[Engineering Feature] Nano's Success Depends On A Rock Solid Foundation
Nanotechnology is at a nexus in its evolution: It needs a viable infrastructure to support the high-rate manufacture of nano-scale devices, particularly devices grown atom by atom and molecule by molecule, as envisioned by the technology's original proponents. Advances rage on in organic nano materials--particularly carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the most commonly used material. The challenges remain, too. The number one plan on the list is to develop practical methods of...
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Roger Allan
[Technology Report] Platforms Strive For Virtual Security
Running multiple operating systems on a single platform continues to be a mainstay in server environments. But now this ability is migrating to embedded environments for various reasons, ranging from legacy operating-system (OS) support to enhanced security. More powerful processing environments are even driving OS coexistence and virtualization into portable, handheld devices. Most developers are familiar with the native single-image OS architecture (...
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William Wong
[Leapfrog: First Look] Versatile ExpressModule Invigorates Servers
What will your next server look like? It might have an ExpressModule or two in it. ExpressModules are about the same size as a CompactPCI 3U board. However, ExpressModule uses a less expensive edge connector that sports an x8 PCI Express connection. This should provide plenty of bandwidth, high-performance network interfaces, or hard-disk drives. A large hard drive can fit into a double-wide module. ExpressModules will show up in their own racks, inside 1U servers, and even...
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William Wong
[Leapfrog: First Look] Bipolar Process Puts The Squeeze On Die Size, Noise
In industrial-control applications, many sensors and actuators must operate at tens of volts, while control-logic voltages have continued to shrink in step with successive generations of digital process geometries. For engineers who design industrial control systems, the voltage divide has typically meant the need to add ever more external signal conditioning and biasing circuits. Late last year, though, Analog Devices released the first products in its iCMOS 36-V,...
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Don Tuite
[Design View / Design Solution] Simulation Mismatches Can Foul Up Test-Pattern Verification
Design for testability (DFT) works to make a circuit more testable to ensure that it was manufactured correctly. Alfred Crouch explains the purpose of DFT in his book, Design-For-Test for Digital ICs and Embedded Core Systems: "To exhaustively test a combinational circuit with N inputs, a sequence of 2N test vectors must be applied and observed to fully exercise the circuit." With that goal in mind, the primary purpose of DFT is to increase testability of a given netlist by...
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Udhaya Kumar
[Ideas For Design] Integrate High-Performance Analog/Mixed-Signal Circuits
Interactive gaming consoles, digital TVs, and digital video recorders (DVRs), among other multimedia systems, benefit from higher levels of silicon integration. They achieve greater functionality, lower cost, better performance, and lower power consumption. In the many cases that call for very high-performance signal processing, silicon integration becomes a critical enabler. All of these multimedia systems have "front ends" containing analog/mixed-signal subsystems for...
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William Evans
, et al.
[Ideas For Design] Unconventional PLL Uses BTSC Pilot To Generate Master Clock
Multichannel television sound (MTS), better known as Broadcast Television System Committee (BTSC) encoding, is used in many analog cable set-top boxes for TV. The BTSC pilot is at the same frequency (15.734 kHz) as the horizontal video sync. The pilot signal is used to recover the L−R, SAP, and PRO audio channels. And by applying the principles of phase-locked loops (PLLs) and closed-loop feedback in a novel manner, it can generate the stable, high-speed master clock required to...
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Victor Chang
, et al.
[POV: Point Of View] Defining Next-Generation Microcontrollers
Historically, microcontrollers were designed as general-purpose integrated circuits with a relatively standard set of purely digital peripherals such as serial ports and timers. The microcontroller interfaced to several external analog and digital components to implement a targeted application. More recently, the trend has been one of ever-increasing levels of integration, including functional blocks for limited digital signal processing and analog circuitry. Although a case can be made...
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Jack Gifford
[Editorial] Electronics Can Protect Subways Against Terrorism
Last month's London Underground bombings are a grim reminder of why the global market for homeland-security electronics is rapidly expanding. The tragedy also reminds us that more can be done to use advanced electronics to protect our citizens and their freedom of mobility. Video surveillance recordings from the Underground have been key in identifying the perpetrators. Yet given the possibilities of artificial intelligence, it's compelling to consider how a video camera...
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Mark David
[Pease Porridge] What's All This Typing Stuff, Anyhow?
In the old days, it was so easy to try to type "3M" to get 3 MW in a Spice program, and of course you got 3 mW. A typo error can really waste a lot of time! Typing was a large part of our job...
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Bob Pease
[TechView: The Industry] Advanced Processors And Media Engines Crank Up The Heat At Hot Chips 17
It's the dog days of summer, and the 17th Annual IEEE Hot Chips Conference will spotlight some sizzling technologies. Scheduled for August 15 and 16 at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., the conference will examine specialized processors, reconfigurable processors, media engines, and forthcoming Intel CPUs. The entire opening session will focus on the high-performance Cell processor jointly designed by IBM and Toshiba, as well as a previously undisclosed Toshiba...
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Dave Bursky
[TechView: Analog & Power] Analog Chipmakers Stalk CAT5 And KVM Video Applications
Many new homes and office buildings come prewired with more CAT5 wiring (Ethernet cable containing four unshielded twisted pairs) than present tenants need. Architects and planners have been asking: Why not use this infrastructure to distribute analog video? After all, CAT5 is much less expensive than coax. Also, video digital-to-analog converters readily provide RGB or component video that can be sent over three of the CAT5's twisted pairs. Analog video driver and...
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Don Tuite
[TechView: Analog & Power] Buck-Converter Building Block Integrates Everything But The PWM In 9 By 11 mm
The iP2003A from International Rectifier suits low-voltage power rails in servers, desktops, and data-communication systems. This 40-A (continuous up to 100°C case temperature) building block for multiphase, synchronous buck converters integrates most of the necessary silicon and passive components into a single 9- by 11- by 2.2-mm land grid array (LGA) package. The chip's silicon components comprise a synchronous gate driver, high-side and low-side power MOSFETs,...
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Don Tuite
[TechView: Communications] Traffic Manager For Ethernet Accelerates Triple-Play Delivery
If you think your morning commute is bad, imagine the backups on your company's Ethernet once triple-play services get in full swing. Or maybe not. Sandburst's TME-2000 traffic-management chip uses hardware-based quality of service (QoS) to deliver converged real-time voice, video, and data over carrier-grade Ethernet in metro networks. Service providers have been eager to deliver triple-play services over metro networks via Ethernet because of its raw speed and low cost....
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Louis E. Frenzel
[TechView: Communications] Chip Solves TCP/IP Bottleneck Problem In High-Speed Ethernet
Ethernet local-area networks have ramped up in speed—significantly. Most run at 1 Gbit/s, and some new systems run at 10 Gbits/s. These high rates are overwhelming computers as more data flows through the networks, leading to bottlenecks with the TCP/IP protocol. The server or PC usually has software that handles TCP/IP, so a hardware solution could be a good idea. Also known as the Bordeaux, the TN1020 TCP/IP accelerator from Tehuti Networks combines hardware and...
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Louis E. Frenzel
[TechView: Digital] Programmable Analog Coming Soon To Flash-Based FPGAs
Today's megagate FPGA densities permit full digital system implementations. Still, many of these systems also require a reasonable amount of analog capability to complete the full system solution. These systems typically need a handful of analog components, like op amps, comparators, and analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. The Fusion mixed-signal FPGA architecture from Actel eliminates those components so designers can implement a true single-chip system....
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Dave Bursky
[TechView: Digital] Audio-Optimized DSP Subsystem Cuts System Design Time
Setting its sights on audio and voice applications, the second-generation TeakLite-II DSP core and audio subsystem clocks at speeds of up to 200 MHz. It's based on the TeakLite DSP core, which contains a mix of DSP and control instructions. Developed by CEVA-DSP, TeakLite-II requires just 0.5 mm2 when implemented with 130-nm design rules. The small core area and high code density, which are possible thanks to the 16-bit instruction set, keeps system costs low....
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Dave Bursky
[TechView: Test] Faster Logic Analyzer Mainframes, New Software Speed Debugging
Designers working with today's very fast, multilane serial buses and second-generation double-data-rate memories need the fastest, most accurate debugging tools they can get. A pair of logic analyzer mainframes aims to satisfy that need with a combination of flexibility, high throughput, fast analysis, and ease of use. The two-slot TLA7012 portable mainframe and the six-slot TLA7016 benchtop mainframe from Tektronix use Windows XP Professional (...
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John Novellino
[TechView: Test] Upgraded Tools Embed Test Functions In Nanometer Designs
The move to nanometer-scale designs brings trickier defect mechanisms and process-design interactions that raise performance and quality issues. A next-generation embedded test solution, LogicVision's LV2005, incorporates new test and diagnostic capabilities and usability features to help resolve those issues. A powerful RTL-level automation flow moves the integration of embedded test to the front end of the design process. Test resource optimization capabilities...
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John Novellino
[TechView: Test] Insulation Testing Goes Compact
Insulation testers used to be bulky, heavy and difficult to lug around. Yet Fluke's 1587 and 1577 insulation multimeters combine a 1-kV digital insulation tester with a full-featured true-RMS digital multimeter in a DMM-size (digital multimeter) package. The 1587 tests insulation resistance to 2 GW at five output voltages from 50 to 1000 V. The 1577 tests up to 600 MW of resistance at either 500 or 1000 V. Insulation testing...
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John Novellino
[TechView: EDA] Timing-Signoff Tool Accounts For Power, Signal-Integrity Effects
For system-on-a-chip designs at 90 and 65 nm, dynamic noise greatly exacerbates the challenge of timing signoff. To accurately examine noise effects, designers need tools that provide an accurate transistor-level view of the playing field. Apache Design Solutions' PsiWinder is a critical-path and clock-tree analysis tool that considers the effects of crosstalk and dynamic power-integrity effects on timing. Typically, timing/signal-integrity (SI) tools assume static or...
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David Maliniak
[TechView: EDA] Free RF Design Tool Includes Planar EM Analysis
The old adage "you get what you pay for" is usually meant to warn one away from deals that look too good to be true. But Ansoft's downloadable version of Ansoft Designer belies that assertion. The microwave and RF design tool keeps adding functionality, but its price remains the same—free. Based on the latest commercial version of Ansoft Designer, the downloadable version, Ansoft Designer SV, provides students and professionals with a tool for applying basic circuit...
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David Maliniak
[TechView: EDA] EDA Roundup
Physical synthesis and routing technology from IBM has been licensed by Magma Design Automation. The IBM technology was developed through IBM's long-term relationship with the Research Institute of Discrete Mathematics at the University of Bonn, Germany. Magma plans to leverage the IBM technology to integrate new algorithms into its tools. The algorithms include analytical formulations for routing, as opposed to the heuristic approaches used in most tools today, resulting in reduced...
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David Maliniak
[Embedded in Electronic Design] Linux Is Dull! Long Live Linux
Heard any news about embedded Linux lately? If so, it was probably more of the same—a bit dull. This is actually a good thing. Such is the case when a technology becomes so good and ubiquitous, nobody gives it a second thought. It's there. It works. This isn't to say there aren't some interesting things going on the Linux community, though. Actually, there are quite a few. At the Freescale Technology Forum, TimeSys presented its Freescale Linux Component Repository,...
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William Wong
[Embedded in Electronic Design] Peripheral-Rich SBC Tackles PC/104 Plus
The Micro/Sys SBC0489 single-board computer (SBC) packs a litany of devices in its 5- by 5-in. area. The PC/104-Plus-compatible motherboard can be stacked on top or below expansion cards. It runs a 133-MHz STMicroelectronics STPC Atlas x86-compatible processor with up to 512 kbytes of battery-backed-up RAM. Its 64-bit memory access bus handles high-performance applications. Communication peripherals include a 10/100BaseT Ethernet, two serial ports, a 24-bit parallel port, and PS/2...
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William Wong
[Embedded in Electronic Design] ARM7 MCU Packs Full-Speed USB 2.0 Interface
Philips Semiconductor packs a 12-Mbit/s, full-speed USB 2.0 host interface into its latest ARM7 microcontrollers. The LPC214x series of ARM7TDMI-S microcontrollers provides USB Good Link LED output and Soft Connect programmable resistor functionality. The USB interface supports 32 end points with a 1-kbyte buffer. The LPC2146 and 2148 feature 8 kbytes of RAM with DMA support for the USB interface. The 128-bit memory interface supports up to 512 kbytes of on-chip flash and 40 kbytes of...
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William Wong
[Embedded in Electronic Design] GX-Linux Powers Multimedia Kit
Freescale, Microcross, and Cogent Computer Systems have joined forces to create a low-cost, Linux-based multimedia development kit based on Freescale's Arm-based i.MX21 microcontroller. The i.MX Lite kit incorporates a 1.75- by 2.5-in. module with a Macraigor Systems USB 1.1 Wiggler. It plugs into a Cogent expansion board that features a touchscreen LCD, a compact flash slot, a low-power 10-Mbit Ethernet controller, an audio codec, and USB host and device connectors. The kit comes with...
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William Wong
[Embedded in Electronic Design] IDE Goes Multicore
In just one package, the latest Code Composer Studio (CCStudio) from Texas Instruments tackles all TI platforms, including multicore systems like OMAP. CCStudio adds a number of features like the CodeWright editor, Component Manager (to handle updates including DSP/BIOS enhancements), and tuning and compiler tools that span all platforms. The debugger's quick disconnect/reconnect mode speeds development when connections are transient. The debugger also supports Rewind Debugging when...
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William Wong
[Embedded in Electronic Design] Four PTMC Expansion Sites Populate AdvancedTCA Blade
The KatanaQp AdvancedTCA Blade server hosts a pair of MPC7448 processors in addition to four PTMC expansion sites. The PmPPC7448 processor mezzanine card plugs into Artesyn's KatanaQp. The blade features two 1.7-GHz MPC7448 processors, while the PmPPC7448 has one. Both handle up to 2 Gbytes of RAM and 64 Mbytes of flash. The mezzanine cards have three Ethernet ports. The KatanaQp, which costs $2400, includes redundant IPMI-based system-management interfaces and a 24-port Ethernet switch....
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William Wong
