Electronic Design Update: June 20, 2007

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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter | June 20, 2007

Bridge The BackUp Power Gap With Ultracapacitors

Read how BOOSTCAP® ultracapacitors are providing a new level of reliability over batteries and fuel cells in mission-critical installations where an uninterrupted power supply is crucial.

Click here for more information.

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Richard Gawel, Managing Editor

.. scope | Some One-Word Advice For Wiring: Plastics By John Edwards, Contributing Editor

By adding a polymer acid to a common plastic, chemists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new kind of plastic material that features changeable conductivity. The "doped" plastic technology could be used to provide cheap, flexible wiring in future electronics products.

Read the full article..... focus on components | Flexible Photodetector Arrays Get Bigger

Nanoident Technologies AG employs its Semiconductor 2.0 Platform technology to create large-array photodetector arrays on flexible plastic-foil substrates.

Read the full article..... EiED online | Sniffing ZigBee

Daintree Networks' offerings are mainly software, but its Ethernet/USB-based Sensor Network Adapter provides sniffing capabilities that often are unavailable with other vendors' hardware.

Read the full article..... Engineering TV: Episode 45 | Engineering Space Suits

Designing a space suit for space exploration is one thing. Creating a space suit for planetary exploration is a completely different tailoring order. Aside from the atmospheric issues, NASA engineers are looking at a way to make the suits lighter.

Click here to watch the episodes on Engineering TV...

..news from the editors | Power-Entry Modules Offer Maximum Functionality, Minimal Dimensions

The DD11 and DD12 power-entry modules from Schurter include a flange for screw-mounting them to the panel. The units house up to four functions in a 49- by 30-mm package.

Read the full article.... Single-Chip Companion Packed With Support For Processor Applications

Ramtron's FM33x family of FRAM-Enhanced Processor Companions integrates nonvolatile RAM with comprehensive support and peripheral functions on a single chip. The initial family members, the FM33256 and the FM3316, are 3-V devices with 256 kbits and 16 kbits of ferroelectric RAM, respectively.

Read the full article.... High-Voltage, Highly Integrated LED Driver Suits Car Lighting Tasks

The MAX16831 high-power LED driver from Maxim is designed to ensure high reiability in automotive and general lighting applications. The device can operate over an input range of 5.4 to 76 V, and it provides a 1.4/2-A source/sink capability.

Read the full article.... PMC Module Holds Four High-Speed Serial Comm Channels

The TPMC863 high-speed quad serial communication PMC module from TEWS Technologies supports a maximum data rate of 10 Mbits/s for synchronous protocols and 2 Mbits/s for asynchronous protocols.

Read the full article...

LeCroy Webcast: Advances in Mixed Signal Testing

With the explosive growth in the use of microcontrollers, engineers need to test and debug circuits that include both analog signals and multiple digital lines. Dr. Michael Lauterbach will show practical examples of real applications including LIN, I2C, CAN, RS-232, generic UART testing and other types of digital signals with toggle rates up to 500 MHz and analog bandwidth from 200 MHz to 2 GHz.

Sign up for the webcast today!

..quick poll | The next generation of engineers has to come from somewhere. How do we get today's kids interested in the profession?

Improved coursework in school
Competitions like FIRST Robotics
Mentoring programs with real engineers
"21st Century" hobby kits
Better PR and "celebrity" spokespeople
Other

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!..product picks online | Tiny High-Efficiency Driver Handles 10 White LEDs Triple-Band Tuners Compatible With DAB, T-DMB Standards Small Form Factors Suit Ultracaps For Portable Applications Partitioning Solution Secures Multicore Systems Enhanced Toolset Aids Human-Machine Interface Development ..upcoming industry events | Multi-core Programming Tools & Methodologies June 27 Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham, U.K. IPC Midwest Conference & Exhibition Sept. 22-28 Schaumburg, Ill. AdvancedTCA Summit 2007 Oct. 16-18 Santa Clara, Calif. See more industry events...

Freescale Beekit (TM) Wireless Connectivity Toolkit

It makes development so fast, you can have a small network up and running in just 30 minutes. The highly intuitive GUI lets your team collaborate in an immediate, centralized environment. Shave weeks off your development time on everything from complicated mesh networks to simple point-to-point networks. And make a bee-line to market with your ZigBee designs.

Get your Beekit now

.. ED bookstore | Networking Wireless Sensors By Bhaskar Krishnamachari

ZigBee, 802.15.4, and other wireless technologies are changing the way engineers address problems, especially when it comes to sensors and controls. Krishnamachari's book explores the how and why of wireless networking.

Click here to buy the book.....