Electronic Design UPDATE: June 1, 2005

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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter
Electronic Design Magazine
PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com
June 1, 2005
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Today's Table Of Contents:
1. Editor's View
  *Getting Reacquainted With Radio
2. Focus On DSP
  *Floating-Point DSP Chips Target Precision Audio Applications
3. News From The Editors
  *Compensation Portal Analyzes Your Salary
  *One LED Backlights Color And Monochrome LCDs
  *Wireless USB Spec Goes Public
4. Magazine Highlights: May 26, 2005
  *Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Distributors Evolve Beyond The 
   "Component Store" Tag
  *Technology Report -- DAC Unleashes A Torrent Of Tools And 
   Methodologies
  *Leapfrog: First Look -- Chip Gets To The Heart Of Ultrasound Designs
  *Leapfrog: First Look -- Scalable Processors Add Fuel To Network Data 
   Rates
  *Design View/Design Solution -- Robustly Recover Data Across Multiple 
   Data-Comm Standards

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Lisa Maliniak, eMedia Editor

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A Closer Look At Video Signals

Nowadays there are numerous standards for the digital video signals 
widely used in such products as game players and cell phones. Tough 
design questions arise, however, because those digital signals must be 
dealt with in an analog domain. Get the answers in a new eBook, 
"Analog/Mixed-Signal Components For 21st Century Video," by Analog/Power 
Editor Don Tuite.

  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B27F:1001CD

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1. Editor's View -- Exclusive to Electronic Design UPDATE
**********************

Getting Reacquainted With Radio

By Louis E. Frenzel (W5LEF), Communications/Networking Editor

You would probably guess that an editor like me who covers wireless and 
all manner of communications subjects would be a ham. I have, in fact, 
been involved in amateur radio for most of my natural life. My first 
ticket was a novice license (WN5TOM) when I was 13 years old. Since 
then, I have been on and off the air numerous times. Recently, after a 
major absence, I decided to reacquaint myself with this interesting 
hobby.
   Luckily my Extra Class license was still good, so I could jump right 
in if only I had some equipment. My editorial colleague David 
Maliniak (AD2A), also a ham, tried to talk me into one of those 
popular Elecraft transceiver kits. I wasn't ready for that, but I did 
go the kit route and bought an inexpensive receiver and transmitter 
from kit-maker Ramsey Electronics. The receiver is a 
direct-conversion type for 30 m (10.108 MHz), a band I had never 
worked before. The transmitter put out about 1 W, but I bought the 
accessory push-pull amplifier that boosted that power to about 20 W. 
Using these kits and a simple half-wave dipole, I was back.
   It has taken me a while to get my CW speed up to where it should be. 
I have listened a great deal, and that helps. But what really helps 
is to make some contacts and have real conversation. Overall, this 
initial experience was fun -- building the kits and making some new 
contacts. But while this simple equipment works well, I wanted more. 
So my next step was to take the full plunge with a high-ticket 
transceiver.
   I didn't particularly want a kit. Earlier in my career I worked at 
Heath Company for eight years and built enough Heathkits to last me a 
lifetime. I wonder sometimes if I got brain damage from breathing too 
much rosin smoke from all the soldering. Probably not. Anyway, after 
looking at what was available and my budget, I selected a Yaesu 
FT-897D all-band transceiver. It's a tiny thing that covers all the 
high-frequency ham bands from 80 to 10 m and puts out 100 W on CW and 
SSB. It also includes a section that provides coverage of the 2-m and 
70-cm ham bands. What a deal!
   This transceiver is a great unit, but I must say that it has been 
challenging to learn its operation. In the Heathkit days, each 
transceiver had a full complement of front-panel dials, switches, and 
readouts. It was easy to figure out what to do. The modern 
transceiver is fully controlled by an embedded processor that lets 
you do almost anything, including changing the LCD backlight color. 
But changing modes, bands, and doing other things that I used to do 
with a dial or switch requires that you know the special code and 
punch it in with tiny buttons. What a pain! Anyway, I am learning.
   My next hurdle was the antenna. I had forgotten what a key 
requirement this is and what a total nuisance it is to build one and 
put it up. I finally bought a commercial G5RV antenna, which is a 
unique wire antenna that uses open-wire transmission line. It manages 
to be resonant on most of the regular ham bands because of their 
harmonic relationship to one another (3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz). I 
mounted it low in my trees so I wouldn't disturb the neighbors and 
get the local covenant police from the homeowners association on my 
case. It works okay, but I needed a tuner to operate on the 30-m 
band. I got the automatic antenna tuner accessory from Yaesu. It's an 
L-matching network with capacitors and inductors switched in and out 
automatically with relays to adjust for lowest SWR on the band of 
operation. Not bad, and definitely worth the price. So, I'm having 
fun getting back to radio.
   Reflecting on ham radio, I have to wonder why some of the newer 
wireless technologies have not been adopted within the hobby. There 
are so many better ways to communicate today, and these technologies 
are incorporated into our cell phones, wireless local-area networks, 
and other products. For example, it seems as though some form of 
spread spectrum (SS) would be a super technology for ham radio. With 
spectrum space so limited, SS would multiply the number of users in a 
given band. But the FCC rules and regulations prevent that. That is 
why ham radio is stuck in the olden days of wireless. It's not that 
regulations can't be changed, but it isn't that easy.
   The FCC does permit special modes like packet radio using a very 
narrowband scheme called PSK31. And it does permit hams to use TV. An 
even more challenging pursuit is communications through one of the 
available ham satellites. So there is enough there to keep the 
interest of technically minded individuals. But it is fun to 
contemplate what else might be possible. With the cell phone, CB 
radio, and the family radio service (FRS) providing numerous cheap 
and easy ways to communicate, it's a wonder we have any hams left. 
But if you have ever experienced making a contact with a person on 
the other side of the world using a piece of equipment you built, you 
will understand the eureka thrill of it all.
   Lou Frenzel can be reached at mailto:[email protected]

To comment on this Editor's View, go to Reader Comments at the foot of 
the Web page:

Electronic Design UPDATE ==>
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B279:1001CD

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*************************ADVERTISEMENT**************************

Keithley's Library of Tutorial On-line Seminars

Keithley's Making Measurements with Confidence CD, which is available 
free of charge, is a collection of on-line seminars on measurement 
methods. This CD offers practical and helpful techniques for obtaining 
the most accurate and precise measurements possible.  For additional 
information on Keithley and their products go to www.keithley.com or 
call 1-800-935-5595. 

To get your copy of the CD go to http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B282:1001CD

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2. Focus On DSP
**********************

***Floating-Point DSP Chips Target Precision Audio Applications
A trio of floating-point DSP chips that can deliver up to 130 
MFLOPS/dollar has been optimized to handle audio applications such as 
musical instruments, digital radio systems, and video conferencing. 
Developed by Texas Instruments, the processors are based on the 
company's enhanced 67X+ very-long-instruction-word core, which performs 
32-bit single-precision, dual-precision, and mixed-precision operations. 
The enhanced core packs twice the number of registers as previous 67X 
family members and includes enhanced floating-point instructions that 
help boost program code efficiency by 10% and performance by 20%. Able 
to run at up to 300 MHz, the core is surrounded by a 32-kbyte 
instruction cache and up to 256 kbytes of SRAM. An enhanced DMA engine 
supports 1D, 2D, and 3D transfers as well as random offset multitap 
off-chip accesses to handle sound enhancements such as echo and reverb. 
The TMS320C6722, 6726, and 6727 differ in the amount of on-chip RAM, 
maximum clock speed, and on-chip resources. Prices for the chips range 
from $9.95 to $19.95 in lots of 10,000 units, with samples available 
this month. The DSP chips are supported by the precision audio 
development kit, which is offered through development partner Lyrtech 
for $1995, and the Code Composer Studio development tool suite.
     Texas Instruments ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B285:1001CD
     Lyrtech ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B288:1001CD

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3. News -- From The Editors
***************************

***Compensation Portal Analyzes Your Salary
The IEEE-USA has launched a compensation portal for employers of 
technical professionals and for IEEE members. The IEEE-USA Salary 
Service gives employers online tools for accurately benchmarking 
technical professionals' compensation. It combines the power of 
relational databases and sophisticated regression modeling with salary 
survey data from nearly 15,000 U.S. IEEE members. The Salary Service is 
available in a standard package for $399 and in a premium package for 
$499. For more information and a demonstration of the IEEE-USA Salary 
Service, visit 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B275:1001CD

There's also a member version that is free to any U.S. IEEE member who 
completes the salary survey. This service enables individuals to 
benchmark their own compensation using a salary calculator powered by a 
regression model from the survey data. Members can record how their 
salaries track their career progress, how they measure up to their 
peers, and what effect possible job or career moves can have on their 
compensation.
     IEEE-USA Salary Service ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B284:1001CD

***One LED Backlights Color And Monochrome LCDs
The new custom backlights from Global Lighting Technologies use only one 
white LED to backlight a variety of color and monochrome LCD modules. 
They can be custom designed in sizes from 0.25-in. diagonal to 4.7-in. 
diagonal, all using a single white LED. The company's patented MicroLens 
pixel-based light extraction technology provides especially efficient 
utilization of white LEDs. MicroLens helps create fully integrated 
backlighting modules with high brightness (typically 2400 cd/square 
meter at 20 mA for a 1.5-in. diagonal), crisper color, a slim profile 
(down to 0.60 mm), good uniformity (approximately 80% to 85% on 
average), and lower power consumption (typically 20 mA at 3.5 V). 
Pricing ranges from $1.20 each for 1.5-in. diagonal backlights used in 
color cell-phone displays to $1.75 each for backlights used in 
monochrome digital thermostat displays.
     Global Lighting Technologies Inc ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B287:1001CD

***Wireless USB Spec Goes Public
The Wireless USB Promoter Group has completed and made public the 
Wireless USB specification, which will now transition to the USB 
Implementers Forum (USB-IF) for certification and compliance testing. 
The Promoter Group -- which consists of Agere Systems, Hewlett-Packard, 
Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Philips Semiconductors, and Samsung -- defined 
the specification with the support of more than 100 contributor members. 
Wireless USB delivers speeds equivalent to wired high-speed USB, with a 
bandwidth of 480 Mbits/s at 3 m and 110 Mbits/s at 10 m. It's compatible 
with PC, CE, and mobile applications while providing backward 
compatibility to the existing USB infrastructure. The first Wireless USB 
products are expected to be available at the end of 2005. Download the 
specification and the adopter agreement at http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B286:1001CD
     USB Implementers Forum Inc. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B289:1001CD

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4. Magazine Highlights
**********************
In case you missed them, here are some of the high points of our most 
recent issue.

May 26, 2005:

* Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Distributors Evolve Beyond The 
  "Component Store" Tag
The days of just "order and ship" are long gone. Distributors' 
value-added services make them a trusted partner in the design process.
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B27A:1001CD

* Technology Report -- DAC Unleashes A Torrent Of Tools And 
  Methodologies
System-level design tools, verification, and power analysis lead the 
pack at the 42nd Design Automation Conference.
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B276:1001CD

* Leapfrog: First Look -- Chip Gets To The Heart Of Ultrasound Designs
With this CW Doppler IC, designers can be rid of analog delay lines and 
crosspoint switches in devices that locate arterial blockages.
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B277:1001CD

* Leapfrog: First Look -- Scalable Processors Add Fuel To Network Data 
  Rates
Able to handle packets and threads, two network processor families scale 
to meet network needs.
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B27C:1001CD

* Design View/Design Solution -- Robustly Recover Data Across Multiple 
  Data-Comm Standards.
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B27B:1001CD

For the complete Table of Contents, go to Electronic Design ==>
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B27D:1001CD

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Free Showcast: Design Automation Conference
Friday, June 10 at 2 pm ET

It's a highly coveted honor to be on the "What to See at DAC" list 
compiled for each year's Design Automation Conference by Gartner 
Dataquest's Gary Smith. Those EDA tool vendors who make the cut have 
been singled out by the EDA industry's leading analyst as having one of 
2005's hottest EDA tools or technologies. The "What to See at DAC" list 
will make its debut in Electronic Design's DAC Showcast when Smith, 
along with Electronic Design Automation Editor David Maliniak, will 
offer a preview of the best of this year's DAC. Take a virtual tour of 
the show floor and get an advance glimpse of EDA's premier technology 
showcase.

Register today at: http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B280:1001CD

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BE SURE TO VISIT Electronic Design's Web site, where the power of 
Electronic Design is a mouse click away! Read our Web exclusives, enjoy 
our Quick Poll, discover Featured Vendors, access our archives, share 
viewpoints in our forums, explore our e-newsletters, and more.

*****

Embedded in Electronic Design (EiED) Online is your source for technical 
insight and hands-on reviews. Read William Wong's latest EiED Online 
column, "A Butterfly Or USB Arm: You Choose."
  http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=B278:1001CD

*****

TAKE A POLL!

What do you think is the best memory technology for portable devices?

-- Miniature hard drives 
-- Embedded flash memory 
-- Removable flash memory 
-- We need new and improved memory technology for portables 

Vote at Electronic Design ==> http://www.elecdesign.com

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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER
==================================

Editorial: Mark David, Editor-in-Chief
mailto:[email protected]

Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Bill Baumann, Publisher:
mailto:[email protected]
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