October 9, 1997

WHAT'S HOT IN THE DESIGN COMMUNITY

Chip-design tool adds interactive simulation

The new Waveformer Pro digital-logic design-entry tools from Synapticad include a timing-diagram editor, an interactive Boolean-equation generator, a stimulus generator for VHDL and Verilog testbenches, and an HDL-based interactive simulator for Verilog-specified equations. The simulator supports RTL and behavioral-, gate-, and switch-level modeling. You enter your design with Boolean equations and test vectors; Waveformer Pro then generates HDL code from these inputs. You can also directly input HDL code. The suite's interactive-simulation capability automatically updates simulation results whenever you change design information, including logic equations, component models, and timing. This feature lets you quickly see the ramifications of these changes on your design.

Waveformer Pro also makes an HDL model based on your design input, which you can use with third-party synthesis, simulation, and analysis tools. Waveformer Pro costs $1750 for Windows-based platforms and $3500 for Unix-based platforms. It includes predefined models for some common components, including n-bit latches and registers, that support minimum/maximum timing and continuous setup-and-hold checking.

--by Jim Lipman

Synapticad, Blacksburg, VA. 1-800-804-7073, fax 1-540-953-3078, www.syncad.com.

Voltage converter lets you run mixed 3.3/5V systems from either system

When your system has just a 5 or 3.3V supply but also needs the other value, consider the LM3350 from National Semiconductor. This switched-capacitor voltage converter provides a 3-to-2 step-up ratio or a 2-to-3 step-down ratio corresponding to the relationship between the 3.3 and 5V values, and supplies as much as 50 mA with a typical full-load efficiency of 90%. The mini-SO-8 IC requires no external inductor and operates at 800 kHz with four 0.33-µF capacitors. Output impedance, which determines voltage droop, is 4.2 ohms in step-up mode and 1.8 ohms in step-down mode. The $1.19 (1000) device has typical quiescent and shutdown currents of 3.75 mA and 250 nA, respectively.

--by Bill Schweber

National Semiconductor Corp, Santa Clara, CA. 1-408-721-5000, www.national.com.

System objectively measures compressed-video quality

Judging the effect of different compression algorithms on video-image quality used to require a panel of experts. Experts in different parts of the world could take months to render a verdict on whether Clip A looked more natural than Clip B. Those results rarely included quantitative measurements of the picture quality. Although straightforward automated techniques, such as mean-square error, produce repeatable, quantitative results, those results correlate poorly with people's opinions.

Now, Tektronix has developed an objective, quantitative, picture-quality-measurement system that, in typically less than a minute, produces results that correlate well with human judgments. The results do not depend on the type of compression or the source of the impairments. The $49,900 PQA200 uses Sarnoff Corp's (Princeton, NJ) JNDmetrix technology, an implementation of Sarnoff's just-noticeable-difference algorithms. The system, which uses a computer that runs the Windows NT Server OS, includes two high-performance computing-engine modules that incorporate multiple Texas Instruments (Dallas) TMS320C80 DSPs. One of these engines generates test sequences; the other compares the sequences with transported, reconstructed versions.

The system provides standard 270-Mbyte/sec serial-component inputs and outputs that conform to the CCIR 601 standard. Option 01 ($7600) provides inputs and outputs that conform to the NTSC and PAL standards.

--by Dan Strassberg

Tektronix Inc, Beaverton, OR. 1-800-426-2200, fax 1-413-448-8002, www.tek.com/Measurement.

Take the hassle out of the µP hunt

You can now access a database of more than 720 µPs and µCs through EDN's Web site, ednmag.com. The database allows you to find devices and their specifications based on several categories, including company, memory type and amount, cache size, the presence of an MMU or FPU, and price. Alternatively, you can enter a device's part number and get detailed specs for that device. The page provides URL links that take you directly to the vendor's documentation for a device--without searching through the vendor's entire Web site for information on that product. What's more, we've put a permanent link to the database on the EDN home page. For more information, contact Markus Levy at markuslevy@aol.com.

--by Markus Levy

FPGAs focus on fast figuring

Atmel's AT40K SRAM-based FPGAs build on the arithmetic-processing foundation of the first-generation AT6000 product line, offering distributed embedded memory, enhanced routing, and logic intended for hardware computing. Each logic cell comprises two 3-to-1 look-up tables, several multiplexers, a register, and a small but significant AND gate. Dedicated routing between each logic cell and its eight nearest neighbors speeds array addition and multiplication operations, common in audio and image-filtering applications (Figure 1).

Each cluster of 16 logic cells shares a 32×4-bit SRAM, programmable as asynchronous or synchronous and as single or dual ported. The FPGAs also offer a number of fast signal-routing buses between clusters, including clocks and carry chains, and between the flexible I/O buffers and logic cells. The highly symmetrical AT40K architecture simplifies "soft" core integration and opens the door to possible future fixed logic inclusion. CacheLogic, which Atmel first used in the AT6000 series, enables dynamic reconfiguration of both logic functions and SRAM contents to any desired level of resolution, from an individual bit to the entire device.

AT40K members will span a range of densities, from the AT40K05 with 2000 to 8000 usable gates, 256 registers, and a 2-kbyte SRAM to the AT40K40 with 30,000 to 50,000 usable gates, 2304 registers, and an 18-kbyte SRAM). Packaging options include PLCC, very thin QFP, TQFP, PQFP, BGA, high-pin-count QFP, and PGA. The AT40K20, with 15,000 to 25,000 usable gates, 1024 registers, 8 kbytes of SRAM and 256 I/Os, is now sampling and will enter volume production by the end of the year. Price is $58 (1000).

The rest of the product family will be available for sampling late in the fourth quarter of this year and early in the first quarter of 1998, and all will be in production by the end of first quarter of 1998. The FPGA Designer 5.0 software package, available now for $995, supports the AT40K product line.

--by Brian Dipert

Atmel Corp, San Jose, CA. 1-408-441-0311, fax 1-408-436-2600, www.atmel.com.

Power supplies provide CE-mark EMC compliance

The RP Series of ac/dc power supplies from Lambda Electronics earns CE marking by meeting the European EMC Directive. They also boast 150,000-hour MTBF, calculated using Bellcore method TR-TSY-000332. The company attributes the high reliability to a minimal component count and the use of an all-bottom-side, surface-mount design.

The RP Series includes supplies with power ratings of 500, 750, and 1000W. You can adjust the high-power main output to any voltage level from 3 to 5.75V to meet your system's logic and memory needs. Current output is as high as 150A, depending on the power rating. Auxiliary outputs include ­12V for communications and 12V for peripheral or storage components. Optional outputs include 3.3 and 5V, additional 12V lines, and 24 or 48V outputs. All RP supplies include power-factor correction. The supplies cost less than $0.50/W (OEM).

--by Bill Travis

Lambda Electronics, Melville, NY. 1-516-694-4200, ext 684, fax 1-516-752-2627, lambda@ix.netcom.com.

10/100 Ethernet transceiver employs reusable cell

National Semiconductor's single-chip DP83843 Phyter CMOS physical layer and transceiver employs a reusable cell that eases the future integration of multiple Phyters or a Phyter with medium-access-control, repeater, or switch ASICs. The 5V device's typical 135-mA power consumption (150 mA maximum) helps to keep designs within power budgets for integrating other functions. Access to critical mixed-signal test points in the cell also eases the integration of more complex functions. A common test interface allows testing for functionality and standard compliance of every module in the Phyter and ASIC cells on the chip.

The all-CMOS Phyter integrates National's previous Phy and Twister functions but offers increased input-sensitivity range and bit-error rates over the earlier devices. Hence, it is more tolerant of cable installations that do not meet specifications. You can also customize the chip with Next Page support for communicating proprietary network-management information between a hub and a node. Built-in 10BaseT transceivers and filters, clock recovery and generation for Fast Ethernet, and increased drive capability on the media-independent interface eliminate the need for some external components, thereby reducing board area and overall cost for Phyter applications.

The DP83843 chip comes in 80-pin PQFPs and costs $13 (1000).

--by Stephen Kempainen

National Semiconductor, Santa Clara, CA. 1-408-721-5000, www.national.com.

LVDS drivers/receivers lower power consumption without sacrificing speed

The trend toward fast yet low-power-consuming links continues with National Semiconductor's low-voltage differential-signaling (LVDS) driver and receiver chips. The chip set provides 1.84-Gbps channel links while operating at 3.3V and are pin-compatible with 5V devices. Applications include point-to-point links shorter than 5m, such as card-to-card and box-to-box connections.

Two sets are available. The 66-MHz DS90CR215 and DS90CR216 pair multiplexes a 21-bit TTL bus to four LVDS channels; the DS90CR285 and DS90CR286 put 28-TTL bus lines onto five LVDS channels. Each chip set includes 20- to 66-MHz PLLs and operates with ±1V common-mode range and 345-mV swing. The 21-bit, four-channel parts come in 48-lead TSSOPs and cost $7.80. The 28-bit, five-channel parts come in 56-lead TSSOPs and cost $7.95.

--by Bill Schweber

National Semiconductor Corp Inc, Santa Clara. CA. 1-408-721-5000, fax 1-408-245-9655, www.national.com.

Monolithic ADC achieves 14 bits at 10M samples/sec

Pushing well beyond current ICs and into the region in which hybrids were once your only option, the AD9240 A/D converter from Analog Devices provides 14-bit resolution at rates as high as 10M samples/sec for imaging, communications, and data-acquisition applications. The 44-pin metric QFP dissipates just 280 mW from a 5V supply with no-missing-code performance.

The converter includes a sample/hold amplifier and voltage reference and provides conversion results in straight parallel format with 3 or 5V compatibility. Integral and differential nonlinearity errors are 2.5 and 0.6 LSB, respectively; SNR+distortion is 77.5 dB, and spurious-free dynamic range is 90 dB. You can set the ADC's input for single-ended or differential mode, set the full-scale input span to 2 or 5V by pin strapping, or input span values by adding external scaling resistors to the internal reference. The AD9240 costs $58.76 (1000).

--by Bill Schweber

Analog Devices Inc, Norwood, MA. 1-781-937-1428, fax 781-821-4273, www.analog.com.

Metallized polymer provides interconnect for high-speed µPs

A polymer material with embedded metallized particles provides a high-density interconnection medium for high-speed µPs and ASICs. Thomas & Betts' new interconnect technology uses microcolumns 0.635 mm in diameter and 1 mm high that align with the I/O contacts of the silicon device and the landing-pad contacts of the pc board. A frame holding the IC compresses the columns, thereby causing the metallized particles to form a conductive path. The conductivity resembles that of a metal pin or a solder-ball contact, and inductance is approximately 0.2 nH. The company projects prices of less than $0.05 per contact (OEM).

--by Bill Travis

Thomas & Betts, Memphis, TN. 1-901-682-8221, ext 3504.

Programmable-logic primer highlights Altera design-synthesis tools

Digital Systems Design and Prototyping Using Field Programmable Logic provides an overview of PLD and FPGA technology, applications, and design techniques. The book's authors, Zoran Salcic, a professor at the University of Auckland (Auckand, New Zealand), and Asim Smailagic, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh), draw from their classroom experiences in explaining frequently used circuits and answering common questions.

This book is of special interest to design engineers planning to use Altera's PLDs and AHDL (Altera HDL) design synthesis. Chapters 4 through 6 and Chapter 8 use Altera silicon and software to create numerous logic modules, including a design tutorial for a custom 16-bit µP implemented in a FLEX8000 CPLD. However, with a little effort, you can adapt the ideas in these chapters to your preferred programmable-logic architecture and design flow. Chapter 7 provides generic coverage of VHDL. Chapter 8 offers a case study for the wearable VuMan computer, which researchers at Carnegie-Mellon developed. The designers based VuMan on the 386EX embedded processor, the MAX7000 CPLD, and other devices.

The book includes a student-edition version 7.21 of Altera's MAX+Plus development software supporting both graphical and text-based AHDL- and VHDL-design entry, compilation, and timing-based simulation. Although the authors provide good coverage of HDL-design techniques, they unfortunately omit Verilog. Also, although the book just recently debuted, several of the programmable-logic devices it mentions are no longer commercially available. Finally, the book omits mention of some small and new PLD and FPGA vendors, although Chapter 1's over-view is broad enough to conceptually cover their architectures.

--by Brian Dipert

Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA. 1-617-871-6600.

Radio IC provides mixed-signal half of 900-MHz cordless phone

Although 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) applications and cellular phones get headlines, there's lots of design-in activity for 900-MHz devices, especially cordless phones and wireless data systems. The AD6190 radio IC from Analog Devices works with the Zilog (Santa Clara, CA) Z87L00 frequency-hopping controller to provide nearly all the RF and IF functions for a 902- to 928-MHz, ISM-band, spread-spectrum phone.

The 28-pin SSOP IC includes a low-noise amplifier; receiver and transmitter mixers; a VCO; a prescaler; and a limiter amplifier with a received-signal-strength indictor. You provide an external 15-MHz PLL synthesizer. The low-noise-amplifier front end and associated circuitry provide a total gain of 22 dB with a 4.2-dB typical noise figure. You can use the 0-dBm internal transmitter amplifier as the final output stage or to drive a more powerful stage. To minimize parts count and power consumption, the IC includes an on-chip, low-dropout-voltage regulator and can invoke various sleep modes. The radio IC costs $5.40 (25,000); a reference design is available to qualified OEMs.

--by Bill Schweber

Analog Devices Inc, Norwood, MA. 1-781-937-1428, fax 781-821-4273, www.analog.com.

Drawing tool boosts desktop productivity

Design engineers need productivity-boosting software tools just like other PC users do, and a good drawing package should form the cornerstone of an engineer's software suite. Visio Corp's Visio 5.0--especially the Visio Technical 5.0 edition--offers perhaps the most robust set of features for designers. The Technical edition includes a library of common shapes for schematics, block diagrams, and flowcharts. The new version also includes a netlist generator that can convert a schematic into a file for circuit analysis in packages such as Spice. The Technical edition offers mechanical-engineering features, such as fluid-engineering valve shapes and facilities-management drawing tools.

All the Visio 5.0 editions (Visio Standard, Professional, and Technical) include a new 32-bit drawing engine that operates in Windows 95 or NT environments, and the package integrates directly with Microsoft Office. You can use Visio to create a flowchart or block diagram and then insert that element into an Office document. The Visio/Office integration lets you use Visio tools to edit a drawing within the Office application.

Visio's SmartShape technology distinguishes the product from other drawing packages. For starters, the software comes with a huge library of shapes organized by drawing type (flowcharts, for instance). When you insert the shape into a drawing, an underlying ShapeSheet adapts the shape based on the context of the drawing. In its simplest form, SmartShape technology allows you to scale, warp, and rotate shapes. More complex shapes, such as logic symbols in a schematic, respond instantly to changes elsewhere in a schematic--for example, adding an inverter symbol to the front of a gate.

The Visio package costs $149 for the Standard edition and $349 for the Professional or Technical editions. The Technical Edition includes the same baseline productivity tools as in the Standard edition, including tools for organizational charts, timelines, and other drawing types. The new editions also include a Visual Basic programming environment that you can use to distribute customized Visio-based applications. Finally, a Database Wizard allows you to automatically build tables, such as bills of materials, based on the content of a drawing.

--by Maury Wright

Visio Corp, Seattle, WA. 1-206-521-4500, www.visio.com.

VFD modules drop into LCD sockets

You can replace standard LCD modules with brighter, easier-to-read VFD (vacuum-fluorescent-display) modules from Noritake. The VFD modules feature typical brightness of 700 cd/m², a 140º viewing angle, and optional temperature ranges of ­20 to +70ºC or ­40 to +85ºC. Power consumption of the VFD modules is similar to that of LCDs with LED backlighting. The modules are available in 2×16, 2×20, 2×24, 2×40, and 4×20 formats. Prices start at $26 (1000).

--by Bill Travis

Noritake Co Inc, Arlington Heights, IL. 1-800-837-4727, noritake@compuserve.com.

1.2V op amp plus integral reference works for current or level sensing

Design applications often need an op amp plus a reference to form a level-sensing circuit. The LT1635 from Linear Technology puts both functions in an SO-8 package that can operate from 1.2V (that's a pair of "nearly dead" AA batteries) to ±5V with a current requirement of 130 µA.

The buffered 200-mV reference has maximum drift of 100 ppm/°C, typical drift of 30 ppm/°C, and maximum op-amp offset of 1.3 mV. The amplifier's output can swing to within 15 mV of either rail with a light load and to within 250 mV when driving 10 mA of output; maximum output current is ±25 mA. Gain bandwidth product is 175 kHz, and the device is stable with loads as high as 1000 pF. The LT1635 costs $1.85 (1000).

--by Bill Schweber

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

S-band power transistor drives output over entire band of interest

Designers of moderate-power pulsed radar systems in the 2.7- to 3.1-GHz band previously could cover only half the bandwidth with a single device. Devices in the BLS2731 family of bipolar transistors from Philips Semiconductor, however, can provide needed power over the whole 400-MHz span.

The four members of the family include 10, 20, 50, and 110W devices, all with V_CB of 40V. The three junior family members provide typical gain of 8 dB and 40% efficiency, and the highest power device has 7-dB gain and 35% efficiency, all measured with all 100-µsec pulse and 10% duty cycle. All are available in two-lead, rectangular-flange packages. The 110W device costs $255.

--by Bill Schweber

Philips Semiconductors, Sunnyvale, CA. 1-800-447-1500, ext 1412, www.semiconductors.philips.com.

ICs slash Ethernet switch cost and add features

Galileo Technology's Galaxy family of multiport Ethernet ICs aims to fill two major needs of Ethernet switch vendors: reduced system cost and enhanced network features, such as support for virtual LANs, quality-of-service guarantees, and multimedia traffic. All members of the family integrate multiple Ethernet ports on one IC, including the MAC (media-access-control) circuitry for all ports and the PHY (physical-layer) circuitry for 10BaseT ports. The ICs also include a wire-speed, frame-based switching engine. The GT-48212 provides two 100-Mbps 100BaseTX Fast Ethernet ports and 12 10-Mbps 10BaseT Ethernet ports, and the GT-48208 offers two Fast Ethernet and eight Ethernet ports. Both include an interface to a CPU for managed-switch designs. The GT-48207 has the same port configuration as the GT-48208 but provides no external-management capability. Galileo claims that, based on volume pricing, the OEM bill-of-materials cost of unmanaged switches that use the 12-port GT-48212 Ethernet switch will drop to about $11.50/port. End-user prices for GT-48212-based switches could hit $55 to $65 per port, whereas similar switches currently sell for $90 to $140 per port.

The Galaxy controllers have full-duplex, wire-speed switching on each port and include full-duplex flow control that complies with IEEE 802.3x. Moreover, the controllers include a MAC address table that stores 8000 entries along with an aging feature that discards unused addresses. Along with the Ethernet interfaces, the controllers integrate a 400-Mbps, MII (media-independent-interface) bus that you can use to expand the number of ports in a switch by cascading multiple controller ICs.

The GT-48212 and GT-48208 support network management for remote monitoring or Simple Network Management Protocol through management-information-base counters. In addition, the ICs support a simple quality-of-service mode of operation. Based on source address, destination address, or port, a dedicated bypass queue handles high-priority traffic while standard traffic shares a different frame queue. The three Galaxy family devices will be available for sampling next month. Prices for the GT-48212, GT-48208, and GT-48207 are $75, $60, and $50 (10,000), respectively.

--by Stephen Kempainen

Galileo Technology, San Jose, CA. 1-888-425-8351, www.galileoT.com.

1W RF transistors feature easy biasing, high efficiency

A pair of RF power transistors offers efficiency and ease of biasing in 900-MHz Class C and Class AB wireless applications. Maxim's MAX2601 and MAX-2602 operate from a 3.6V supply, with 11.5-dB gain, 58% collector efficiency (for constant-envelope applications, such as FM or FSK), and second and third harmonic suppression of 43 dBc. Unlike GaAs devices, these silicon bipolar transistors need no negative bias generators and sequencing circuitry, which add cost, or drain switches to turn off, which increase power consumption.

The devices are identical, except that the MAX2602 adds a biasing diode, which tracks the thermal and process characteristics of the power transistor. You can use this diode to develop a single-resistor biasing network that more accurately controls collector current vs temperature. The MAX2601 and MAX2602 are available in thermally enhanced, eight-lead SOPs, operate at ­40 to +85°C, and cost $2.32 and $2.38 (1000), respectively.

--by Bill Schweber

Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA. 1-408-737-7600, fax 1-408-737-7194, www.maxim-ic.com.

Flash targets small footprint, low voltage

SGS-Thomson's newest flash memories focus on the needs of small-form-factor systems with low operating voltages, such as cellular phones, pagers, PCMCIA modems and global-positioning-system (GPS) terminals. The M39432 combines 4-Mbit flash code and 256-kbit, parallel-EEPROM data storage on a 40-lead TSOP single-die device that reads and writes as low as 2.7V. This chip is the first implementation of SGS-Thomson's Flash+memory technology, and the company plans future versions. (Also see "Data storage in a flash," EDN, July 3, 1997, pg 65.)

The 8-Mbit×16-bit M29R800 and 8-Mbit×8-bit M29R008 flash memories can perform reads while operating as low as 1.8V and program and erase as low as 2.7V. Access times are 150 nsec at 2.7V and 180 nsec at 1.8V. The chips are pinout-compatible with both Intel (Santa Clara, CA)/Sharp (Camas, WA) and AMD (Sunnyvale, CA)/Fujitsu (San Jose, CA) boot-block flash memories and are software-compatible with AMD and Fujitsu devices. SGS-Thomson's flash memories also offer an optional small, one-time-programmable array for storing security, check-sum, software version, and other data during system manufacturing.

The M39432 costs $9.50 (10,000) and is available for sampling. The M29R800 costs $12 (10,000) and is also available for sampling. The M29R008 will be available for sampling in the first quarter of next year.

--by Brian Dipert

SGS-Thomson Microelectronics Inc, Lincoln, MA. 1-617-259-0300, fax 1-617-259-4420, www.st.com.

Compact PCI extensions herald new modular-instrumentation standard

National Instruments' recent announcement of the PXI open standard for modular instrumentation adds a new option to your selection of plug-in data-acquisition products. Low-cost, desktop-PC plug-in data-acquisition boards currently use ISA or PCI interfaces to provide limited-performance entry-level products. Top-end VXIbus products remain costly but offer high specification.

PXI, which stands for PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation, specifies a range of products with a CompactPCI format that fits neatly between desktop plug-ins and VXIbus modules. PXI combines the PCI 132-Mbyte/sec data rate with a more professional mechanical environment than that of a PC. It is also smaller and cheaper than its VXIbus big brother. For example, a VXIbus system typically costing $15,000 to $20,000 costs about $5000 in PXI format. Significantly, PXI systems require no slot 0 cards.

National Instruments' PXI products include mainframes, a controller, an IEEE-488 interface, data-acquisition modules, a digital-I/O interface, a 15-MHz DSO, an image-acquisition module, and a system extender module.

The PXI-1000 3U mainframe, which costs £1645, can house a system controller and up to seven PXI or CompactPCI peripheral modules. The PXI-1010 mainframe can house up to eight PXI or CompactPCI modules and up to four SCXI (analogue, digital, and I/O) signal-conditioning modules.

The PXI-8150, which starts at £2470, is a single-slot 3U controller based on a 166-MHz MMX Pentium processor and comes preloaded with Windows 95. The controller has keyboard and mouse connectors, one USB port, a PCI-SVGA port, one parallel port, a floppy-disk drive, 16 Mbytes of RAM, and a 2.2-Gbyte hard-disk drive. Options include a 233-MHz Pentium processor, Windows NT, Ethernet, and IEEE-488.

--by Brian Kerridge

National Instruments, Newbury, UK. +44 1635 572400, www.natinst.com.

Free 30-day evaluation eases GPS-receiver design

GEC Plessey Semiconductors is offering a free 30-day evaluation of the Orion L1-band global-positioning-system (GPS) kit, which is based on the company's GP2000 chip set. The kit includes an active antenna, receiver hardware, PC-to-receiver and antenna cables, a power supply, and Windows monitor/control software. The evaluation kit comes with design data in electronic format, including schematics, Gerber and Protel files, and a bill of materials.

The receiver hardware occupies 95×50 mm of a standard four-layer FR4, double-sided pc board. An inter-face board provides power and data- conditioning interfaces to peripherals. The receiver retains volatile data for approximately 4 hours in isolation--and up to 1000 hours when connected to the interface board.

The receiver hardware uses the GP2015 down-converter, the DW9255 35.42-MHz (2-MHz bandwidth) IF SAW filter, the GP2021 correlator, and a 32-bit ARM60 processor. There are no purchase costs or royalties if you use the design information in end-user product.

--by Brian Kerridge

GEC Plessey Semiconductors, Swindon, UK. +44 1793 518000, www.gpsemi.com.

SMD aluminium-electrolytic capacitors shrink total size

Electrolytic capacitors for SMD designs pose perennial problems for designers. And, when you eventually find one that works, difficulties invariably arise over working voltages and package sizes. Now, Philips Components' CLV 153 series aluminium electrolytic SMD capacitors offer weary designers some relief:

• Working voltages range from 6.3 to 100V.

• Packages measure 4.5×4.5× 5.5 mm high (maximum).

• Capacitance ranges from 0.47 µF at 50V to 1000 µF at 6.3V.

The capacitors also offer low equivalent series resistance (ESR). For example, even a 10-µF, 16V part has an ESR at 100 kHz of 8 ohms. Standard operating-temperature range spans ­55 to +105°C; and, operational life at 50°C exceeds 12 years.

--by Brian Kerridge

Philips Components, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. +31 40 272 27 90, www.passives.comp.philips.com.

VMEbus single-board computers add IndustryPack support, extended-temperature operation

PEP Modular Computers' VM162 and VM172 6U VMEbus single-board computers provide dual IndustryPack interfaces for mezzanine plug-ins. The VM162 and VM172 use 33-MHz MC68040 and 50-MHz MC68060 processors, respectively, and both models include an MC68EN360 communications controller.

A key feature of both models is the ability to operate in harsh environments, including an operating-temperature range of ­40 to +80°C. An additional feature includes a CXC interface that allows you to extend the board's functionality even further. For example, the design routes three of the board's serial interfaces to the CXC connector from the communications processor and to the board's front panel. This arrangement allows you to add fieldbus interfaces via CXC modules to suit, for instance, Profibus, CAN, LON, or Bitbus protocols.

Memory options range from 1 to 64 Mbytes of 32-bit access DRAM, 0.5 to 4 Mbytes of 32-bit access flash, 256-kbyte or 1-Mbyte dual-port SRAM with data retention, and a 2-kbit serial EEPROM. Other hardware includes a real-time clock, timer, watchdog, and programmable interrupt.

Support includes software packages for OS-9, VxWorks, VRTX, and PSOS. A VM162, with 16-Mbyte DRAM and 1-Mbyte flash, costs approximately DM6000.--by Brian Kerridge

PEP Modular Computers, Kaufbeuren, Germany. +49 83 41 803 341, www.pep.de.

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