1937 results found for Technology Report, displaying items 1 - 20
October 9, 2008 MOST Emerges As "The" Auto Multimedia Standard
Who would have thought 10 years ago when the MOST Cooperation was formed that today’s automobiles, with all of their multimedia features, would turn into home entertainment centers on wheels? In fact, two years prior in 1996, U.S. automotive manufacturers weren’t even keen on adopting the MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) protocol. Such wasn’t the case with their European and later their Asian counterparts, who began discussing the concept (...
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Roger Allan
October 9, 2008 MOST Boasts Expanding Hardware/Software Support
The MOST automotive protocol seems to add new hardware and software suppliers to its cadre daily. Parts suppliers are realizing the strong market opportunity in supporting a network that meets modern and future automotive infotainment system requirements with a high level of quality of service and at ever-improving cost levels. A crucial element is the fiber-optic transceiver (FOT) circuit for the high-speed fiber version of the 150-Mbit/s protocol. In the...
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Roger Allan
October 9, 2008 IPTV Vs. Cable
IPTV is a service provided by some carriers in a business model similar to that used by the cable TV industry. The customer signs up for the service, gets the set-top box (STB), and receives TV programming as well as video on demand (VOD) similar to that delivered by a cable company. Then the consumer watches programming on a TV set. The big difference between IPTV and cable, though, is that cable was designed as a one-way broadcast system. All of the...
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Louis E. Frenzel
October 9, 2008 IPTV Makes Channel Surfing More Like Web Surfing
How do you watch television? Nearly 70% of us get our TV via one of the major cable providers. Satellite has carved out a good niche and grabs more than 20% of that market. If it’s strictly over the air, then hold your hand up as one of the 15% who still claim that as their means of reception. (That will change, as analog TV transmission expires on February 17, 2009.) Now the dawn of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) is changing the landscape even further. AT&T,...
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Louis E. Frenzel
October 2, 2008 FPGAs Add A Flexible Dimension To Digital Design
Logic design at the gate or module level for discrete implementations has effectively gone away, with the exception of buffers and analog designs. The move to micros has turned much of today’s system design into large chips and software. Custom logic is still needed, but it often resides in ASICs, complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and FPGAs. ASICs aren’t a bad choice if you have gobs of money and time, along with an engineering team. ...
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William Wong
October 2, 2008 Tools Make Motion-Control Design A Snap
One of the most challenging and widespanning areas of design work involves motors and motion control. Choosing the right motor and related control circuitry is one thing. Getting it all to fit into the end product and work accurately is another. And, as with any mechanical component, the opportunities for error are many. Fortunately, motor makers offer users many powerful tools to take the vinegar out of their design chores. More often than not, these...
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Mat Dirjish
September 25, 2008 Digital Video Processing IP
Along with the many digital video processing chips available to designers, intellectual- property (IP) options are available for those who need to design their own chips to meet highly customized requirements. These options include RTL cores for system-on-a-chip (SoC) design as well as soft IP for FPGA-based development. IP providers typically offer substantial software support, too. Hardware video-codec IP is available from companies such as On2 Technologies....
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Richard Quinnell
September 25, 2008 Lights, Camera, Process!
After a decade of development and standardization efforts, digital video is now poised to take over broadcast television. With this transition, some digital video processor ICs are moving toward commodity status while others embrace innovation and diversification. The result of this shift is a growing range of product offerings as well as an open door to a host of new video applications. General-purpose DSPs from companies like Analog Devices and Texas...
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Richard Quinnell
September 11, 2008 The iNEMI Boundary-Scan Adoption Project
The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is a virtual consortium of about 70 electronics manufacturers, suppliers, associations, government agencies, and universities. Its mission is to identify and close technology gaps, which includes the development and integration of the electronics industry supply infrastructure. Accelerated deployment of technology is shaped and led by iNEMI members, benefitting the global electronics industry. The...
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Louis E. Frenzel
September 11, 2008 The Embedded Plan For JTAG Boundary Scan
In 1990, the IEEE ratified the 1149.1 standard known as boundary scan. Developed by the Joint Task Action Group (JTAG), it was created to help solve the overwhelming testing problems caused by ever-increasing larger-scale ICs and densely packed multilayer printed-circuit boards (PCBs). The old “bed of nails” method of testing PCBs no longer worked as well, and the inaccessible circuits and even pins on ICs made testing difficult if not impossible. With boundary scan, IC and...
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Louis E. Frenzel
August 28, 2008 Dev Kits Help Alleviate Those FPGA Design Woes
Design at the logic level for board-level products is rare. If it can’t be done with a microcontroller or two, then what’s a designer to do? FPGAs have been the answer for years, but FPGA tools required a steep learning curve. Likewise, FPGAs had a price premium and high power requirements, and external support requirements often proved challenging. All of that has changed, though. Inexpensive FPGAs are now the norm. High-performance products remain...
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William Wong
August 14, 2008 Myriad Infrastructure Options Bombard Femtocell Design
Cell phones are everywhere, and femtocells may follow. Designed for homes and small businesses, these desktop cell-phone basestations connect to the cell-phone network via an existing high-speed Internet connection using a DSL or cable TV modem. The femtocell is a home version of the micro and pico cells used in buildings and other densely populated environments. They enable the network to handle more subscribers, and they improve indoor handset...
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Ravi Raj Bhat
, et al.
July 24, 2008 MEMS And 3D Packaging
As microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) ICs satisfy more functions and proliferate, packaging them into high-density form factors like 3D becomes more of a challenge than conventional ICs. To suppress costs and make them more competitive in the market, they need high-density packaging. MEMS devices are essentially “machines” that involve motion, not transistors. This means they must be effectively protected from the environments they operate in, which often can be very...
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Roger Allan
July 24, 2008 Shrinking ICs Need High Density In A Package Deal
The push is on for IC packages in smaller form factors, not only length- and width-wise, but also height-wise. Hence, the term “3D ICs.” Smaller form factors require greater density, and that means stacking chips and boards on top of each other in a 3D form. As ICs downsize from quad flat packs (QFPs) to ball-grid arrays (BGAs) and further down the line, fewer stacks and external I/Os are needed (Fig....
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Roger Allan
July 10, 2008 MEMS The Word... In Consumer Electronics
Demand for devices that can sense motion, orientation, and location is surging, and it runs the gamut from the hottest video games to critical medical technology. With accelerometers and gyroscopes based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) rapidly maturing, that demand is being met. Many of the latest consumer products include one or more MEMS IC functions that measure and control factors like movement, position, force, and even temperature. As a...
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Roger Allan
June 26, 2008 FPGAs Pushing MCUs As The Platform Of Choice
Falling FPGA prices and ever-improving tools make FPGA development more palatable to designers who aren’t well versed in this arena. Likewise, the increased number of choices and improved sophistication of soft processor cores for FPGAs create new options for developers who would otherwise look only at stock, offthe- shelf microcontrollers. There are many reasons why designers should consider FPGAs as a development and deployment platform. Processors ...
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William Wong
June 19, 2008 Robots Finally Have That Personal Touch
Extending from the factory floor and into your living room, the personal robot’s time has arrived. These devices have pushed past uses as expensive and cute toys like Sony’s Aibo and into sophisticated and affordable products that perform a number of functions in and around the home. Allied Business Intelligence Research says that the personal robotics market, which includes robotic toys, educational robots, and task-based robots, will reach $15...
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Roger Allan
June 19, 2008 In Search Of The Next Disruptive Technology
Megatrends donâ??t simply happen on their own. They start with disruptive technologies that completely change the status quo, like gunpowder, the airplane, and the microprocessor. The trick lies in identifying potential disruptive technologies early on and then predicting where they might lead. Back in 1976, I was part of a group at Tektronix tasked with retraining oscilloscope sales and field engineers to sell microprocessor development...
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Don Tuite
June 19, 2008 Get Ready For The Multimedia Mess
The setting sun is a pleasant sight while driving home. I’m listening to satellite radio and a call comes in. At my verbal request, the car’s media system switches off the music and answers the phone. I continue the conversation as I pull into the garage and switch the call to my home line as I exit the car. Continuing to chat, I move into a room with an HDTV and switch to video conferencing. The call ends and the radio program resumes from the point of...
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William Wong
June 19, 2008 Four-Wheeled Supercomputers
Smart phones. MP3 players. Notebooks. We can’t live without our portable gadgets. However, we probably drive our most computeintensive mobile electronics to work everyday. Today’s automobiles use a variety of networks, sensors, and computer platforms to deliver safer and more pleasant travel than ever. Most companies concentrate their development efforts on safety, efficiency, and performance. These features rank high with consumers, and the...
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William Wong
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