November 2005 Designing Chips For JTAG Testing
Boundary-scan testing offers a solution to the challenges presented by high component density, increasing use of area array packages, and the prevalence of complex, multilayer PCBs, which make test probe access and bed-of-nails testing impossible for many new board designs. Modern JTAG test gear has powerful capabilities that add value to product development, production, and field maintenance. Graphical user interfaces along with powerful test generation and troubleshooting...
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Dominic Plunkett
September 2005 Electric Avenue—Getting The Speed Controls In Place
Today, much of the electricity on the planet is consumed by inefficient electric motors from a bygone era. It is estimated that over 50% of all electricity is directed at powering motors that feature simple mechanical controls rather than electronic control advances. The refrigerator operating in many kitchens today is a good example. It uses a bi-metallic switch to turn the motor on when the inside temperature gets too hot, and then turns it off when the desired temperature is...
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David Tam
Power Design Europe May 2004 Systems Approach To Power Management Extends The Digital Roadmap
One of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing experts in power management is the delivery of an increasingly specialised blend of current required to power high performance processing inside notebooks, desktops, and servers. Over the past decade, current levels have skyrocketed while Voltage input levels have plunged as we try to squeeze more work from platforms approaching their thermal breakpoint. In order to extend advances in computing performance, a systems approach to power...
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Alex Lidow
Power Design Europe May 2004 Standards—Who Needs Them?
The news that SynQor and Tyco Electronics Power Systems had formed an alliance to ensure future DC/DC product compatibility and standardisation may have appeared to some industry observers purely a marketing strategy. In fact, it is a direct response to customer demand for true second sourcing and to answer their reasonable criticisms that the DC/DC market is too fragmented and that there is an absolute necessity for greater standardisation. But how important is second sourcing...
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Siegfried Kreuzer
June 2004 Fail-Safe Factors
Military and avionics systems continue to define the upper limit of the term software reliability. The consequences of the failure of a safety-critical system onboard a civil or military aircraft are immeasurably more serious than a glitch in a consumer appliance or internet service delivery. Embedded automotive systems now perform critical vehicle control functions and, therefore, have failure modes that are potentially fatal to the user. The term 'total reliability' sets software for...
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Christopher Smith
July/August 2004 Echoing—The Expectations
Providing superior voice quality is the most important way carriers can acquire and retain customers. With voice and data converging on to IP, continuing to deliver on the promise of excellent voice quality isn't as easy as it seems. The goal of VoIP has always been to provide equal or better voice quality than the network it is replacing and deliver services at a lower cost. Meeting this goal in the local service network has brought new focus on the critical role of echo...
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Doug Morissey
July/August 2004 Network Comms—Is Convergence For Real?
Convergence is telecommunication's Holy Grail – a single network infrastructure delivering all services. Through the 1990s, ATM was touted as the technology to achieve this goal. While it had significant success within carrier networks, we're still waiting for 'ATM to the desktop'. Today, attention has turned to IP/MPLS networks. IP is already at the desktop, but can it deliver on the promise of convergence? According to 'boom years' hype, IP was taking over. Telephone...
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Tim Frost
May 2005 Network-Centric Defence Fuels Deeper Outsourcing
The move toward network-centric communications and the need for highly advanced systems drives aerospace and defence primes to seek partners that have a legacy of IT, communications and optoelectronics capability. These partners should also offer a broad range of services, from design and printed-circuit assembly (PCA), to repair and field support. Such capability is critical as armed forces strive to bond sensors and strike platforms together to develop advanced C41SR (command,...
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Tom Lovelock
September 2004 Preaching To The Converted
Any discussion of programmable logic must include the role of the FPGA and, in particular, how designers can get the best out of their FPGA designs during design, development and final manufacture. FPGAs offer designers the flexibility to test a design in the application without incurring large NRE charges and allow design iterations to be performed using the same FPGA prototype device until the final working solution is attained. Furthermore, high-density FPGAs have changed the...
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Vince Hopkin
October 26, 2004 Less Can Mean More
The 1990's witnessed the consolidation of the EDA industry with many smaller companies being bought by larger ones and a few market leaders emerging with massive market share and profits to match. Now the situation is very different and the EDA market is undergoing fundamental change driven by three main factors: a more critical appraisal of their needs by EDA buyers, the divergence of analogue and digital designs, and the emergence of budget-constrained chip design start-up...
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Paul Double
October 26, 2004 Facing Up To Fibre’s Future
The fibre optics industry is young but has already been through some unpredictable disruptions and it's probably safe to assume there will be further unexpected developments making it difficult to predict what will happen in the future. The next two years will see a reasonable recovery in the market and a bit more consolidation among the companies. Due to acquisitions taking place now, companies will have the opportunity to move into new markets. The fibre optics industry as a...
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Fred Leonberger
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February 2005 Making A Case For An Holistic Approach To Design
Electronics design now requires an understanding of a broad range of market requirements, application complexities, and advanced technologies and techniques. Product differentiation has become a fundamental design requirement. Cost reduction that facilitates competitive pricing throughout the lifespan of a device is crucial to success. Time-to-market is an ever-shortening cycle. Nanometer process technologies need a new perspective, while what have previously been considered fringe...
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Marco Sabatini
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