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ELECTRONICSTALK
The Independent Weekly Product Information Guide
for Electronics Design, Development and Manufacturing Engineers
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ISSN 1475-2913 - Free subscription
Last week's delivered circulation: 23,960
Published every Tuesday from the UK.
Issue 234: 20 September 2005
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25714 product announcements and technical articles on our
website http://www.electronicstalk.com/ - all fully searchable
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In this issue:
* Editor's Message
* Other industry news
* Our Top new products selection
[1] Power chip handles complete handheld systems
[2] Novel alloy claims top lead-free performance
[3] Bus buffers allow stuck bus recovery
[4] Platform promises future-proof MPEG-2 encoding
[5] Kit focuses on analogue and mixed signal design
[6] Surface mount microphones go digital
[7] Audio codec claims ideal performance
[8] POL convertor is first with digital control
[9] Arbitrary waveform generator cards run on PCI
[10] Daughterboards speeds DSP applications development
* New technical articles and case studies
* Other featured product news
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Laurence Marchini, Editor, writes:
As regular readers of this column will know, I am an avid reader of
the technology press and spend many an hour trawling the world's news
media looking for the odd unexpected gem.
But this week I have to admit defeat. As far as I can tell, every
decent story worth telling this week has already appeared on the
Electronicstalk website - or certainly almost 200 of them have!
Funnily enough it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was challenged
to justify our tagline of "The web's number-one publication for
electronics engineers". And I have to admit I was stumped for an
answer - for several microseconds.
Just for a moment, I forgot that (in some instances) size really does
matter.
Because, even though there are many electronics publications that have
been running longer than Electronicstalk, and indeed many that may
have published many more stories over the years, not one can point to
a database of more than 25,000 stories - all covered impartially, and
all freely accessible by any Internet user.
That is, of course, unless you know better.
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
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This week's industry news
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CYPRESS HAS DESIGNS ON CHINESE MARKET
(Cypress Semiconductor, 16 Sep 2005)
A new regional chip design centre in Shanghai will provide IC design
and sales support to Cypress' Asia-Pacific customers.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cyp/cyp271.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cyp2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
FAB MOVES TO VOLUME MANUFACTURE OF 90NM CMOS
(Philips Semiconductors, 16 Sep 2005)
Philips has ramped three key 90nm CMOS products into volume production
at the Crolles2 Alliance wafer fab in Crolles, France.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/phi/phi325.html
or send a blank email to mailto:phi3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
GERMAN DEFENCE COMPANY SIGNS FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING
(RF Engines, 15 Sep 2005)
Rheinmetall Defence Electronics has awarded RF Engines a contract for
FPGA signal processing designs for an advanced flexible communication
channeliser and a 52MHz real-time spectrum analyser.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/rfe/rfe126.html
or send a blank email to mailto:rfe1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
REAL-TIME JAVA SALES TAKE OFF
(Aonix, 14 Sep 2005)
Aonix reports that its year-to-date revenue in real-time PERC VM
solutions is already twice that achieved over the same period during
2004.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/nwm/nwm116.html
or send a blank email to mailto:nwm1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
TOOLS SUPPLIER SET TO EXPAND INTO CONSULTANCY
(EDA Solutions, 16 Sep 2005)
Southampton-based EDA Solutions is looking for engineers experienced
in IC design and electronic design automation as the company expands
its services into design consultancy.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/eso/eso117.html
or send a blank email to mailto:eso1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
NEW CENTRE TO FOCUS BELGIAN AND DUTCH RESEARCH
(IMEC, 20 Sep 2005)
The Holst Centre is a new research centre that will develop future
generations of wireless autonomous transducer solutions and
systems-in-foil.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ime/ime171.html
or send a blank email to mailto:ime1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
CHINESE PLANT EXPANDS INTO BLADES AND SOCKETS
(Kulicke and Soffa Industries, 16 Sep 2005)
Kulicke and Soffa Industries has expanded its facility in Suzhou,
China to become fully operational in its manufacturing capabilities to
produce both dicing hub blades and test sockets.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/kul/kul118.html
or send a blank email to mailto:kul1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
CONFERENCE TO SHAPE EUROPEAN SRD POLICY
(Low Power Radio Association, 20 Sep 2005)
The 2005 Radio Solutions conference and exhibition will be held on
12th and 13th October in Nice, France.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lwp/lwp105.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lwp1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
ADVANTECH EXPANDS INTO INDIA
(Advantech (UK), 14 Sep 2005)
Advantech has opened a new office in Bangalore city, which is
popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/axv/axv190.html
or send a blank email to mailto:axv1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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OUR TOP NEW PRODUCT SELECTION
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[1] POWER CHIP HANDLES COMPLETE HANDHELD SYSTEMS
(Texas Instruments, 20 Sep 2005)
Texas Instruments has developed a high-performance power conversion
integrated circuit with "smart charging" capability that incorporates
all essential power transistors onto a single device. Occupying up to
70% less board space than discrete solutions, the programmable chip
delivers high DC/DC conversion efficiency and battery management to
one-cell lithium-ion (Li-ion) powered communication and multimedia
devices with multiple voltages, such as smart phones, portable audio
and media players, satellite radio and GPS systems. TI's TPS65800
power management unit integrates several power control building
blocks, including two synchronous step-down DC/DC convertors with
integrated FETs, one boost DC/DC convertor for white LED display
backlight, an RGB LED driver, seven linear regulators (LDOs), a
high-performance analogue-to-digital data convertor, SIM card and RTC
power supplies and an I2C communications interface that allows full
programmability.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tex/tex882.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tex8[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[2] NOVEL ALLOY CLAIMS TOP LEAD-FREE PERFORMANCE
(Cookson Electronics, 19 Sep 2005)
The transition from tin/lead to lead free soldering is not as
straightforward as engineers would prefer, as there are no "drop in"
replacement alloys. However, Cookson Electronics has developed and
patented a new wave-soldering alloy which is claimed to outperform the
standard lead free solder bars currently available and so ease the
trauma of transition to lead-free assembly. Alpha Vaculoy SACX0307 is
a high yield alloy which in trials has given better performance than
any Sn/Cu-based products currently available.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/cok/104/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cok/cok104.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cok1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[3] BUS BUFFERS ALLOW STUCK BUS RECOVERY
(Linear Technology Corp, 20 Sep 2005)
New from Linear Technology, the LTC4303 and LTC4304 are two-wire bus
buffers with stuck bus recovery. These new ICs solve the common
problem of a stuck bus by isolating all the bus connections on the
upstream side, while restoring the downstream bus. If the serial data
output or serial clock output are low for more than 30ms, the LTC4304
will automatically break the data and clock connections, issuing a
fault signal. Sequentially, the LTC4304 will automatically generate up
to 16 clock pulses on the serial clock output in an attempt to free
the bus. When the bus becomes free, a connection is immediately
enabled and proper operation resumes.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lne/lne194.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lne1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[4] PLATFORM PROMISES FUTURE-PROOF MPEG-2 ENCODING
(Aspex Semiconductor, 19 Sep 2005)
New at IBC from Aspex Semiconductor, the Accelera high definition (HD)
MPEG-2 encoder is an accelerated, future-proofed HD platform for video
compression. The Accelera HD MPEG-2 encoder is a PC-based plug-in
board which dramatically accelerates the performance of PC-based
MPEG-2 HD video encoding. Based on Aspex's Linedancer extreme
processors, the solution is resolution independent and 100 per cent
software programmable. This ensures that there is a painless software
upgrade path for acceleration of advanced HD encoding standards such
as H264/AVC, VC1 and JPEG 2000.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/asp/asp112.html
or send a blank email to mailto:asp1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[5] KIT FOCUSES ON ANALOGUE AND MIXED SIGNAL DESIGN
(Cadence Design Systems, 15 Sep 2005)
Cadence Design Systems has announced the first offerings in its kits
approach to addressing customer needs. The Cadence AMS Methodology Kit
enables analogue and mixed-signal (AMS) designers of wireless, wired
and consumer electronics devices to achieve shorter, more predictable
design cycles while creating reusable AMS blocks. The goal of the
Cadence kits approach is to simplify the application of Cadence
technology and thereby shorten time to productivity. Customers can
then focus their precious design resources on design differentiation
rather than design infrastructure. Cadence kits address
application-specific design challenges by combining a verified
methodology, packaged in platform flows, with IP and consulting all
demonstrated on a representative reference design.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cad/cad308.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cad3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[6] SURFACE MOUNT MICROPHONES GO DIGITAL
(Knowles Acoustics, 19 Sep 2005)
The new digital series of SiSonic SMD microphones represents the
world's first "digital" surface mount microphone based on Knowles'
industry proven MEMS microphone technology. With availability in
multiple package sises, the device is ideally suited for applications
where component density is at an absolute premium - such as mobile
phones, digital still cameras and MP3 players. Engineering samples are
available today, with mass production scheduled for Q1 2006.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/kow/110/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/kow/kow110.html
or send a blank email to mailto:kow1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[7] AUDIO CODEC CLAIMS IDEAL PERFORMANCE
(AKM Semiconductor, 15 Sep 2005)
Available now from AKM Semiconductor, the AK4683 is a multifunction
audio codec ideal for performance-driven applications such as digital
televisions, home theatre systems, DVD receivers and automotive
amplifiers. This versatile chip integrates a two-channel ADC, a
four-channel DAC (192kHz sampling), a headphone amplifier and a 192kHz
compatible S/PDIF transceiver. Both ADC and DAC feature 24bit
resolution, with dynamic range of 100dB for the ADC and 106dB for the
DAC. The analogue input stage has a pre-amp with a six-channel input
selector.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/akm/akm103.html
or send a blank email to mailto:akm1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[8] POL CONVERTOR IS FIRST WITH DIGITAL CONTROL
(Artesyn Technologies, 15 Sep 2005)
Artesyn Technologies has announced its first digital point-of-load
(POL) convertor. The DPL20C is a nonisolated POL convertor in the new
family of PMBus-compliant DC/DC convertors. Sampling of the product
along with evaluation boards to the first beta customers has now
begun; general availability and production will commence on completion
of beta trials, expected within the next 45 days. The PMBus
open-standard digital power management protocol is supported by the
special interest group (SIG) known as the System Management Interface
Forum, charged with further developing, enabling and promoting the
PMBus power operating system.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/art/art208.html
or send a blank email to mailto:art2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[9] ARBITRARY WAVEFORM GENERATOR CARDS RUN ON PCI
(Gage Applied Technologies, 20 Sep 2005)
Gage Applied Technologies has introduced a new CompuGen family of
arbitrary waveform generator cards for the PCI platform. The new PCI
CompuGen family of ultrafast arbitrary waveform generator cards offers
12bit resolution at D/A conversion rates of up to 1Gsample/s. The
family comprises three members: the CompuGen 11G, a single-channel
board offering 1Gsample/s; the CompuGen 4300, a four-channel board
rated at 300Msample/s; and the CompuGen 8150, offering 150Msample/s on
eight channels.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/gae/gae106.html
or send a blank email to mailto:gae1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[10] DAUGHTERBOARDS SPEEDS DSP APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT
(Kane Computing, 15 Sep 2005)
Kane Computing has recently signed an agreement to become the main
international distributor for Bitec's DSP daughterboards. Bitec, a
Texas Instruments third party partner, has created a number of
daughterboards for use with TI DSP starter kits (DSKs). Now the
company has partnered with Kane Computing, which will be publicising,
marketing and selling Bitec's products worldwide (except Taiwan and
Korea). Bitec chose Kane because of its unique position and reputation
for selling and supporting TI development tools, and its long
relationship with Spectrum Digital - the largest manufacturer of TI
DSKs.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/kan/177/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/kan/kan177.html
or send a blank email to mailto:kan1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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New Technical Articles and Case Studies
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NIOBIUM OXIDE CAPACITORS OUTPERFORM ALUMINIUM
(AVX, 15 Sep 2005)
Today's consumers demand electronic goods that perform to the highest
levels, are reliable and cost-effective, says Tomas Zednicek.
Request free details from the supplier on OxiCap:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/avx/120/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/avx/avx120.html
or send a blank email to mailto:avx1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
DIGITAL AMPLIFIER MEETS AUDIOPHILE DEMANDS
(Zetex, 14 Sep 2005)
Acoustar digital amplifier processing technology is being exploited to
provide unprecedented sound fidelity in Theta's new digital audio
amplifier, the Virtu PowerDAC.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/zet/zet161.html
or send a blank email to mailto:zet1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
AUDIO PROCESSORS TAKE DRM ONBOARD
(Freescale Semiconductor, 19 Sep 2005)
Designers of portable media players received the inside track on
digital rights management at a hands-on training seminar last week
hosted by Freescale Semiconductor and Arrow Electronics.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/mot/mot213.html
or send a blank email to mailto:mot2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
BLUETOOTH CHIP ADDS MORE TO STEREO HEADPHONES
(Cambridge Silicon Radio, 15 Sep 2005)
BlueCore3-Multimedia silicon provides the Bluetooth connectivity
behind Motorola's new feature-rich HT820 Bluetooth stereo headphones.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cam/cam205.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cam2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
INDIAN DESIGNERS ADOPT IC DESIGN FLOW
(Magma Design Automation, 20 Sep 2005)
One of India's leading players in the IC design arena, has adopted
Magma's integrated IC design flow including Blast Plan Pro, Blast
Noise and Blast Fusion.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/mai/mai100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:mai1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
MILITARY IMAGE PROCESSOR RUNS ON COTS HARDWARE
(LynuxWorks, 15 Sep 2005)
LynuxWorks has helped Verari Systems Software to deliver an
open-standards based compute-intensive low-cost hard-real-time
processing solution for the military's advanced imaging applications.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lyn/lyn181.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lyn1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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Other featured new product news
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PCIE SWITCHING DEVICE INCREASES DATA THROUGHPUT
(PLX Technology Europe, 20 Sep 2005)
The PEX 8518 is billed as the industry's only five-port 16-lane PCI
Express switching device.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/plx/plx124.html
or send a blank email to mailto:plx1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
BUCK REGULATOR HANDLES MORE CURRENT
(National Semiconductor, 19 Sep 2005)
A new high-frequency buck regulator steps down an input voltage from 7
to 75V to produce a regulated 2.5A power supply, adjustable from 1.225
to 65V.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/nat/nat346.html
or send a blank email to mailto:nat3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
CONTROLLER TAKES NOTE OF POWER SYSTEM FAULTS
(Potentia Semiconductor, 14 Sep 2005)
The PS-2607 power system controller from Potentia Semiconductor is the
first of its kind to feature an embedded fault log.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/poi/poi106.html
or send a blank email to mailto:poi1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
INDUCTORS PROVIDE LOW-PROFILE SUPPRESSION
(Datatronic Distribution, 20 Sep 2005)
New low profile surface mount inductors provide reliable protection
against challenging EMI problems in high current applications.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/dar/dar105.html
or send a blank email to mailto:dar1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
RTOS GAINS HIGH-INTEGRITY LANGUAGE SUPPORT
(Green Hills Software, 15 Sep 2005)
DO-178B Level A certifiable Embedded C++ (EC++) is now available for
the safety-critical Integrity-178B RTOS.
Request free details from the supplier on Integrity-178B RTOS:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/gre/193/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/gre/gre193.html
or send a blank email to mailto:gre1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
SBC GAINS HARD-REAL-TIME OS SUPPORT PACKAGE
(Arcom, 19 Sep 2005)
A QNX Neutrino board support package is now available for the PXA255
ARM/XScale based Viper PC/104 form factor SBC.
Request free details from the supplier on QNX Neutrino BSP for
Viper:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/arc/145/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/arc/arc145.html
or send a blank email to mailto:arc1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS COMBINE XSCALE WITH TFT DISPLAYS
(Anders Electronics, 15 Sep 2005)
Anders Electronics has set up Europe's first custom development and
manufacturing service for display applications using the highly
efficient Intel XScale RISC processors.
Request free details from the supplier on XScale systems design and
manufacture:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/and/118/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/and/and118.html
or send a blank email to mailto:and1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
POL CONVERTORS SUPPLY UP TO 20A
(Lambda, 19 Sep 2005)
Available in compact single-inline or surface mount packages the
PL-Series is aimed at point-of-load applications, providing power to
the very latest FPGAs, ASICs and microcontrollers.
Request free details from the supplier on PL-Series:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/lbd/181/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/lbd/lbd181.html
or send a blank email to mailto:lbd1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
USB 2.0 HOST COMES TO EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
(Parvus Corp, 14 Sep 2005)
The COM-1440 is a PC/104-Plus form factor four-port high-speed USB 2.0
host controller board capable of directly powering attached USB
devices.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/prv/prv150.html
or send a blank email to mailto:prv1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
SOFTWARE SORTS OUT LOW-SPEED SERIAL BUSES
(Tektronix, 15 Sep 2005)
New application software from Tektronix aids efficient testing and
debugging of low speed serial buses including CAN and LIN networks.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tek/tek235.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tek2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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