Electronic Design UPDATE: November 29, 2006

1. Industry View: Don't Assume Anything When It Comes To DFM
2. Editor's View: Spell It Out For Me
3. Focus on Power: Dual-Output Synchronous Controller Requires No Sense Resistor
4. Live on electronicdesign.com: Electronic Design electronica 2006 videos
5. News From The Editors:
   HDMI Switches Support Multisource, Multisink Video Applications
   Third-Gen Fab Process Will Permit 80-GHz All-Digital Transceiver
   High-Sensitivity Light-To-Frequency Converter Adds Package Option
   Army Tests Command And Control In 3D Software In Field Exercise
6. Embedded in Electronic Design Online: Car PC, Part 2: The Mini-ITX PC
   
7. Product Picks Online:
   Power Film Resistors Take On 20 W at 25°C
   
   PCI Express IP Cores Target FPGAs
   
   DFM Tool Enhances Collaboration Between Design Teams
   
   Small Fanless Computer Systems Based On Nano-ITX
   
   DC-DC Converter Line Expands With Eight Mid-Power Models
   
8. Instant Poll: In his November 16, 2006 editorial, Electronic Design Editor-in-Chief Mark David suggests that given the success of digital audio, video will soon follow. What do you think?
9. Book Review: By Louis E. Frenzel, Communications/Test Editor
   AC/DC, The Savage Tale of the First Standards War

Design assumptions can have devastating effects, especially now as the electronics industry struggles with the transition to lead-free assemblies and OEMs seek the help of qualified EMS providers familiar with lead-free and RoHS compliance issues...

A couple of days ago, our managing editor sent an e-mail to us technology editors to remind us to spell out acronyms the first time we use them in a story. "They may be common and easily understood by us editors, but they aren't to many of our readers, which include a growing number of students and foreign speakers," he said...

The LTC3836 synchronous step-down switching controller can generate two independent output voltages as low as 0.6 V, allowing it to power the latest generation of low-voltage DSPs and microcontrollers...

Couldn't make it to electronica? Watch as Editors-in-Chief Mark David and Paul Whytock talk trends with representatives from Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, and others on the show floor.

Visit http://www.electronicdesign.com/electronica.

Car PC, Part 2: The Mini-ITX PC

A Car PC based on an x86 architecture opens up a world of options. In part 2 of this series, Embedded/Systems/Software Editor William Wong builds the Mini-ITX PC based on an ITOX motherboard with tips from Logic Supply. Check out the interview with Scott Hayden, sales director for Logic Supply...

• Likely: Consumer electronics like the iPod will drive widespread adoption.
• Somewhat likely: Given their size, bandwith issues must be resolved first.
• Not likely: There are better options for viewing video.

Every day, we hear about another ongoing battle for supremacy in some field of electronics. Given my coverage of communications, I hear about the wireless standards battles that never seem to end, like Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and Wi-Fi 802.11n. It's just business as usual. In browsing my local bookstore recently, I ran across a book that describes the first ever standards battle...