Electronic Design UPDATE: June 2, 2004

June 2, 2004
Industry View -- Cryptography For Engineers Who Couldn't Care Less by Jim Turley, for Rabbit Semiconductor. Encryption and digital cryptography are profoundly uninteresting to the average engineer...
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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter Electronic Design Magazine PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com June 2, 2004

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Today's Table Of Contents: 1. Industry View * Cryptography For Engineers Who Couldn't Care Less 2. Focus On Power * IC Independently Controls Up To Four Power Supplies 3. News From The Editors * Digital I/O Module Sources, Sinks High Current * LVDS Cuts Noise, Amplitude In Crystal Oscillators * Big Demand For Safety Systems In Automated Machines 4. Upcoming Industry Events * Robots 2004 * Plastic Optical Fiber World 2004 * International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology 5. Magazine Highlights: May 24, 2004 * Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Making The Skies Safer * Technology Report -- DAC: EDA's Mecca Promises Bounty In Design Tools * Leapfrog: Industry First -- Fully Integrated PSoC Tops Speed, Efficiency Marks * Leapfrog: First Look -- FLIX Helps Low-Power CPU Flex Its Performance * Design View / Design Solution -- Speed Up Industrial Video With The Right Connectivity Choices *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** USB On The Go Atmel (R)'s AT43USB380 is a plug & play USB OTG/host solution for the embedded engineers. It combines an intelligent USB processor with a comprehensive software suite to enable the rapid development of OTG/host-capable embedded systems. Click here to learn more about how the AT43USB380 can help reduce your design cycle. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoW0Ai **************************************************************** Electronic Design UPDATE edited by John Novellino, Executive Editor 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. Go to: http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ03Hf0Aq TAKE OUR CURRENT QUICK POLL: The editors would like to know your preferred format for e-mail newsletters: -- Text only -- plain, plain-er, and plain-est -- HTML formatted text (bold, italic, underlined) -- HTML formatted text with color -- HTML formatted text with color and images -- I do not care Go to Electronic Design ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BGmZ0Ah ***** Can't get to the Design Automation Conference? Bring DAC to your desktop via Electronic Design's DAC ShowCast. EDA Technology Editor David Maliniak gives you the DAC lowdown, direct from the show. Sign up to join the FREE webcast. Join David Maliniak and his special guest Gary Smith, Gartner Dataquest's Chief EDA Analyst, as they bring you the hot market trends and showstopping new products direct from the Design Automation Conference on Thursday, June 10 at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST. You can find the DAC Showcast subscription page at: http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIph0A1 ration.jsp&eventid=6513&sessionid=1&key=8FFD3A501D9F99E7F2851F606D0F2F44 &sourcepage=register ***** NEW: Embedded365! Visit Embedded365 -- Qualified design engineers -- Register now for free access to hundreds of articles and new products focused on embedded systems design. Includes webcasts, whitepapers, datasheets, and information from embedded systems vendors. Embedded365 is brought to you by EEPN magazine. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoX0Aj **************************************************************** ********************** 1. Industry View -- Exclusive to Electronic Design UPDATE ********************** Cryptography For Engineers Who Couldn't Care Less Jim Turley, for Rabbit Semiconductor Encryption and digital cryptography are profoundly uninteresting to the average engineer. Whether you're a programmer or a hardware developer, straight out of school or wizened by years of experience, you probably couldn't care less about implementing crypto in your current project. But you may not have a choice. Encryption and cryptography are used in many applications. You can encrypt network traffic, e-mail, or Web traffic as well as non-Internet-related applications such as DVD players. In addition, content protection and digital rights management (DRM) rely on encryption to protect copyrighted material. If you want to play in this arena, cryptography is a requirement. The point is that most systems are going to require encryption, DRM, secure sockets, or some other form of cryptography. Like it or not, we're all about to become spooks. Serious cryptography is heavy stuff. Fortunately, we don't all have to become crypto experts to build basic security features into our products. All it takes is the right prepackaged hardware and/or software. First, some basic terminology. "Cryptography" covers a lot of territory, including traditional, non-electronic things like secret decoder rings and invisible ink. Within the digital realm, there are a number of ways to obscure data. Everyone has a favorite method, but a number of standard "canned" encryption algorithms have emerged. Some of the most common go by lyrical names like DES (data-encryption standard), 3DES (also called triple-DES), AES (advanced encryption standard), ARC4 (alleged Rivest cipher four), and SHA-1 (secure hashing algorithm). All of these common standards work by swizzling data bits around in various unusual patterns. That is, they take the message data and the key data and perform normal exclusive-OR (XOR) functions on them. Oftentimes, bit fields are swapped or rotated, and a little arithmetic (ADD, SUB) might be thrown in for good measure. The "strength" of a cryptography algorithm, its resistance to cracking without the proper key, is often a function of the key length. A 128-bit key is stronger than a 64-bit key, for example. Also, the more lengthy and convoluted the interaction, the stronger the encryption. The strongest algorithms are prolonged and tortuous affairs. Additionally, the data are not handled in convenient byte-sized chunks. Odd-sized bit fields are pulled from inconveniently misaligned boundaries. All of the current standards assume that messages and keys are at least 32 bits long. So a 32-bit processor must be required to handle any realistic crypto work, right? Not necessarily. Data encryption doesn't require a 32-bit processor, per se. But it does need a processor that can elegantly handle 32-bit quantities. That presents you, as the engineer, with an economic problem as well as a technical hurdle. Big 32-bit processors are expensive, use a lot of power, put out a lot of heat, and are physically large. At the other extreme, 8-bit processors are cheap, plentiful, small -- and underpowered. Massaging data for encryption is easier if an 8-bit processor can at least handle 16-bit quantities, but that only moves 8-bit processors from the realm of possibility to crypto snails. What are needed are 8-bit processors that have 32-bit register capability. The Rabbit 4000 is the first example of an 8-bit processor capable of handling large encryption keys with a 32-bit register set. Not incidentally, the chip also has dozens of new instructions specifically to help with encryption. Burying a suitable 8-bit processor with hardware crypto-assist inside a cable or DSL modem would add economical security to shared home connections to the Internet. Better still, a router connected to the modem could provide its own security for incoming and outgoing data, all invisibly and at next to no cost. With size, cost, and power all so small as to be essentially irrelevant, an 8-bit microprocessor with crypto-assist can be used literally anywhere an Ethernet jack appears, adding extremely local intelligence -- and security -- to any Ethernet connection. Jim Turley, a microprocessor analyst and editor, wrote this column for Rabbit Semiconductor. For more information, e-mail Larry Cicchinelli, Tech Support Manager, at mailto:[email protected] or go to http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIpi0A2 . To comment on this Industry View, go to Reader Comments at the foot of the Web page: Electronic Design UPDATE ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoY0Ak **************************************************************** *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** Ahead of the Curve: Virtual Probes Uncover The Secrets Inside FPGAs In Minutes, Not Hours By Paul G. Schreier A new expert viewpoint brought to Electronic Design by Agilent Technologies May 24 issue, page 37 http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoZ0Al **************************************************************** ********************** 2. Focus On Power ********************** ***IC Independently Controls Up To Four Power Supplies The LTC2925 power-supply tracking controller supplies a variety of power-up and power-down profiles for up to four supplies. By configuring a few resistors, the IC ramps the supplies up and down together with voltage offsets, time delays, or different ramp rates. Power-up timeout circuitry turns off the supplies if an external voltage monitor fails to indicate that all the supplies have entered regulation within a specified time. The device introduces currents into the feedback nodes of the supplies, causing their outputs to track without inserting any passive element losses. The IC controls three supplies without a series MOSFET. For a fourth supply, or when a supply does not allow direct access to its feedback resistors, a series FET is used. The LTC2925 comes in narrow 24-pin SSOP and 24-lead DFM packages in both commercial and industrial temperature ranges. Prices start at $3.75 each in 1000-piece quantities. Linear Technology Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BGCT0At ********************** 3. News -- From The Editors ********************** ***Digital I/O Module Sources, Sinks High Current A high-current digital I/O module has joined the Personal Measurement Device product line. The PMD-1024HLS provides up to 15 mA of source and 64 mA of sink current, eliminating the need for external buffers and allowing the module to drive many devices directly. The 24 digital I/O bits are divided into two 8-bit ports and two 4-bit ports, each of which can be programmed as input or output. The module uses a discrete implementation of the industry-standard 82C55's mode 0. As with other PMD products, the unit is fully compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0 and is supported by Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP operating systems. It's 3.25 in. wide by 3.1215 in. long by 1 in. high and comes with a variety of applications software. The PMD-1024HLS costs $149, including a USB cable. Measurement Computing Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoa0As ***LVDS Cuts Noise, Amplitude In Crystal Oscillators By using low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS), the F4700/F4710 series of crystal oscillators offers reduced noise and amplitude. LVDS also enables the oscillators to automatically impedance-match signals to the digital network, allowing for the synchronized timing of digital circuits. Available in supply voltages of 3.3 V +/-5% (F4700) or 2.5 V +/-5% (F4710), the devices provide a differential output of 0.247 to 0.454 V, with 0.33 V being typical. Standard ranges are 70 to 170 MHz, with up to 250 MHz available on request. Stabilities are +/-100, 50, 25, or 20 ppm. Standard operating temperature is -10 deg. C to 70 deg. C, but -40 deg. C to 85 deg. C is available on most models. The devices measure 7 by 5 mm. A 100-ppm F4700 at 212.50 MHz starts at $15.95 each in quantities of 10,000. Delivery is in 12 weeks. Fox Electronics ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIob0At ***Big Demand For Safety Systems In Automated Machines Recent changes in design and implementation processes have increased the demand for programmable safety systems for use in automatic machine safeguarding products, according to Venture Development Corp. The market research firm forecasts that programmable safety systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 46.9% between 2003 and 2006, much faster than originally expected. VDC cited three developing trends. First, European countries are well ahead of North America in developing machine safety standards, leading to a migration toward uniform international regulations. Also, although North America has traditionally used 120-V ac power, global influences have pushed the use of 24 V dc in safety standards. This could lead to a growth in retrofitting or replacing existing systems. Finally, OEMs -- including Volkswagen and BMW -- are increasingly using digital safety bus networks in their manufacturing processes, rather than hard-wired mechanical systems. Venture Development Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BFpK0AU ********************** 4. Upcoming Industry Events ********************** June 9-10, Robots 2004 Ypsilanti, Mich. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoc0Au June 23-25, POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) World 2004 San Jose, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIod0Av Aug. 2-6, International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology Denver, Colo. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoe0Aw ********************** 5. Magazine Highlights ********************** In case you missed them, here are some of the high points of our most recent issue. May 24, 2004: * Cover Story: Engineering Feature -- Making The Skies Safer An intensive seven-year effort by NASA researchers led to a sophisticated wind-shear detection and avoidance system that is just now boarding commercial aircraft in volume. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIof0Ax * Technology Report -- DAC: EDA's Mecca Promises Bounty In Design Tools Advances in system-level design and verification fill up the goody bag at this year's 41st Design Automation Conference. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIog0Ay * Leapfrog: Industry First -- Fully Integrated PSoC Tops Speed, Efficiency Marks http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoh0Az * Leapfrog: First Look -- FLIX Helps Low-Power CPU Flex Its Performance http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoi0A1 * Design View / Design Solution -- Speed Up Industrial Video With The Right Connectivity Choices http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoj0A2 For the complete Table of Contents, go to Electronic Design ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/egAb0Gl4E70EmQ0BIok0A3

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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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