Electronic Design UPDATE: February 7, 2007

Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter | February 7, 2007

With Molex®, You Can Avoid Backplane Redesigns

Be prepared for backplane design upgrades with a connector system designed for high-speed and high-density applications — the GbX® Backplane Connector System. The GbX system delivers speeds up to 10 Gbps, while providing high-density with up to 69 real differential pairs per linear inch. To learn more about these cost-effective, high-performance backplane solutions, visit our Web site today.

Click here for more information.

ADVERTISEMENT Today's Table Of Contents:

Editor's View: Playing Politics With Technology
Now on electronicdesign.com: Electronic Design Wire News
Focus On Test & Measurement: J-BERT Options Allow Quick, Accurate Characterization Of Fast Interfaces
Quick Poll: In Does Anyone Still Use An Analog Oscilloscope? Communications/Test Editor Louis E. Frenzel asked readers what they think about today's oscilloscopes. What's your take?
News From The Editors:
Intel Core 2 Duo Boosts Performance Of Dual-PMC SBC
OIF Okays Faster, Scalable Packet Interface
Metal Stripe Hikes Resistors’ Power Capacity Without Hazardous Materials
“Primer” Helps Designers With Real-Time Spectrum Analysis
Upcoming Industry Events:
MuniWireless Texas 07
DATE (Design, Automation, and Test in Europe)
Design Automation Conference 2007
Product Picks Online:
Portable Navigation Device Uses New GPS Hardware/Software
Board Tester Integrates In-Circuit, Boundary-Scan Capabilities
Bus Converter Module Boasts Very High Power Density
Development Kit Targets NXP LPC2148 Microcontroller
RF EDA Software Is Packaged For Specific Tasks

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Christine Hintze, Associate Editor Will the new Congress be good for technology? Will its members put down their state-of-the-art cell phones and Blackberrys long enough to seriously consider legislation that will help U.S. industry be more competitive and perhaps even help strengthen the economy? Click here for full article.

focus on test & measurement... J-BERT Options Allow Quick, Accurate Characterization Of Fast Interfaces With 7-Gbit/s or 12.5-Gbit/s pattern generators that feature complete jitter-injection capabilities, the J-BERT N4903A allows designers and test engineers to quickly and accurately stimulate serial high-speed ports for better characterization of device performance...

Click here for full article.

BOOSTCAP® Ultracapacitors Energize Fuel Cells in Bridge Power Apps

Mission critical installations such as data centers & telecom centers are protected by standby power generation equipment. This paper explores the benefits of ultracapacitor augmented bridge power systems that provide enhanced functionality and reliability vs fuel cell based power solutions.

View this technical paper and get our free ultracapacitor design-in guide today at www.maxwell.com.

live on electronicdesign.com Electronic Design Wire News Tired of searching the Web for engineering news you can use? Now, electronicdesign.com features press releases, product announcements, and feature stories from sources like the PR Newswire, USA Today, The Washington Post, and more.

To see today’s news, handpicked daily by Electronic Design’s technical editors, go to electronicdesign.com.

news from the editors Intel Core 2 Duo Boosts Performance Of Dual-PMC SBC Using the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the PP 412/03x CompactPCI single-board computer (SBC) from Concurrent Technologies delivers an improved performance/watt compared to its predecessor, the PP 410/03x. The upgraded SBC supports the 2.16-GHz Core Duo T7400 (in a socket) with 4 Mbytes of L2 cache (shared between the cores).

Click here for full article. OIF Okays Faster, Scalable Packet Interface With scalability from 6 Gbits/s to hundreds of gigabits per second, the SPI-S (Scalable System Packet Interface) is ready for immediate deployment, now that the implementation agreement has been finalized by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF)...

Click here for full article. Metal Stripe Hikes Resistors’ Power Capacity Without Hazardous Materials A metal center stripe on the backplane of the APX-CS series of aluminum nitride resistors improves thermal conductivity through the application’s groundplane, which enhances power capacity. The stripe, which is electrically isolated from both of the wrapped terminals, provides significant advantages to manufacturers of power supplies, two-way radios, industrial instruments, communications equipment, and other systems that require high power dissipation coupled with an environmentally safe solution.

Click here for full article. “Primer” Helps Designers With Real-Time Spectrum Analysis A downloadable primer from Tektronix describes how the company’s patented Digital Phosphor technology allows the RSA6100A series of real-time spectrum analyzers to detect brief, intermittent, complex, or coincident signals. These signals are often missed by conventional spectrum analyzers and vector signal analyzers.

Click here for full article.

quick poll In Does Anyone Still Use An Analog Oscilloscope? Communications/Test Editor Louis E. Frenzel asked readers what they think about today's oscilloscopes. What's your take?

I prefer analog scopes, they are adequate for my needs, and I will never change.
When digital scopes come down in price, I will buy one.
Use one of the newer DSOs with deep memory, color LCD, and analysis software, and you will never go back.
Any good lab should have both.

Let your voice be heard. Vote now on www.electronicdesign.com.The Quick Poll is located at the bottom of the page, so don't forget to scroll down!

embedded in electronic design online Micro/sys Dishes On StackableUSB For Embedded IO StackableUSB is a new standard that uses the PC/104 form factor and stacking architecture. The host accesses devices via USB instead of an ISA or PCI bus. Check out this Q&A with Micro/sys, the originator of the new standard.

Click here for full article.

product picks online

Check all of our online product picks at www.electronicdesign.com.

book review History of Semiconductor Engineering
By Bo Lojek
ISBN: 3540342575 Review by Bob Pease, Contributing Editor Bo Lojek, a research scientist at Atmel’s Colorado Springs facility, chronicles the amazing stories of all kinds of brilliant research in his new book, History of Semiconductor Engineering. He also documents all of the human foibles that mark the industry’s milestones. Shockley, the “Fairchild Eight,” and Texas Instruments are just some of the major players Bo describes.

Click here for full article.

upcoming industry events MuniWireless Texas 07
March 6-7 Dallas, Texas DATE (Design, Automation, and Test in Europe)
April 16-20 Nice, France Design Automation Conference 2007
Jun 4 - 8 San Diego, Calif.

Click to see more industry events.