Design Features: September 2, 1996
| Cover Story | |
| The hard facts about soft cores | The use of soft cores, predefined and preverified technology-independent
logic blocks, simplifies and speeds chip design. Knowing what to look for in
these blocks eases system design. —Jim Lipman, Technical Editor |
| Design Features The hottest new technologies and the latest design techniques to help you work efficiently and effectively. | |
| Workstation vendors brace for Pentium Pro whirlwind | The winds of change are blowing through the workstation business. Storms
are brewing around Windows NT, the Pentium Pro, the PowerPC, and UPA. —Maury Wright, Technical Editor |
| BIST: pie in the sky no longer | EEs have been hearing about BIST for almost two decades, but outside a few
specialized areas, the technology has had little impact. BIST still doesn't
appeal to everyone, but, thanks to new EDA products, those who apply BIST find
that it can be almost unbelievably effective. —Dan Strassberg, SeniorJohn Goldie |
| Have you ever had one of those days? | Use flip-flops and NAND gates to create the logic for changing a master
clock signal into three subclocks. —Clive "Max" Maxfield, Intergraph Computer Systems |
| Low-voltage differential signaling yields megatransfers per second with milliwatts of power | Today's high-speed data-transfer applications need hundreds of
megatransfers per second yet must consume only milliwatts of power. Older signal
standards can achieve either—but not both—of these goals. New
standards for low-voltage differential signaling let you overcome this
roadblock. —Stephen Kempainen, Technical Editor —John Goldie, National Semiconductor Corp |
| Beware of under- or overspecifying your next sensor |
To choose the best photoelectric sensor for your application, you need to consider a number of criteria, including sensor configuration; environment; and the placement, nature, and speed of the target. —Raymond Butow, Aromat Corp |