Design Features: February 17, 1994

Cover Story
EMC-design tools	The problem facing designers of high-speed circuits is not just to make sure that products work by themselves. Designers must also make sure that their products fit into a larger community of electronic systems. The issue is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). -- Doug Conner, Technical Editor
Design Features The hottest new technologies and the latest design techniques to help you work efficiently and effectively.
PLD-design methods migrate existing designs to high-capacity devices	Moving to newer higher capacity programmable devices can give you higher density and better performance. But if you use common CAE design tools, transferring your old design's description to the new device's development environment may be difficult. PLD-design methods help ensure that your design remains transportable. -- Mike Trapp, Lattice Semiconductor Corp
Quantify critical-timing risks with statistical analysis	Performing a timing analysis using conservative worst-case methods may force you to over design or reduce performance goals unnecessarily. Using statistical methods to quantify the risks associated with critical timing paths lets you trade off technology vs performance and manufacturing goals. -- James J Vorgert, Texas Instruments Inc
Minimize time delays and reduce circuit density by retiming a design	Timing for initial sequential circuit designs generally is not optimal. By following some retiming procedures, you can add or delete sequential blocks to optimize circuit timing requirements and minimize circuitry. -- Jaap Sondervan, Philips Electronic Design and Tools
Speech-synthesis and -recognition chips personalize consumer products	If speech is the mirror of the soul, then many of today's commercial products will reap their just rewards. Maturation of speech-compression coding algorithms is allowing almost every new device to talk, make audio sounds, and even recognize a human voice. -- JOHN GALLANT, Technical Editor
Shrinking devices put the squeeze on system packaging	While solving today's system-packaging puzzles, you can design products that are not only smaller but more reliable. -- CHARLES H SMALL, Senior Technical Editor