EDN - December 25, 2003

For those of us in the electronics industry, it's not news that electronics invades a predominantly mechanical device and quickly runs rampant. Just look at how many microprocessors are in today's cars. But electronics have been slow to pervade aircraft. Sure, radio-communication and navigation systems have for years been electronics-based, because both relied on RF-communications technologies.

• Departments and Columns
• edn.comment
• A century of flight, decades of electronics

• Design Ideas
• 16-bit adjustable reference uses 8-bit digital potentiometers
• VCO produces positive and negative output frequencies
• Two DDS ICs implement amplitude-shift keying

• Features
• Design Feature
• Fly with the Internet, at your seat
• See me, hear me, touch me, feel me

• How It Works
• A flyer in a can

• Leading Edge
• Host-side controllers boost SATA speed, capabilities
• Knobs have both inner and outer glow
• Dedicated processor manages 128 pseudo-wires