|
ELECTRONICSTALK
The Independent Weekly Product Information Guide
for Electronics Design, Development and Manufacturing Engineers
====================================================================
ISSN 1475-2913 - Free subscription
Last week's delivered circulation: 23,760
Published every Tuesday from the UK.
Issue 230: 23 August 2005
====================================================================
25074 product announcements and technical articles on our
website http://www.electronicstalk.com/ - all fully searchable
====================================================================
In this issue:
* Editor's Message
* Other industry news
* Our Top new products selection
[1] UK businesses offered free environmental help
[2] Five-port switch brings PCI Express to new tasks
[3] Op amp portfolio moves to video applications
[4] Graphical development targets Blackfin processors
[5] Thermistors aid handheld temperature compensation
[6] Waveguide filters absorb rather than reflect
[7] Software accounts for all sources of signal loss
[8] Compact SBC cuts embedded development costs
[9] PPMU devices cut the cost of ATE
[10] Adapter puts half-brick convertors onboard
* New technical articles and case studies
* Other featured product news
====================================================================
Laurence Marchini, Editor, writes:
I probably only mention the PC market once a year in these columns -
and from my point of view, it's a darned good job that Gartner
generally chooses this time of year to publish its (uncannily
accurate) predictions for the PC business in the year ahead.
This year's predictions are rather interesting. For the benefit of
those who may have missed it, the outlook for commodity PC makers is
pretty bleak, with revenues set to grow a paltry 0.5% on the back of a
12.7% rise in sales volumes. And while such a scenario might keep
component makers relatively happy, perhaps it has more to say about
the state of technical innovation in the commodity PC business than
anything else.
And while there is no way that I would predict that the PC has nowhere
new to go in the short to medium term, even the most savvy PC market
watcher would concur that there really is no current killer
technology - or even application - that is likely to spur the
commodity PC market into massive profitability.
Personally, I have to admit I'm rather pleased. My next project will
involve a home multimedia network, and so low-cost PC platforms are a
prerequisite.
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.
Alternatively, the full stories behind all the summaries and headlines
in this newsletter can be retrieved by email alone: see details below.
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions as to how we might make
the site or the newsletter better, email me directly.
Best wishes
Laurence Marchini, Editor
mailto:ne[-email removed-]nicstalk.com
====================================================================
This week's industry news
====================================================================
ACQUISITION BRINGS IN MIXED-SIGNAL EXPERTISE
(Silicon Laboratories, 23 Aug 2005)
Silicon Laboratories has acquired Silicon Magike in an all-cash
transaction for approximately $16 million.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/snl/snl122.html
or send a blank email to mailto:snl1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
QUALITY MARK GUARANTEES BLUETOOTH INTEROPERABILITY
(Cambridge Silicon Radio, 18 Aug 2005)
CSR is working with independent technical support company TMTI (Talk
Me Through It) to drive Bluetooth device compatibility and enhance
end-user experience of mobile Bluetooth technology.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cam/cam201.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cam2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
COST-EFFECTIVE EDA TOOLS PROVE POPULAR IN EUROPE
(EDA Solutions, 18 Aug 2005)
EDA Solutions reports 22% growth in annual sales of Tanner EDA
analogue and mixed-signal tools in the financial year to the end of
May 2005.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/eso/eso116.html
or send a blank email to mailto:eso1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
FUJIFILM BRINGS BUSINESS BACK FROM FAR EAST
(TT ems, 22 Aug 2005)
Fujifilm Electronic Imaging has re-appointed TTems as its sole
supplier of PCB assemblies, bringing a projected revenue to TTems of
GBP 3 million for 2006.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tms/tms108.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tms1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
STANDARD SIMPLIFIES DISK DRIVE INTEGRATION
(MultiMediaCard Association, 23 Aug 2005)
The MultiMediaCard Association has approved a new interface
specification especially for small form factor disk drives in
next-generation portable consumer electronic devices.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/mim/mim104.html
or send a blank email to mailto:mim1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
SUBSIDIARY FOCUSES ON EVENT-BASED TEST TECHNOLOGY
(Advantest (Europe), 17 Aug 2005)
Advantest Technology Solutions is a new subsidiary company set up to
supply semiconductor design verification systems using event-based
test technology.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/adb/adb145.html
or send a blank email to mailto:adb1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
RESEARCH TARGETS COGNITIVE RADIO TECHNOLOGY
(Tektronix, 18 Aug 2005)
Tektronix is conducting joint research with the Mobile and Portable
Radio Research Group at Virginia Tech in the development of cognitive
radio technology.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tek/tek231.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tek2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
OUR TOP NEW PRODUCT SELECTION
====================================================================
[1] UK BUSINESSES OFFERED FREE ENVIRONMENTAL HELP
(Envirowise, 22 Aug 2005)
With a six-month deferment on the implementation of new rules on
electrical and electronic waste announced by the DTI, Envirowise is
urging companies to take advantage of the free help available to
rethink the products they design - or risk facing a difficult future.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which
is now expected to become effective in June 2006, will make producers
responsible for financing the collection and treatment of their
products at their "end of life" to reduce the amount of waste going to
landfill. New products launched on the UK market after 13th August
2005 must be marked to show this and to identify the producer. The
Reduction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive goes
one step further, banning the sale of new electrical and electronic
equipment that contains more than agreed levels of particular
hazardous substances as of July 2006.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/env/106/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/env/env106.html
or send a blank email to mailto:env1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[2] FIVE-PORT SWITCH BRINGS PCI EXPRESS TO NEW TASKS
(PLX Technology Europe, 17 Aug 2005)
New from PLX Technology, the ExpressLane PEX 8508 PCIe switch is
claimed to achieve a new level of interconnect economy, flexibility
and functionality. Priced at under $15 in volume quantities, the
eight-lane PEX 8508 enables a wider range of applications to take
advantage of its five highly configurable ports, peer-to-peer
switching and data-aggregation capability. Designed to be fully
compliant with the PCI Express Specification R1.1, the PEX 8508 is the
first five-port PCIe switch for applications such as high-end
printers, multichannel network adapter cards and notebook-docking
stations.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/plx/plx123.html
or send a blank email to mailto:plx1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[3] OP AMP PORTFOLIO MOVES TO VIDEO APPLICATIONS
(ON Semiconductor, 19 Aug 2005)
ON Semiconductor has moved into the high-speed operational amplifier
market with four new devices designed for the rapidly growing
low-power video applications space. Building on its existing low-power
operational amplifier portfolio, ON Semiconductor has used new
technologies to achieve the ultralow distortion performance levels
required by set-top boxes and security video applications. During the
next three months, the company plans to release additional high-speed
op amps to address professional video and switching video
applications. The NCS25xx family of high-speed op amps enable
designers to achieve an unprecedented level of power and speed without
having to make a cost tradeoff.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/onw/onw193.html
or send a blank email to mailto:onw1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[4] GRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT TARGETS BLACKFIN PROCESSORS
(National Instruments, 18 Aug 2005)
Analog Devices and National Instruments have announced availability
for the public beta version of the NI LabView Embedded Module for ADI
Blackfin processors, which provides design engineers early access to a
seamless, graphical dataflow development paradigm to directly target
Blackfin processors. With this new intuitive software, more engineers
can take advantage of embedded technology to increase productivity and
reduce time to application.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/naa/215/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/naa/naa215.html
or send a blank email to mailto:naa2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[5] THERMISTORS AID HANDHELD TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION
(AVX, 18 Aug 2005)
AVX has introduced the NB23 series, an 0402 surface mount NTC
(negative temperature coefficient) thermistor, specifically designed
for temperature compensation and control applications in handheld and
portable electronic equipment. The device's small size allows for
greater design flexibility, such as placement in a battery pack as a
temperature sensor, while providing the same level of accuracy and a
better response time than in larger NTC thermistor devices.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/avx/118/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/avx/avx118.html
or send a blank email to mailto:avx1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[6] WAVEGUIDE FILTERS ABSORB RATHER THAN REFLECT
(Link Microtek, 19 Aug 2005)
Microwave and RF component specialist Link Microtek has introduced a
new range of in-house manufactured absorptive harmonic waveguide
filters, which, when used with high-power microwave amplifiers, avoid
the potential damage that reflective filters can cause. Known as the
AMQ-HARM series, the new filters are designed to absorb signals with
harmonic frequencies higher than the specified passband, rather than
reflecting them back to the amplifier. Manufactured from lightweight
aluminium, these compact filters are available in waveguide sizes from
WR137 to WR62 for applications in the frequency range 5.8 to 18.4GHz,
with harmonic frequencies up to 40GHz.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lib/lib179.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lib1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[7] SOFTWARE ACCOUNTS FOR ALL SOURCES OF SIGNAL LOSS
(Mentor Graphics UK, 22 Aug 2005)
Available now from Mentor Graphics, HyperLynx 7.5 is the latest
version of its powerful and easy-to-implement tool suite for pre- and
post-layout signal integrity (SI) simulation and analysis. HyperLynx
7.5 includes significant productivity and technology enhancements
targeted at emerging serdes interconnect standards such as
PCI-Express, Hyper Transport, XAUI and SATA/SAS. The new productivity
enhancements include the intuitive "free-form" transmission-line
schematic editor for prelayout what-if exploration and design
constraint development, enabling painless instantiation of Spice and
S-parameter models. All sources of signal loss are accounted for,
including package parasitics, connector and via loss, as well as
resistive and dielectric loss on the printed circuit board.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/men/men368.html
or send a blank email to mailto:men3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[8] COMPACT SBC CUTS EMBEDDED DEVELOPMENT COSTS
(Axiomtek, 22 Aug 2005)
New from Axiomtek, the SBC846A1 is a Via Eden-powered 3.5in SBC that
offers developers a reliable fast-time-to-market platform on which to
build their embedded applications. The SBC846A1 is a low power and
fanless board with a Via CLE266 and VT8237R chipset and Via Eden
processor speeds of either 1GHz or 667MHz. Available with up to 1Gbyte
of DDR SODIMM system memory, the board supports DualView CRT and LVDS
displays, with optional dual LVDS LCD mode, making it an ideal
solution for gaming or display intensive applications. The SBC also
features four USB 2.0 ports, dual 10/100Base-T Fast Ethernet ports, a
DMA supported CompactFlash Type-II socket, and AC97 audio for
incredible sound.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/axi/axi116.html
or send a blank email to mailto:axi1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[9] PPMU DEVICES CUT THE COST OF ATE
(Semtech, 23 Aug 2005)
Semtech Corp has a new family of three per-pin parametric measurement
unit (PPMU) devices that feature fast settling times and the
industry's smallest form factor for a 40mA device which combine to
lower the cost of test in automated test equipment (ATE). The new
products include the E4237, E4257 and E4287, all of which feature
dual-channels per chip for forcing or measuring voltage and current
over a -3.25 to +13V range at currents up to 40mA. The extremely fast
settling times of these devices dramatically shortens the application
test time, which increases a tester's throughput and facilitates a
decrease in the cost of test of associated with an ATE system.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sem/sem133.html
or send a blank email to mailto:sem1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
[10] ADAPTER PUTS HALF-BRICK CONVERTORS ONBOARD
(Powerstax, 19 Aug 2005)
New from Powerstax, the ZTAH terminal adapter offers a simple, quick
and cost effective alternative to board mounting standard PCB pin half
brick size DC/DC convertors. Supplying an option for screw and clamp
connections to PCB pin type half brick modules makes the ZTAH adapter
ideal for use during bench testing, design work and for industrial
applications. Measuring 43 x 55mm, the Powerstax ZTAH adapter fits
without difficulty within the industry standard half brick DC/DC
convertor footprint (61.0 x 57.9mm).
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/apc/apc138.html
or send a blank email to mailto:apc1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
New Case Study
====================================================================
MACROMEDIA INTEGRATES VOICE PROCESSING ALGORITHMS
(Spirit DSP, 19 Aug 2005)
Spirit's award-winning voice products have been integrated into
Macromedia Breeze 5, to ensure superior voice quality in this
Flash-based enterprise communication and collaboration solution.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/spi/spi141.html
or send a blank email to mailto:spi1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
Other featured new product news
====================================================================
INSTRUMENTATION AMPLIFIER SHRINKS BY A HALF
(Analog Devices, 23 Aug 2005)
A new JFET-input in-amp improves performance and shrinks package size
by 50%, increasing channel densities in patient monitors and portable
medical electronics.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/anc/anc322.html
or send a blank email to mailto:anc3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
RAD-HARD MCUS LINK STRAIGHT TO RAD-HARD MRAM
(Silicon Laude, 23 Aug 2005)
New radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant MCS8051-compatible MCUs
interface with Honeywell's new radiation-hardened magnetic RAM,
yielding a two-chip system solution.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/siu/siu100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:siu1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
STEP-DOWN SYNCHRONOUS CONTROLLER KEEPS ITS COOL
(Linear Technology Corp, 18 Aug 2005)
The LTC3731H is a PolyPhase step-down synchronous controller with
guaranteed operation and precision for junction temperatures as high
as 140C.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lne/lne187.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lne1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
WIREWOUND COMPONENTS EXPLAINED
(North Devon Electronics, 18 Aug 2005)
An updated 16 page publication presents the steps a designer should
take to achieve the most cost-effective wirewound component to meet a
specific requirement.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/noe/noe100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:noe1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
STARTER KITS EXPLORE FPGA FUNCTIONS
(Actel Europe, 23 Aug 2005)
Two new starter kits for the ProASIC3 series of FPGAs offer developers
of high-volume applications the capability to incorporate secure
in-system programmability for the first time in their products.
Request free details from the supplier on ProASIC3 starter kit:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/act/212/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/act/act212.html
or send a blank email to mailto:act2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
INTERCONNECT DESIGN PLATFORM ENHANCED
(Cadence Design Systems, 23 Aug 2005)
Cadence Design Systems has revealed the latest advances in its IC
packaging technology, slated to improve productivity and accuracy for
shorter design cycle time.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cad/cad306.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cad3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
BUDGET SWITCHES ARE BIG ON RELIABILITY
(Knitter Switch, 23 Aug 2005)
A new series of stackable DIP switches boast a long mechanical life of
2000 operations minimum per pole.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/kni/kni124.html
or send a blank email to mailto:kni1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
FINGERPRINT SENSORS OFFER EASY ROUTE TO BIOMETRICS
(Alpha Micro Components, 19 Aug 2005)
AuthenTec, the world leader in biometric fingerprint sensor
innovation, has appointed Alpha Micro Components as the distributor of
its products within the UK and Ireland.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/alp/alp128.html
or send a blank email to mailto:alp1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
EMBEDDED DEVICE SERVER GOES ROHS-COMPLIANT
(Lantronix, 22 Aug 2005)
Lantronix has shipped its first RoHS-compliant XPort embedded device
server, months ahead of the regulatory deadline.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lar/lar100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lar1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
SOFTWARE TESTS REAL-WORLD NOISE PERFORMANCE
(Aeroflex , 17 Aug 2005)
To test mobile handsets for real-world noise conditions, Aeroflex is
now including an AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) source with its
IQCreator software.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/aof/aof129.html
or send a blank email to mailto:aof1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
====================================================================
Have you seen our other newsletters?
====================================================================
Electronicstalk is one of a number of free email newsletters for
technical professionals. See what else we have to offer, and sign up
today, at http://www.pro-talk.com
====================================================================
|
|
