Processor Adjusts Logic For Top Performance
The evolving nature of communications and other audio/video systems demands signal-processing approaches to be scalable and flexible. With scalability, systems can tackle increasingly complex tasks. It also allows new features and additional... — Dave Bursky

[Design Application]
Implement A Single-Chip Multichannel VoIP DSP Engine
The Internet explosion has created an affordable communication pipe. It's not only facilitating e-mail correspondence and web browsing, though. Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) communications is now garnering support as well. Many... — Contributing Author

[Design Application]
Avoid The Common Pitfalls When Designing Boundary-Scan Boards
In the past decade, IEEE 1149.1, or "JTAG," has become one of the mainstream design-for-testability (DFT) techniques. It has grown from an often discussed but seldom used concept into a primary test strategy for many new designs. Boundary... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Programmable Pressure Transducer
The micromachined monolithic silicon piezoresistive-bridge pressure transducer (SPPT) is a dominant technology in automotive, industrial, medical, and environmental pressuresensing applications. Available from many vendors in many variations, all... — Chuck Wojslaw , et al.

[Ideas For Design]
Inexpensive Peak Detector Features Droopless Operation
Most peak detectors employ a rectifier and a sample-andhold circuit, which is prone to output droop. In an alternative approach, shown in the figure, a 5-bit digital potentiometer with servo loop is used to... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
FIFO Simulates Large Shift Register
In some cases, when dealing with long bit streams that require large storage capabilities, a FIFO memory can be used to handle the data without needing any additional logic for reading, writing, and organizing. ... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Bidirectional RS-232 Communication Uses Only One I/O Line
Occasionally, when designing with microcontrollers, it’s necessary to include a bidirectional serial communications capability, but, only a single I/O line is available. This situation can be accommodated, though, if the transmission and reception... — Contributing Author

[Editorial]
Does The Fire Burn And The Wonder Still Exist?
Every day I get calls, e-mails, and faxes from companies that have developed something new and exciting. Not every product is as revolutionary as some companies believe, but they all bring a fresh level of excitement and optimism about where that... — Dave Bursky

[Pease Porridge]
Bob's Mailbox
Dear Bob: A reader recently wrote in "Bob's Mailbox" about how small the knobs and buttons are on new instruments (electronic design, Feb. 21, p. 133). I design marine equipment and we just released a new product. Everyone who looks... — Bob Pease

[Viewpoint]
Digital Rights Management: The Future Is Secure Hardware
The recent explosion of digital music on the Internet has transformed digital rights management (DRM) from an esoteric technology into a hot topic for all content providers. Major record labels stand at the front of the DRM wave, but, electronic... — Contributing Author

[Editor's Notebook]
Find The Hidden Link Between Spell Checkers And EDA Tools
As you read this column, be sure to look carefully. An error exists somewhere in the first paragraph. Some readers may be able to find it just by looking. Others might be forced to resort to a spell checker. While you ponder that riddle,... — Cheryl Ajluni

[The Design Factory]
Don't Be Afraid To Criticize The Emperor's New Strategy
The Bison Valley Ax Works just had a bad quarter. Earnings were down, and the financial analysts wondered if the company had lost its way. Mr. Big, the general manager, decided that he must send a decisive message to the market by defining a clear... — Don Reinertsen

[Letters]
Letters
Don't Give Your Credit Away You asked whether the government should be involved in supporting the creative and learning process ["Design Challenges Help Stimulate Creativity," Feb. 21, p. 50]. Well, history... — Various

[40 Years Ago]
Motorola Unveils 19-in. Battery TV Set
While anxious eyes looked to the Far East for the promised flow of direct-view, transistorized battery TV receivers, Motorola, Inc. of Chicago, Ill., unveiled its large-screen, 19-in set in New York City. The 22-transistor, 12-diode... — Steve Scrupski

[40 Years Ago]
Japan's Electronics Highlights World Trade Fair
Japanese consumer products stole the electronics show at the recent U.S. World Trade Fair. In addition to exhibiting the largest volume of electronic equipment, the Japanese showed their latest advances in transistor radios, tape recorders and... — Steve Scrupski

[Forefront]
Triple-Well Process Cuts Flash-Memory Storage-Cell Size, Boost Performance
A triple-well channel-erase NOR technology promises higher density and faster flash memories. Initially, the process will be used by Hyundai Electronics America, San Jose, Calif., to produce 16-Mbit flash memories implemented with 0.35-µm... — Dave Bursky

[Forefront]
Flexible, Modular Process Packs More Than Half A Billion Transistors On A Tiny Silicon Chip
A new ASIC process promises to address the density, speed, power, and cost issues of future communications applications. Known as Gflx, this flexible technology was tailored for versatility and modularity. Its developer, LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas,... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
Desktop-Display Revenues Surge
According to DisplaySearch, Austin, Texas, notebook-display shipments jumped by 82% in revenues and 26% in the number of units shipped last year. During 1999's fourth quarter, notebook-display shipments rose by 12% sequentially and 35% year-to-year.... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
Company Wire
• A lamination process developed by Motorola's Energy Systems Group (ESG) will help PolyStor Corp. ramp up production of thin Li-polymer batteries. The lamination technology makes it possible to build Li-polymer cells through the... — Staff

[Forefront]
First HDSL2 Interoperability Tests Performed
The University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) held its first multivendor high-bit-rate DSL (HDSL2) testing period recently at its facilities in Durham, N.H. AccessLAN Communications, ADC, ADTRAN, Alcatel, Conexant Systems,... — Patrick Mannion

[Forefront]
Thick-Film-On-Steel Resistors Prove Worthy In High-Temperature, High-Power Applications
Thick-film-on-steel will enable a new class of power resistors and heating elements that outperforms existing components. A high-temperature technology, it was developed by IRC of Boone, N.C. Resistors produced by thick-film-on-steel are vibration... — David G. Morrison

[Forefront]
From The Labs
• Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are investigating an advanced sensor developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The quantum-well infrared photodetector is part of a device called the BioScan System,... — Staff

[Forefront]
Consumer Spending For Internet Services Will Soon Outpace Purchases of PCs
Telecommunications and computers are becoming inseparable. Their growth rates are staggering, and the Internet's ascendancy as a market force is already massive. This convergence—and its economic implications—was a featured topic at the... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
An LCoS-Based Rear-Projector Display May Supplant TFTs In Larger Sizes
Small thin-film-transistor (TFT) displays are cropping up everywhere. TFT displays with diagonal dimensions of 20 in. or more, however, are less common because they're more expensive. Their costs can soar as high as four or five... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
Low-Power Three-Chip Set Handles Four ADSL G.dmt/G.lite Lines
The MTK-20450 DynaMiTe is a four-channel, rate-adaptive, ADSL modem chip set for central-office (CO) equipment. Other target markets include DSL-access multiplexers, next-generation digital loop carriers,... — Patrick Mannion

[Forefront]
Buffer/Line Drivers, Transparent Latches, And Flip-Flops Now Feature Bushold Options
Bushold functions have been added to Fairchild Semiconductor's VCX portfolio of 16-bit buffer/line drivers, transparent latches, and flip-flops. Developed by the company's Interface and Logic Group, South Portland, Maine, this feature adds more... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
I/O Building Blocks Simplify RAID Development
It has just gotten easier to build high-performance, affordable RAID (redundant array of independent disks) systems. Two innovative products, dubbed Integrated RAID building blocks, join Intel's family of I/O building blocks. The new entries are... — Joseph Desposito

[Forefront]
Simulation Software Eases Modeling Of Physical Events
Designers who need to model physical phenomena can take advantage of FEMLAB, an analysis package that models physical phenomena describable through partial differential equations. Heat transfer, fluid flow, electromagnetics, and structural mechanics... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
Bottomless Package Doubles SOIC's Current-Handling Ability
The pressure to squeeze more power from a conventional MOSFET has prompted Fairchild Semiconductor to improve the current-handling capability of the popular wireless SOIC package. Specifically, the company hopes to attain the thermal performance and... — Ashok Bindra

[Careers]
Deciding Whether To Take That Promotion
It happens to just about all of us eventually. So you're a mid-career engineer, possibly a project leader. You've been with the company for many years, receiving very good performance reviews and above-average pay raises. You're pretty confident and... — Peter Varhol

[New Products]

• Digital — Staff

• Electronic Design Automation — Staff

• Networking — Staff

• Sensors & Transducers — Staff

• Test & Measurement — Staff

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