Electronic Design UPDATE: May 25, 2005

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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter
Electronic Design Magazine
PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com
May 25, 2005
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Today's Table Of Contents:
1. News Focus
  *Smart Interface Connects Sensors To Web In Minutes
2. News From The Editors
  *Wafer-Level Packaging Offers Flexibility
  *Variable Gain Amplifier Boosts Bandwidth, Cuts Power
  *Digital Down Converter Swallows Data At 1 Gsample/s
3. TechView Scope
  *Robots Swarm Over Chemical And Biological Hazards
4. Upcoming Industry Events
  *Sensors Expo and Conference
  *Supercomm
  *International Microwave Symposium

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Lisa Maliniak, eMedia Editor

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Get The Lead Out!

The European Union, as well as Japan and China, are about to restrict 
the use of environmentally hazardous materials in electronic components 
and systems through the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) 
directive. Check out Electronic Design's new RoHS Reference Center with 
links, articles, and more. Take our RoHS quiz to see how much you really 
know about this new EU directive. Then download the first chapter of our 
eBook, "Electronic Design's Guide To New International Environmental 
Laws." And stay tuned for more chapters to learn everything you need to 
know about this important emerging topic.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF5:1001CD

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1. News Focus
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Smart Interface Connects Sensors To Web In Minutes

The first of a new family of standalone network-enabled equipment 
monitor (NEEM) products is designed to simplify a variety of 
remote-sensor monitoring applications. The NEEM Model 112 generates live 
Web views of data from common analog sensors. Connecting sensors to the 
Internet can be a costly, engineering-intensive process. This unit 
combines the key hardware features of a data-acquisition system, a data 
logger, and a network server with a browser-based data viewer interface. 
Up to 10 sensors can be monitored, with initial installation in as 
little as 30 minutes.
   The NEEM is powered by smart sensing technologies and includes a 
software development kit with modifiable examples, such as an 
open-source data logger. Through the use of patent-pending 
"smart-interface" technology, the NEEM 112 provides electronic data 
sheets and Web-log information to supplement the remote user's 
interpretation of the raw sensor data.
   This unit is self-contained, with no subscription fees, programming, 
or dedicated data-acquisition computer required. Low current drain 
suits the NEEM well for remote sites. Real-time data from multiple 
sensors can be accessed securely by a standard Web browser from 
anywhere in the world. One NEEM can support 10 external sensors.
   The NEEM also supports various signal formats, including +/-10 V, 
thermocouples, strain gauges, 4-20 mA, and 5-V pulses from event 
counters. Threshold levels can be set to automatically send an urgent 
alarm e-mail or provide an onscreen alert. A software toolkit can 
customize data acquisition and integrate digital values of sensor 
data into software applications such as spreadsheets, presentation 
software, or custom programs. For example, real-time sensor data can 
be captured and displayed in a continuously updating Excel 
spreadsheet on a remote Internet-connected PC.
   Attach virtually any analog sensor to the unit, connect to a nearby 
Ethernet line, and plug in the power cable. A configuration program 
and an internal micro-Web server launch sensor data onto the Web 
within minutes of first setup. The sensor data is stored inside the 
NEEM unit for a year.
   The Model 112 Sensor-to-Network interface is available for immediate 
delivery. Prices for individual units start at $1995. Quantity 
pricing and OEM versions are available.
     Sensor Synergy Inc. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF7:1001CD

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five memory-related questions, and you'll be in with a chance to win a 
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http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF0:1001CD

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2. News -- From The Editors
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***Wafer-Level Packaging Offers Flexibility
ASIC or system-on-a-chip packages created with LSI Logic's enhanced 
wafer-level packaging (WLP) technology are completely manufactured and 
tested at the wafer level. Then, they're mounted directly onto pc boards 
or on discrete package substrates. WLP offers low-cost packaging in an 
ultra-small form factor with improved electrical performance. The 
flexible WLP design methodology enables a single design to accommodate a 
variety of package technology formats. By modifying the top metal layer, 
the chip design can be reconfigured for flip-chip, wire-bond, or direct 
chip-attach interconnect options. With this approach, system designers 
gain considerable flexibility and intellectual property (IP) reuse with 
minimal development effort. In addition, because the die can be 
connected directly to the host system board, traditional packaging 
parasitics are eliminated. This electrical performance enhancement 
enables more flexible system-level design when dealing with stringent 
timing budgets.
     LSI Logic Corp. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAFA:1001CD

***Variable Gain Amplifier Boosts Bandwidth, Cuts Power
Targeted at industrial and instrumentation applications. Analog Devices 
claims its high-bandwidth, low-power per-channel, dc-coupled variable 
gain amplifier (VGA) is 50% faster and one-third smaller than competing 
solutions. Excellent dc characteristics and high speed make the AD8337 
VGA well suited for a wide range of high-channel-count industrial and 
instrumentation applications, such as PET medical imaging, industrial 
ultrasound, and RF test instruments. The single-ended, linear-in-dB 
AD8337 VGA provides low noise (2.2 nV/rtHz) at frequencies up to 250 MHz 
for improved signal control. In addition, it offers very low power per 
channel, requiring 25% less power than other devices. The AD8337 is 
housed in a 3- by 3-mm, eight-lead chip-scale package (CSP). The AD8337 
is sampling now and costs $2.49 per unit in 1000-piece quantities.
     Analog Devices Inc. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAFC:1001CD

***Digital Down Converter Swallows Data At 1 Gsample/s
Available as a block of intellectual property (IP), the FC104 quad 
digital down converter (DDC) core from Sundance Digital Processing Inc. 
claims the speed crown by operating twice as fast as any other DDC core. 
Targeted for use on Xilinx FPGAs, it accepts 16-bit complex data and can 
process continuous data flows at up to 1 Gsample/s. All four stages of 
the DDC are fully programmable, and four 16-bit complex samples can be 
loaded in parallel at up to 250 MHz. The core's output can be decimated 
by factors of two ranging from two to 16,384. The input gain and the 
output stage are both user-programmable. The FC104 can be used with 
Xilinx Virtex and Spartan-3 FPGA families. The company also offers 
FPGA-based modules -- the SMT398, 338, and 368 -- that contain memory, 
I/O interfaces, and other resources. A license for the FC104 core IP 
costs about $8000. Module prices start at $2385 in small quantities.
     Sundance Signal Processing Inc. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF9:1001CD

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3. TechView Scope 
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Robots Swarm Over Chemical And Biological Hazards

A team of researchers at the University of Wyoming will use a $100,000 
grant from the National Science Foundation to develop swarms of 
mini-robots that can detect the sources of chemical or biological 
hazards. Led by Diana Spears of the university's Department of Computer 
Science, the team already has demonstrated that its robot sensor network 
can trace the sources of chemical plumes in simulated environments. 
Next, the team hopes to enable the robots to identify these chemical 
substances as well. 
   "The ultimate goal would be remediation, which would either be to 
encapsulate the source or extinguish it," said Spears. Such an 
ability would be key in stemming the damage from accidental and 
intentional biological and chemical threats to safety and the 
environment. 
   Each robot will be equipped with a sensor that can detect a specific 
chemical as well as an anemometer to determine wind direction and 
velocity. The robots continually sense the chemical concentration and 
the airflow. Then, they perform calculations that allow them to 
quickly form a geometric lattice formation. After "talking" to each 
other, they move as a group toward the source of whatever they have 
been programmed to investigate. Known as fluxotaxis, this system was 
developed by Spears, UW Department of Physics and Astronomy lecturer 
David Thayer, and doctoral student Dimitri Zarzhitsky. 
   "The technology is adaptable to any size, shape, and number of robots 
in any physical environment: land, air, water, even outer space," 
said William Spears, an associate professor in UW's Department of 
Computer Science and project team member. "This flexibility adds 
perimeter defense, search and rescue, space telescopy, and medical 
nano-surgery to the robots' potential task list." 
     University of Wyoming ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAFD:1001CD

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4. Upcoming Industry Events
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June 6-9, Sensors Expo and Conference
Chicago, Ill.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF8:1001CD

June 6-9, Supercomm
Chicago, Ill.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF6:1001CD

June 12-17, IEEE MTT-S 2005 International Microwave Symposium
Long Beach, Calif.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAFB:1001CD

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Embedded in Electronic Design (EiED) Online is your source for technical 
insight and hands-on reviews. Read William Wong's latest EiED Online 
column, "A Butterfly Or USB Arm: You Choose," at 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAEF:1001CD

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TAKE A POLL!

What's your preferred tool for engineering calculations? 

-- Specialized math software 
-- Spreadsheet 
-- Your old HP RPN calculator 
-- Slide rule 
-- Pencil and paper

Vote at Electronic Design ==> http://www.elecdesign.com

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Free Showcast: Design Automation Conference
Friday, June 10 at 2 pm ET

It's a highly coveted honor to be on the "What to See at DAC" list 
compiled for each year's Design Automation Conference by Gartner 
Dataquest's Gary Smith. Those EDA tool vendors who make the cut have 
been singled out by the EDA industry's leading analyst as having one of 
2005's hottest EDA tools or technologies. The "What to See at DAC" list 
will make its debut in Electronic Design's DAC ShowCast when Smith, 
along with EDA Technology Editor David Maliniak, will offer a preview of 
the best of this year's DAC. Take a virtual tour of the show floor and 
get an advance glimpse of EDA's premier technology showcase.

Register today at: http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF3:1001CD

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A Closer Look At Video Signals

Nowadays there are numerous standards for the digital video signals 
widely used in such products as game players and cell phones. Tough 
design questions arise, however, because those digital signals must be 
dealt with in an analog domain. Get the answers in a new eBook, 
"Analog/Mixed-Signal Components For 21st Century Video," by Analog/Power 
Editor Don Tuite.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=AAF2:1001CD

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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER
==================================

Editorial: Mark David, Editor-in-Chief
mailto:[email protected]

Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Bill Baumann, Publisher:
mailto:[email protected]
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