DirectFET-Enabled Performance For VRM10.x
Using its new IRF6608 and IRF6618 DirectFETs, International Rectifier created a 105-A synchronous buck converter that complies with the VRM 10.x specification. Designed to fit within a 1U assembly, the 0.985- by 3.8-in. demo board implements a...
—
David G. Morrison
New Products: More Embedded
Bridge Links Serial And Ethernet For TCP/IP Network The EM1500 Serial-Ethernet Bridge provides serial and multipoint serial communications over a transmission-control-protocol/Internet-protocol (TCP/IP) network. It supports four RS-232...
—
William Wong
[Engineering Feature] Ethernet: 30 Years And Still Going Strong
Ethernet, the hardwired kind, dominates the networking world simply because it's flexible, reliable, and works as advertised. Like the telephone system, it's the network we all rely on but invariably take for granted. While wireless Ethernet (IEEE...
—
Louis E. Frenzel
[Technology Report] Hybrid 32-Bit MCUs Master Memory, Power, And Price
Large, fast, low-cost memory has been a boon to 32-bit MCUs, turning this market segment into one of the most competitive. Due to their larger die size, accelerators and processing peripherals can be included. FPGAs, DSP instructions, and...
—
William Wong
[Leapfrog: Industry First] MEMS-Based Heat Exchanger Cools "Hot" CPUs
The latest generation of gigahertz-clock-rate RISC and CISC CPUs is becoming more challenging to fit into designs. These chips are squeezing into tighter and tighter spaces with no place for heat to escape. Total power-dissipation levels now reside...
—
Roger Allan
[Ideas For Design] RS-422 Repeater Draws Less Than 3 µA Of Standby Current
The RS-422 interface represents an excellent choice for communicating in noisy environments and over a distance. But when the distance exceeds the RS-422 capability for reliable data transfer, adding a repeater is mandatory. The repeater circuit of...
—
John Guy
[POV: Point Of View] Not All Uninterruptible Power Supplies Are Equal
When it comes to purchasing uninterruptible power protection, the consumer is faced with a market full of hype and misleading claims. For example, one 500-VA uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can cost just $50, and another as much as $400, with...
—
Michael A. Stout
[Editorial] High-Tech Bathrooms: Electronics' Final Frontier?
Proving that electronics will eventually enhance every aspect of our lives, last month, Appliance Magazine cited the bathroom—perhaps the final frontier for high technology—as one of the fastest growing and most profitable new...
—
Mark David
[Pease Porridge] What's All This Spicey Stuff, Anyhow? (Part IV)
This recent talk about Spice reminded me of a debate I had with a student engineer. At my lecture at the excellent technical university in Buenos Aires, he asked me, "Mr. Pease, you tell us we should not use Spice, but for our courses, we cannot...
—
Bob Pease
[TechView: Embedded] Power-Packed Hybrid MCU Cuts Overhead
Combining 32-bit digital signal processing and 16-bit MCU instructions makes the Motorola MC56F8300 line a powerful, low-cost alternative to 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) in demanding automotive and industrial environments. The added instructions,...
—
William Wong
[TechView: Embedded] 64-Bit MCU Packs IPsec Hardware
Security demands require higher- performance hardware solutions. This is just the combination found in NEC Electronics' Vr4133 microcontroller (MCU), which is designed for secure networking operations. The Vr4133 includes hardware support for the...
—
William Wong
[TechView: Embedded] RTOS Grabs GUI
It consumes only 8 kbytes of ram. The code is only 100 kbytes. That's what comes with the fully configured Portable Embedded GUI (PEG) interface from Swell Software, now available with Enea's OSE real-time operating system (RTOS). OSE's memory...
—
William Wong
[TechView: Digital] Advanced Processors Dominate MPU Forum
Next-generation CPUs from top microprocessor vendors will be the stars of next month's Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, Calif., hosted by MicroDesign Resources. The discussions surrounding these leading-edge chips should give system developers a...
—
Dave Bursky
[TechView: EDA] Custom Design Platform Aims For Silicon Accuracy
In the nanometer age of custom design, predictability will be extremely critical. At process geometries of 0.13 µm and below, what you model had better be what you get in silicon. The consequences for divergence will be severe, culminating in...
—
David Maliniak
[TechView: EDA] Getting FPGAs On PC Boards Becomes Easier
The typical FPGA design cycle will see an average of three to five pinout changes. With FPGA pin counts spiraling past 1500, it's hard enough just to get symbols for these devices represented on a schematic. When you factor in the error-prone...
—
David Maliniak
[TechView: EDA] EDA Update: Design Exploration Tools
New versions of Icinergy's design exploration tools introduce new capabilities for early physical planning of systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) and ASICs. SoC Preview ($9500) now can quickly generate .pdf datasheets for side-by-side comparison of alternative...
—
David Maliniak
[TechView: EDA] EDA Update: Free Component Models
Free for downloading are over 4000 component models for Ansoft's Simplorer multidomain system simulation tool. Models include MOSFETs, op amps, diodes, multiplexers, bipolar junction transistors, rectifiers, capacitors, insulated-gate bipolar...
—
David Maliniak
[TechScope] Custom Processors Explore Maritime Mysteries
Oceanographers and archeologists have a new tool for uncovering the mysteries of the briny deep. Developed by professor David Mindell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Exact high-precision navigation system debuted this summer in two...
—
Richard Gawel
[TechScope] Music, Video, E-Mail, And The Web—Right In Your Hand
For entertainment on the go, check out the PEG-UX50 Personal Entertainment Communicator. Sony's latest Clie handheld features 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth integration for wireless access to e-mail, the Web, and HotSynced PCs. Its built-in digital...
—
Richard Gawel
[TechScope] Automotive OEM To Top $105 Billion In 2007
If you want to get in on a burgeoning market, check out automotive electronics. The Freedonia Group research company says that automotive's worldwide total will go from 2002's $75.3 billion to $105.9 billion in 2007. That's a jump of 7% each year,...
—
Richard Gawel
[I Design] John J. Kenny
My interest in electrical engineering can be traced back to my experiences with amateur radio at an early age. I worked at Bell Labs (No. Andover, Mass.) for the first 28 years of my career, developing analog and digital optical microwave radio...
—
John J. Kenny
[Basics Of Design] System-on-a-Chip 101: Adding Intellectual Property Sponsored by: TOSHIBA
System-on-a-chip (SoC) design is a complex effort that encompasses many disciplines, from circuit design to thermal management to testing. When working with a design library from a particular ASIC supplier, creating an SoC solution can be...
—
Dave Bursky
