Electronic Design UPDATE: September 10, 2003

Sept. 10, 2003
Industry View -- Electronics Manufacturers Must Redefine Their Relations With Customers by Jim Liang, President, Sinbon Electronics. In an increasingly rough-and-tumble global electronics marketplace, simply building products and hoping customers will...
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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter Electronic Design Magazine PlanetEE ==> http://www.planetee.com September 10, 2003

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*************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** International EDA Tech Forum The EDA Tech Forum event unites technology leaders throughout the Industry and provides an excellent networking opportunity with fellow designers. ~ Keynotes by industry leaders from Gartner, IBM, and more. ~ Cutting edge technical sessions and technology fair focusing on real design issues for Design-to-Silicon, Functional Verification, FPGA Design, PCB Design and Design-for-Test ~ Controversial panels you don't want to miss! Register today! http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSX0Ac **************************************************************** HOT TIP: Visit our recently redesigned Web site, www.elecdesign.com, where the power of Electronic Design is a mouse click away! Read our Web exclusives, discover Featured Vendors, access our archives, share viewpoints in our Forums, explore our e-newsletters, and more. FINAL WEEK! FINAL WEEK! FINAL WEEK! Ballot For Electronic Design's ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME It's time to elect the Class Of 2003 to our Engineering Hall Of Fame. This is your last chance to cast your vote for the individuals you believe should be inducted this year. Last year, you elected many of the giants in our industry, led by William Hewlett and David Packard, who had the highest vote tally of all nominees. Here's your opportunity to determine the inductees who will become the Class Of 2003. Our online ballot allows you to vote for as many nominees as you deem worthy and to name your own candidates, too. Engineering Hall Of Fame ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCGG0A8 And be sure to participate in our current QUICK POLL: What do you think of the candidates on the 2003 ballot for our ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME? Go to http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ03Hf0AJ Today's Table of Contents: 1. Industry View Electronics Manufacturers Must Redefine Their Relations With Customers 2. Focus On Embedded Systems * MCM With FireWire Link Ideal For Image Processing 3. News From The Editors * Switching Power Modules Hold Down Standby Consumption * Flash Memory Delivers 60-ns Access Times * Serial ATA Host Controller Provides Four Storage Ports * LTCC-M Surface-Mount Package Aims At RF Power Transistors 4. Upcoming Industry Events * Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT * Communications Design Conference * International Test Conference * Embedded Systems Conference, Asia * Hardware/Software Co-Design (CODES) * Workshop on Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia (ESTIMedia) 5. Magazine Highlights: September 1, 2003 issue * Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Picking The Right Manufacturing Partner * Leapfrog: First Look -- Power Converter Stands Out From The POL Crowd * Leapfrog: First Look -- USB On Board: Flash Memory Leads The Way * Technology Report -- PC-Based Instruments Reshape The Test Landscape * Design View / Design Solution -- Multiport Memories Soup Up Wireless Broadband Processing Edited by John Novellino ********************** 1. Industry View -- Exclusive to Electronic Design UPDATE ********************** Electronics Manufacturers Must Redefine Their Relations With Customers By Jim Liang, President, Sinbon Electronics In an increasingly rough-and-tumble global electronics marketplace, simply building products and hoping customers will come is a dream. The global race to keep pace with a steadily rising tide of client demands for higher product quality, lower production costs, and condensed delivery deadlines has sparked a subtle but significant shift that is driving global electronics manufacturers to reassess their traditional roles as pure product providers. This competitive imperative has ushered in a new economic reality for electronics manufacturers: a need to redefine conventional client-manufacturer relationships and establish an Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) infrastructure they can exploit to deliver both design and production solutions customized to an individual client's specific demands. An ODM structure combines design and production systems, enabling manufacturers to deliver customized product solutions that can be tailored to individual clients' specific needs. Establishing, operating, and maintaining a streamlined, flexible, and ultimately profitable ODM business structure requires a top-down commitment at four critical levels within the product supply chain, from design and production to delivery and on-the-ground service and support. The first is organizational and structural: a commitment to align internal global design, manufacturing, and customer personnel by function and expertise. For electronics manufacturers to position themselves as total-solution providers, strategic client partners rather than simply end-product manufacturers, they must evaluate, and if necessary, re-allocate their core electrical, mechanical, software, and firmware engineering teams. This assessment will allow companies to create a cadre of specialized, agile design and production teams equipped with the specific, functional expertise to enter the product development process earlier and more efficiently as well as to more effectively respond to a variety of client demands. The second critical success factor is a commitment to dedicate the financial resources to invest in the internal design software and factory hardware necessary to ensure product volume flexibility. Clients are increasingly searching for electronics providers who can deliver a comprehensive slate of production capabilities, and for companies like Sinbon, this means investing in the latest workstation technologies and software for pc-board development. Next, electronics manufacturers need to identify the missing links in their design and production supply chain and craft alliances with strategic third-party component providers who close the technology gaps and complete the production cycle. These third-party providers offer an attractive alternative to companies faced with the costly and time-consuming prospect of creating and maintaining a proprietary technology infrastructure from ground zero. The final critical component in the ODM system is instituting a global network of client support facilities to deliver on-the-ground customer service and support. Manufacturers must build a structured system of manufacturing, sales, and support facilities that can manage just-in-time international manufacturing facility inventories, supervise global stocking programs, and oversee shipping and delivery logistics. Surprisingly, this basic client-service business tenet (frequently a determining factor for clients seeking a long-term manufacturing and distribution partner) is often the weakest link in the manufacturer-client relationship, but it can easily be rectified though a commitment to train and place personnel in key global markets. The demands of establishing an ODM design and production business infrastructure can be significant, but the potential immediate and long-range results are impressive. The ODM system enables electronics providers to strengthen flexibility throughout the design and manufacturing process, condense product order-to-deliver schedules, advance production deadlines, streamline design and development costs, and deliver superior customer service. Electronics manufacturers committed to implementing these key strategic and operational ODM principles will separate themselves from their closest competitors. Jim Liang is president of Sinbon Electronics, Taiwan, with U.S. headquarters in Smithtown, N.Y. He can be reached at [email protected]. To comment on this Industry View, go to Reader Comments at the foot of the Web page http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSY0Ad *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** Verisity's Next-Generation Verification Seminars This technical seminar introduces you to a verification process that delivers results. Learn the reality of what it takes to achieve first-pass silicon success with today's extremely complex chips, systems, hardware and software systems. Attendees will also preview demonstrations of innovative NEW process automation technologies. Sign up today! http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BBq60AX **************************************************************** ********************** 2. Focus On Embedded Systems ********************** ***MCM With FireWire Link Ideal For Image Processing A compact (30 by 36 mm), 116-pin multichip module called the UC1394a-1 combines a TMS320C5509 DSP processor and a 50-kgate Spartan-II FPGA. Communication with the outside world is accomplished with a 400-Mbit/s FireWire link, suiting the system well for image processing or other high-performance analog processing chores. Optional FireWire camera frame capture software is available. The UC1394a-1 supports McBSP and JTAG debugging and has additional I/O capabilities that include RS-232, USB, and I2C interfaces, plus four analog-to-digital converter inputs and digital I/O. The UC1394a-1 is available now for $500. Development kits start at $3125. To view a photo of the module, Click on http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSm0Ax Traquair Data Systems Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0q4J0AX ********************** 3. News -- From The Editors ********************** ***Switching Power Modules Hold Down Standby Consumption Designed to comply with global standards for power consumption, the BPS100 and BPS200 series of switching power modules provide up to 1 W and 2 W of power, respectively. A patented technology virtually eliminates all line-conducted electromagnetic interference. The board-mountable modules have nominal output voltages of 14 V dc that are adjustable from 5 to 14 V. An optional regulated 5-V output is available. Prices for the BPS100 start at under $4 each in lots of 10,000. BIAS Power Technology ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSZ0Ae ***Flash Memory Delivers 60-ns Access Times Offering the shortest access time for a 128-Mbit NOR-type flash memory, the LH28F128BF delivers data in just 60 ns. In contrast, most conventional NOR-style flash devices typically have access times of about 85 ns. The shorter access time improves overall performance when accessing data or instructions or when storing data, in applications like games, digital cameras, and animation in mobile phone applications. Internally, the 128 Mbits are partitioned into blocks of 16, 24, 24, 24, 25, and 16 Mbits. The chip runs off 3 V and consumes 25 mA maximum for a random read, and just 5 mA during a page-mode access. The device comes in a 56-lead TSOP that measures 14 by 20 mm or in a multichip 72-contact fine-pitch BGA chip-scale package that measures just 8 by 11 mm. In 100-unit quantities, the TSOP version sells for $24 each. Samples are available immediately. Sharp Microelectronics Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSa0Al ***Serial ATA Host Controller Provides Four Storage Ports The SiI 3114 host controller from Silicon Image Corp. doubles the number of serial ATA ports over the company's previous chip, the SiI 3112 dual-port SATA controller. The four-port chip complies with the Serial ATA 1.0 specification, supports four independent SATA channels, and ties into the host system via a 32-bit 33/66-MHz PCI bus. It comes with the company's robust SATA base and SATARaid software drivers, which currently support JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 for Windows, Linux, and Netware. Based around a single phase-locked loop architecture that supports all four ports, the SiI 3114 includes an integrated Serial ATA Link and physical-layer logic based on the company's proven, high-speed multilayer serial link architecture. Each channel can transfer data at 1.5 Gbits/s and supports hot plugging. The controller comes in a 176-lead TQFP. In lots of 10,000, it sells for $12.50 each. Silicon Image Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSb0Am ***LTCC-M Surface-Mount Package Aims At RF Power Transistors A surface-mount package based on Lamina Ceramics' proprietary low-temperature cofired ceramic-on-metal (LTCC-M) technology specifically targets RF power transistors. Available in either Kovar or copper-molybdenum-copper metals, the package electrically isolates the surface-mount connections from the metal base ground or thermal layers. I/O signals or dc biasing is achieved through the use of Lamina Leads, solderable base metal terminals as small as 0.015 by 0.030 in. that are electrically connected to the LTCC-M circuitry. The package is a drop-in replacement for conventional NI-360S packages. Prices start at $2.00 each in lots of 10,000. Prototypes can be delivered in six weeks. Lamina Ceramics Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSc0An ********************** 4. Upcoming Industry Events ********************** Sept. 24-25, Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT, Cambridge, Mass. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ087a0A1 Sept. 29-Oct. 2, Communications Design Conference, San Jose, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ04OI0Aw Sept. 30-Oct. 2, International Test Conference, Charlotte, N.C. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSd0Ao Sept. 30-Oct. 1, Embedded Systems Conference, Asia, Hsinchu, Taiwan http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSe0Ap Oct. 1-3, Hardware/Software Co-Design (CODES), Newport Beach, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSf0Aq Oct. 3-4, Workshop on Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia (ESTIMedia), Newport Beach, Calif. (co-located with CODES-ISSS) http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSg0Ar ********************** 5. Magazine Highlights ********************** In case you missed them, here are some of the high points of our most recent issue, September 1, 2003. * Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Picking The Right Manufacturing Partner Outsourcing is on the rise, but how do you select the right manufacturing partner to help cut costs and shorten time-to-market? * Leapfrog: First Look -- Power Converter Stands Out From The POL Crowd SIP-style nonisolated dc-dc converter offers surface-mount assembly, a wide input-voltage range, and programmable output voltage. * Leapfrog: First Look -- USB On Board: Flash Memory Leads The Way The Universal Serial Bus provides needed flexibility and bandwidth for built-in high-speed peripherals. * Technology Report -- PC-Based Instruments Reshape The Test Landscape All types of PCs and traditional instruments take on more of each others' functions to benefit the end-user engineer. * Design View / Design Solution -- Multiport Memories Soup Up Wireless Broadband Processing For the complete Table of Contents, go to http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/echH0DJhUf0EmQ0BCSh0As

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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER

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Editorial: Lucinda Mattera, Associate Chief Editor: mailto:[email protected] Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Bill Baumann, Associate Publisher: mailto:[email protected]

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