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ELECTRONICSTALK
The Independent Weekly Product Information Guide
for Electronics Engineers
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London, UK
Published every Tuesday at 12:30 (UK)
Issue 20: 26 June 2001
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1803 product announcements and technical articles
on our web site, all fully searchable at
http://www.electronicstalk.com/ - take a look!
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In this issue:
* Editor's Message
* A Reader Writes
* Our Top Ten new Products Selection
1. Programmable and hard-wired logic embed together
2. Fibre depolariser operates from 1300 to 1610nm
3. Spread-spectrum family beats Bluetooth to market
4. Chipset cuts development time for 2.5G handsets
5. Smallest packaged IGBT for automotive ignition
6. Smallest claim for isolated 3V-in 3V-out DC/DCs
7. Four-channel digital scope sends its own e-mails
8. Tiny motion sensor comes with analogue output
9. Omnidirectional bonus for miniature GPS antenna
10. Angelic C compiler beats DSP benchmarks
* New Technical Articles and Case Studies
* ...And take a look at these stories too...
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Laurence Marchini, Editor, writes:
Many thanks to all those of you who have been enquiring after my health following last week's editorial. Suffice to say that the patient is recovering, despite the best efforts of the medical profession! (So thanks for the virtual flowers.)
Meanwhile, we have also received a number of interesting pieces of correspondence concerning previous items, which I guess goes to prove that you are alive out there. So this week, we're introducing the first in an occasional series of "Readers Writes" (for want of a better title).
Hopefully the following from Derek Fosberry will inspire more of you to share your views with the rest of the Electronicstalk readership.
I hope you find this issue of our weekly newsletter useful. In addition to the new products, news and ideas featured here, there are hundreds more on our website and dozens more being added daily, so do take a look if you can. But you don't need web access! All the full stories behind the summaries and headlines in this newsletter can be retrieved by email alone: see details below. In the meantime, if you've got any suggestions as to how we might make the site or the newsletter better, email me directly.
Best wishes
Laurence Marchini, Editor
mailto:lauren[-email removed-]nicstalk.com
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Derek Fosberry writes:
I had to smile reading the story "Half of ... products ship late" (http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/men/men120.html).
I worked for many years in field circus (oops, service) on high-tech of one sort or another. If I had a shilling for every time I've cursed development for putting half- developed products out of the door I'd be e-mailing from my luxury yacht in the Caribbean right now. Of course they ship late and/or bug-ridden. (And better bug- ridden than late!)
The whole marketplace is moving so fast that you have to get to market "now or never". And it doesn't matter because the competition is in the same Red Queen scenario: their products are just as buggy.
Most users have long since accepted this; they at least get the leading edge functionality most of the time, enabling them to ship.... and so the circle goes on.
More seriously, marketing is the only part of the organisation which can balance the negative effects of shipping late against those of shipping buggy. I despise marketroids as much as any other engineer, but one of the distinguishing marks of a good company is that their marketeers understand that they are making such a decision.
If you want to go soul-searching, you could note that part of the problem is that we engineers allow ourselves to be browbeaten into agreeing to unrealistic development schedules.
Call me pessimist or realist as you wish, but I don't see any significant improvement on the horizon.
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THIS WEEK'S INDUSTRY NEWS
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TECHNOLOGY SENDS FULL MOTION VIDEO TO PDAS
Video IP specialist IndigoVision Group has developed a technology that allows video to be delivered over wireless and cellular networks to consumer electronics products.
IndigoVision, 21 June 2001
mailto:ing1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ing/ing101.html
TI IS IN WITH ZHONE FOR ADSL TRIALS
Zhone Technologies is to work with Texas Instruments to provide high-density ADSL infrastructure systems for field trials with leading operators worldwide.
Texas Instruments, 25 June 2001
mailto:tex1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tex/tex119.html
IBM AND NATIONAL WORK ON HOME GATEWAYS
IBM and National Semiconductor are jointly producing a solution for home gateways.
National Semiconductor, 26 June 2001
mailto:nat1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/nat/nat129.html
DEK DOWNSIZES, CUTTING 120 JOBS WORLDWIDE
DEK has implemented a downsizing operation at its Weymouth manufacturing headquarters and overseas locations, involving 120 redundancies.
DEK Printing Machines, 22 June 2001
mailto:dek1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/dek/dek102.html
NEPCON REPORTS POSITIVE MARKET OUTLOOK
The latest Nepcon exhibitor statistics make interesting reading in the light of the current economic climate, reports Reed Exhibitions.
Reed Exhibitions, 26 June 2001
mailto:ree1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ree/ree101.html
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OUR TOP TEN NEW PRODUCTS SELECTION
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1. Programmable and hard-wired logic embed together
QuickLogic has announced an architecture for the upcoming QuickMIPS ESP family with a fully characterised processor system, market-specific hard-wired functions and the industry's fastest programmable logic. The complete development platform includes a QuickMIPS device, and a board support package with a real-time operating systems, as well as a timing model and reference design kit with emulation capability and drivers. Based on the MIPS Technologies MIPS32 4Kc microprocessor core, the QuickMIPS solution delivers the guaranteed performance of ASSPs, an ASIC design flow and FPGA flexibility in a single system.
* Our system will email you this story in full.
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2. Fibre depolariser operates from 1300 to 1610nm
ProtoDel has launched a broadband inline fibre depolariser to operate over the entire telecomms transmission network window (1300-1610nm). The all-fibre, passive depolariser features a fused-fibre construction with no free space optics, moving parts or bending in the light path. This depolariser is specifically designed for sources used in Raman pump lasers. As the nonlinear effect that produces the Raman amplification in the fibre is highly dependent on the polarisation state, it is critical to depolarise the pump source to optimise amplification. The fibre depolarisers are designed to provide a truly unpolarised light with degree of polarisation (DOP) less than 1%.
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3. Spread-spectrum family beats Bluetooth to market
AeroComm has released its complete line of LX 2.4GHz frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) transceivers, available in Europe from Low Power Radio Solutions. Unlike radios designed from chipsets, LX transceivers are agency-approved, ready-to-use modules designed for rapid integration into larger volume OEM products. The LX family offers manufacturers a broad array of wireless capability, accompanied by comprehensive RF development tools and support. Five types of transceiver and two repeater models provide an assortment to suit OEMs' varying range and network configurations.
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4. Chipset cuts development time for 2.5G handsets
Texas Instruments has released a complete hardware and software chipset solution for General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Class 12 wireless handsets. Based on TI's programmable DSP technology, the chipset provides manufacturers the performance and low power required to run next-generation wireless applications, and provides easy migration of applications software to future TI OMAP-based chipset products. The TCS2100 GPRS chipset includes TI's high performance TBB2100 dual-core digital baseband, a highly integrated TWL3014 analogue baseband with complete power management functions and TI's single-chip direct conversion TRF6150 RF transceiver.
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5. Smallest packaged IGBT for automotive ignition
New from Fairchild Semiconductor, the EcoSpark family of IGBTs is designed for use as ignition coil drivers. The newest products boast a 30% reduction in silicon chip area and can be packaged in either the industry standard D-Pak or D2-Pak. Previously, silicon ignition coil drivers were only available in D2-Paks. The new EcoSpark technology enables a die size that is small enough to fit into a D-Pak without giving up performance. This size reduction makes the EcoSpark family the smallest available solution for driving ignition coils and the first on the market that can deliver the function in this 60% board-space-saving package.
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6. Smallest claim for isolated 3V-in 3V-out DC/DCs
Designed to meet demands for localised, spot power supplies in low-power, space-constrained designs, the world's smallest isolated 1W DC/DC convertors are now available for power schemes requiring 3V input and output. The C and D Technologies (NCL) NKE0303S single isolated output DC/DC convertors are supplied in subminiature SIP package styles with industry-standard pinouts and a board mounting footprint of just 0.69cm2. Power density is rated at 1.95W/cm3.
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7. Four-channel digital scope sends its own e-mails
New from Yokogawa Martron, the Yokogawa DL1740 SignalExplorer is a compact 4-channel digital oscilloscope that combines a sampling rate of 1Gsample/s, an analogue bandwidth of 500MHz and an exceptional memory length of 1Mword. Despite its high-range performance the new instrument, which is small enough to occupy an A4 size footprint on a test bench and weighs only 5.5kg, is priced as a mid-range model.
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8. Tiny motion sensor comes with analogue output
Claimed to be the world's smallest PIR (passive infra-red) sensor, the MP motion sensor from Matsushita Electric Works is now available in an analogue output model that enables sensitivity to be adjusted in accordance with application requirements. The analogue device's sensitivity can be adjusted via an external comparator circuit prior to connection to the microprocessor. This useful feature enables the device to be set up to distinguish between different levels of detected-object heat.
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9. Omnidirectional bonus for miniature GPS antenna
Antenna specialist Sarantel has announced the PowerHelix GPS-P, a miniature GPS (Global Positioning System) antenna which is omnidirectional and therefore tolerant of the orientation of the GPS receiver. It also has a low near-field region meaning that less of the received radiation is absorbed by the body, making it virtually unaffected by proximity to the user. The antenna requires no ground plane, thereby offering space saving benefits, and is ideal for handheld and mobile GPS applications.
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10. Angelic C compiler beats DSP benchmarks
EEMBC Certification Laboratories (ECL), the independent benchmarking certification service and embedded product testing organisation, has finalised testing and certifying Bops' new Halo C compiler against the industry-standard EEMBC telecom benchmarks. According to ECL chairman and chief technical officer, Alan R Weiss, the Halo C compiler is a "a good, solid compiler that with little programming effort emitted highly optimised code for this sophisticated, powerful architecture".
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New Technical Articles and Case Studies
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FLINT GIVES BLATCHFORD A LEG UP WITH SMART CARD
Chas A Blatchford and Sons, the world leader in prosthetic hardware, was the first to order a customised smart card design from Flint Smart's website.
Flint, 20 June 2001
mailto:fli1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/fli/fli118.html
EMS AIDS DEVELOPMENT OF PROSTHETIC HANDS
EMS has provided products and technical guidance on small DC motors and gearheads to the team at the Princess Margaret Rose Bio Engineering unit to help them produce a child size artificial hand.
EMS, 22 June 2001
mailto:ems1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ems/ems101.html
ABB RESCUES CHIPBOARD MANUFACTURER'S BIGGEST FAN
Tens of thousands of pounds worth of lost production at chipboard manufacturer Sonae Industria, Merseyside, has been saved by ABB Drives Alliance Partner Central Electrical.
ABB Automation, 22 June 2001
mailto:abb1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/abb/abb115.html
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...And take a look at these stories too...
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BLUETOOTH BASEBAND PROCESSOR AVAILABLE ON FPGA
NewLogic today announced the immediate availability of its Boost Lite Bluetooth baseband processor core for use in Xilinx Virtex-II and Virtex-E FPGAs.
NewLogic, 20 June 2001
mailto:new1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/new/new105.html
LOW-NOISE LDOs AIM FOR CELLULAR HANDSETS
Available from Young ECC and manufactured by Japan Radio Co, the NJM2870 LDO regulator family uses advanced bipolar technology to achieve low noise, high ripple rejection and low quiescent current.
Young-ECC Electronics, 20 June 2001
mailto:you1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/you/you105.html
FRFETs IMPROVE DIODE REVERSE RECOVERY
Fairchild Semiconductor has a new family of 500V fast-recovery MOSFETs designed to provide significant performance enhancements in telecomms and server power system designs.
Fairchild Semiconductor, 20 June 2001
mailto:fai1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/fai/fai124.html
130MHz DACs GUN FOR BASESTATION APPLICATIONS
Intersil's next-generation series of CommLink high-speed D/A convertors is specifically designed to support the development of high-performance wireless products.
Intersil, 20 June 2001
mailto:ina1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ina/ina123.html
POWER SUPPLY CHIP CHANGES MODE TO RAISE EFFICIENCY
The STR-X6400 Series from Allegro MicroSystems Europe is a multimode offline switch-mode power-supply IC that automatically changes its operating mode to ensure maximum efficiency.
Allegro MicroSystems Europe, 21 June 2001
mailto:alb1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/alb/alb110.html
BIG FLASH MEMORY FOR 32bit RISC MICROCONTROLLER
Available now, the SH7018F 32bit RISC microcontroller is the latest addition to the high-performance SuperH family from Hitachi.
Hitachi Europe, 25 June 2001
mailto:hit1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/hit/hit103.html
A/D CONVERTOR TRIO BOOST SPEED WHILE CUTTING POWER
National Semiconductor has released a trio of low-power, high-speed ADCs it claims are ideal for communications and imaging applications.
National Semiconductor, 25 June 2001
mailto:nat1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/nat/nat128.html
DUAL LINE INTERFACE HANDLES MULTIPLE STANDARDS
The Exar XRT73L02 is a standards-compliant 3.3V two-channel transceiver line interface unit (LIU) for E3, DS3 and STS-1 applications.
Exar Europe, 26 June 2001
mailto:exa1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/exa/exa100.html
MATCHED MAGNETS PROVIDE KEY TO ACCURATE SWITCHING
Gentech International has introduced a broad stock range of magnets to enable design engineers to achieve a "perfect match" with Gentech's comprehensive range of magnetic reed switches.
Gentech International, 20 June 2001
mailto:gen1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/gen/gen102.html
SURFACE-MOUNT VARICONS FOR TRANSIENT SUPPRESSION
Now available exclusively in the UK is the comprehensive range of Keko varicon devices, designed to provide circuit protection against surge voltages and ESD effects.
VTM (UK), 22 June 2001
mailto:vtm1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/vtm/vtm102.html
VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING ADDED TO SYSTEM DESIGN TOOLS
Innoveda is to provide a more powerful version of its Visual Elite tool that enables engineers to design from the system-level down to the register transfer level (RTL).
Innoveda, 20 June 2001
mailto:inn1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/inn/inn112.html
REFERENCE DESIGN DELIVERS DIGITAL BALLASTS
New from International Rectifier the IRPLDIM2 digital addressable dimming ballast reference design allows manufacturers to deliver digital addressable ballasts to market quickly.
International Rectifier, 20 June 2001
mailto:sil1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sil/sil109.html
PAL SIMPLIFIES FPGA APPLICATION INTERFACING
Celoxica has announced its platform abstraction layer (PAL) strategy for FPGA and system independent reconfigurable designs.
Celoxica, 20 June 2001
mailto:cel1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cel/cel111.html
CD-ROM TEACHES FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRONICS DESIGN
Adept Scientific has released a new version of its Electronics CBT program, a CD-ROM which presents an in-depth, interactive curriculum in the fundamentals of electronics.
Adept Scientific, 21 June 2001
mailto:ade1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ade/ade110.html
ALL YOU NEED TO START ETHERNET DESIGNS
A complete design solutions package that features all the hardware, firmware, software and tools necessary for developing an embedded network product has been introduced by Future Electronics.
Future Electronics, 21 June 2001
mailto:fut1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/fut/fut108.html
THERMAL SIMULATION SIMPLIFIES PACKAGE DESIGN
ST Assembly Test Services (STATS) has extended its Simplified Package Modelling (SPM) services to customers in Europe and Asia.
ST Assembly Test Services, 26 June 2001
mailto:sta1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sta/sta107.html
VERSATILE ENCLOSURE SUSPENSION SYSTEM
Rolec's taraPlus suspension system is available with 18 system elements which, when combined with its three tube elements, make it extremely versatile.
OKW Enclosures, 26 June 2001
mailto:okw1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/okw/okw107.html
MINI-PCI COMPLIANT INVERTED RIGHT ANGLE MODJACK
Molex has launched the latest in its line of modular jacks (modjacks) - its Mini-PCI compliant inverted right angle modjack, offering excellent signal reliability and flexibility.
Molex UK, 20 June 2001
mailto:mol1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/mol/mol108.html
FEMALE SOCKETS SET THE (DIN) STANDARD
Offered in a broad range of sizes for application versatility, Ansley female socket connectors from Tyco Electronics feature a basic design that has been proven over many years.
Tyco Electronics UK, 20 June 2001
mailto:tya1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tya/tya109.html
EASY-TO-APPLY SEALING CAPS PROTECT STUB SPLICES
Tyco Electronics ES sealing caps provide both environmental and mechanical protection to stub splices in electrical harnesses for automotive, marine, aerospace and white goods applications.
Tyco Electronics - Wire, Harness & Protection, 25 June 2001
mailto:tyc1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tyc/tyc115.html
DISPENSE WITH HIGH-VISCOSITY STRUCTURAL ADHESIVES
Designed to process high-viscosity materials, the SeeFlo 494 is ideally suited for dispensing structural adhesives.
Integrated Dispensing Systems, 22 June 2001
mailto:int1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/int/int106.html
REFURBISHMENT FOR FUJI ASSEMBLY KIT
A comprehensive refurbishment capability for Fuji surface-mount assembly machines is now being offered on a Europe-wide basis by pre-owned equipment supplier alternativeSMT.
alternativeSMT, 22 June 2001
mailto:alt1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/alt/alt102.html
OPEN-FRAME CONVERTORS DELIVER UP TO 87% EFFICIENCY
XP has announced the immediate availability of the DCC Series of high-efficiency open-frame DC/DC convertors.
XP, 20 June 2001
mailto:xpp1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/xpp/xpp102.html
BROADBAND SOURCE EVALUATES EMC TEST AREAS TO 7GHz
New from Schaffner is the industry's first high frequency broadband source for evaluation of anechoic chamber and open area test site EMC measurements.
Schaffner EMC, 21 June 2001
mailto:sca1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sca/sca116.html
FORCE SENSOR OPERATES IN ALL THREE DIMENSIONS
New from Techni Measure, the 260A is a quartz force sensor with three separate sensing elements capable of simultaneous measurement of dynamic force in three orthogonal directions.
Techni Measure, 25 June 2001
mailto:tec1[-email removed-]ctronicstalk.com
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tec/tec103.html
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