Electronic Design UPDATE: July 14, 2004

July 14, 2004
InfiniBand Vendors Gather 'Round APIs by William Wong, Embedded/Systems/Software Technology Editor. InfiniBand has taken some hammering in the past as a new technology that must take on the likes of Ethernet and Fibre Channel...
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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter Electronic Design Magazine PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com July 14, 2004

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*************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** SPECIAL REBATE: EMBEDDED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE Register before July 23 and get a $100 rebate off the Full Conference package price at the EMBEDDED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE. Choose from more than 50 tutorials and technical classes, see the embedded market's best vendors and products and learn from the best minds in embedded development. Check out the conference program, exhibitor list and registration form at http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BIPX0Au **************************************************************** Today's Table Of Contents: 1. Editor's View * InfiniBand Vendors Gather 'Round APIs 2. Focus On Test & Measurement * Power Supply Features High Output, Low Noise 3. News From The Editors * Adapter Connects Compact Flash Drives To IDE * 32-Channel PC/104 Card Features Optically Isolated I/O * Light, Strong PXI Chassis Suits High-Power Applications 4. Upcoming Industry Events * Aug. 2-6, International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology * Aug. 9-13, IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society Symposium * Aug. 13-15, IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society Symposium * Aug. 17-19, Embedded Software Development Conference 5. Magazine Highlights: July 5, 2004 * Cover Story: Technology Report -- The Future Of Sensors * Leapfrog: Industry First -- Compiler Leverages Automation Power Of CPU Core * Design View / Design Solution -- Taking A Peek Under The Hood Of Your Spice Circuit-Simulation Engine Electronic Design UPDATE edited by John Novellino, Executive Editor **************************************************************** TAKE OUR CURRENT QUICK POLL: The editors ask what technology you would like to see us cover more extensively. -- Analog -- Components -- Digital -- Embedded -- Power Go to Electronic Design ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BGmZ0AP ***** ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! 2004 Ballot For Electronic Design's ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME It's time to elect the Class Of 2004 to our Engineering Hall Of Fame. Here's your opportunity to cast your vote for the individuals you believe should take their place beside industry legends like William Hewlett and David Packard. Our online ballot allows you to vote for as many nominees as you deem worthy and to name your own candidates, too. Go to Zoomerang ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtY0AY ***** Electronic Design presents: Day in the Life of an Electronic Designer Photo Essay Contest Grab your camera and get some shots showing the "guts and glory" of you (and your team) at work. We'll be publishing a Day in the Life of an Electronic Designer photo essay as part of our YOUR Most Important Issue of the Year, our second annual special issue focusing on career issues for electronic designers. $500 Grand Prize for photo series $250 prize for best photo And we pay $50 if we use any of your photos in the issue. Deadline for photos is July 30. Please include names and titles of all photo subjects, as well as company name and the type of work-in-process illustrated by the photo. Submit photos digitally to: [email protected]; or mail to Mark David Electronic Design Editor-In-Chief 45 Eisenhower Dr. 5th Floor Paramus, NJ 07652 (201) 845-2467 mailto:[email protected] ***** YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $500! Take our ISSUE POLL and win a $500 gift certificate. The editors would like to know what you think of the JUNE 21 ISSUE of Electronic Design. Your feedback will help us better understand your critical information needs and provide valuable guidance for developing future editorial content. It's also your automatic entry into our drawing for a $500 American Express gift certificate. Go to http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtZ0AZ ***** JUST LAUNCHED! A weekly Web Exclusive column by Bill Wong If embedded technology is your thing, don't miss a single edition of Bill Wong's brand new column, EiED Online. As one of the top editors in the business, Bill brings his savvy insight to every aspect of embedded technology, be it hardware or software or something else. Read all about it, from in-depth analysis to hands-on test results. Go to http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJta0Ag **************************************************************** ********************** 1. Editor's View -- Exclusive to Electronic Design UPDATE ********************** InfiniBand Vendors Gather 'Round APIs By William Wong, Embedded/Systems/Software Technology Editor InfiniBand has taken some hammering in the past as a new technology that must take on the likes of Ethernet and Fibre Channel. While there is some overlap, InfiniBand has its own niche. InfiniBand is found in a number of high-performance computing (HPC) deployments, including many supercomputer applications. Earlier this year, the InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) announced that InfiniBand will now support bidirectional transfer rates up to 30 Gbits/s. Many vendors like Intel initially supported InfiniBand and then trained their sights on other targets. They are back now. The IBTA has helped, along with diehard InfiniBand supporters like Mellanox. But the IBTA left one thing out of its charter, creation of an InfiniBand application programming interface (API). Open InfiniBand takes on the API task with the support of a wide range of vendors, including Intel and TopSpin Communications. The Open InfiniBand organization is charged with developing an open API along with a basic protocol stack implementation. The organization will develop an open-source implementation on Linux that can be migrated to other operating systems. The licensing terms are very interesting, as they apply on a per module basis. Open InfiniBand has chosen to support both a BSD and GPL licensing scheme, enabling developers to choose which license to distribute their version under. BSD allows the source code to remain closed, while GPL forces it to be available. Contributors to the Open InfiniBand specification must provide any contributions with this stipulation. On the plus side, it makes vendors more amenable to using and contributing their source code via the more liberal BSD license. A number of items are in the works. A protocol stack is currently available for examination, although it is not designated as version 1.0 yet. The delivery schedule for version 1.0 will be announced by the end of the current quarter, and a release is expected in the third or fourth quarter, since much of the work has been done already. The modular nature of the stack permits developers to select services that may be required, from fabric management via OpenSM (subnet manager) to IP over InfiniBand (IPoIB). Having a single stack as the basis for InfiniBand should spur InfiniBand's growth and make it easier to expand the number of vendors delivering an InfiniBand solution. Open InfiniBand ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtb0Ah InfiniBand Trade Association ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtc0Ai Intel ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ01x80AY Topspin Communications ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtd0Aj To comment on this Editor's View, go to Reader Comments at the foot of the Web page: Electronic Design UPDATE ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJte0Ak **************************************************************** *************************ADVERTISEMENT************************** Fall 2004 Intel Developer Forum Systems Conference, September 7-9 Stretch your boundaries with the latest updates on converging technologies. Join us at the Fall 2004 Intel Developer Forum Systems Conference, September 7-9, at Moscone Center South in San Francisco. Find the in-depth technical information--and the people--you need to stay nimble in a changing environment. SAVE up to $400! As our valued customer, you're entitled to a special rate on a full conference pass. Enter your Priority Code ATTMTELD to receive your savings. For more information or to register, visit http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJuG0AH **************************************************************** ********************** 2. Focus On Test & Measurement ********************** ***Power Supply Features High Output, Low Noise A 19-in. rack-mount power supply uses new switch-mode technology to provide up to 1.2 kW of low-noise power in a 1U (1.75-in.) high chassis. The Model VSP6020 outputs 0 to 60 V dc at 0 to 20 A, and up to nine supplies can be cascaded to produce more than 10 kW. Energy conversion efficiency is 80%, and noise is less than 20 mV (5 mV typical at full load). The first member of the series can be PC-controlled through an RS-232 interface. Future members will include GPIB (IEEE 488) capability. Users can manually control the supply via front-panel potentiometers and three-digit meters. Analog remote sensing automatically maintains the desired voltage at the load level of the power cable. For cooling purposes, the supply incorporates front-to-back airflow for full-power operation without space between the supplies. The Model VSP6020 costs $1725 and is available for immediate delivery. B&K Precision Corp. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ07mb0AB ********************** 3. News -- From The Editors ********************** ***Adapter Connects Compact Flash Drives To IDE The CFADPT7 adapter lets users connect one or two compact flash (CF) drives to any system that has an integrated development environment (IDE) port. The card fits a standard 2.5-in. hard drive footprint to allow easy retrofit to existing products. In addition to the standard 44-pin, 2-mm IDE connector, the CFADPT7 can have a 40-pin IDE connector. The unit comes in both single- and dual-drive versions. It accepts both type 1 and type 2 CF cards and works with the newer DMA-capable CF cards. The single-drive version costs $17, and the dual-drive version is $25. Mesa Electronics ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtg0Am ***32-Channel PC/104 Card Features Optically Isolated I/O The Model 104-IDIO-16 32-channel PC/104 board features 16 optically isolated inputs and 16 optically isolated solid-state outputs. The nonpolarized inputs handle dc voltages from 3 to 31 V and ac frequencies from 40 Hz to 10 kHz. Each input includes a jumper-selectable slow/fast filter to handle ac inputs. The board operates from -40 degrees C to 85 degrees C. Pricing starts at $279. A 16-channel version is available for $159. Acces I/O Products Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BCJU0Af ***Light, Strong PXI Chassis Suits High-Power Applications Rugged construction, plug-in power and cooling modules, and RS-485 monitoring are key features in a PXI high-performance instrumentation chassis, the 14-slot, high-power, low-weight SR32-RH. The low-profile 4U system includes removable rack flanges and integral rear shock pin receivers to provide secure mounting within a transit case or a 19-in. rack backplane. It contains a controller and star-trigger slots, and it supports both 3U and 6U modules. An 800-W module that supports a wide range of ac inputs powers the chassis. Included is a 120-cu. ft/min. tube-axial cooling fan. Prices start at $7900, with a lead time of eight weeks. Tracewell Systems Inc. ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJth0An ********************** 4. Upcoming Industry Events ********************** Aug. 2-6, International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology Denver, Colo. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BIoe0Ae Aug. 9-13, IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society Symposium (EMC2004) Santa Clara, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJGN0Ac Aug. 13-15, IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society Symposium Santa Clara, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJWH0Am Aug. 17-19, Embedded Software Development Conference San Jose, Calif. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BIPX0Au ********************** 5. Magazine Highlights ********************** In case you missed them, here are some of the high points of our most recent issue. July 5, 2004: * Cover Story: Technology Report -- The Future Of Sensors Besides greater penetration in the automotive, medical, and industrial arenas, sensor manufacturers also anticipate a multitude of applications in wireless communications and consumer electronics. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJti0Ao * Leapfrog: Industry First -- Compiler Leverages Automation Power Of CPU Core The XPRES compiler automates architectural exploration and acceleration directly from the C/C+ source code -- without altering the source. http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtj0Ap * Design View / Design Solution -- Taking A Peek Under The Hood Of Your Spice Circuit-Simulation Engine http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtk0Aq For the complete Table of Contents, go to Electronic Design ==> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eggf0Gl4E70EmQ0BJtl0Ar

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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, Publisher: mailto:[email protected]

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About the Author

William G. Wong | Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF

I am Editor of Electronic Design focusing on embedded, software, and systems. As Senior Content Director, I also manage Microwaves & RF and I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, programmers, developers and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can send press releases for new products for possible coverage on the website. I am also interested in receiving contributed articles for publishing on our website. Use our template and send to me along with a signed release form. 

Check out my blog, AltEmbedded on Electronic Design, as well as his latest articles on this site that are listed below. 

You can visit my social media via these links:

I earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Computer Science from Rutgers University. I still do a bit of programming using everything from C and C++ to Rust and Ada/SPARK. I do a bit of PHP programming for Drupal websites. I have posted a few Drupal modules.  

I still get a hand on software and electronic hardware. Some of this can be found on our Kit Close-Up video series. You can also see me on many of our TechXchange Talk videos. I am interested in a range of projects from robotics to artificial intelligence. 

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