Design Features: January 18, 1996

Cover Story
High-capacity, removable storage drives shake floppy foundation	The venerable 1.4-Mbyte floppy disk ran out of gas- - from capacity and performance points of view- - at least five years ago, but no standard storage device has emerged as a successor. Now, more than a dozen products based on magnetic and optical technologies are ready to take a shot at replacing the relic. — Maury Wright, Technical Editor
Design Features The hottest new technologies and the latest design techniques to help you work efficiently and effectively.
Cryptographic techniques secure your wireless designs	Code-generation and decoding ICs provide rolling-code encryption techniques that let noncryptographic experts design in security. The devices protect such applications as remote-keyless-entry systems for automobiles and buildings. —Doug Conner, Technical Editor
Advancing the art of industrial video imaging: CCD cameras and frame grabbers	The industrial market for video imaging applications is wide and varied. It isn’t surprising that video cameras for industrial applications offer a variety of choices. —John Gallant, Technical Editor
Circuit trade-offs minimize noise in battery-input power supplies	Analyzing noise from the perspective of portable-system design will help you make appropriate power-supply design trade-offs. These trade-offs include switch-mode topology and control architecture. —Bruce D Moore, Maxim Integrated Products
Beware of analog effects in pc-board conductors of fast digital systems	To avoid crosstalk and reflection problems in high-speed digital systems, you must consider transmission-line effects in the pc-board traces. —Zaid Ayoub, Dimensions Consulting Inc
Self-resetting PTC-polymer devices guard against overcurrent damage	You can now protect equipment from overcurrent damage without using fuses, which require replacement when they blow, or circuit breakers. Tiny positive-temperature-coefficient resistors made of conductive polymers can often provide cost-effective protection. —Mauricio Valencia, Raychem Corp
JPEG parameters determine compression-system performance	The wide availability of JPEG software and hardware simplifies image-compression system design. Before using the equipment, you must resolve quantization table design and system performance. —Debora Grosse, Unisys Corp