September 25, 1997

WHAT'S HOT IN THE DESIGN COMMUNITY

RAID controller turbocharges I/O rate

A new PCI-to-SCSI RAID controller from Mylex supports Level-5 operations and can maintain 2400 I/O operations per sec--a 118% improvement over the company's previous products. The DAC960PJ enables OEMs to offer higher performance enterprisewide network servers that feature the data integrity inherent in a RAID-5 system. The controller also supports RAID-0, 0+1, 1, and 3 modes.

The DAC960PJ gains its performance advantage by combining a Mylex 86238 RAID-controller IC and the new 66-MHz i960RD µP from Intel. The 86238 controls as much as 128 Mbytes of onboard extended-data-out DRAM and performs ECC and parity functions on the fly. The i960RD handles SCSI command processing. Each DAC960PJ supports three SCSI channels and Ultra SCSI. You can gang as many as eight of the RAID controllers in one server operating under Windows NT. The board is I₂O-ready, and you can expect Windows NT operating-system support for I₂O late this year. Based on the number of channels implemented, DAC960PJ prices range from $1050 to $1350 (1000) with 4 Mbytes of memory.

--by Maury Wright

Mylex Corp, Fremont, CA. 1-510-796-6100, www.mylex.com.

Li-ion-pack power gauge adds
performance and safety

The popularity of Li-ion batteries, along with their complex charging and protection requirements, mandates that IC vendors offer a diverse spread of battery-supervisory devices (see "Supervisory ICs empower batteries to take charge," EDN, Sept 1, 1997, pg 60). One such device, the bq2050H fuel gauge from Benchmarq Microelectronics, targets battery packs or system installations. It determines available capacity by monitoring voltage drop across a sense resistor and then applying a variety of charge-determination algorithms and compensation factors. It includes a current-measurement circuit, an A/D converter for temperature and voltage measurement, and a timebase.

Compared with its predecessor, the bq2050H adds battery-pack safety monitoring and control based on temperature and voltage; a faster communications port operating at 5 kbps; and an enhanced V/F converter for the analog-to-digital function. This function uses a design that can resolve the small voltages that appear across the sense resistor--which is typically a 50-megaohm value component--more quickly than conventional V/F converters. The 16-pin narrow SOIC can also directly drive five LEDs to give users a quick indication of battery capacity available.

--by Bill Schweber

Benchmarq Microelectronics Inc, Dallas, TX. 1-972-437-9195, fax 1-972-437-9198, www.benchmarq.com.

Thin network server fits into floppy bay

Although PC design favors number-crunching applications, many embedded applications, such as small-system network control, thin servers, and network-attached storage systems, instead require efficient data transmission. To fill that need, Mylex Corp's Power and Light Division offers Autonet, an embeddable, plug-and-play, network-server module. It slides into the space that a 3.5-in. floppy-disk drive once occupied, thus turning a peripheral bay into a network-connected storage system. The Autonet module's hardware uses a RISC CPU and offers Ultra-SCSI and 10/100 Ethernet interfaces. With the module's open-system network operating system, your hardware requires neither keyboard nor monitor. Instead, you interact with Autonet using conventional Web browsers.

Autonet acts as a self-configuring network file server. Upon power-up, the module automatically finds and partitions attached disk drives, sets up user spaces, and provides password protection. It supports a variety of network protocols, including sockets, HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), and NFS (network file system). As a result, Autonet works with virtually any client network structure, including mixed Windows, Windows NT, Unix, and NetWare systems. It also works in applications without other networks, serving as a network controller for small and home offices. Prices start at $995 and depend on memory configuration.

--by Richard A Quinnell

Network Power and Light, Fremont, CA. 1-510-608-2222, fax 1-510-608-2555, npl@mylex.com.

EDN wants you--if you're innovative

There's still time to submit your nominations for EDN's Innovation/Innovator of the Year Award. If you or someone in your company has designed an innovative technology this year, contact us as soon as possible for a brochure by phone at 1-617-558-4590, fax at 1-617-558-4470, or e-mail at lguimond@cahners.com. Nominations are due by Nov 14, 1997. We offer awards in nine product categories as well as one award for Innovator of the Year.

--by Fran Granville

EDN, Newton, MA. 1-617-558-4590.

Long-awaited multilevel cell
debuts, cuts flash costs

Intel's 2-bit-per-cell flash-memory technology has emerged as a product, the 64-Mbit 28F640J5. (Intel respectively discussed and demonstrated the technology at the 1995 and 1996 International Solid State Circuits Conferences.) The 24F64OJ5, the first in a planned family of StrataFlash memories, is now available for sampling, and the company plans volume production for the first quarter of next year. Intel plans sampling and production dates for the 32-Mbit 28F032J5 for the first and second quarters of 1998, respectively.

Both parts operate at 5V core and program/erase voltages, and the ×8/×16-bit I/O buffers can run as low as 2.7V. The memories use slow but high-precision internal programming algorithms to accurately place charge levels corresponding to one of four 2-data-bit combinations on each of the array transistors (see "Data storage in a flash", EDN, July 3, 1997, pg 65). However, each program operation writes twice as much information as in a 1-bit-per-cell flash, and StrataFlash memories also include 32-byte internal page buffers. The resultant program time, 6 µsec per byte, compares with all but the fastest 1-bit flash memory alternatives. The erase block size is 128 kbytes with a 10,000-per-block cycle specification at 1% unit-level defects per million.

Intel also focuses on read performance, a critical consideration in applications that directly execute code from the flash memory. A more complex sense amp and logic circuit than in standard flash, analogous to that in high-speed A/D converters, quickly decodes the amount of stored charge and delivers 150 nsec (64 Mbits) and 120 nsec (32 Mbits) random-access times. Packaging options include SSOP, µBGA, and TSOP (32 Mbit only). Intel, M-Systems, and partner vendors provide flash-file-system software.

Price for the 28F640J5 is $29.90 (10,000), the same price the company placed on its 8-Mbit 28F008SA--with one-eighth the 29F640J5's density--just 5 years ago. Intel plans lower voltage versions of first-generation StrataFlash memories next year and indicates that the next generation of products should provide 3-bit-per-cell storage.

--by Brian Dipert

Intel Corp, Folsom, CA. 1-916-356-8080, fax 1-916-356-2803, www.intel.com.

Use Microsoft Developers Studio
for embedded applications

Microsoft's Developers Studio that ships with its C++, Basic, and Java languages is perhaps the most popular integrated-development environment available, yet it's hardly suited for embedded applications. Now, Accelerated Technology combines two products that allow you to develop and debug real-time applications in the Developers Studio environment and to exercise embedded code on a version of the Nucleus Plus multitasking kernel that runs as a Windows NT/95 application.

Accelerated Technology developed the Nucleus MNT kernel with Microsoft's Visual C++ tool set and Developers Studio. The environment includes a project manager, an editor, an assembler, a compiler, a librarian, a linker, and a debugger. Along with Nucleus MNT, these tools let you debug embedded code before target hardware is available. The Powerplant embedded development environment, meanwhile, allows you to use Developers Studio to prototype an embedded project for Nucleus MNT. Once you debug the project, you can switch your target to one of more than 10 processors, including the 68k, PowerPC, ARM, and MIPS. A simple change in a dialogue box lets you recompile the code for the appropriate target, automatically invoking a target compiler and debugger using the Developers Studio project manager to guide the operation. Nucleus MNT licenses costs $1295 per seat, and Powerplant licenses costs $1500 per seat.

--by Maury Wright

Accelerated Technology, Mobile, AL. 1-334-661-5770, www.atinucleus.com.

Pentium motherboard shrinks to credit-card size

Into a scant 3.4×2.1×0.8 in., Cell Computing squeezes an entire Pentium motherboard, including fan, heat sink, DIMM socket, and bus connector. The tiny P55EZ CardPC includes a 166-MHz Pentium multimedia-extension (MMX) processor, 256 kbytes of cache, 8 Mbytes of DRAM, and full I/O capability. The Super-VGA/LCD graphics controller resides on an internal PCI bus. An ISA bus supports all the other interfaces, including two serial ports, a parallel port, floppy-disk and IDE controllers, and keyboard and mouse interfaces. All peripheral I/O lines as well as the ISA bus are available offboard through a 236-pin embedded all-in-one system-interface (EASI) connector. A small-outline DIMM connector allows memory expansion to 72 Mbytes. The CardPC runs all standard PC operating systems; uses a standard Phoenix Technologies (San Jose, CA) BIOS; and runs real-time operating systems, such as VxWorks and pSOS+.

Achieving such high density required Cell Computing to use several patent-pending technologies. The pc-board material has a thermal-expansion coefficient matching that of the material connecting bare die to the board, preventing thermal variations from damaging the component attachments. The manufacturing process eliminates air bubbles in solder, preventing small voids that could interrupt the board's tiny electrical circuits. The system fan stands just 0.3 in. high, keeping the overall board profile low.

The PFU Ltd joint venture between Matsushita (Panasonic) and Fujitsu manufactures the CardPC in Japan. The P55EX version costs $999 (1000) and is available for sampling now; production is scheduled for the fourth quarter. A $799 version, the P54EZ, is also available. The P54EZ uses a 133-MHz Pentium without MMX technology or a secondary cache. The CardPC will be on display at Cell Computing's booth (number 48) at the Embedded Systems Conference, which takes place Sept 29 through Oct 2 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA.

--by Richard A Quinnell

Cell Computing Inc, San Jose, CA. 1-408-967-8800, fax 1-408-967-8801, www.cellcomputing.com.

RS-485 transceivers feature
assured prop delay at 52 Mbps

With the LTC1685 family of RS-485 transceivers, you can transfer data at rates as high as 52 Mbps in backplanes and cabling for applications such as OC-1, STS-1 SONET (synchronous-optical-network), and ATM (asynchronous-transfer-mode) standards. To ensure data integrity, these transceivers feature stable propagation delay of 18.5 nsec ±3.5 nsec and typical skew of less than 500 psec over the 0 to 70ºC operating range.

The half-duplex LT1685 and full-duplex LT1686 and LT1687 operate from a 5V supply; the LT1685 draws 7 mA. The ICs feature a variety of fail-safe features that work over the ­7 to +12V RS-485 common-mode range. Disabled or unpowered driver outputs appear as high impedances, and, if an externally shorted output occurs, the ICs reduce the driver's output current to a fraction of the nominal value. When unpowered, the receivers have greater than 22-kiloohms input resistance and produce a high-level output when inputs are shorted or left floating. The hot-swappable ICs are available in S0-8 and SO-14 packages, and prices begin at $2.95 (1000).

--by Bill Schweber

Linear Technology Corp, Milpitas, CA. 1-408-432-1900, fax 1-408-434-6441, www.linear-tech.com.

Digital's StrongARM packs
a hefty punch of peripherals

Digital Semiconductor's new SA1100 StrongARM µP integrates a variety of peripherals to help you build portable communications or Internet appliance applications. These peripherals include six serial channels, a memory controller, an LCD controller, and a six-channel DMA controller. For the SA-1100, Digital modified the SA-1 core by reducing the data cache from 16 to 8 kbytes and adding a 512-byte data-manipulation cache and multiply-accumulate unit.

The SA-1100's serial channels support a slave-only USB controller, IrDA, SDLC, and a UART. The LCD controller supports gray-scale and color panels with resolution as high as 1024×1024 pixels. A PCMCIA controller supports single or dual slots but requires external buffers and transceivers to allow hot-swapping and level shifters to handle 5V cards. A programmable interrupt controller prioritizes interrupts and controls whether the CPU handles them in fast or slow mode. For fast interrupts, the CPU provides more banked registers and can access the interrupt routine upon jumping to a fixed interrupt-address location. During slow interrupts, the CPU jumps to a fixed location where the instruction is a branch to the location of the interrupt routine.

The SA-1100 has 28 general-purpose I/O pins that you can toggle at one-fourth the CPU clock, but you can use no-operation instructions to handle external devices with slower clock rates. This µP operates at only 250 mW at 1.35V and 200 MHz. The 133- and 200-MHz versions cost $29 and $39, respectively. Digital offers an SA-1100 development board for $2500.

--by Markus Levy

Digital Semiconductor, Maynard, MA. 1-508-568-6868, www.digital.com/info/semiconductor.

Digital designer, technical editor wanted

If you're an accomplished digital-design engineer who likes to write, EDN magazine would like to hear from you. We're looking for a technical editor with the background and experience to interpret technical trends in digital design for our 160,000 readers. Experience in embedded-system design is a plus, as is Web experience.

As an editor, your primary responsibility will be to research, write, and edit articles. You'll also attend trade shows and meet with industry leaders. We need someone who likes people, communicates well, and can balance several projects with fixed deadlines. You must have a degree in electrical engineering or computer science, plus at least two years of experience in electronic design. Writing experience is desirable but not essential.

We're looking for someone in California, but we will consider other locations with significant electronics activity. Our salaries are competitive with engineering positions. Please mail, fax, or e-mail your résumé, salary requirements, and writing samples (if any) to Gary Legg, Executive Editor, EDN Magazine, 275 Washington St, Newton, MA 02158; fax 1-617-558-4470; gary.legg@edn.cahners.com.

EDN is an equal opportunity employer, M/F/D/V.

Reed Elsevier Business Information, Newton, MA.

CD/SS increases digital-phone range to 10,000 ft

Lanwave Components' new L9-002VX digital-cordless-telephone controller brings the benefits of code-division/spread-spectrum (CD/SS) technology to low-cost consumer products. The programmable baseband processor supports multiple radio interfaces with a variety of coding schemes. It also includes audio-noise reduction, power management, error detection, and wireless signal-acquisition control.

The L9002 uses a 1-bit DSP engine and parallel signal processing to spread and despread data using a set of 32-bit wide pseudorandom codes. This capability provides enough throughput to support data rates beyond 28.8 kbps as well as RS-232C wireless data ports. Also, by operating within the FCC 15.247 spread-spectrum requirements in the 900-MHz and 2.4-GHz unlicensed radio bands, the associated radio can transmit as much as 1W of power. This feature enables a digital cordless phone to have a range of nearly 10,000 ft under favorable conditions. A fixed directional antenna increases the potential range to nearly 10 miles.

The L9002VX samples are available in 100-pin PQFPs and TQFPs. Projected price is $7.15 (10,000).

--by Stephen Kempainen

Lanwave Components, Cupertino, CA. 1-408-253-3883, www.lanwave.com.

Tornado storms into DSP market

Wind River Systems will expand its Tornado product line to encompass DSP-software development. Tornado provides a suite of host-based tools and utilities, including a Gnu-based compiler, a linker, an assembler, the task-aware CrossWind debugger, a code browser, and the Wisp RTOS. Wisp is a scalable kernel for DSP that enables priority-driven multitasking and can run in as little as 2 kbytes of system memory. A debugging agent attached to the kernel that collects data is all that needs to run on the target. The remainder runs on the host.

The tool set includes an instruction-set simulator, allowing designers to begin code development without application hardware. The WindView system-visualization tool is optional. WindView provides a graphical depiction of the interactions among tasks, interrupts, flags and semaphores, and other system objects. Tornado for DSP with the Wisp kernel will be available in the fourth quarter. Tornado will support the Motorola 56300 DSP family first, and other processors will follow.

--by Richard A Quinnell

Wind River Systems, Alameda, CA. 1-510-748-4100, fax 1-510-749-2010, www.wrs.com.

Board pair links PCI and VME systems

VME Microsystems now offers a half-sized PCI-bus card, a 6U VMEbus board, and a 9-ft interconnecting cable that you can use to link two systems. The VMIPCI-5524 kit also includes application software that gives users of PCI-based systems access to all VMEbus resources. The software allows users and developers to choose between a PCI-bus-master/initiator interface or a VMEbus-master interface. The boards also allow either system to access the other's address space and performs any necessary byte swapping for little- or big-endian conversions. The two-board kit costs $3735.

--by Maury Wright

VME Microsystems, Huntsville, AL. 1-205-880-0444.

CALENDAR

Oct 7 to 9

Automated Manufacturing Exposition, Boston, showcases integrated technology and enterprise management for manufacturing. Automation-related hardware and software manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and service providers show new equipment and services in computer, networking, and automated material-handling systems. Technical Expositions and Conferences Inc, AM97 Trade Show Services, Columbia, SC. 1-803-737-9355.

Oct 12 to 16

International Conference on Universal Personal Communications, San Diego, focuses on technical issues involved in the development and deployment of personal communications in the international market. Registration costs $550 for IEEE members and $650 for nonmembers. IEEE Communications Society, New York, NY. 1-212-705-7018.

Oct 13 to 16

Microprocessor Forum, San Jose, CA, introduces new products in the µP industry. Seminar topics include 3-D graphics and multimedia, µPs for PCs, comparing high-performance µPs, and evaluating µPs for embedded applications. The conference provides information to chart the industry's direction. MicroDesign Resources, Sebastopol, CA. 1-707-824-4001.

Oct 14 to 17

Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Banff, AB, Canada, presents papers, technical sessions, panels, and demonstrations on a range of user-interface topics. Topics include 3-D interaction techniques, synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, constraints, and facilitating visual output. Registration is $500 for Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) members and $600 for nonmembers. ACM, New York, NY. 1-212-869-7440.

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