Electronic Design UPDATE: March 15, 2006

March 15, 2006
News Focus: $59 Development Tool Supports 8- To 32-Bit MCUs
STMicroelectronics is offering a low-cost development tool, the RLink, that enables debugging and programming across a range of the company's 8- to 32-bit microcontroller families. The tool su
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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter Electronic Design Magazine PlanetEE ==> www.electronicdesign.com March 15, 2006

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*************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** Try the NI Modulation Toolkit Online Now The National Instruments Modulation Toolkit extends the built-in analysis capability of LabVIEW with functions and tools for signal generation, analysis, visualization, and processing of standard and custom digital and analog modulation formats. With this toolkit, you can rapidly develop custom applications for research, design, characterization, validation, and test of communications systems and components that modulate or demodulate signals. Click here for more: http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AF6:484C79 **************************************************************** Today's Table Of Contents: 1. News Focus *$59 Development Tool Supports 8- To 32-Bit MCUs 2. News From The Editors *LED Mixes High Brightness With Industry-Standard Die Attach *Online Course Explains Lead-Free Changeover Process *Free Application Burns Blu-Ray Discs 3. TechView Scope *LG Philips Develops 100-in. TFT-LCD Panel 4. Upcoming Industry Events *PCB Design Conference West *LinuxWorld Conference and Expo *Embedded Systems Conference 5. Book Review *"DSP Software Development Techniques for Embedded and Real-Time Systems" Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Lisa Maliniak, eMedia Editor mailto:[email protected] **************************************************************** ********************** 1. News Focus ********************** $59 Development Tool Supports 8- To 32-Bit MCUs STMicroelectronics is offering a low-cost development tool, the RLink, that enables debugging and programming across a range of the company's 8- to 32-bit microcontroller families. The tool supports the ST7 8051-based micro-PSD and ARM-based STR7 MCUs. The new development tool eliminates the need for users to buy and learn a new toolset when developing for a different family. RLink connects to target-application or evaluation boards using a standard JTAG connection for STR7 and micro-PSD systems, and with ST's in-circuit communication protocol connection for ST7 systems. The kit includes 10-, 14-, and 20-pin adapters for the three families. Powered through its USB connection to the host PC, it needs no separate power supply. The hardware is driven by the Raisonance Integrated Development Environment (RIDE), which provides seamless control of the software development tools -- compiler, assembler, linker, debugger -- through a graphical user interface. RIDE supports development and debugging by integrating the relevant C or C/C++ toolsets, while providing project management, a code editor, the SIMICE instruction set simulator, and a high-level language debugger. Included as part of the kit, the RFlasher standalone programming tool drives the RLink, enabling users to erase, program, view, and verify the memory of ST7 and STR7 MCUs. Rlink is available now at $59. The package includes the RLink debugger and programmer, JTAG/ICC adapters, USB cable, and RIDE/RFlasher software CD. STMicroelectronics ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AF7:484C79 **************************************************************** *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** ALTERA - The Programmable Solutions Company Your low-cost PCI Express Solution has arrived! Altera, in collaboration with Texas Instruments, offers you a new, easy-to-use, cost-effective PCIe solution. This complete, low-cost solution features Texas Instruments' PCI Express x1 PHY along with Altera's industry-leading Cyclone II FPGA, and the intellectual property (IP) cores needed to quickly implement a robust PCI Express interface. Start Your PCI Express Design Now http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AF8:484C79 **************************************************************** *******************Live on ElectronicDesign.com***************** QuickLogic Pop Quiz Test your knowledge with QuickLogic's short FPGA pop quiz. You'll be eligible to win an iPod Nano! http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=22425:484C79 ***** National Semiconductor/Electronic Design Video Quiz Bob Pease and Howard Johnson challenge you to take the National Semiconductor/Electronic Design video pop quiz. They'll test your electronic engineering skills and knowledge with five quick, but not easy, questions. Click here to see how you measure up! http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=22F41:484C79 ***** Free Webcast: Low-Cost FPGAs Deliver Design Encryption, DDR, and DSP for $0.50 per 1000 LUTs Wednesday, March 22, 2006 at 2:00 pm ET Lattice Semiconductor's low-cost 90-nm FPGA family delivers high-end FPGA features for about $0.50 per 1000 LUT in volume. Join us and learn how to design with these new devices. One lucky participant will receive an ispLever development tool and LatticeECP2 evaluation board. Register now! http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=22F42:484C79 ***** Free Web Seminar: Troubleshooting Common Circuit Problems Using Digital Oscilloscopes Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 2:00 pm ET Join us to learn about the techniques available in modern digital oscilloscopes for troubleshooting circuit problems. This seminar will focus on practical, real-world examples showing how to troubleshoot common failure modes of circuits and components. Register today! http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=22F43:484C79 ***** Free Webcast: Unveiling Innovations in Batteries and Portable Power Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at 2:00 pm ET This webcast will share upcoming innovations in the battery and power-management industry. Our speakers will provide an unbiased and vendor-neutral roadmap of upcoming innovations in cell chemistries, power-management electronics, authentication technology, and portable fuel cells for mobile devices. Register now! http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AF9:484C79 **************************************************************** ********************** 2. News -- From The Editors ********************** ***LED Mixes High Brightness With Industry-Standard Die Attach An LED chip platform from Cree Inc. provides designers with high brightness levels in a chip that's easy to attach to the die. The EZBright LEDs combine highly efficient indium-gallium-nitride (InGaN) materials with the company's proprietary optical design and wafer-level technology. An optical design maximizes light extraction efficiency and enables a Lambertian radiation pattern, reducing emission losses and significantly increasing efficiency. The vertically structured, low-forward-voltage chips are approximately 100 microns in height and require only a single wire-bond connection. The first chip in the EZBright platform, the EZBright290, targets white backlighting applications in LCD screens on mobile phones, PDAs, televisions, and monitors, as well as for indoor and outdoor LED display, camera flash, gaming, and indicator applications. The EZBright290 is now available in both blue and green in commercial quantities. Additional EZBright products are targeted for commercial release over the next several months. Cree Inc. ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFA:484C79 ***Online Course Explains Lead-Free Changeover Process SMT Plus, a San Jose, Calif.-based electronic engineering training and publishing company, now offers an online training course to give engineering professionals an in-depth look at the industry's transition to lead-free products. "Your Transition to Lead Free" consists of 12 sections covering key areas relative to Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) compliance. The course offers users an understanding of the directives and global trends that led to the evolution from tin-lead to lead-free products, as well as an explanation as to how these changes are coming about and how segments of the world are dealing with the transition. It also offers engineering professionals tools to assess where their company is in the changeover process, find alternatives to tin-lead, and ready themselves for backward- and forward-compatibility issues. The course is available for $295 by SMT Plus. It's also sold through distribution at http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFB:484C79 . Multi-user online course licenses are available. SMT Plus ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFC:484C79 ***Free Application Burns Blu-Ray Discs AVS Disc Creator 2.1 is free CD/DVD/BD-compliant burning software that completely supports Blu-ray disc media. The freeware has an extended list of supported disc types: CD-R/RW, DVD/-R, DVD/-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD/R, and double/dual layer. With this latest version, users can automate their everyday burning routine by saving their compilations as projects. In addition, they can take advantage of a multisession feature that helps burn multiple backups on one disc, import a new session, add or delete new files and folders from the existing burning session, or edit it irrespective of what software was used to author the disc previously. Lastly, burning speed is increased. The software runs under Windows 2000/XP/2003 and is available in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. AVS Disc Creator 2.1 is distributed completely free of charge and has no trial periods, limitations, adware, or spyware. The software is available for download from the company's Web site. Online Media Technologies Ltd. ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFD:484C79 **************************************************************** *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** Register Today for Tektronix' DesignInsight 06 Join Tektronix and National Instruments for a FREE, 7-city seminar series. You'll learn the latest methods to efficiently characterize, verify and debug designs. These full-day seminars include presentations, discussion and hands-on labs about: embedded systems, low and high speed serial data, FPGA systems and Digital RF systems. Register NOW as seating is limited. Lunch is provided by Tektronix. http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFE:484C79 **************************************************************** ********************** 3. TechView Scope ********************** LG Philips Develops 100-in. TFT-LCD Panel Couch potatoes, prepare to be blown away. LG Philips has announced a 100-in. TFT-LCD panel. According to the company, it's the largest LCD panel in the world. Measuring more than 2.2 by 1.2 m, it's about 1.5 times larger than the 82-in. TFT-LCD panel Samsung announced last year. Philips' panel offers a 16:9 widescreen format, a 3000:1 contrast ratio, 92 percent color reproduction, and an omnidirectional 180-degree viewing angle based on Super IPS and super-large compensation film technologies. Its response speed is less than 5 ms. And, it provides 6.22 million pixels with full high-definition picture quality that can reproduce 1.07 billion colors. The panel depends on Philips' proprietary copper-based interconnect technology, which transmits video signals across an entire large-area LCD screen without noise. Viewers then can enjoy sharp images with virtually no distortion or display jitter. The company developed the panel at its seventh-generation fabrication line in Paju, South Korea. LG Philips ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23AFF:484C79 **************************************************************** ********************** 4. Upcoming Industry Events ********************** March 26-31, PCB Design Conference West Santa Clara, Calif. http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=1CFBE:484C79 April 3-6, LinuxWorld Conference and Expo Boston, Mass. http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23B00:484C79 April 3-7, Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley San Jose, Calif. http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=2242A:484C79 **************************************************************** ********************** 5. Book Review ********************** "DSP Software Development Techniques for Embedded and Real-Time Systems" By Robert Oshana If you're looking for just one book to learn about digital signal processors, then this is it. Oshana does a great job presenting all aspects of DSP use, design, and development. The book includes a CD with a 120-day trial version of Texas Instruments' Code Composer Studio and Express DSP for the TI TMS320 DSP platform. Readers can use the simulator to check out the tools without the need for additional hardware... Read the full book review at http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=23B01:484C79 **************************************************************** EiED Online -- Five Tiny SBC Modules Embedded in Electronic Design (EiED) Online is your source for technical insight and hands-on reviews. Read Technology Editor Bill Wong's latest EiED Online column, "Five Tiny SBC Modules." Bill takes a look at offerings from Systronix, NetBurner, Silicon Labs, Gumstix, and Kontron. These development kits include small, low-cost modules that can be incorporated into products or used to develop applications for small custom platforms. http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=22F4E:484C79 ********************** TAKE A POLL! A recent study showed that interference from portable electronic devices may present a greater risk to aircraft navigation than previously thought. Do you think that interference from cell phones and other electronics poses a safety risk to aircraft? -- Yes, there could be significant interference from these devices -- No, the fields are too weak to be a problem -- Not sure Vote at Electronic Design ==> http://news.electronicdesign.com/t?ctl=15410:484C79 ****************************************************************

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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER

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Editorial: Mark David, Editor-in-Chief mailto:[email protected] Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Bill Baumann, Publisher: mailto:[email protected]

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