You’ll notice some changes in our first standard
issue of 2008. For example, our TechView section
is now one department rather than a series
of individual columns from our technology editors. This will
make it easier for us to provide you with more timely and compelling
information.
Your favorite editors will still contribute to this section, so
they’re not going away. They also will have a larger role online.
You can follow Don Tuite, David Maliniak, and Bill Wong in
their Design Hotspots on our
Web site.
Speaking of Bill, check out
his new column, the Lab Bench.
Bill is a phenomenal resource for
Electronic Design, with a BEE
from the Georgia Institute of
Technology and a master’s in
computer science from Rutgers
University. He also is a hands-on guy, reviewing lots
of products in embedded systems. Bill will do his best
to give you his insights on microcontrollers, multicore
microprocessors, software, and other technologies.
GET PUBLISHED!
We’d like to welcome a trio of quarterly contributors to
our Point of View department, with Micro Power’s Robin
Sarah Tichy kicking things off in this issue. You may recognize
her from other articles she’s written for us as well as from
several of our webcasts. Dave Van Ess of Cypress Semiconductor
will cover analog and mixed-signal topics, beginning in the
Feb. 28 issue. Dave says that his column will reflect answers to
the kinds of questions he often gets from young engineers.
Finally, Tom Curatolo of Vicor will take the department’s
reins in our March 13 edition—appropriately enough in our
“One Powerful Issue.” We’ll run additional columns from
these contributors at www.electronicdesign.com. And, we’re
always looking for more from industry experts and experienced
designers alike. Please see our submission guidelines online for
more information about how you can contribute.
Starting next issue, we will be printing full Design Solutions
rather than the one-page briefs that we’ve been publishing for
the past few years. We’ll also publish many more contributed
Design Solutions on our Web site in the appropriate Analog,
Power, EDA, and Embedded Hotspots. We’ll give you a headsup
on any new contributions by letting you know on our Web
Table of Contents page and with reminders in our various
newsletters. So if you have an article in mind, again, please see
our submission requirements.
Our very popular Ideas for Design section will remain the
same, and we will make an effort to publish as many of these
thought-provoking circuits as possible. The only limitation on
our end is availability. If you’ve been thinking of submitting a
circuit for this section, I encourage you to do so. Not only will
you have the satisfaction of seeing your name in print, you’ll
also get $150 to boot and automatically be entered in our Best
IFD of the Year contest, with its $500 prize.
You might be wondering what happened to Bob Pease’s column.
Many magazines reserve their final page
for something offbeat, like an industry gossip
column. We couldn’t find an electronics
industry equivalent of Suzy, though, so we’ve
decided to literally give Bob the last word in
each issue. Now, his column will be much
easier to find. Just flip open the magazine
from the back instead of the front.
We hope these changes will give you a
better reading experience as well as introduce
you to some new writers in the analog,
mixed-signal, and power areas. Of course,
we’ll continue to cover all the latest developments
in electronics via our Engineering
Features and Technology Reports, as well as provide
solid information in our Engineering Essentials,
Basics of Design, and Design FAQs. Happy 2008!
DEMISE OF THE CAN TUNER?
One of the more interesting meetings I had at the recent 2008
International CES in Las Vegas was with a company called
Xceive (www.xceive.com), which makes silicon-germanium
TV tuners. Neil Mitchell, VP of marketing, says that Xceive’s
XC5000 is the only device that can replace conventional CAN
tuners in HDTVs.
Xceive told me the same thing last year and showed me
some compelling electrical tests to make its point. But this is
a tough market to crack. So this year, the company made it as
easy as possible for some manufacturers to make the switch.
The new SiliconNOW SN5000 module tuner is a complete
hybrid 2-in-1 module containing the XC5000 silicon tuner in
a CAN form factor (see the figure). It has the same pin-outs as
the Thomson DTT7683x family and ALPS TDQU family,
two of the most popular CAN tuners on the market.
TV manufacturers can seamlessly migrate to silicon tuner
technology with a market-ready platform. Documentation for
the reference design, including schematic, printed-circuit
board layout, test report, and pin-out specification, is available
from Xceive upon request.