June 26, 2000 Magazine Archive

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 26, 2000

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DSL chip set, 3D graphics engines, Gigahertz IC tester, IP standards, Embedded Linux

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Browse Archived Articles By: Issue | Author | Department | Topic

June 26, 2000 - In This Issue

[Technology Report]
Leveraging Intellectual Property Gets Easier As Standards Make Headway.
In the creation of system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, designers have already accepted the fact that they cannot create every functional block that gets integrated on a chip. Therefore, they must rely on outside sources to provide a number of... — Dave Bursky

[Technology Report]
Embedded Linux Starting To Make Sense
The Linux hype is in full swing in embedded-systems projects. A small but rapidly growing number of startup companies are offering Linux code, tools, and services for embedded development. Web sites such as www.Linuxdevices.com are springing... — Peter Varhol

[Product Innovation]
Chip Set For Symmetric DSL Doubles Twisted Pair's Reach
Despite the many exciting advances taking place in fixed wireless, satellite, and optical communications, the task of bringing broadband services that last mile, to the consumer, still falls on the shoulders of plain old copper lines. This copper... — Patrick Mannion

[Product Innovation]
High-Performance 3D Graphics Engines Deliver Immersive Visual Experiences
As programmers craft each new computer-game generation, and CAD software and other business applications demand faster responses, graphics chip manufacturers are bolstering chip performance to deliver more realistic images and faster drawing speeds.... — Dave Bursky

[Product Innovation]
Test System Adds Logic-Analyzer Capability At GHz Speeds
Design and test engineers pushing the IC limits of speed and density will want to check out IMS-Waves, a real-time, logic analyzer just added to the Vanguard tester from Integrated Measurement Systems Inc. (IMS). Vanguard, a high-speed IC validation... — William Wong

[Design Application]
From Windows To Windows CE: Programming Success (Part II)
Part I of this two-part series appeared in the May 29 issue, p. 103—ED Windows CE was designed to accommodate a wide variety of intelligent computing devices. Thus, it's a highly configurable operating system. But, all Windows... — Contributing Author

[Design Application]
Modeling Mazimizes Wireless Telephone Network's Effectiveness
Though well established from a technical standpoint, wireless telephony still faces numerous obstacles on its path to a ubiquitous, satisfying user experience. Still, the best way to acquire more subscribers and keep them satisfied is to make the... — Contributing Author

[Design Application]
Pay Attention To The Clock And Output Bus To Improve High-Speed ADC Designs
As the digital revolution increases the need for faster analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), we are faced with an ever-increasing design challenge. It's easy to pick high-speed parts off the shelf. But, getting the best possible performance from... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Simplify Isolated Temperature Sensing With Single-Wire Sensors
Galvanic isolation of sensors, such as temperature sensors, is required since these sensors are often mounted in "mechanically inconvenient" locations. "Mechanically inconvenient" often implies an electrically noisy environment, an environment where... — Jerry Steele

[Ideas For Design]
A Technique For Forming Long Time-Constants
The circuit in Figure 1 illustrates a classic use of a long time-constant. In this case, it’s an attack/release circuit that might be found in an automatic gain control. Resistor R1 and capacitor C1 form... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Photovoltaic Transimpedance Amp Is Programmed By Digital Pots
Millions of photovoltaic detectors are used to sense and measure radiant energy in every type of industrial, medical, consumer, and scientific instrumentation application. By properly selecting materials and structure, solid-state photovoltaics can... — Chuck Wojslaw , et al.

[Ideas For Design]
Fast, Stable Wideband FET Amplifier
The design idea presented here is a gain-trimmable wideband FET amplifier with very good speed, high input impedance, and excellent dc stability under all conditions. Transistors Q1 and Q2 constitute a simple, high-speed FET input buffer.... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Variable-Gain Active Band-Pass Filter Uses Only One Op Amp
Here’s an idea you’re not likely to find in the op-amp “cookbooks,” doubtless due to a worldwide conspiracy to sell more op amps. A single op-amp section can often “multitask” analog chores. This audio input stage combines low-pass,... — Contributing Author

[Ideas For Design]
Emitter-Follower Boosts Linear Regulator's Output Current
Automotive electronics often require memory for saving system information or for user inputs (the settings on a car stereo, for example). Flash memory can do the job, but flash is expensive. DRAM memory reduces the cost, but DRAM requires an... — Contributing Author

[Editorial]
Can You Really Grasp The Sale Of A Billion Of Anything?
Just last month, Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., held a briefing to announce the fact that in the 12 years since it first started shipping flash memories, it has shipped over one billion units. As amazing as that accomplishment is—to sell a... — Dave Bursky

[Pease Porridge]
Bob's Mailbox
I recently picked up a Tektronix 284 Pulse Generator from eBay. The 284 is used for scope calibration/performance evaluation. A few weeks later I got the manual for the same product—from eBay, of course. The manual was dated 1986, but the first... — Bob Pease

[Viewpoint]
Design Automation Addresses SoC Challenges Head On
Shrinking silicon geometries are challenging complex systems-on-a-chip (SoC) designers in two distinct ways. First, at 0.18 µm and below, it's becoming increasingly difficult to achieve timing closure with conventional design flows. Second, the... — Aart de Geus

[Editor's Notebook]
What Is The Real Cost Of Embedded Linux?
That cute Linux penguin is looking to hide out in your next embedded-systems project. What will it cost to let Linux in? Maybe more than you think, so don't jump ship if you're already using reliable alternatives, like VxWorks or QNX. Those might... — William Wong

[Letters]
Letters
British Eye Sees A Little Confusion I find Electronic Design an excellent magazine, informative, useful, and enjoyable. That said, I found the article "Boost Performance By Vectorizing Your DSP Software"... — Various

[The Design Factory]
Finishing The Engineering On The Factory Floor
One day Otto, the manufacturing engineer, did a good deed and guided a lost marketeer back from the hard concrete floors of manufacturing to the plush carpets of marketing. Suddenly, he saw a puff of smoke and a tall green genie appeared. In a... — Don Reinertsen

[40 Years Ago]
Stacked, Sealed Wafer Stages Used in Sylania Microcircuits
New stacked-wafer micromodule techniques have been developed by Sylvania Electric Products Co., Inc., under an independent research program. Multi-component, hermetically sealed wafers are stacked one on top of the other and interconnected by... — Steve Scrupski

[40 Years Ago]
Serious Talk About Parametric Amplifiers
The spotlight was on parametric amplifiers during three days of intensive microwave discussions at the National Symposium of the Professional Group on Microwave Theory and Techniques. In supporting roles were solid-state materials and the generation... — Steve Scrupski

[Forefront]
ASICs Used To Signal-Condition MEMS Pierzoresistive Silicon Pressure Sensor
Two different ASIC approaches can be used for signal-conditioning a MEMS piezoresistive silicon pressure sensor. One is based on a digital scheme for applications requiring a low operating voltage and low power consumption. The other involves an... — Roger Allan

[Forefront]
Java Gaining In Chipcards For Internet Applications
Developments in security features for chipcards are accelerating. These cards are used in security-sensitive applications like authorization, health, phone, and money cards. Other applications take advantage of their cryptographic features as well.... — Alfred Vollmer

[Forefront]
System Automates Custom Design Of DSP Cores
Tapping the transistor-level optimization and analysis expertise at Synopsys Inc., Mountain View, Calif., developers at the StarCore Technology Center in Atlanta, Ga., have crafted a proprietary design methodology for SC100-family DSP cores. Their... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
Full-Color Displays Will Dominate In Cell Phones Of The Future
If you've ever been overwhelmed by the large array of flavors at Baskin-Robbins, then you know what it's like for a newcomer who faces the over 30 versions of displays. Fortunately, we can thank Jyrki Kimmel from the Nokia Research Center, in... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
Micro Lab Senses, Analyzes Liquids And Gases
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif., are developing a powerful handheld chemical-analysis device. As part of an integrated micro chem-lab system, the compact instrument will analyze liquid and gas... — Denise Culhane

[Forefront]
Super-Resolution Processing Technique Tackles Display With Super-High Pixel Counts
Super-resolution displays stem from the convergence of computer graphics and video signals, bringing the promise of unprecedented, high-quality, visual content to homes and businesses. Quad XGA (QXGA) features 2048 by 1536 pixels, quadrupling the... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
Researchers Develop Technique To Alter A Nanocrystal's Shape
Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley are on a process working to make semiconductor nanocrystals shaped like rods. Until now, all nonmetal nano-crystals have been only... — Cheryl Ajluni

[Forefront]
Broadband Market Expected To Boom Through 2005
Broadband designers have a stellar future. According to a recent study, the broadband-based service market is going to enjoy a 55% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. Internet access and packet-voice services will drive the surge.... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
Forward Error-Correction Will Greatly Boost Comm Capacity
A patented France Telecom broadband forward error-correction method known as Turbo Code has been licensed on a worldwide basis to STMicroelectronics. This advancement will significantly enhance the information-carrying capacity of a communications... — Alfred Vollmer

[Forefront]
Company Wire
• SoftQuad Software Ltd. and Extensibility Inc. have signed a technology and marketing agreement. SoftQuad's XMetaL, a content-creation solution, will be integrated with a fully functional trial version of Extensibility's XML Authority,... — Staff

[Forefront]
Display Progess Moves HDTV A Step Closer To Affordability
A company in Toronto, Canada, is wagering that the key to mass-produced HDTVs is a breakthrough in low-cost, flat-panel displays. As part of that strategy, iFire Technology Inc. unveiled a 17-in. prototype electroluminescent flat panel with a... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
From The Labs
• The University of California's Berkeley Design Center has licensed Tensilica's Xtensa configurable processor core IP to build a powerful baseband processing chip as part of a two-chip CMOS solution for ultra-low-power radio... — Staff

[Forefront]
Miniature MEMS Accelerometer Adds Motion Sensing To Consumer Products
Through refined surface-micromachining technology, Analog Devices has packed the ADXL202E dual-axis integrated MEMS accelerometer into a tiny leadless chip-carrier (LCC) package. The technology also has improved the monolithic accelerometer's... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
DSP Sets Channel Density Record
Aiming to raise the bar in channel density and processing power for upcoming wireless and Internet networks, Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group has unwrapped a new product family. This line combines the processing horsepower of... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
Cooler Chills Coppermine CPUs To Gigahertz Speeds
Steady increases in microprocessor performance are pushing CPU power dissipation to unprecedented levels. With clock speeds rising into the gigahertz range, the processor's high power dissipation and power density present serious thermal-management... — David G. Morrison

[Forefront]
Multitalented Inductance Analyzer Features 27,00 User-Programable Test Frequencies
The 1910 inductance analyzer can be used to conduct production testing of inductors and coils for switching power supplies, filter circuits, telecommunications devices, and other products. This tester features a 0.1% measurement accuracy, dc... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
Web-Based Data-Acquistion Device Lets Designers Plug In, Browse, and Download Data
Designers surfing the net for information have a new tool at their disposal. The webDAQ/100, a web-based data-acquisition device, combines high-performance analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog hardware with current web technology. The... — Richard Gawel

[Forefront]
Dual-Mode CPU Offers Notebooks 700-MHz Desktop Performance
Hard on the heels of the 600- and 650-MHz models introduced earlier in the year, Intel has launched a 700-MHz version of its Mobile Pentium III with SpeedStep technology. This chip gives notebook computers the power to deliver desktop performance... — Stephen Grossman

[Forefront]
In-Circuit, Real-Time Emulators Target ST6 Microcontrollers
A pair of in-circuit, real-time emulators has been designed for use with STMicroelectronics ST6 microcontrollers. The DS6225A supports the ST6200, 01, 03, 08, 09, 10, 15, 20, and 25 models, while the DS6265A supports the ST6252, 53, 55, 60, 62, 63,... — Roger Allan

[Forefront]
Portable DAQ/Data Recorder Had High Performance
Combining the features of a data recorder with the benefits of a data-acquisition system, the GX-1 is a new device introduced by TEAC America. This recent development achieves the wide frequency response of a data recorder. In addition, it offers... — Roger Allan

[Forefront]
Application-Specific MOSFETs Target Multiphase DC-DC Converters
The IRLR8103 and IRLR8503 have been designed for use in multiphase synchronous buck dc-dc converters operating at 1 MHz and above. Developed by International Rectifier, these n-channel 30-V HEXFETs represent an application-specific approach to... — Ashok Bindra

[Forefront]
Data Recorder Has 160-kHz Bandwidth, Variable-Speed Read Back Capabilty
Using advanced intelligent-tape (AIT) technology, the SIR-1000W features multichannel recording and playback of analog and digital data. It also can process digital video signals at 160 kHz. Playback and recording is possible from two to 32 hours... — Roger Allan

[Careers]
Preparing For Your Performance Review
One of the most difficult nonengineering chores that both managers and employees have to contend with is the job performance-review process. Employees feel at the mercy of the system and their managers, while managers usually don't have time to... — Peter Varhol

[New Products]

• Power Supplies — Staff

• Components — Staff

• Displays — Staff

• Electronic Design Automation — Staff

• Enclosures — Staff

• Passive Components — Staff

• Test And Measurement — Staff

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