[Cover Feature] Application Appetites Pressurize The Power Designers
The all-pervading atmosphere at PCIM 2005 was one of an industry at peace, but not complacent, with itself. The dark recessional days of 2001 to 2003 are well behind the power electronics industry and, generally speaking, companies are trading well and have plenty to occupy themselves with in coming up the new products and systems that developing applications demand. Most exhibiting companies were only too aware that failure...
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Paul Whytock
[Direct Feature] Burn-In Issues
Users of power-supply products demand increasingly high levels of reliability and performance. Although the suppliers of individual components can confidently provide impressive life and reliability data, the compound effect on overall reliability can be significant when a large number of individual components are combined in a module such as a power supply. Perhaps more important in terms of product reliability is the quality...
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Don Gerstle
[Direct Feature] Spoilt For Choice
Generally speaking designers want to find the most compact, efficient, reliable, and low-cost power supply for the application in question. A logical starting point is the AC input. Nearly all switchers are now designed to operate over a universal input range of 90-264 VAC. However, it's important to check that the power supply needn't be derated below acceptable limits at lower input voltages. Some cheaper models derate by as much as...
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Gary Bocock
[Direct Feature] Flexible Power-Up Sequencing For LCDs
For many systems, LCDs are a large part of the bill of materials (BOM). In some cases, such as HDTVs, more than 80% of the entire system cost is that of the LCD panel. From a perceived quality perspective, if the LCD begins to fail, the end customer will associate the system and its manufacturer with poor quality. Clearly, safeguarding the LCD component is a critical aspect of these system designs. LCDs are typically comprised...
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Bart Borosky
[Editorial] Chip Creator—World Changer
Not many people can be truly described as world changers, but Jack St. Clair Kilby was a fully paid up member of that elite group. Jack Kilby invented the first monolithic integrated circuit more than 45 years ago at Texas Instruments, an achievement that was destined to a have a profound effect on the human race. Sadly, Jack Kilby died recently in Dallas following a battle with cancer. In 1958, he...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Philips And Texas Instruments Join Forces On RFID Deployment
Radio-frequency-identification (RFID) semiconductor manufacturers Royal Philips Electronics and Texas Instruments have agreed to cooperate on conformance testing for the technical interpretation of the EPCglobal Electronic Product Code(EPC) Generation (Gen) 2 RFID standard. This joint effort is aimed at ensuring interoperability and accelerating market deployment of Gen 2 products, such as labels, hardware, and system...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Compact Tester
Yokogawa introduced two compact, easy-to-use and economical instruments for 10Gbit/s bit-error-rate testing. The AQ2200-601, based on the AQ2200 modular platform, is suited to laboratory and manufacturing applications. The AP9945 is a portable unit that is suited to field testing. "With the increased popularity of high-speed transmission systems, and particularly the use of ten gigabit speeds in both wide-area and local-area...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Wind River And Green Hills Agree On Settlement
Wind River Systems and Green Hills Software have entered into a non-monetary settlement resolving all current litigation between the two software companies. As part of the settlement, Wind River will provide Green Hills with Wind River's VxWorks RTOS in object code form, in a similar setup with Wind River's other alliance...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Agere Goes For Palladium II System
Cadence Design Systems announced that Agere Systems chose the Palladium II accelerator/emulator system after using the original Cadence Palladium system to verify and launch its TrueAdvantage converged access solutions. The increased capacity of Palladium II will reduce the overall functional-verification process of Agere's most complex chip designs, claims Cadence. Agere cited the Palladium II system's high-performing...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] IDT And ICS Merge
Integrated Device Technology and Integrated Circuit Systems have signed an agreement to combine the two companies. The parties believe that the merger will allow the merged company to increase its ability to service the requirements of its customers and will provide a platform for growth within the communications, computing, and consumer markets. Under terms of the merger agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Haier And Freescale Unveil World’s First Consumer TV With Ultra-Wideband
The Haier Corporation and Freescale Semiconductor achieved a critical milestone for wireless home-entertainment systems, showcasing the first Ultra-Wideband (UWB)-enabled LCD, high-definition television (HDTV), and digital media server at the Freescale Technology Forum. Leveraging UWB, Freescale chairman and CEO Michel Mayer and Haier executive VP Shariff Kan broadcasted HD video and audio streams wirelessly from a digital...
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Paul Whytock
[Upfront] Intersil Appoints New Chairman
Intersil, a designer and manufacturer of performance analogue solutions, announced an appointment that it says is designed to further focus the company as a high-performance analogue company. The company's board named outside director Gary E. Gist as chairman. Gist has been one of the company's directors since its inception in August 1999. "Gary brings tremendous knowledge about the electronics industry and...
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Paul Whytock
