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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: 27,890
Published every Tuesday from the UK.
Issue 243: 22 November 2005
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27171 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] Smart MCU aims for point-of-sale control
[2] Transceivers upgrade RS485 performance
[3] USB pod hosts multiple instruments
[4] Triband power amp comes on a single die
[5] Logic analysers turn to FPGA debug duties
[6] Acquisition card cuts system complexity
[7] Horizontal cPCI systems expand to 4U
[8] Radio modules strike up the new European band
[9] Multifunction ATE shows its versatility
[10] Low-cost amps offer frugal signal conditioning
* New technical articles and case studies
* Other featured product news
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Laurence Marchini, Editor, writes:
I must admit I have a "bee" in my bonnet again. Not surprisingly this
has nothing to do with apiary (sorry, beekeeping), but everything to
do with the way in which companies disseminate information.
This week there have been no fewer than five occasions when I have had
to query data sent from companies concerning memory capacities. And I
wouldn't mind if there were some kind of consistency in the
inaccuracies!
One company (no names, no pack drill - for now) thought it was
perfectly acceptable to talk about memory capacities variously in the
same story as 128K and 1KB, when in each case the unit concerned was
kilobytes. Two others insisted that KB was a perfectly well understood
abbreviation for kilobytes, and two others were adamant that the
correct abbreviation for kilobytes was Kb.
Worse still, on each occasion, I consulted the datasheet for the
product concerned. And on four out of the five instances the data were
lifted verbatim from the online datasheet. (So we can't purely lay the
blame at the feet of nontechnical marketing personnel.)
Let's put this into perspective: there's a world of difference between
a bit and a byte. And a component misspecified as the result of
inaccurate publicity - or worse, from an inaccurate datasheet - can
incur costs running into many thousands of pounds, euros or dollars.
It's all the more galling that on each occasion my question was met
with an air of complete amazement that I should bother to query such
data. Everyone, it seems, is sure that they are right.
Well, as far as we at Electronicstalk are concerned, none of them is
right. And we will continue to use Kbit and Kbyte as appropriate on
the rather boring grounds that they are universally understood terms.
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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INTEL AND MICRON IN FLASH JOINT VENTURE
(Intel Corporation, 22 Nov 2005)
Micron Technology and Intel Corporation are to form a new company to
manufacture NAND Flash memory for consumer electronics, removable
storage and handheld communications devices.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/iel/iel146.html
or send a blank email to mailto:iel1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
POWER IC DESIGN CENTRE SET TO DOUBLE IN SIZE
(ON Semiconductor, 21 Nov 2005)
ON Semiconductor is to double both the staff count and the working
area of its Power Conversion Integrated Circuit Development Centre in
Chandler, Arizona.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/onw/onw204.html
or send a blank email to mailto:onw2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
GROWTH CONTINUES AT ANSOFT
(Ansoft Corporation Europe, 21 Nov 2005)
Ansoft Corporation has announced financial results for its second
quarter of fiscal 2006 ended 31st October 2005.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ans/ans222.html
or send a blank email to mailto:ans2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
LANGUAGE PROGRESSES TOWARDS STANDARDISATION
(Cadence Design Systems, 21 Nov 2005)
The IEEE sponsor ballot for P1647 e standardisation passed
overwhelmingly, paving the way for ratification in March.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cad/cad327.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cad3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
NEW FAB TO CUT THE COST OF LARGE LCD PANELS
(Display Technology, 22 Nov 2005)
Display Technology, Samsung's sole UK distributor for industrial LCD
panels, has revealed that Samsung has successfully concluded pilot
testing of its latest production line.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/dpl/dpl108.html
or send a blank email to mailto:dpl1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
WEBSITE DEMONSTRATES ROUTES TO ROHS COMPLIANCE
(Farnell InOne, 22 Nov 2005)
The Farnell InOne website, which attracted over one million visitors
last month, now features a novel RoHS web demo.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/far/far179.html
or send a blank email to mailto:far1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
ACQUISITION ADDS 18 YEARS OF DESIGN EXPERIENCE
(Jaltek Systems, 21 Nov 2005)
Jaltek Systems has acquired independent contract electronic design
specialist Abra Cad, adding 18 years of design experience to its
portfolio and building on an existing four year strategic alliance.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/jat/jat104.html
or send a blank email to mailto:jat1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
EUROPEAN OFFICE SUPPORTS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
(Adlink Technology, 22 Nov 2005)
Adlink Technology has opened a European office in Dusseldorf, Germany.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/adl/adl164.html
or send a blank email to mailto:adl1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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OUR TOP NEW PRODUCT SELECTION
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[1] SMART MCU AIMS FOR POINT-OF-SALE CONTROL
(Atmel Corporation, 18 Nov 2005)
Atmel Corporation has developed the industry's first ultra-low-power
deterministic microcontroller, the AT91SAM9261 smart ARM
microcontroller (SAM), based on the ARM926EJ-S processor. Targeted at
low power, high throughput wireless handheld applications, such as
wireless PoS devices, the AT91SAM9261 consumes only 2.5uA in standby
mode. Operating at 500Hz it draws 400uA. Maximum operating power at
180MHz with all peripherals turned on is just 65mA. The AT91SAM9261's
200MIPS throughput and its extended instruction set with DSP
extensions allow complex DSP functions, such as biometrics, voice
recognition, software modems, or encryption/decryption algorithms like
RSA, to be executed very quickly in burst mode, so the can system be
shut down much of the time.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/atl/100/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/atl/atl100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:atl1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[2] TRANSCEIVERS UPGRADE RS485 PERFORMANCE
(Texas Instruments, 21 Nov 2005)
Texas Instruments has released six full-featured, full-duplex RS485
transceivers that conserve power, provide optimum AC performance for
key operating speeds, and allow up to 256 devices on a single RS485
bus. With electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection in excess of 15kV
(human body model), these products provide a robust interface for both
RS485 and RS422 applications such as industrial and building
automation, point-of-sale terminals and networks, data terminal
equipment/data communications equipment interfaces and utility meters.
The SN65HVD33/34/35 and SN65HVD53/54/55 are differential line drivers
and receivers, with separate input and output pins for full-duplex
(four-wire) bus communication designs.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tex/tex920.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tex9[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[3] USB POD HOSTS MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS
(Byte Paradigm, 22 Nov 2005)
New from Belgium-based Byte Paradigm, the GP-22050 Base is an
entry-level, PC-controlled and highly versatile USB pod. The GP-22050
Base is a bidirectional PC-based module that functions as a pattern
generator (arbitrary digital waveform generator), logic analyser/data
logger and JTAG protocol generator. Delivered with cables and host
software, this USB 2.0 product offers electronics engineers an
easy-to-use tool to access electronic systems from their favourite
workstation. The GP-22050 Base is used to complement existing in-lab
debug, validation and analysis environments and to enhance electronic
system development productivity.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/byt/byt100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:byt1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[4] TRIBAND POWER AMP COMES ON A SINGLE DIE
(Silicon Laboratories, 17 Nov 2005)
Silicon Laboratories has expanded its monolithic CMOS power amplifier
(PA) family to include the Si4300T, a triband PA for GSM/GPRS cellular
applications. The Si4300T addresses the triband mobile phone market by
offering the smallest, most highly integrated and most reliable PA
available for GSM handsets. Unlike PA modules (PAM), which are
composed of multiple die and numerous discretes, the Si4300 family
uses a single die on a small substrate making it the industry's
smallest GSM PA solution and the first functionally complete
monolithic GSM PA. Based on a patented amplifier architecture, the
Si4300 integrates all functions between the transceiver and the
antenna switch module (ASM) including complete power control
circuitry, thermal and load mismatch protection, harmonic filtering
and input and output matching networks.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/snl/snl135.html
or send a blank email to mailto:snl1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[5] LOGIC ANALYSERS TURN TO FPGA DEBUG DUTIES
(Tektronix, 18 Nov 2005)
Tektronix, Altera and First Silicon Solutions (FS2) have announced
FPGAView, a software package from FS2 for Tektronix TLA logic
analysers that enables real-time debugging of Altera FPGAs. Using
FPGAView, design engineers can quickly and easily measure signals
inside their Altera FPGA design and select which group of internal
signals to probe without having to recompile their design.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tek/tek242.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tek2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[6] ACQUISITION CARD CUTS SYSTEM COMPLEXITY
(Radstone Embedded Computing, 22 Nov 2005)
Further expanding the range of solutions offered by the company for
applications in high-frequency sonar, test and measurement and radar,
ICS - part of Radstone Embedded Computing - has announced the ICS-645D
32-channel data acquisition card. A development of the highly
successful ICS-645, the ICS-645D not only bundles ADC, gain, and
antialias filtering resources in one PCI card (thus removing the need
for customers to provide separate signal conditioning circuitry in
advance of the analogue to digital conversion) but also eliminates the
need for auxiliary clock sources by including a programmable clock
source onboard.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/ras/ras100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:ras1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[7] HORIZONTAL CPCI SYSTEMS EXPAND TO 4U
(Schroff UK, 22 Nov 2005)
Schroff has extended its range of CompactPCI plug-in systems for
horizontal board assembly, with a new 4U unit joining the existing 1,
2 and 3U systems. These space saving systems are particularly suitable
for applications in telecomms, test and measurement and automation
sectors. The CompactPCI system contains a continuous monolithic
backplane for eight standard 6U CompactPCI boards with an integrated
3U-wide area for the power backplane.
Request free details from the supplier:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/sch/151/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sch/sch151.html
or send a blank email to mailto:sch1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[8] RADIO MODULES STRIKE UP THE NEW EUROPEAN BAND
(MK Consultants , 22 Nov 2005)
MK Consultants has a range of radio modules designed for operation in
a new pan-European frequency band that spans 169.4 to 169.8MHz. The
Genesis 2 family of transmitter and receiver modules combines low cost
with high performance in applications such as social alarms, asset
tracking, meter reading and paging. The GT2 transmitter module
measures 20 x 10.5 x 3mm and delivers 10mW of power. The GT2HP
meanwhile, measures 20 x 18.5 x 3.5mm and allows designers to select
the appropriate power level for their application via its adjustable 5
to 200mW output.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/mkc/mkc100.html
or send a blank email to mailto:mkc1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[9] MULTIFUNCTION ATE SHOWS ITS VERSATILITY
(Aeroflex , 17 Nov 2005)
Aeroflex has launched its 5800 Series multiple-configuration
multifunction ATE system, a highly flexible, scalable and modular test
environment designed to provide the true reconfigurability needed to
meet the ever-changing requirements of the rapidly evolving PCB
industry. The 5800 Series features an open hardware and software
architecture and reconfigurable pinface styles to give users the
ability to combine low-cost analogue in-circuit testing with a maximum
of 3456 test points, high integrity functional testing and systems
test all within a single test environment.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/aof/aof141.html
or send a blank email to mailto:aof1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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[10] LOW-COST AMPS OFFER FRUGAL SIGNAL CONDITIONING
(Analog Devices, 22 Nov 2005)
Analog Devices has a new series of low-cost amplifiers that operate at
low voltages and consume minimal power without sacrificing the
accuracy required by portable applications that need precise signal
conditioning. To extend battery life, amplifiers must offer very low
operating and standby power, low-voltage operation, and rail-to-rail
outputs.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/anc/anc351.html
or send a blank email to mailto:anc3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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New Technical Articles and Case Studies
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MOTION CONTROL MARRIES VXWORKS AND WINDOWS
(Kuka Controls, 17 Nov 2005)
Schleicher Electronic is using VxWin technology in its PC-based motion
control solution ProNumeric.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/kuk/kuk122.html
or send a blank email to mailto:kuk1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
EMULATOR MEETS SPECIFIC NEEDS FOR HITACHI
(Cadence Design Systems, 21 Nov 2005)
Hitachi Communication Technologies, a worldwide leader of information
and communication system-related products, has adopted Cadence
Palladium II for emulation and acceleration.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cad/cad328.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cad3[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
PXI INSTRUMENTS BUILD TYPHOON CABLE TESTER
(National Instruments, 18 Nov 2005)
BAE Systems has selected a system based on NI LabView and PXI for
testing high-performance cables in the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Request free details from the supplier on LabView and PXI:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/naa/233/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/naa/naa233.html
or send a blank email to mailto:naa2[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
ENCLOSURE AND KEYPAD HELP SPERRY CHECK RAILS
(Custom Design Technologies, 21 Nov 2005)
An instrument used to detect cracks and other types of flaws in
railway rails uses a keypad and enclosure from Custom Design
Technologies to provide the operator interface.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/baf/baf112.html
or send a blank email to mailto:baf1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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Other featured new product news
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MULTISTANDARD MODEM IS VERSATILE IN EPOS
(CML Microcircuits, 21 Nov 2005)
The CMX869A V.32 bis modem IC addresses the current "need for speed"
in mid-range telephone data applications.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/cml/cml112.html
or send a blank email to mailto:cml1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
HARDWARE CODECS RAISE THE BAR FOR HANDSET VIDEO
(Hantro, 18 Nov 2005)
Two new silicon designs will enable the encoding and decoding of high
resolution video in the most resource limited environments.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/han/han111.html
or send a blank email to mailto:han1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
NEXT-GENERATION FLASH DRIVES HANDSET APPLICATIONS
(Intel Corporation, 21 Nov 2005)
Intel has begun volume shipments of the industry's first 90nm
multilevel cell (MLC) NOR Flash memory device.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/iel/iel145.html
or send a blank email to mailto:iel1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
CHARGER CHIP IS FASTER AND MORE RELIABLE
(Advanced Analogic Technologies, 21 Nov 2005)
A novel dual-path lithium-ion/polymer battery charger IC allows users
to charge the battery with available current from the USB port while
keeping the port voltage regulated.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/aog/aog121.html
or send a blank email to mailto:aog1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
PLATFORM PROVIDES BASIS FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO
(Sundance Multiprocessor Technology, 18 Nov 2005)
A new software defined radio development platform facilitates the
design and development of two-way communication radios.
Request free details from the supplier on SMT8096:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/sda/120/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/sda/sda120.html
or send a blank email to mailto:sda1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
BOUNDARY SCAN FILES VALIDATED ONLINE
(Asset InterTech, 21 Nov 2005)
A new online service validates the accuracy of boundary scan
description language files that describe the boundary-scan
characteristics of semiconductor devices.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/asn/asn108.html
or send a blank email to mailto:asn1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
CONNECTORS ARE READY FOR EXPRESSCARD
(Alps Electric (UK), 18 Nov 2005)
Alps Electric has developed a family of connectors for ExpressCard,
the next generation PC card that enables the transfer of data at
greater speeds.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/awo/awo119.html
or send a blank email to mailto:awo1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
POINT-OF-LOAD CONVERTORS EXTEND TO BATTERY SYSTEMS
(Tyco Electronics Power Systems, 16 Nov 2005)
The ATL series of point-of-load DC/DC convertors are designed to
support battery powered applications.
Request free details from the supplier on ATL series:
http://www.electronicstalk.com/rdx/ml/tco/123/4
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tco/tco123.html
or send a blank email to mailto:tco1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
HANDHELD TESTER CHECKS OUT BROADBAND NETWORKS
(EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering, 17 Nov 2005)
The LANPAL100 network tester is designed to help technicians deploy
residential broadband Internet services more efficiently.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/exf/exf142.html
or send a blank email to mailto:exf1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
OPTICAL POWER METER IS A FAST READER
(dBm Optics, 21 Nov 2005)
The Model 4100 optical power meter features an impressive combination
of speed, accuracy and repeatability - all at an affordable cost.
* Read more: http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/dbm/dbm104.html
or send a blank email to mailto:dbm1[-email removed-]lectronicstalk.com
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