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ISSUE DATE: OCTOBER 14, 2002 OPTIONS
Quad 64-bit processor, Audio DSPs, Programmable analog, Embedded in ED


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October 14, 2002 - In This Issue

[Technology Report]
DSP Advances Tackle More Complex Audio Algorithms
Digital audio basically started with the introduction of the CD music format. Since then, digital music and audio recording and playback have overtaken analog audio storage and playback as the dominant technology. Advances in DSP performance and...  — Dave Bursky

[Technology Report]
Programmable Analog Functions Are Going Mainstream
We have always had programmable analog circuits. Any circuit that makes outputs change as a function of inputs is in some way programmable. Examples include gain change as a function of voltage or current (automatic gain control, or AGC) and frequency...  — Tets Maniwa

[Product Innovation]
Quad 64-Bit Multiprocessor Targets Comm Applications
Getting data to and from a processor quickly is key to high-performance network processing. Broadcom's new BCM1400 multiprocesssor tackles this problem with a trio of flexible advanced HyperTransport/SPI-4 Phase 2 links. Of course, packing four 64-bit...  — William Wong

[Design Application]
Calculate Dissipation For MOSFETs In High-Power Supplies
Perhaps the toughest challenge that designers of portable power supplies face is powering modern high-performance CPUs. Recently, their supply currents have doubled about every two years. In fact, today's portable core supplies can require up to 40 A...  — Mike Keagy

[Ideas For Design]
Thermistors And A Microcontroller Simplify Anemometer Design
Typically, air flow is measured with a hot-wire anemometer. Here's an alternative version of that concept using two thin-film platinum resistance temperature detectors. A high-performance mixed-signal microcontroller can make the measurement and drive...  — Ward Brown , et al.

[Ideas For Design]
Laser Barrier System Uses Tone Detection
In a laser barrier system, the receiver circuit generally uses signal amplitude for detection purposes. This configuration yields a complex circuit with a number of components, including an amplifier, a filter, and a threshold detector. But you can...  — R. Otazo , et al.

[Ideas For Design]
Add Programmable Gain To A Peak Detector
If your system's signal processing requirements in-clude peak detection and amplification, consider a simple circuit that will satisfy both needs and save hardware. The single-supply circuit shown in the ...  — Chuck Wojslaw

[Editorial]
We Must Hold The Line On Soaring ASIC Design Costs
As the cost of fabricating an ASIC mask set climbs past half-a-million dollars and approaches 1 million dollars, the industry faces a significant challenge. The high cost of masks has started to limit the number of companies that can bring their...  — Dave Bursky

[Pease Porridge]
What's All This Doctoring Stuff, Anyhow? (Part 2)
As I said a couple of weeks ago, "You may be the best doctor for you. Or, you may be the worst doctor for you. I can't tell you, but maybe I can help you figure it out." You should at least think about this, because you may need some doctoring when no...  — Bob Pease

[Viewpoint]
Innovations In Motion Control Shape Future Vehicles
Despite all of the electronics that have found their way into today's typical medium-priced automobiles, there's still room for more. One area that needs immediate attention is power semiconductor-driven motion-control technology. While motion control...  — Alex Lidow

[Editor's Notebook]
Educational Software Can Help New Engineers Lacking The Basics
It's a refrain you hear over and over from engineering managers: New recruits fresh out of university-level programs just aren't up to snuff in some electronic engineering concepts that are prerequisites to success in the system-design realm. This is...  — David Maliniak

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Official Linux
Putting Linux on a server or workstation is easy. There's plenty of RAM and disk space and most distributions are relatively compatible. Embedded Linux is more difficult to set up, and migration between embedded Linux implementations tends to be just...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Development Tools
NPU Development Simplified Network-processor unit (NPU) development isn't an easy task, but Consystant's Strata NP 3.0 simplifies the job with graphical designs that lift developers above the fray of low-level...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
HyperTransport
High-Performance Processor Interconnect Gains Wide Support HyperTransport (HT) is on its way to widespread use in embedded systems. It is the chosen interconnect for a number of new processors, such as Broadcom's...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Debug Products
Improved Multi-ARM Debugging Multiprocessor debugging gets easier when using ARM processor cores and ARM's RealView development tools. These include the multiprocessor-capable debugger, which works with ARM's new...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
Hardware Directory: Virtual-Machine Series
Dis: The Inferno Virtual Machine Inferno is a virtual-machine-based development environment akin to Java. Inferno’s virtual machine (VM) is called Dis. The programming language, called Limbo, has a C-like...  — William Wong

[Embedded in Electronic Design]
New Products
RS-232 To CAN Converter Seafire Micros' SF-1004 uses Atmel's T89C51CC01 microcontroller, an 80C51 superset. It incorporates Dallas Semiconductor's DS1687-5 real-time clock with nonvolatile SRAM. The SF-1004 costs...  — William Wong

[Celebrating 50 Years]
Flashback
Flashback > 10 Years Ago OCTOBER 15, 1992 The burgeoning market for handheld (palmtop) computers and personal digital support tools has almost flattened the playing field for CPU suppliers. This...  — Staff

[Forefront]
Successive-Approximation Register ADCs Sample To 800 ksamples/s
Three additions to the PulSAR family of successive-approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) offer sampling rates of 800 ksamples/s (AD7674), 100 ksamples/s (AD7678), and 570 ksamples/s (AD7679). These monolithic 18-bit SAR ADCs...  — Tets Maniwa

[Forefront]
Flash-Based MCU Series Secures Application Code
The compact, 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) arena gets a bit more crowded with Motorola's Nitron 68HC908Q series. Based on the popular 68HC08 architecture, models come in 8- and 16-pin packages. The chips incorporate fast programming and block protection...  — William Wong

[Forefront]
Companies Unite To Deliver SoCs To Broadband Wireless Market
Fujitsu Microelectronics America Inc. and Wi-LAN Inc., a provider of broadband wireless communications technologies, are set to codevelop systems-on-chips (SoCs) for broadband wireless applications. The joint development program will yield a broadband...  — Lisa Fakhry

[Forefront]
8-Bit MCU Combines Analog And Digital Peripherals
The 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) isn't dead yet. Products like Sharp Microelectronics' LZ87010 pop up regularly. The LZ87010 has an array of analog and digital peripherals around an 8051 core that executes most instructions in two cycles. On-chip...  — William Wong

[Forefront]
Net Search Coprocessor Offloads Search Overheads To Accelerate Systems
In large network routers and other equipment that must handle ever increasing amounts of packet traffic, the ability to perform many large table searches very quickly is key to the system's overall performance. By offloading the search...  — Dave Bursky

[Forefront]
Collaboration Leads To Multimedia Reference Platform
Two electronics industry giants, Royal Philips Electronics and Intel Corp., are collaborating on a digital multimedia reference platform. Their actions come in response to the emergence of new digital systems and solutions for home, mobile, and...  — Roger Allan

[Forefront]
Low-Power Module Suits Portable And Remote Monitoring Systems
Battery-operated, remote monitoring systems must be frugal with their power supply. Z-World's LP3500 Fox module consumes only 20 mA running at full speed and 100 µA in power-save mode. The LP3500 is based on the low-EMI Rabbit 3000...  — William Wong

[Forefront]
Compact Digital RF Signal Generators Simplify Testing With Touchscreen
The 3410 series RF signal generators combine full digital, vector, and analog modulation in a 23-lb, 2U package. The devices also introduce the first touchscreen interface to digital RF signal generators. Available in three frequency ranges—from...  — Lisa Fakhry

[Forefront]
Blue Laser Driver Handles High-Capacity Blu-Ray Disc DVD Standard
The EL6900C is the world's first laser driver designed specifically for the new Blu-Ray Disc industry-standard disc-recording format. The complete laser diode driver includes a two-channel sample and hold that can be programmed for four...  — Tets Maniwa

[New Products]

• Background Suppression Sensors Conquer Long Distances  — Lisa Fakhry

• Small Surface-Mount Sensor Serves Many Measurement Functions  — Lisa Fakhry

• Rotary Position Sensors Operate Without Contacts  — Lisa Fakhry

• Current-To-Voltage Transducer Provides Simple Interface  — Lisa Fakhry

• Differential-Output Sensors Boast Built-In Signal Conditioning  — Lisa Fakhry

• Two-Slot CompactPCI Backplane Comes In 7U Form Factor  — Lisa Fakhry

• CompactPCI Platform Delivers Density And Flexibility  — Lisa Fakhry

• SAW Resonator Cuts Volume For Automotive Applications  — Lisa Fakhry

• Encapsulated Stacked Capacitors Deliver T- And B-Level Reliability  — Lisa Fakhry

• High-Grade SMT Film Capacitor Serves Multiple Purposes  — Lisa Fakhry

• EMI Filter Module Meets U.S./Euro Mil Standards  — Lisa Fakhry

• Surface-Mount Transformer Stands Only 3.0 mm Tall  — Lisa Fakhry

• Potentiometer Element Assemblies Come In Kit Form  — Lisa Fakhry

• Thin-Film Chip Resistors Fill The Bill For RF Tasks  — Lisa Fakhry

• Polypropylene Capacitors Outperform Ceramics  — Lisa Fakhry

• Circuit Breaker Carries 125 A In Compact Frame Size  — Lisa Fakhry

• Point-Matched Thermistors Are Tested For Consistency  — Lisa Fakhry

• RF Relays Consume Only 100 To 200 mW  — Lisa Fakhry

• 256-Position Variable Potentiometer Offers Digital Programmability  — Lisa Fakhry

• Interconnect Technology Adjusts For Coplanarity Variances  — Lisa Fakhry

• 19-in. Rack-Mount Enclosures Easily Convert To Desktop Types  — Lisa Fakhry

• Push-On Connectors Carry RF Input To Optical Systems  — Lisa Fakhry

• Six- And Eight-Slot 6U Backplanes Meet PICMG 2.16 Standard  — Lisa Fakhry

• SPST Analog Switches Cut Propagation Delays  — Lisa Fakhry

• Video Line Drivers Integrate Low-Pass Filters  — Lisa Fakhry

• Low-Power 12-Bit ADC Fits I2C Interface In SOT-23 Package  — Lisa Fakhry

• Digital Audio Processor Delivers Versatility And Precision  — Lisa Fakhry

• Asynchronous SRAMs Team With Flash Memory  — Lisa Fakhry

• Registered DDR DIMM Provides High Capacity  — Lisa Fakhry

• 1-Gbyte Registered DIMM Outshines Stacked Memories  — Lisa Fakhry

• Slim Memory Modules Target Embedded Applications  — Lisa Fakhry

• SO-DIMM Devices Mix SDRAM And Flash  — Lisa Fakhry

• Interface Transceivers Form Tiny 3.3-V Serial Ports  — Lisa Fakhry

• Clock, Data Multiplexers Sport Ultra-Low Jitter  — Lisa Fakhry

• 32-Channel/Dual 16-Channel Multiplexers Feed Port-Hungry Systems  — Lisa Fakhry





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