Design Features: January 6, 1994

Cover Story
Diagrammatic programming	A host of diagrammatic-programming and debugging tools allows you to picture what your program is rather than making you describe in words what it does. --Charles H Small, Senior Technical Editor
Design Features The hottest new technologies and the latest design techniques to help you work efficiently and effectively.
Techniques illuminate backlit LCDs with high efficiency	Getting a backlight LCD lamp to turn on is just the first step in the design process. Achieving and maintaining high efficiency requires attention to both circuit-design and physical-layout details. --Jim Williams, Linear Technology Corp
Phase compensation counteracts op-amp input capacitance	Although op amps are mature devices, many designers often ignore the effects of input capacitance on frequency stability. A bode plot analysis lets you add compensation capacitors to counteract poles and zeros caused by an op amp's input capacitance. --Jerald Graeme, Burr-Brown Corp
Emerging 100-Mbit Ethernet standards ease system bottlenecks	The networking industry is developing faster versions of Ethernet to meet increasing demands for LAN capacity. As a result, two standards are now emerging—each reflecting a different cost or capability --Richard A Quinnell, Technical Editor
Handheld-receiver front ends integrate assorted components	Front-end products for handheld wireless receivers include amplifiers, spdt switches, antennas, attenuators, and filters. Unfortunately, most of these devices come as separate components, which the system manufacturer must wire together. --John Gallant, Technical Editor