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16 May 2008
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News & Analysis
Dolby Laboratories last month demonstrated an astounding LCD TV prototype with a truly black LCD screen.
Two startups debuted last month, together giving virtualization a new twist to help create large systems using multiple x86 servers.
Executives believe that WiMAX could deliver the last mile of wireless broadband service as an alternative to cable and DSL, beginning with network deployment in 2009.
Until recently, the majority of ICs were either purely digital or purely analog in nature. Today, to satisfy cost, size, weight and power consumption requirements, sophisticated combinations of analog and digital functions are being implemented on "mixed-signal" devices.
The Local Interconnection Network standard defines a low-cost, serial communication network for automotive distributed electronic systems. LIN is a complement to the other automotive multiplex networks, including CAN, but it targets applications that require networks that do not need excessive bandwidth, performance or extreme fault tolerance.
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In many smaller, low-power applications, "they" provide the MCU with a power rail, and the MCU sips that power. And while an efficient supply matched to the application is key, it normally provides a fixed voltage.
Richard Morse of Silicon Canvas Inc. notes, "The key is to enable analog design, not try to imitate an innately creative process."
When considering the combination of requirements for a system's NAND budget, designers have several NAND implementation options, each with its own benefits and disadvantages.
The embedded systems industry has been waiting for "universal memory" to come along. This article discusses the various flavors of NAND and NOR flash memory that may be the suitable to your design needs.
It is increasingly important to generate random numbers reliably, as random numbers are especially useful in everyday embedded systems. Here's a technique in generating a perfectly random number.
Marlene Bourne shares how the commercialization of MEMS devices and the innovation it has brought amaze her. The different applications of MEMS, its market needs, its evolution and future are discussed here.
Technical Features
Says Kerry Howell of Lattice Semiconductor, when automotive graphics designers use a standard ASSP or a custom ASIC as the controller, they encounter a few speed bumps on the road to system implementation. The versatile nature of FPGA devices, plus commercially available intellectual property, allows for the integration of almost all the graphics system functions in one device. (PDF file)
PCIe 2.0 is optimizing system performance in many ways. However, long read response latencies that reduce aggregate I/O performance can occur in host-centric PCIe systems when even a single endpoint reads ahead very aggressively to ensure it is never "starved" for data. PCIe Gen 2 switches feature Read Pacing to prevent this kind of performance degradation. (PDF file)
According to Mark Ng of Xilinx: Reducing power consumption not only involves correct management of the operating mode of a device, but designing a system to take advantage of the modes a device can operate within. Offloading operations of the microprocessor allows it to stay in its low-power state for a longer amount of time. One way to reduce system power is to allow a low-power programmable logic device, such as a CPLD, to manage these offloaded operations. (PDF file)
PCB designers need a methodology that helps them avoid design iterations between the design and layout stages, or finding issues with the board in the lab with a physical prototype. Hemant Shah of Cadence Design Systems discusses how a "correct-by-construction" PCB layout methodology can help PCB designers shorten their design cycle. (PDF file)
Opinion
Investment in R&D and engineering ingenuity is helping memory companies tide over depressed markets.
Tools such as Impulse C allow the hardware accelerator to be described in C, then optimized and generated as hardware processor peripheral, reducing or eliminating the need to write low-level HDL.
Interview
Notes Decision's Jean-Philippe Dauvin: The electronics industry has a tremendous track record in improving productivity in areas like accounting, communications and computing.
Vital Signs
Venture capital is flowing to firms whose technologies target renewable energy, power generation, storage and distribution markets. The trend will continue as several corporate venture funds and specialized funds are raised to address so-called energy technology.
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