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| EDA Alert e-Newsletter |
July 15, 2008
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If you haven't seen our video coverage, you don't know DAC
EDA Editor David Maliniak chatted with representatives of leading
companies like Mentor, Agilent, and Synopsys and got the
scoop on the latest from CoFluent, OneSpin, and CLK. More than 20 video
segments are available to fill you in on what you
missed!
Click
here.
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Hardware/Software Co-Design Comes Of
Age
By David Maliniak, EDA Editor
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There once was a time when system design was completely serial.
Entire hardware platforms were designed, prototyped, debugged, and
virtually completed before any software development began. Of course,
such methodologies corresponded to the days of much broader market
windows. The very idea of such a quaint approach is enough to make one
snicker. Today, it’s quite different.
Read the
full article...
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A new feature called Read Pacing is now available on Gen 2 PCI
Express switches. Read Pacing is a technology that opens up new avenues
for enhancing performance in systems with multiple I/O streams. To learn
more about Read Pacing from our friends at PLX Technology, please click
on the "play" button above. (NOTE: This webcast contains audio, so
please hit the mute button on your volume control if you cannot listen
to audio at this time.)
New Product Showcase: ADCs From Analog Devices
Wayne Talley, Product Marketing for Precision ADCs at Analog Devices,
talks about the new AD7626 and AD7625 converters, the newest additions
to the PulSAR family of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).
Your Ideas For Design Can Win $500
Send us your Ideas for Design and we'll pay you $150 for every Idea for
Design that we publish. In addition, the year's top design as selected
by our readers will earn an additional $500, with two runners-up each
receiving $250. You can submit your Ideas for Design via e-mail to dbs@penton.com, or you can mail your
material to:
Ideas for Design
Electronic Design
45 Eisenhower Dr., Suite 550
Paramus, NJ 07652
Click here for our guidelines on Ideas for Design.
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Looking for the latest design techniques and technology in your market?
Check out Electronic Design's Design
Hotspots. Here you'll find exclusive content from our editors in Embedded, Power, and Analog
technologies as well as Green Design and ROHS.
We've also compiled Ideas for Design schematics here for your circuit
design sweet-tooth. These spots are chock-a-block with information, so
don’t delay!
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The Challenge: Building a full-authority, FPGA-based engine control
system for a high-performance motorcycle engine. The Solution: Using
National Instruments' CompactRIO and LabVIEW environment to focus
directly on engine control software and I/O board development. Drivven,
an automotive control and data-acquisition-solutions provider, needed
reliable, high-performance hardware to prototype an engine control
system for a 2004 Yamaha YZF-R6 motorcycle. Engine control requires
deterministic loop times on the order of milliseconds and precise fuel
and spark timing on the order of microseconds. In addition, the target
engine revs to 15,500 RPM. At this speed, there is less than 4 ms per
crankshaft rotation, and the system must precisely control fuel and
spark events in the angle domain to less than 1 degree. For this
project, Drivven chose a four-slot NI CompactRIO embedded system because
of its flexibility, small size, and rugged form factor. With this
system, they could easily add sensors and actuators while quickly and
easily visualizing the data. In addition, they could mount the
controller in the extremely limited space available in a super-sport
motorcycle.
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Cadence Shoots For The Silicon Compiler
Dream
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It’s a long-held dream in the EDA industry: Into one end of the
magic tool goes a high-level design representation of some kind, be it a
functional specification a “golden†reference, or a collection of
largely untimed models. Out of the other side comes a fully realized
representation of the design at some lower level of abstraction, be it
RTL or gate level, which achieves QoR at least equal to that achievable
with hand coding in some fraction of the time.
Read the
full article...
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Modeling/Simulation Tool Gets Physical
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Released in a pilot version, Maplesoft’s MapleSim is a
high-performance multi-domain modeling and simulation tool that’s
expected to reduce the time taken to bring products to market by using
physical modeling techniques.
Read the
full article...
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Digi-Key Part Data Enters OrCAD
Environment
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Users of Cadence’s OrCAD Capture Component Information System
(CIS) now have access to the wealth of engineering data offered in the
Digi-Key part database. EMA Design Automation, a Cadence partner and
reseller, integrated the Digi-Key database into OrCAD Capture CIS by
creating the EMA Component Information Portal (CIP). CIP is a web-based
solution that can be deployed enterprise-wide, providing access to the
Component Information System (CIS) behind OrCAD Capture CIS.
Read the
full article...
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electronica 2008 - 11-14 Nov - Munich, Germany
As the international trade show for the electronics industry,
electronica reveals the complete spectrum of all areas - in all
of its variety, breadth and depth. Showing components, systems,
applications and technologies in their relevant contexts
reflects the great innovative power of electronics. Components, systems,
applications and technologies - get the whole picture
at electronica 2008.
Click here to register now.
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Speedo and Ansys used computer
modeling software to develop a new record-breaking swimsuit. What effect
will this and other technology have on the upcoming
Olympics?
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- Technology gives too large an advantage to wealthy nations.
- Technology levels the playing field for all athletes.
- Technology is irrelevant, as the athletes still have to
perform.
- Technology diminishes the significance of the athletes' performance.
Click here to
take the poll. Remember to scroll down. The poll is at the bottom of the
screen.
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BGA Breakouts & Routing
By Charles Pfeil, Mentor Graphics
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Call it a “vanity†publishing project if you will, but Charles
Pfeil’s book, BGA Breakouts & Routing, published by his
employer, Mentor Graphics, is more than worth the price of admission.
Pfeil, who is the engineering director of Mentor’s System Design
Division, is an acknowledged industry expert in the black art of
printed-circuit board (PCB) routing, and he brings his expertise to bear
on this densely-packed and richly-illustrated volume.
Read the
full article...
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Rev up fuel efficiency and win $10,000
Design an energy-saving solution for automotive applications
Infineon and Auto Electronics invite you to participate in the “REV UP
FUEL EFFICIENCY†design contest. Take “the green
challenge†and design a solution using Infineon products that enables
or improves energy efficiency for automotive
applications. You could win a grand prize of $10,000, a second prize of
$5,000 or a third prize of $2,000.
The three winners will get an all-expenses-paid trip to the Infineon and
Auto Electronics Contest Award Ceremony at
Convergence 2008. In addition, your winning design will be featured at
the Infineon booth during the show. Submit your entry
by August 15, 2008.
See you at CONVERGENCE 2008, Booth 409.
For complete contest rules or to take the design challenge, go to http://autoelectronics.com/contest/rev-up
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