[Technology Report] Flash Memory Takes Over
Flash memory is on a roll. It has gone from a backup, secondary technology to a mainstream product technology that's critical to a wide range of consumer and embedded applications. Flash memory, warts and all, is a key component in most design...
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Ray Weiss
[Ideas For Design] 16-Bit PWM Optoisolated DAC Is PC-Controlled
There was a time when an "honest" (e.g., DNL < 1/2 LSB) 16-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) was an expensive, premium component. Nowadays they're almost jellybeans—almost. Some applications, however, can still benefit from multichip...
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W. Stephen Woodward
[Ideas For Design] Low-Voltage Series Reference Draws Only 2.4 μA
For systems with miniscule power budgets, implementing a low-power voltage reference involves many compromises. One design option is the low-voltage shunt reference. Available since the birth of the bandgap cell, this device traditionally operates...
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Contributing Author
[Ideas For Design] ODBMS Provides Persistent Objects For Embedded Java
Persistent Java objects simplify the storage and exchange of complex object structures. Poet Software's FastObjects j2 is a pure Java implementation of an object database management system (ODBMS). It supports RAM-based, disk-based, and remote...
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William Wong
[Ideas For Design] Semiconductor Lithography Stumbles At 157 nm
Designers of semiconductor lithography equipment have made some impressive strides over the last few years. But soon, they're going to be victims of their own success. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg,...
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Richard Gawel
[Editorial] Engineering Expertise: Leveraging Global Resources
The alarm has sounded. Even in this tough economic period, companies are concerned about a limited ability to hire more researchers to develop the technologies upon which the next generations of new products will be based. According to many...
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Dave Bursky
[Pease Porridge] Bob's Mailbox
Dear Bob: A few days after I read your article on wind-up error in my stack of delinquent reading (Electronic Design, Nov. 6, 2000, p. 146), I encountered an ad in a mechanical rag mentioning wind-up. My interest was...
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Bob Pease
[Editor's Notebook] Paper-Thin Components Prepare To Enter Mainstream
Like a Bugs Bunny-driven steamroller bearing down on Elmer Fudd, the relentless quest for portability is overtaking electronics technology and flattening just about every component in its path. Parts that once stood noticeably off the circuit board...
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David G. Morrison
[40 Years Ago] Thin-Film Memory Gives Fast Output
A magnetic thin-film cylinder that contains features of the thin-film dot, the ferrite core, and the magnetic rod is bidding for an important role in future computer memories. Under development by CBS Laboratories of Stamford, Conn., the device,...
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Steve Scrupski
[40 Years Ago] San Francisco: Golden Gate To Electronic Research
Engineers attending the forthcoming Western Electronics Show and Convention will find the San Francisco area a thriving center of electronic research. Intensive studies are under way today in solid state, microwaves, information handling, and other...
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Steve Scrupski
[Forefront] Patent Awarded For Nanowire Technology
A pair of scientists at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, Calif., have received a patent for technology that makes the use of molecule-sized circuitry in demultiplexer ICs much easier. Scientists Phil Kuekes and Stan Williams have developed a way to...
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Richard Gawel
[Forefront] SiGe BiCMOS Process Optimized For Cost-Sensitive RF Markets
In an effort to gain a competitive edge in the cost-sensitive wireless communications arena, STMicroelectronics has added silicon-germanium (SiGe) biCMOS to its arsenal of process technologies. The company has optimized its SiGe biCMOS process to...
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Ashok Bindra
[Forefront] Slicing Up Compact Internet Devices
Generating compact network device designs quickly is a key selling point for three technologies shown at the Embedded System Conference in Chicago last month. EDevice Inc. uses a single-chip DSP approach, while i2Chip Inc. and Yipee Inc. offer...
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William Wong
[Forefront] Router, Signal-Integrity Tools Complete RTL-To-GDSII Flow
In one fell swoop, Synopsys Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., has completed its RTL-to-GDSII design tool flow with the introduction of two tools built into its Physical Compiler suite. The new tools are Route Compiler, a standard-cell router, and...
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David Maliniak
[Forefront] Semiconductor Equipment Shipments Plummet 35%
We all know the semiconductor industry is facing some pretty tough times. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International's recent report provides the gloom with some cold, hard figures. According to the SEMI Capital Equipment...
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Richard Gawel
[Forefront] Smart Walker Detects Obstacles
A research team at the University of Virginia's Medical Automation Research Center in Charlottesville has developed a prototype "smart" walker. This mobility aid should improve the quality of life and lengthen the duration of independent living...
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Lisa Eccles
[Forefront] Embedded Memories Test And Repair Themselves
Lower cost and higher yields for SoCs with embedded memories are promised by Virage Logic's Self-Test and Repair (STAR) Memory System. SoC designers need a better means of designing, testing, and increasing yield for embedded memories. The STAR...
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David Maliniak
[Forefront] Network Power Controller Ensures Safe Insertion Of IP Phones
Hoping to get an edge in upcoming IP phones and DTE power-distribution systems, Linear Technology Corp. has readied a −48-V network power controller. The LT4255 quad controller enables the safe insertion and removal of IP phones into and from...
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Ashok Bindra
[Forefront] Windows-Based Logic Analyzers Improve UI And Connectivity
The age of proprietary user interfaces (UIs) on logic analyzers may be coming to an end with Agilent Technologies 1680 and 1690 series. These Windows-based analyzers link PCs to Agilent's latest instrumentation. The same interface is available on...
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William Wong
[Forefront] Offline Current-Mode Controller Expedites SMPS Design
The second CoolSET generation from Infineon Technologies packs a fixed-frequency PWM current-mode controller and a high-voltage power MOSFET in the same 8-pin plastic DIP. Its on-board CoolMOS-based power MOSFET handles breakdowns up to 800 V. And,...
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Ashok Bindra
