Electronicstalk newsletter issue 338

The week's top stories from Electronicstalk

Written by the Electronicstalk editor Oct 2, 2007

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we've been working our way through the responses to our last reader survey, and they have given us a much better picture of the typical Electronicstalk reader. But now we're after some more information, and this time, we're giving you the chance to shape the future direction of both the Electronicstalk website and this newsletter.

Our latest survey - which you can find at (Link) - focuses on the types of editorial you find valuable among our pages, and asks which areas you would like to see covered in more depth. Perhaps you think we focus too much on high-profile semiconductor news to the detriment of the "real" world of passives and electromechanical components. Or maybe you would welcome more coverage of consumer electronics. It's entirely up to you: give us your answers and we will listen.

Our previous survey brought an increasing number of requests for our newsletter to be produced with an HTML option. And while this is something we have resisted for a long while, those who requested it will be pleased to hear that we will be trialling an HTML option in the near future.

Many respondents asked whether Electronicstalk could do anything with RSS feeds. This did get us scratching our heads, because there are already several hundreds of different RSS feeds available from the Electronicstalk website - which perhaps suggests that we haven't been doing a very good job of publicising them!

So for those of you who do have the relevant software loaded and are into the RSS experience, on the site you can find feeds for each of our product categories and even feeds for news from individual companies. To access the product category feeds, simply click on the link to "Articles by Product" on the Electronicstalk homepage, and then choose any of the product categories - such as (Link) - our "Programmable Logic Devices" category. The link to the RSS feed is above the first story in each category.

Similarly links to individual companies' RSS feeds can be found on the company's landing page on the site - such as (Link) - the landing page for Actel Europe. The RSS feed is just below the company's contact data. Happy streaming!

In the meantime, if you do have a spare couple of minutes (and that really is all it will take) then do please visit (Link) and take part in our latest survey. We do welcome your input.

Top Products featured this issue

[1] AC/DC CONTROLLER HAS ALL POWER LEVELS COVERED

(Power Integrations, 26 Sep 2007)

New from Power Integrations is the Topswitch-HX family of AC/DC power conversion ICs. Power Integrations introduced its original Topswitch product in 1994, combining a 700V switching power MOSFET with controller and supervisory functions into a single monolithic IC. The Topswitch-HX family of ICs uses Power Integrations' EcoSmart energy-efficiency technology and combines great standby power performance with constant, high efficiency under all load conditions, enabling best-in-class efficiency over the entire load range. Topswitch-HX enables power supply designs that easily meet proposed and existing energy standards such as CEC and Energy Star, while delivering up to 48W without the need for heatsinking (and up to 150W with a heatsink).

[2] EDUCATIONAL KIT TAKES SAFE APPROACH TO POWER

(Rapid Electronics, 02 Oct 2007)

Available now via Rapid Electronics, Semiteach IGBT is an innovative system for teaching power electronics. Developed by Semikron, the world-leading manufacturer of power electronics, Semiteach provides a safe and highly effective learning environment. When demonstrating the principles of power electronics, safety must be a prime concern. Students with a lack of experience should be carefully introduced to live power. A visual understanding is also important; students should be able to actually see the individual components of a system. Semiteach does all this.

[3] VIDEO PLATFORM PACKS IN FLOATING-POINT PERFORMANCE

(Sundance Multiprocessor Technology, 02 Oct 2007)

The new Digital Video Infrastructure Platform (DVIP) from Sundance features up to 11 fixed-point DSPs, equating to as much as 50,000MIPS processing power. Where that is still not sufficient floating-point calculation power for the most demanding real-life application, the DVIP gets a helping hand from closely coupled Xilinx Virtex-4 FX60 FPGAs. The FC100 floating-point FFT IP-core implemented in the FPGA is designed using a radix-32 architecture to make it flexible, portable, and use as few external memory resources as possible. Even then it's possible to reconfigure its complex data range from 256 points to 1Mpoint on-the-fly.

[4] SAFETY CRITICAL DESIGN TAKES ON INDUSTRIAL BUSES

(Green Hills Software, 28 Sep 2007)

Green Hills Software and Ixxat are working together to add support for CANopen, IEEE1588 and EtherNet/IP protocols to Green Hills Software's industry leading Platform for Industrial Safety. As the backbone for communications in many industrial, medical and automotive devices today, these protocols can now execute safely and reliably when combined with Green Hills Software's RTOSs that are well known for their pedigree and experience for use in the safety and security markets.

[5] CONNECTOR SUITS MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

(Tyco Electronics UK, 01 Oct 2007)

Tyco Electronics has released its rugged, user-friendly and sterilisable medical CPC connector for use in applications such as surgical power instruments, RF and ultrasound ablation and EP monitors used in the operating room. Available with five, six, seven or 10 contact positions, the devices are very cost-effective and benefit from a robust self-latching mechanism which is secure under axial and torsional loads. CPC medical connectors feature a grip area with push-pull action, gold-plated contacts for a reliable connection, Medloc II enhanced latch release and a black or grey lightweight housing which is resistant to shock, drop and chemically induced cracking.

[6] MULTIPLE-OUTPUT SUPPLIES EASE MEDICAL DESIGN

(Lambda, 28 Sep 2007)

Lambda has introduced the KM Series of medically approved 15-40W enclosed PCB-mount power supplies with single, dual or triple outputs. Eliminating the need for external power adapters, these small, lightweight power supplies are ideal for use in a wide variety of medical equipment, in particular portable applications such as electronic blood pressure monitors and home infusion therapy equipment. Available in two package sizes - 64.0 x 45.5 x 23.4mm (15W models) and 88.9 x 63.5 x 26.9mm (40W models) - the KM Series covers all commonly used output voltages.

[7] TELECOMMS BATTERIES PROMISE FIT-AND-FORGET BACKUP

(Saft Industrial Batteries, 01 Oct 2007)

Saft reckons its new Tel.X battery is the first high-volumetric energy density, long-life, maintenance-free nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery designed specifically to ensure maximum reliability and optimum TCO (total cost of ownership) for the variety of remote or outdoor plant that now play an increasingly important role in the new generation of decentralised telecomms networks. Typical Tel.X applications will be to provide backup power for demanding outdoor applications, such as cabinets and end terminals in fibre-optic triple-play networks as well as BTS (base transceiver station) and BSC (basestation controller) installations in wireless networks.

[8] COMPACT MODULE EMBEDS FULL PC FUNCTIONALITY

(BVM, 02 Oct 2007)

Available now from BVM, the EPC-200 is a complete PC in a tiny, palm-sized 115 x 115 x 35mm housing, designed for applications where raw processing power is not required. Typical embedded uses would be in POS kiosks, protocol convertors, machine controllers, display managers and similar uses. The unit does not need forced cooling and, despite its compact dimensions, it is a fully featured PC, able to run the Linux operating system from a bootable CompactFlash card or USB memory stick for desktop applications if required.

[9] WIMAX TESTER BOOSTS MEASUREMENT SPEEDS

(Rohde and Schwarz, 28 Sep 2007)

The measurement speed of the new R and S CMW270 WiMAX tester from Rohde and Schwarz is up to ten times higher than that of existing test solutions. This ensures maximum throughput in the production of WiMAX chipsets and mobile stations. Measurement accuracy has also been optimised with regard to stability and linearity of the measurements to provide utmost repeatability. The R and S CMW270 combines signal generation and signal analysis in a single box. Three calibrated RF connectors in the RF front end reduce the complexity of the test setup, which allows users in production and service to save costs, time and space.

[10] USB ACQUISITION DEVICES EXTEND TO 80 CHANNELS

(National Instruments, 27 Sep 2007)

New 80-channel USB M Series devices from National Instruments are the industry's highest channel-count USB multifunction data acquisition devices. The BNC USB M Series devices provide direct BNC connectivity and the USB C Series modules offer less expensive and more portable hardware. With the plug-and-play connectivity of USB, engineers and scientists have an easy-to-use, portable solution for their measurement, monitoring and control applications. Using the 80-channel USB M Series devices, engineers can collect more data with less equipment because the devices provide high-channel-count application solutions in a single device.

This week's industry news

INDIAN DESIGNERS SUPPORT WIRELESS DEVELOPMENT
(picoChip Designs, 01 Oct 2007)
Larsen and Toubro Infotech offers a comprehensive product development service for communications equipment based on the picoArray.

NEW NAME IN TIME AND FREQUENCY SYSTEMS
(SpectraTime, 27 Sep 2007)
SpectraTime's products generate high-precision signals for a variety of cross-industry applications.

CHINESE PLANT GEARS UP FOR HIGH VOLUMES
(Endicott Interconnect Technologies, 01 Oct 2007)
Endicott Interconnect Technologies now offers high-volume low-cost fully assembled PC boards via its new 3700m2 facility in China.

LEAD-FREE DEFECT GUIDE IS FREE AT PRODUCTRONICA
(SMART Group, 26 Sep 2007)
A free 28-page A5 colour "Lead-free defect guide" will be available from the SMART Group area in Hall A4 Booth 303 at Productronica in Munich.

GLOBAL ALLIANCE TO SHAPE PACKAGING TRENDS
(HDP User Group , 28 Sep 2007)
Alliance between HDP User Group and ITRI adds an international angle to technical and regulatory challenges facing the electronics industry.

COMPANIES AGREE COMMUNICATIONS PURCHASE
(Emerson Network Power Embedded Computing, 01 Oct 2007)
Motorola's ECC business is set to become part of Emerson Network Power.

ADEPT ACQUIRES ACQUISITION HARDWARE
(Adept Scientific, 02 Oct 2007)
Adept Scientific has acquired Measurement Computing Corporation.