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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter
Electronic Design Magazine
PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com
September 28, 2005
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Today's Table Of Contents:
1. News Focus
  *Advanced DSP Platform Tackles A/V Applications
2. News From The Editors
  *Connector Packs In The Pins
  *PC-Based Pod Combines Test Instruments
  *Fuel-Cell Prototype Powers Audio Player
3. TechView Scope
  *VoIP Market To Hit $24.5 Billion In 2010
4. Upcoming Industry Events
  *ARM Developers' Conference
  *PCB Design Conference East
  *Int'l Conference on Lead Free Components
5. Book Review
  *"CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Second Edition"

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Lisa Maliniak, eMedia Editor
mailto:[email protected]
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**LAST CHANCE -- SUBMIT BY 9/30**

Want Your Picture Published In Electronic Design? It's Easy!

Send us some photos showing you (and your team) at work. We need
them for our "Day in the Life of an Electronic Designer" photo
essay, which will appear in Electronic Design's Oct. 20 special
issue. There's a $500 Grand Prize for best photo series and $250
prize for best photo, and we pay $50 if we use any of your photos in
the issue. Please include the names and titles of all photo
subjects, as well as company name and the type of work-in-process
illustrated by the photo. Digital photos should be in .tif or .jpg
formats and must have resolution of at least 300 dpi. Deadline for
submission is Sept. 30.

E-mail digital photos to Richard Gawel at mailto:[email protected]

Mail hard-copy photos to:

Richard Gawel
Electronic Design
Managing Editor
45 Eisenhower Dr., 5th Floor
Paramus, NJ 07652

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***************
1. News Focus
***************

Advanced DSP Platform Tackles A/V Applications

It won't be long before Texas Instruments puts the finishing touches
on its DaVinci family of application-specific platforms. These
devices are based on the enhanced 64x+ DSP core TI uses in its
TMS320C6000 series of DSP chips.
   TI plans to offer multiple chips in the DaVinci series. Each will
have a different set of resources tuned for a specific class of
applications, like video conferencing, set-top boxes, video
security, automotive infotainment, portable media, and digital
cameras. Starting with the C64x+ core, the DaVinci platforms will
then incorporate various support functions to meet different
application needs.
   The company's resource library includes dedicated support blocks
such as an ARM 9 processor core, DRAM controllers, and
accelerators for video (I/O processing, video, and imaging). It
also features advanced audio interfaces, video display
controllers, and data storage interfaces like ATA hard drives,
compact flash, and multimedia cards. Connectivity in the form of
USB 2.0, I2C, a 10/100 Ethernet media access controller, and
other memory interfaces are part of the library as well.
   The other part of the resource library consists of software,
configurable frameworks, published application programming
interfaces, and a broad collection of video, imaging, audio, and
speech codecs. Included in the codec collection are encode and
decode versions for H.264, H.263, MPEG4, MPEG2, JPEG, and WMV9,
as well as support for AAC, AAC+, WMA9, WMA8, MP3, G.711, G.728,
G.723.1, and G.729ab.
   Some of the software is licensable from TI. Some is licensable
from third-party partners. A full suite of development tools
includes an ARM/DSP integrated development environment. The
DaVinci platform also will support the Linux operating system. In
the future, it's expected to support WinCE.
   First samples of the DaVinci platforms will be available late in
the fourth quarter.
     Texas Instruments Inc. 
> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D2:1001CD

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****************************
2. News -- From The Editors
****************************

***Connector Packs In The Pins
According to Teradyne's Connection Systems Division, its Ventura
high-speed connector has the highest pin density of any connector on
the market. Its 14-row version has 178 real signals per inch
(single-ended) and 93 differential signals per inch. Using
surface-mount technology, the Ventura design reduces via effects and
enables higher performance by replacing the plated through hole with
a 10- or 12-mil via. The connector can be used in both 6.25-Gbit/s
single-ended and 12-Gbit/s differential applications. Insertion loss
is less than 2 dB at 6 GHz and less than 3 dB at 8 GHz. Differential
insertion loss is less than 2 dB at 6 GHz and less than 3 dB at 10
GHz. The Ventura product line currently includes 14-row, eight-row,
and eight-row right-angle male versions. Pricing is approximately
$0.18 to $0.24 per mated signal line in production volumes.
     Teradyne Inc. 
> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D3:1001CD

***PC-Based Pod Combines Test Instruments
With a little help from a personal computer, you can have three test
instruments in one portable, low-cost unit. The USBee AX Test Pod is
a PC-based device that functions as a programmable oscilloscope,
logic analyzer, and digital signal generator. Using the USB 2.0 bus
to stream data to and from a PC, the AX performs all triggering and
data storing. The sample storage capacity is beyond that of
traditional instruments because the AX uses PC memory as the
sample buffer, allowing selectable sample depths from 1 million to
many hundreds of millions of samples per trace. The AX comes in
Standard, Plus, and Pro packages. The AX-Standard comes with
oscilloscope and logic analyzer modules and costs $445. The AX-Plus,
which adds a signal generator and USB, 12C, SPI, and Async decoder
modules, costs $745. The AX-Pro, priced at $1045, adds a data
logger, frequency counter, remote controller, pulse-width modulation
controller, frequency generator, pulse counter, and the USBee AX
ToolBuilder source code library. The source code library allows
programming in Visual Basic or Visual C.
     CWAV 
> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D4:1001CD

***Fuel-Cell Prototype Powers Audio Player
Toshiba has developed two prototype direct methanol fuel-cell (DMFC)
units and has begun tests to validate their operation with mobile
audio players. The new fuel cells have output power of 100 and 300
mW and are used to power a flash-memory-based digital audio player
and an HDD-based (hard-disk drive) digital audio player,
respectively. Toshiba's DMFCs feature a passive fuel supply system
that is well suited for smaller fuel cells and use a highly
concentrated methanol solution. The 100-mW unit, which is similar in
shape and size to a pack of gum, measures 23 by 75 by 10 mm. It can
power the flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a single
3.5-ml charge of highly concentrated methanol. The 300-mW unit is 60
by 75 by 10 mm and delivers enough power to keep an HDD-based audio
player running for approximately 60 hours on a single 10-ml charge.
Commercial DMFC-powered products are expected to appear in 2007.
     Toshiba Corp. 
>
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D5:1001CD

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******************
3. TechView Scope
******************

VoIP Market To Hit $24.5 Billion In 2010

Voice over Internet Protocol is ready to explode. The hardware and
software are falling into place (see "VoIP: Packetized Voice Over
Everything" at http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D6:1001CD
ED Online 11115). Now, it's the market's turn. According to iSuppli
Corp., the number of worldwide VoIP subscribers will take a gigantic
leap from 4.8 million in 2004 to 197.2 million in 2010. That's a
40-fold increase. In terms of sales, 2004's $8.04 billion will jump
up to $12.9 billion in 2005 before nearly doubling to $24.5 billion
in 2010.
   VoIP equipment includes enterprise-oriented gear like IP-PBX
common equipment, IP phones, and enterprise media gateways. It
also targets residential applications, like cable modems, xDSL
voice-enabled gateways, and soft switches. In fact, the
residential market will see the fastest VoIP growth, with 2004's
$1.4 billion in revenue leaping to $10.6 billion in 2010.
   "Worldwide, there are more than 1 billion wireline subscribers
generating in excess of $450 billion in voice revenues annually,"
said Steve Rago, principal analyst, networking and optical
communications for iSuppli. "The focus of all cellular companies,
cable operators, and virtual voice providers is to grab a major
share of this revenue stream for themselves."
   Japan, the United States, and Canada accounted for 83% of the
total residential wireline subscriber market in 2004. Yet this
lion's share will decrease, as they will represent just 56.4% of
the market in 2010. For more details, see "Gateway to Doorway:
Market Dynamics of Residential Wireline and Enterprise VoIP" by
iSuppli Corp.
     iSuppli Corp. 
> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=73A2:1001CD

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A T-Shirt For Your Thoughts

Here's your chance to select the best design and product articles
that have appeared in the pages of Electronic Design during the past
year. Take our short Readers' Choice online survey and get a chance
to be one of 20 lucky participants who'll walk away with a coveted
Electronic Design t-shirt. Look for the results in our "Best"
special issue hitting your desk (and browser) on December 1.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=12C08:1001CD

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****************************
4. Upcoming Industry Events
****************************

October 4-6, ARM Developers' Conference '05
Santa Clara, Calif.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F9D:1001CD

October 10-14, PCB Design Conference East
Manchester, N.H.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D7:1001CD

December 6-8, IPC/JEDEC International Conference on Lead Free
Electronic Components
Boston, Mass.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=1361D:1001CD

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***************
5. Book Review
***************

"CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Second Edition"
By R. Jacob Baker

CMOS technology has dominated the IC business for the last 25 years
and will continue to do so for another 25 years, according to the
author of "CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation." He explains
that CMOS dominates because it is reliable, manufacturable, low
power, low cost, and scalable...

Read the full book review at
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=149D8:1001CD

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Technology in the News

Electronic Design has a new online feature! Read our latest
"Technology In The News" story about the recent announcements from
Apple Computer. Take an in-depth look at the technology behind the
new iTunes cell phone and iPod nano music player.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=14196:1001CD

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Embedded in Electronic Design (EiED) Online is your source for
technical insight and hands-on reviews. Read one of Technology
Editor Bill Wong's latest EiED Online columns, "ARM In Hand."
Freescale's new development board for the iMX1 from Cogent Computer
Systems fits in the palm of your hand. Bill takes a look at the
package, which includes GX-Linux from Microcross. He also tests the
system using Cornice's hard-disk eval kit.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=14197:1001CD

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TAKE A POLL!

What is your personal outlook for design projects in the next
quarter?

-- Concerned about slowdown/layoffs
-- Fewer projects, but still feel secure in my position
-- Good, stable workflow continues
-- Increased number of projects
-- Lots coming down the pike, maybe more than I can handle

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

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BEST Designs of the Year

Electronic Design is searching for the industry's best designs. Have
you created an especially innovative or unique product within the
past year? Get the recognition you deserve by submitting your design
for consideration as an Electronic Design "Best Design of the Year."
We're going to feature articles about the winning products in our
December 1, 2005 "Best of" special issue. You'll also get cash, as
the top design wins $1000. Good luck!

Get details at http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=13616:1001CD

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