Electronic Design UPDATE: August 17, 2005

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Electronic Design UPDATE e-Newsletter
Electronic Design Magazine
PlanetEE ==> www.planetee.com
August 17, 2005
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Today's Table Of Contents:
1. News Focus
  *FPGA Starter Kit Shows Off Secure In-System Programmability
2. News From The Editors
  *Ethernet Switch Supports Triple And Quadruple Play
  *DOE Maps Out Path To Improved Solar Energy
  *Automotive Relay Touts 80-A Switching Capacity
3. TechView Scope
  *Mighty Mouse Swoops Onto Desktops
4. Upcoming Industry Events
  *Embedded Systems Conference
  *Intl Conference on Commercialising Technology
  *ARM Developers' Conference
5. Book Review
  *"Troubleshooting Analog Circuits"

Electronic Design UPDATE edited by Lisa Maliniak, eMedia Editor

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2005 Engineering Hall of Fame

The members of Electronic Design's Engineering Hall of Fame are 
those men and women whose accomplishments have shaped the 
electronics industry and, by extension, our world. It's time to vote 
for the 2005 slate of inductees. Give us a few minutes of your time 
to browse through our list of nominees and tell us who you think 
should be honored this year. Your vote counts!

Go to http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=EB97:1001CD

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1. News Focus
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FPGA Starter Kit Shows Off Secure In-System Programmability

Developers of high-volume applications can incorporate secure 
in-system programmability (ISP) into their products with the newest 
member of Actel's ProASIC3 family -- the 250-kgate A3P250 FPGA. 
Actel is also introducing two versions of a ProASIC3 starter kit to 
aid design implementation and offer low-cost, full-speed programming 
for the A3P250 device. Available in both a prototyping and a 
low-cost evaluation version, the starter kit permits the exploration 
of architectural features like the live-at-power-up capability. 
   The A3P250 FPGA works well in a range of high-volume, value-based 
applications. It contains 1024 bits of on-chip user nonvolatile 
flash memory and six clock-conditioning circuits. The device 
supports four I/O banks with up to 157 I/Os. For power-conscious 
designers, the A3P250 delivers standby power consumption of 3 mA 
under typical conditions.
   Secure ISP is provided through on-chip 128-bit AES decryption and 
built-in flash key storage technology. Because an AES decryption 
key is required to reverse-engineer the encrypted configuration 
bitstream for a ProASIC3 device, attempts to copy designs by 
intercepting the bitstream are futile. The AES-encrypted 
programming file allows for secure field upgrades. 
   The evaluation (Eval) version of the starter kit includes an 
A3P250 FPGA soldered directly to an evaluation board. The 
prototyping (Proto) version includes a socket-equipped evaluation 
board that accepts nine of the 10 devices in the ProASIC3/E 
family. Both boards contain an alphanumeric LCD display and 
provide CAT5E connectors to demonstrate the high-speed 
low-voltage differential-signaling functionality of the A3P250 
device.
   Multiple starter kits may be connected together in a JTAG chain 
to demonstrate multiple-device programming via a single 
programmer connection. The high-speed FlashPro3 programmer 
connects to a PC via a USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 interface. The kit also 
includes the company's Libero Gold 6.2 integrated development 
environment (IDE) software, USB cable, programming cable, power 
supply, tutorial, and support documentation. 
   Volume pricing for the ProASIC3 family starts at $1.50 in 
250,000-unit quantities. Samples of the A3P250 device are 
available now. The new ProASIC3/E starter kits are also available 
now. The Proto kit costs $449, and the Eval kit goes for $349.
     Actel Corp. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F7B:1001CD

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http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F96:1001CD

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2. News -- From The Editors
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***Ethernet Switch Supports Triple And Quadruple Play
The KS8893ML three-port Ethernet switch targets set-top boxes, Voice 
over Internet Protocol phones, residential gateways, media 
converters, industrial controls, and game consoles. This highly 
integrated, layer 2 managed switch fits cost-sensitive 10/100-Mbit/s 
switch products with low port counts. It supports four priority 
queues and enables triple-play (voice, video, data) or 
quadruple-play (voice, video, data, gaming) services. Traffic is 
prioritized by class of service. Key features include rate limiting, 
tag/port-based virtual local-area network, quality-of-service 
priority, management information base (MIB) counters, 
media-independent interface/serial-network interface (MII/SNI), and 
CPU control/data interfaces. The KS8893ML also features two 10/100 
transceivers, three media-access controller units, a high-speed 
nonblocking switch fabric, a dedicated address lookup engine, and an 
on-chip frame buffer memory. Samples are available now, with full 
production in the third quarter. Prices vary widely depending upon 
volume. Contact Micrel directly for a quote.
     Micrel Inc. ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F97:1001CD

***DOE Maps Out Path To Improved Solar Energy
Working toward the Bush Administration's goal of increased use of 
solar and other renewable forms of energy, the Department of 
Energy's (DOE) Office of Science has released a report describing 
the basic research needed to produce "revolutionary progress in 
bringing solar energy to its full potential in the energy 
marketplace." The report is the result of a workshop held earlier 
this year that brought together 200 scientists. Every hour, more 
energy from sunlight strikes the Earth than the planet consumes in a 
year. Yet today, solar electricity provides just 1/1000 of the total 
electricity supply. The proposed research could lead to such 
advances as artificial molecular machines that turn sunlight into 
chemical fuel and super-efficient solar cells created using 
nanotechnologies. The "Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy 
Utilization" report can be viewed and downloaded at 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F98:1001CD . Hard copies of 
the report are available upon request from the Office of Basic 
Energy Sciences at http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F99:1001CD
     U.S. Dept. of Energy ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F9A:1001CD

***Automotive Relay Touts 80-A Switching Capacity
With a large switching capacity of up to 80 A, the CTA3/A3 series 
relay is well suited for use in automobiles, heavy earth-moving 
equipment, off-road vehicles, emergency vehicle flashing lights, and 
many other similar applications. The RoHS-compliant relay has three 
different contact arrangements, as well as both pc-board pin and 
Quick-Connect mounting. Electrical life is rated at 100k cycles and 
mechanical life at 10M cycles. Coil-to-contact dielectric strength 
and contact-to-contact strength are both 500 V rms minimum at sea 
level. The relay offers an optional mounting flange; a choice of 6-, 
12-, or 24-V dc coil voltage; and a variety of coil-suppression 
options. Rugged vibration-resistant versions are available for 
off-road vehicles. Average lead time is five to 11 weeks. Pricing 
starts at $1.05 each in 10,000-unit lots.
     CIT Relay and Switch ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F9B:1001CD

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3. TechView Scope 
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Mighty Mouse Swoops Onto Desktops

Here it comes to save the day... Apple's Mighty Mouse takes pointing 
and clicking to the next level. This $49 peripheral looks like a 
typical one-button Mac mouse. But sensors under its one-piece shell 
offer PC-like left-click and right-click functionality. Users can 
activate a pair of side buttons with just a little squeeze, too. And 
while many mice offer a scroll wheel for vertical control, the 
Mighty Mouse's scroll ball provides movement in 360 degrees. 
   The Mighty Mouse uses a USB 1.1 cable, though it's compatible 
with USB 2.0 ports as well. It also uses optical tracking. System 
requirements include Mac OS X, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Users 
with Mac OS X v10.4.2 Tiger or later can program the Mighty Mouse 
for their own custom functions. In fact, the Tiger and Mighty 
Mouse team lets users program the scroll button to launch 
Application Switcher and then move from one task to another with 
just a simple scroll. 
     Apple Computer ==> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F9C:1001CD

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Submit Photos And Get Paid! 

Grab some photos showing the "guts and glory" of 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. 15.

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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4. Upcoming Industry Events
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September 12-15, Embedded Systems Conference
Boston, Mass.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=FEF8:1001CD

September 14-15, IEE International Conference on Commercialising 
Technology and Innovation
London, U.K.
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=EB9E:1001CD

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

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5. Book Review
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"Troubleshooting Analog Circuits"
By Robert A. Pease

Both analog and digital engineers, whether novice or experienced, 
will find value in Bob Pease's time honored book, "Troubleshooting 
Analog Circuits." Bob's many decades of experience helped him 
develop techniques and methods to expedite the debugging and 
troubleshooting....

Read the full book review at 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10F9E: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, "Embedded AI?" This 
year's AAAI/IAAI conference shows that artificial intelligence has a 
place in today's production environment.
Visit http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=10638:1001CD

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TAKE A POLL!

The face of radio is changing. If you're a listener, which best 
describes the current state of your radio technology?

-- Subscribe to Sirius/XM satellite radio
-- Plan to subscribe to satellite radio
-- Own an HD (high definition) radio receiver
-- Plan to buy an HD receiver
-- Listen to AM or FM broadcast/other

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

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Designing With Video Signals

Dealing with digital video signals in the analog world can be 
tricky. Arm yourself with knowledge and download our eBook, 
"Analog/Mixed-Signal Components For 21st Century Video," by 
Analog/Power Editor Don Tuite. Chapter 1 covers the basics, and 
Chapter 2 discusses interfacing video amps to digital-to-analog 
converters. The recently added Chapter 3 looks at video multiplexing 
and driving unshielded twisted pairs.

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=8725:1001CD

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Need To Go Green? We Can Help!

The European Union, as well as Japan and China, are about to 
restrict the use of environmentally hazardous materials in 
electronic components and systems through the Restrictions on 
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. Electronic Design's RoHS 
Reference Center has the information you need to make the shift to 
green designs. The fourth chapter of our eBook, "Electronic Design's 
Guide To New International Environmental Laws," is now available for 
download. And don't miss our comprehensive list of industry and 
government Web sites and contacts. 

http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=9857:1001CD

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CONTACTS: Electronic Design UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER
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Editorial: Mark David, Editor-in-Chief
mailto:[email protected]

Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Bill Baumann, Publisher:
mailto:[email protected]
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