Electronic Design Update: October 29, 2008

Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter | October 29, 2008 | FREEmagazine subscription digital or print!ADVERTISEMENT Agilent’s Handheld DMMs-Check more, fix more, spend less!
The NEW Agilent U1240A Series enable you to check more with all the DMM features you would expect to see and more. Maintenance tasks are greatly simplified with frequency and capacitance and dual temperature functions. And new features like a switch counter, harmonic ratio, and differential temperature further extend your capabilities with just a push of the button.
Click to learn more. commentary |Are You Migrating To Massive Multicore Yet? By Bill Wong, Embedded/Systems/Software Editor
Multicore is the name of the game for performance, and three new offerings push the boundaries. Each takes a different architectural approach designed to suit its target application space. Read the full article... green design |GAO Study: EPA Needs To Better Control Harmful E-Waste By Ron Schneiderman, Contributing Editor
Hazardous waste regulations in the United States have not deterred exports of potentially hazardous used electronics, largely because of a lack of enforcement of laws by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The 67-page GAO study particularly targets banned exports of computer monitors and the companies that have been exporting them overseas. Read the full article... design hotspots | Analog · Peer Through The High-Performance Kaleidoscope | By Don Tuite, Analog/Power Editor

Power · Improved Nano Materials Extend Li-ion Battery Life Five-Fold | By Roger Allan, Contributing Editor

Embedded · Robots At Play | By Bill Wong, Embedded/Systems/Software Editor

engineer's resource | Designer's Guide To PoE The PoE Designer's Guide focuses on what design engineers need to know about Power Over Ethernet—a protocol for transmitting power and data signals over standard local-area network (LAN) infrastructure.

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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 [email protected], or you can mail your material to:
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IFD of the week |"Take-Back-Half" Convergence Algorithm Stabilizes Microhydro Turbine Controller By Stephen Woodward
The soaring costs of fossil fuels, combined with environmental concerns like climate change, are driving the increased interest in renewable (“green”) energy. No energy source is “greener” than hydroelectric power, particularly small (“microhydro”) installations that involve minimal artificial water impoundment and associated environmental impact. Read the full article...

Tektronix's Jim Taber and Electronic Design's David Maliniak chew over Tek's SignalVu vector signal-analysis software, which adds RF signal analysis to some of the company's high-end digital oscilloscopes. Watch it now...

Engineering TV | Testing the Wii with PXI - Part 2 Barron Stone and Chetan Kapoor have conducted a teardown of the Nintendo Wii to test various components using National Instruments LabVIEW and PXI-based modular instruments. In Part 2 of this Engineering TV video, Barron discusses using the PXI-5114, a high-speed digitizer, to test the Wii's video signals.

news from the editors |

Faster AWG Tackles High-Speed Serial Data And Wideband Digital RF Designs

When designing new products based on faster high-speed serial buses like PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 and 3.0, SATA Gen 3, SAS, HDMI 1.3, and DisplayPort, a quality signal source is needed to create actual real-life signals with all their imperfections like distortion, noise, jitter, and glitches. Read the full article...

Software Combines Equipment And Automation To Improve Productivity And Quality

Most vendors and their carrier customers test their networking equipment manually. They set up test cases, and some cases are programmed in scripting language before they’re run. But with the size and complexity of some systems, with their huge number of features and options, testing can be a long and drawn-out process. Read the full article...

Foundry Produces Fully Functional 28-nm SRAMs

Using its independently developed low-leakage process technology, UMC has manufactured the foundry industry’s first fully functional 28-nm SRAM chips, according to the company. Read the full article...

SFF-SIG Addresses Mass Storage For Small Embedded Systems

The Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFF-SIG) will adopt and enhance SiliconSystems’ SiliconDrive II Blade Specification for use with small, rugged subsystems such as mass storage and other I/O technologies. Read the full article...

ADVERTISEMENT Read eBook: The Dangers of Counterfeit Battery Packs
The quantifiable impact of imitation battery packs to the OEM includes increased safety risks for customers, greater product returns due to non-performing batteries, reduced customer satisfaction, and reduced revenue for batteries supplied by the original manufacturer. This interactive eBook provides an analysis of several counterfeit batteries and details some of the safety issues found.
Read now. quick poll | Major economic downturns often lead to significant innovations. If history repeats itself, where will the next breakthrough come from?

• Communications
• Computing
• Medical electronics
• Military electronics
• Consumer electronics
• Software
• Power
• Other

Click here to take the poll. Remember to scroll down. The poll is at the bottom of the page.

focus product |

Automotive IC Consolidates Door-Mounted Drivers

Deemed the first single chip that produces the major signals necessary to drive vehicle door-mounted systems as well as providing a better method for controlling electro-chrome (EC) rear-view mirrors, the L99DZ70XP driver IC eliminates discrete drivers normally mounted in multiple locations inside the door. Read the full article... product picks online | Chip Provides Protection/Cell Balancing For Li-Ion Battery Packs FPGA USB 2.0 Module Accelerates Development Time DIN-Rail Supplies Sport Trim Profiles Four-Channel Sampling Scopes Carry LXI Certification Double-Layer Capacitor Series Adds Ultra-Low ESR Member upcoming industry events | Application Workshops For High-Performance Electronic Design
North Amerca, Asia, Europe
Oct. 9 - Nov. 12 Scaling Engineering and Scientific Performance for the Workgroup – What’s the Best Infrastructure for You?
Webinar
Nov. 6 International Conference On Computer-Aided Design
San Jose, Calif.
Nov. 10-13