Electronic Design UPDATE: January 14, 2004

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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter
Electronic Design Magazine 
PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com
January 14, 2004
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Today's Table of Contents:
1. Industry View
  * Pros And Cons Of The Outsourced Development Model
2. Focus On Power
  * Tiny Brick Delivers 10 A At High Temperatures
3. News From The Editors
  * Chip Set Shrinks Home Theater Size And Cost
  * USB-Based Boundary-Scan Controller Handles 100-MHz Clocking
  * Brisk Recovery In Semiconductors Continues
4. Upcoming Industry Events
  * International Conference on Micro Electromechanical Systems
  * Reliability and Maintainability Symposium
  * Asia-South Pacific Design Automation Conference
  * International Workshop on Timing Issues in the Specification and 
    Synthesis of Digital Systems
5. Magazine Highlights: January 12, 2004, Annual Technology Forecast Issue:
  * Visionaries: Three forward-looking technology leaders offer their views 
    of the future of the electronics industry.
  * The Top 10 Forecasts: Electronic Design's own editors deliver what they 
    foresee as the Top 10 developments of the coming year
  
Electronic Design UPDATE edited by John Novellino

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1. Industry View -- Exclusive to Electronic Design UPDATE
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Pros And Cons Of The Outsourced Development Model

By Scott Hiraoka, former COO, PCNalert, Pasadena, Calif.

For most of its history, the electronics manufacturing industry has been 
made up of vertically run companies. A typical OEM had large production 
plants and office buildings and handled just about every aspect of its 
product development -- conceptual design, competitive research, component 
sourcing, procurement, testing, manufacturing, inventory management, etc. 
Although such large companies might not have been run as efficiently as 
possible (rarely is a company the most efficient in its field across so 
many different disciplines), at least these OEMs kept their product and 
component knowledge in-house, however large that house might have been.
  Not anymore.
  In today's environment -- with shortened product lifecycles and an 
economic downturn that hit the technology industry especially hard, 
forcing many OEMs to lay off considerable percentages of their workforces 
-- OEMs have increasingly turned to the outsourcing model, contracting 
out any aspect of development they believe could be more cost-effectively 
handled by specialists. It is not uncommon today for an OEM to farm out 
its design work to an original design manufacturer (ODM), outsource the 
production of its products to an electronic manufacturing service 
provider (EMS), hand its component research to an outside firm, and 
entrust its bill-of-materials cleansing to a component distributor.
  But if an OEM farms out its manufacturing responsibilities to an EMS, can 
the company be certain that its EMS partner is monitoring the status of 
the components on the product's bill-of-materials with the vigilance 
necessary in today's rapidly changing component industry?
  OEMs are understandably nervous about rehiring the component engineers 
they've had to let go. And, the outsourcing model does enable these 
companies to operate with leaner budgets. But ultimately, the OEM is 
still responsible for all aspects of its product's development. It is not 
sufficient to assume that an EMS, which has no accountability for the 
success of a product in the market, will catch every component 
end-of-life notice or other potential problem in the production stage of 
a new product.
  So given the fact that OEMs today are outsourcing much of their 
development to third parties, entrusting more of their critical data to 
people outside the enterprise, and running on lean internal staffs, what 
can OEMs do to cost-effectively maintain their product and component 
knowledge in-house and be able to act on events that need addressing 
without having to hire more staff?
  An emerging software solution that addresses this critical but overlooked 
function is Component Event Management (CEM). These new enterprise 
applications provide a "single point of truth" for all members of a 
company's supply chain to monitor its data. By providing a common working 
platform in which the entire enterprise can track the status of any of 
its products as well as the status of all of the components (electronic 
ICs, connectors, cables) that go into making these end products, the CEM 
solution empowers all members of the supply chain -- designers, component 
engineers, buyers, etc. -- to act on events that could affect the success 
of the OEM's products.
  In essence, a CEM solution turns each member of the OEM's supply chain 
into a source of knowledge on all aspects of the company's products and 
component data, which is something most OEM engineers and other workers 
have been incapable of doing in the new outsourced-development models, 
with their slashed departments and ever-increasing partner relationships 
to manage. With a CEM solution, an OEM will enjoy the ability to work 
more effectively without having to hire additional staff and while 
keeping the level of all-under-the-same-roof product knowledge that 
manufacturing companies once enjoyed.

Scott Hiraoka was chief operating officer of PCNalert when this article was 
written. He has since left the company. Comments can be directed to Cliff 
Frescura, vice president of solutions, at [email protected].

To comment on this Editor's View, go to Reader Comments at the foot of the 
Web page:

Electronic Design UPDATE ==> 
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmr0AR

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2. Focus On Power
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***Tiny Brick Delivers 10 A At High Temperatures
If even an eighth-brick dc-dc converter is too large for your application, 
but you still need the usual brick features, consider the Pico Brick. With 
its 1.155- by 1.2-in. footprint, the surface-mount dc-dc converter occupies 
just two-thirds the board area of an eighth brick. Operating from a 36- to 
72-V input, the Pico Brick delivers 10 A of regulated output at 1.5 to 5 V. 
The converter is a member of the company's iPB series. Although 10 A is 
well below the ratings of the eighth bricks, the new converter's hardy 
thermal performance may help close the gap with the less conservatively 
specified bricks. At 70 degrees C, the iPB delivers full rated power in 
natural convection airflow. With forced air cooling, the full load can be 
achieved up to 85 degrees C.
  TDK Innoveta ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEms0AS

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3. News -- From The Editors
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***Chip Set Shrinks Home Theater Size And Cost
A recently unveiled software platform contains all of the audio and video 
chip sets and software needed to integrate a digital audio/video receiver 
with DVD record and playback capability. With it, vendors can create an 
all-in-one entertainment solution that lowers overall cost and reduces the 
amount of space needed. The platform includes the Cirrus Logic CS92688 
MPEG-2 audio-video codec chip, the CS98200 DVD processor, and a Class D 
digital amplifier that enables smaller form factors and improves power 
efficiency. For the audio channels, the bundle features the CS4382 
multichannel digital-to-analog converter (the DS4392 DAC), the CS8416 (a 
192-kHz SPDIF receiver), and the CS5340 stereo analog-to-digital converter. 
Designers can select either a 5.1 or 7.1 channel surroundsound option. An 
included software development toolkit gives designers a jumpstart in 
developing the control software and user interface. In a separate 
development, Cirrus Logic's CS49520 multichannel audio digital signal 
processor targets use in A/V receivers. The chip packs dual 32-bit DSP 
cores, each with a dual multiplier-accumulator. Performing 1.44 
gigaoperations/s, the chip can simultaneously decode DTS, Dolby Digital, or 
AAC and Dolby Digital. In lots of 10,000 units, it costs $12.95. 
  Cirrus Logic Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0qBo0AJ

***USB-Based Boundary-Scan Controller Handles 100-MHz Clocking
An intelligent test controller that connects to a user's PC via a standard 
USB port can be used for testing, emulation, and programming of devices, 
boards, or systems that comply with the IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan standard. 
The USB-1149.1/E from Corelis Inc. incorporates performance enhancements 
that include a user-programmable test clock (TCK) that runs at up to 100 
MHz. The unit's JTAG ports and discrete I/O voltage levels are programmable 
from 1.25 to 3.3 C and are 5-V compatible. The device can be used in all 
phases of a product's life cycle: design, manufacturing, and field service. 
Boundary-scan test vectors developed with Corelis' ScanPlusTPG test program 
generator can be executed directly on the USB-1149.1/E controller. The 
USB-1149.1/E comes with built-in self-test software, a Plug-and-Play 
Windows Scan Function Library, and device drivers. It's available from 
stock at a list price starting at $2950.
  Corelis Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmt0AT 

***Brisk Recovery In Semiconductors Continues 
The latest semiconductors sales figures offer another sign that the 
electronics industry is solidly rebounding from its deep economic 
recession. Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $16.13 billion in 
November, up 4.5% from $15.43 billion in October and a 25.7% jump from 
November 2002, according to figures from the Semiconductor Industry 
Association (SIA). The association reported that capacity utilization 
reached 95% in the fourth quarter, allowing modest pricing power to 
continue. All geographic areas experienced sales growth in November. Europe 
was up 6.4% sequentially; Japan 4.5%, the Americas 4.1%, and Asia/Pacific 
3.8%. "Year-to-date sales through November are 17.4% ahead of 2002," said 
SIA president George Scalise. "We expect sales for all of 2003 to exceed 
the current forecast of 15.8% with broadbased strength in all markets, 
especially computation, communications, global consumer, and automotive."
  Semiconductor Industry Association ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ07EI0Ak

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4. Upcoming Industry Events
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Jan. 25-29, 17th International Conference on Micro Electromechanical 
Systems (MEMS)
Maastrict, the Netherlands
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEef0A6 

Jan. 26-29, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium -- Product 
Quality and Integrity (RAMS)
Los Angeles, Calif.
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmu0AU 

Jan. 27-30, Asia-South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASPDAC)
Yokohama, Japan
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmv0AV

Feb. 2-3, ACM/IEEE International Workshop on Timing Issues in the 
Specification and Synthesis of Digital Systems
Austin, Texas
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmw0AW

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5. Magazine Highlights
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In case you missed them, here are some of the high points of our most 
recent issue.

January 12, 2004, Annual Technology Forecast Issue:

* Visionaries
Three forward-looking technology leaders offer their views of the future of 
the electronics industry.

* The Top 10 Technology Forecasts
Electronic Design's own editors deliver what they foresee as the Top 10 
developments of the coming year in
  Digital ICs
  Analog/Mixed Signal
  Components/Interconnects/Packaging
  Power
  Communications
  EDA
  Embedded
  Test & Measurement

For the complete Table of Contents, go to 
Electronic Design ==> 
http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eeEd0DJhUf0EmQ0BEmx0AX


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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER
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Editorial: Lucinda Mattera, Associate Chief Editor:
mailto:[email protected]

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