January 24, 2000 Magazine Archive

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ISSUE DATE: JANUARY 24, 2000

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Synchronous Rectification, System-Level Languages, Content-Addressable Memories, Logic Analysis

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January 24, 2000 - In This Issue

[Technology Report]
System-Level Languages Fight To Take Over As The Next Design Solution
Are you aware that a silent war is brewing in the EDA industry? The battle is between vendors and industry organizations. They're all vying for the chance to show you why the system-level language that they support or have developed is the solution... — Cheryl Ajluni

[Technology Report]
Content-Addressable Memories Speed Up Network Traffic And More
Although content-addressable memories have been available for over a decade, their high cost and low capacities limited their use to highly specialized applications. Now, thanks to advances in processing technology and multilevel metallization, very... — Dave Bursky

[Product Innovation]
Optimized Synchronous Rectification Drives Up DC-DC Efficiency
The desire to squeeze more data bits through smaller systems at faster rates has brought about a dramatic rise in power consumption. At the same time, there's been a proliferation of voltages that address the needs of microprocessors, memories,... — Ashok Bindra

[Design Application]
Cost-Effective LEDs Fit Snugly In Today's Energy-Conscious World
For many applications, LED lamps are superior to incandescent lighting. So why is it that in tens of millions of switches, indicators, control panels, signs, annunciators, displays, decor lights, and dozens of other applications, design engineers... — Jordon P. Papanier

[Design Application]
Logic-Analyzer Triggering Techniques Tame Complex Computer Buses
During the early day's of microcomputing, system designers could achieve adequate performance using a relatively simple bus. These buses had a basic protocol with address, data, and control signals all present at the input when a clock edge arrived.... — Dave Rishavy

[Ideas For Design]
Micro-UPS Features Rapid Battery Recharge
Every circuit needs some sort of power source. Frequently, the success of a circuit will be made or broken by the convenience and flexibility of its power supply. This is particularly true of portable instrumentation, which often must combine... — W. Stephen Woodward

[Ideas For Design]
Solid-State Multiplexers Reduce Half-Bridge Error
The half-bridge configuration is handy when using nonlinear sensors, such as thermistors, since it can partially compensate for the sensor's nonlinearity. However, multiplexing a single resistor to multiple sensors generally requires the use of... — Scott Ellington

[Ideas For Design]
Three-Wire Cables Connect Low-Cost, Low-Power Interphone
The "point-to-multipoint" interphone system shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 utilizes separate three-wire cables to connect one local station to a maximum of six... — Roberto Amadio , et al.

[Editorial]
Rethink Your Designs To Keep Our Planet Green
Between the middle of December and the first week in January, a feeding frenzy takes place. Everyone bites off a chunk of new technology and disposes the old. We constantly want the latest and greatest products, just to make our lives more... — Dave Bursky

[Pease Porridge]
Bob's Mailbox
Dear Bob: You were talking about the difference in dynamic range of the senses of sight and hearing, and came to the conclusion that there was not a lot of difference. (I just said that the ranges were COMPARABLY wide. /rap)... — Bob Pease

[Editor's Notebook]
"Measurements To Minds" Is The New Direction For Connectivity
Recently, I sat down with Rick Robinson and Bob Gronlund of Agilent Technologies during their Measurement to Minds tour. I always enjoy these Agilent meetings. Invariably, I find out how engineers are thinking about certain products and... — Joseph Desposito

[Letters]
Letters
I Knew Those Diodes When Tunnel diodes probably seemed like pretty obscure and rare devices over most of the electronics industry, but they were so commonplace when I worked for Tektronix in their Oklahoma City... — Various

[The Design Factory]
Don't Define A Requirement Until You Know How To Test For It
Snrg, the product manager at the Bison Valley Ax Works, was slaving late one night on a specification for the Mammoth Whacker II. He carefully chipped out the words, "During use, the head must stay on the ax," on his stone tablet. (Specification... — Don Reinertsen

[40 Years Ago]
Developmental Memory Rotates Paper-Thin Disk
A new, single-disc type memory, representing a novel approach to the fast-access, large-storage problem, was shown at the Eastern Joint Computer Conference by the Laboratory for Electronics, Inc. Named the LFE Bernoulli Disk, the device was... — Steve Scrupski

[40 Years Ago]
Computers and Hardware Share Joint Conference
"Blue-Sky" kilomegacycle computers and down-to-earth hardware shared the spotlight at the ninth annual Eastern Joint Computer Conference in Boston. Among the predictions of an International Business Machines Corp. representative were... — Steve Scrupski

[Forefront]
Company Wire
Conexant Systems is rounding out its communications portfolio with its purchase of Maker Communications, a manufacturer of programmable high-performance network processors, software solutions, and development tools. The combination will... — Staff

[Forefront]
From The Labs
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., have developed a way to use specific polymers as luminescent sensors to virtually instantaneously detect and identify both biological and chemical... — Staff

[Forefront]
1-GHz CPUs Among The Eye-Openers Unveiled At ISSCC 2000
As philosophers continue to argue whether 2000 or 2001 actually starts the new millennium, the IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference (Feb. 7-9) in San Francisco, Calif., will continue its tradition of unveiling the latest in circuit... — Dave Bursky

[Forefront]
3D Optical Device Will Boost Digital Storage Capacity
The demand for digital storage capacity and faster data access is accelerating at a feverish rate. By the end of this year, some storage devices will be able to store one exabyte (1018 bytes). In 2002, they'll store over two exabytes.... — Cheryl Ajluni

[Forefront]
CDMA Firm Sells Phone Division While Advancing Technology
So much for the quiet holiday season. In the days leading up to Christmas, Qualcomm, San Diego, Calif., announced the sale of its terrestrial-based CDMA phone division to Kyocera, San Diego, a leading phone manufacturer in Asia. Hot on the heels of... — Patrick Mannion

[Forefront]
Complementary-Bipolar CMOS Process Goes Modular
Hoping to expand its portfolio of high-performance analog and mixed-signal ICs, Burr-Brown Corp., Tucson, Ariz., has developed a proprietary complementary-bipolar CMOS (CBC) process for high-speed communications applications. Modular in nature, the... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
Initiative Promises High-Capacity SoC Design Environment
NEC Electronics Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., recently launched an initiative to provide a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design environment capable of enabling a three-month turnaround time—from system specification to tape-out—for designs... — Cheryl Ajluni

[Forefront]
PICMG Releases Three New CompactPCI Specs
The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) has approved and released three new CompactPCI specifications: PICMG 2.0 R3.0, an update of the core CompactPCI specification; PICMG 2.10 R1.0, Keying of CompactPCI Boards and Backplanes; and... — Joseph Desposito

[Forefront]
Lithographers Look To EUV And EPL For Future Solutions
The lithographers have spoken. At last month's Next Generation Lithography Workshop in Colorado Springs, Colo., attending designers agreed to support continued development of a number of different next-generation lithography (NGL) technology... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
BiCMOS Wafer Line Boosts Fab Capacity
Completing a $200 million expansion, Philips Semiconductors, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has added a new semiconductor manufacturing line to its Albuquerque, N.M., facility. This should help the company meet the growing demand for communications... — David G. Morrison

[Forefront]
Compiler Attempts To Address The Timing Closure Challenge
Achieving timing closure with today's complex IC designs is quite a challenge. In fact, it may be one of the most daunting tasks designers are faced with. While a number of solutions to this problem have emerged, none has managed to garner... — Cheryl Ajluni

[Forefront]
3.3-V Oscillator Generates Low-Jitter Output To 410 MHz
The M2984 is being introduced as the first 3.3-V oscillator to achieve 150- to 410-MHz output. It relies on an inverted-mesa crystal design, third-overtone operation, and PECL logic to reach such high-frequency operation, while maintaining low... — David G. Morrison

[Forefront]
PC-Hosted Audio Accelerator Delivers 5.1-Channel Sound
Delivering a full 5.1-channel sound capability, the Thunderbird Avenger audio accelerator chip brings the home-theater experience to the PC. Its multichannel sound output totally immerses users in simulations, games, movies, or any other PC... — Dave Bursky

[Forefront]
Linux Initiative Has Embedded Market In Sight
BlueCat Linux, a version of Linux optimized for embedded applications, is a key element in a new initiative targeting the embedded market. The open-source product and support services initiative includes four other elements: an open-development... — Joseph Desposito

[Careers]
The Mythic Quest For A Creative Engineering Job Might End In Outsourcing
In an era of faster time-to-market and the tighter, shrinking profit margins created by intense international competition, outsourcing has presented engineers with an unprecedented opportunity to strike out on their own. Companies no longer have the... — Mike Wilkinson

[New Products]

• Set-Top Box Decoder Offers High Performance At Low Cost — Richard Gawel

• 2.5- And 10-Gbit/s SoCs Simplify Linear And Protected Ring Networks — Richard Gawel

• Low-Cost Ethernet Switch Low-Cost Ethernet Switch — Richard Gawel

• 3.3-V IC Family Provides Multiplexer And Demultiplexer Functions — Richard Gawel

• Laser Driver Includes Current Monitors And Power Control — Richard Gawel

• Family Delivers MPEG Encoding To Mass Markets — Richard Gawel

• Motion Processor Controls Brushed And Brushless Motors — Richard Gawel

• Linear Flash PCMCIA Memory Card Achieves Record Capacity — Richard Gawel

• Touch-Panel LCDs Use Resistive-Sense Technology — Richard Gawel

• LCD Module Combines Necessary Components In A Single Package — Richard Gawel

• LCD Uses FRF To Achieve Stable Contrast And Low Profile — Richard Gawel

• Flat-Panel Monitors Accept Both Video And Digital/Analog Inputs — Richard Gawel

• Low-Cost 7-Segment And 5-By-7 Dot-Matrix LEDs Now Available — Richard Gawel

• Touch-Panel LCD Module Built For Portable Applications — Richard Gawel

• Surface-Mount PTC Device Protects Multiple USB Ports — Richard Gawel

• Power Moisture Resistors Designed To Withstand Harsh Climates — Richard Gawel

• Surface-Mount Inductors Squeeze Into Small Footprints — Richard Gawel

• Small Power Inductors Handle High Current Levels

• Surface-Mount Fixed Inductor Boasts 9.5 A At 1.8 μH — Richard Gawel

• Semiconductor Switch Line Switches Up To 175 mA — Richard Gawel

• USB Switches Take Aim At Hub Applications — Richard Gawel

• Relays Effective In Heavy-Load Automotive Applications — Richard Gawel

• Bus Switch Guards Against -2-V Undershoot Levels — Richard Gawel

• Relay Lowers Costs While Replacing Older Schemes — Richard Gawel

• RF LDMOS Devices Optimized For GSM And EDGE Applications — Richard Gawel

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