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December 4, 1997 Hot 100 Products of 1997 (North America) Digital camera zooms video into notebooks Silicon Vision's fully digital iVision cameras and new Aries zoomed-video PC Card allow system designers to add videoconferencing, image-recognition, surveillance, process-control, and other imaging applications to portable systems. The iVision cameras directly transfer a digital image from a CCD image array to a video-capture card. The all-digital approach allows companion software to control all aspects of camera operation, including frame rate, color calibration, scene sensing, exposure timing, lighting, and others. The camera supports a maximum resolution of 512×492 8-bit pixels, and the digital control allows an end user to adjust the frame rate to match the requirements of an application and the image-processing capability of a host. The Aries pc card supports the zoomed-video PC Card standard that allows the camera-to-host link to operate at a sustained 27-Mbyte/sec data rate. Silicon Vision offers OEMs the camera and desktop- or notebook-interface technology in turnkey private-labeled kits; the company also offers finished cameras and reference designs for the system interfaces, as well as the modules necessary to build a camera, along with camera and interface reference designs. OEMs should be able to offer their customers complete camera systems for less than $300. Silicon Vision, Fremont, CA. 1-510-770-2300, www.siliconvision.com. Power-supply-controller
IC integrates The TPS5942 power-supply controller from Texas Instruments reduces parts count by incorporating a current-mode PWM controller, an optocoupler, and a voltage reference in a 16-pin package with gull-wing or through-hole leads. Start-up current for the controller is less than 100 µA, and maximum operating frequency is 1 MHz. It can operate from 10 to 30V supplies and provides peak-withstand voltage as high as 7500V. The output of the TPS4942 can drive loads as high as 2000 pF with rise and fall times of 25 nsec. It costs $0.90 (1000). Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX. 1-800-477-8924, ext 4500, www.ti.com. Power switch uses simple-to-set current threshold The 2.7 to 5.5V MAX890L family of P-channel MOSFET switches for high-side switching fills this need without using numerous components or lots of space. The switches include all needed circuitry and let you adjust the current limit via one resistor. The MAX890L comes in an eight-pin SOP and costs $1.25 (1000). It handles loads as great as 1A, and its on-resistance is 0.09 ohms at 3V. A user-supplied low-power resistor lets you set the current limit from maximum value down to 20% of maximum. Response time is 2 µsec--fast enough that transients from plugging in boards and similar sudden-drain conditions don't cause system glitches or resets. A logic-level output signals your system when you exceed the threshold. Other members of the family include lower maximum-load-limit devices, which come in smaller packages, and dual-channel devices in SO-8 packages. Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA. 1-800-998-8800, www.maxim-ic.com. Sensors and coded particles foil counterfeiters Two companies have devised ways to foil counterfeiters who forge money and high-value items, such as drugs and aircraft parts. The scheme involves two elements: giant magnetoresistive (GMR)-effect sensors from NVE Inc and irregularly shaped and sized, microscopic particles, called "Microtaggants," from Microtrace. NVE offers several standard parts and can tailor the devices' properties to your applications. The sensors resemble ICs, and the manufacturing process is similar to IC fabrication. One form of the sensors comprises a Wheatstone bridge. Two of the bridge's resistors are exposed to an external magnetic field, and layers of high-permeability material beneath and atop the other two resistors shield them from the external field. Some sensors combine signal-conditioning circuits in the same package with the resistive sensing elements. The sensors cost less than $3 (1000) and often resemble eight-pin SOICs. GMR devices sensitively measure small magnetic fields that need not vary as a function of time. Microtaggants normally comprise magnetic and colored layers. The particles' color codes, which resemble the codes on resistor bodies, usually identify the manufacturer of a substance--a hazardous material, for example--with which the Microtaggants mix. A GMR sensor that is near an item having Microtaggants reads a "signature." No two items have the same signature. A computer-based system algorithmically derives a serial number from an item's unique signature and prints the number either on the coded item or on an accompanying certificate of authenticity. An item is genuine only if the serial number and the signature match. Microtaggants are available in many forms, including inks and adhesive labels. Depending on the form and the number of units to be coded, Microtaggants cost fractions of cents to a few cents per item you code. NVE Nonvolatile Electronics Inc, Eden Prairie, MN. 1-800-467-7141, fax 1-612-996-1600, info@nve.com, www.nve.com. Microtrace Inc, Minneapolis, MN. 1-612-784-9725, fax 1-612-784-3787. Load-share-controller IC eases using parallel supplies The UC3902 load-share controller from Unitrode lets you use standard supplies--those with a remote-sense or output-voltage-adjust input--in a parallel configuration by balancing the current from each supply. Using one of these eight-pin ICs per supply automatically adjusts each supply's output current to a level proportional to the voltage on a "share" bus. To use the load-share controller, you designate one supply as the master; this supply regulates to the highest voltage, driving the share bus with a voltage proportional to its output current. The UC3902 then trims the output voltage of the other supplies so that each provides its share of the total load current. Each UC3902 requires four external resistors and one capacitor, operates from a 2.7 to 20V supply, and contains a precision current-sense amplifier with gain of 40. The differential share bus maximizes noise immunity and compensates for the voltage drops in each supply's ground return line. User-programmable compensation of the share loop lets you tailor the loop's performance to the transient characteristics of the supplies. The $1.62 (1000) IC is available in eight-pin DIP and SOIC packages. Unitrode Corp, Merrimack, NH. 1-603-424-2410, www.unitrode.com. Complete front-end downconverter targets use in GPSs A silicon, monolithic-microwave IC comprises most of the RF circuitry for OEM Global Positioning System (GPS)-receiver designs. The UPB1004GS from NEC (Mountain View, CA) includes a double-conversion downconverter and PLL frequency synthesizer in a 30-lead SSOP package. A single internal oscillator serves both downconverter functions in the 3V/38-mA IC. The IC's outputs go to the GPS receiver DSP for further decoding and processing. The device takes a 1575.42-MHz GPS L1-band spread-spectrum signal after it has passed through a low-noise preamplifier. The first IF is 61.38 MHz, which results from mixing with the 1636.8-MHz, onboard local oscillator. This oscillator also produces a second local-oscillator frequency of 65.472 for use during the second downconversion stage. The second IF output frequency ranges as high as 5 MHz, with a 40-dB conversion gain. An additional IF amplifier stage yields another 40-dB gain; total conversion gain is typically 92.5 dB. In addition, the device has an internal AGC loop with 20 dB of control range. The UPB1004GS costs less than $5 (100,000); an evaluation board is available to OEM designers. The products are available from California Eastern Laboratories, the exclusive US agent/distributor for NEC RF products. California Eastern Laboratories, Santa Clara, CA. 1-408-988-3500, fax 1-408-988-0279. IC lets you easily add BERT function A complete bit-error-rate-test (BERT)-function IC from Dallas Semiconductor generates a variety of pseudorandom or user-defined patterns and lets you add BERT capability in telecommunications test equipment with minimal additional programming or burden on your system processor. The DS2172 targets switching equipment, multiplexers, routers, and similar equipment, and it eliminates the need for external test equipment and eases design-in of automated test. The IC operates at clock rates from dc to 52 Mbps, and you can select pseudorandom patterns as long as 32 bits. Pseudorandom and repetitive test patterns conform to CCITT (Consultative Committee on International Telephone and Telegraph)/ITU (International Tele-communications Union) O.151, O.152, O.153, and O.161 standards. In addition, you can program the DS2172 to insert single or infrequent errors to verify system error-handling functions. Within the device, 32-bit error- and bit-count registers let you collect error-rate data, and, with the device's interrupt capability, they ease software development and debugging. The 5V CMOS IC interfaces to a processor via an 8-bit parallel port and comes in a 32-pin TQFP. Price is $5.30 (5000). Dallas Semiconductor Corp, Dallas, TX. 1-214-450-0448, www.dalsemi.com. Flash memory allows simultaneous read, write, and erase A 4-Mbit flash memory offers you the capability to perform simultaneous write, erase, and read operations. Sharp accomplished this feat by partitioning the memory into two 2-Mbit areas where operations can be executed independently. You can also erase both partitions simultaneously and in approximately half the time it takes to erase a standard 4-Mbit flash. This flash memory, called the LH28F040SU, includes 32 16-kbyte blocks, each of which can be erased (a minimum of 100,000 times) and locked independently. The device requires 5V on VPP for writes and erases and 3.3V on VCC for reads. The LH28F040SU has an access time of 150 nsec, comes in a 40-pin TSOP, and sells for $15 (sample quantities). Sharp Electronics Corp, Camas, WA. 1-800-642-0261. Low-cost benchtop DSOs are 41/3 in. deep The TDS 210 and 220 replace the CRT with a bright, high-contrast, back-lit LCD having a diagonal measurement of approximately 6 in. The resulting package sports a front panel that, at 6×12 in., is slightly smaller than the panels of conventional scopes. The new scopes are only 41/3 in. deep, however, and weigh in at just 4.25 lbs. Unlike handheld units, the TDS 210 and 220 use a familiar control layout. Users can choose between two plug-in accessories. One adds a printer port; the other includes an RS-232C port, an IEEE-488 port, and a printer port. The new scopes are ac-line-operated (90 to 250V, 47 to 63 Hz), and their supplies are internal. The TDS 210 and 220 are two-channel, real-time-sampling units that use a 1G-sample/sec ADC on each channel. The TDS 210 offers 60-MHz bandwidth. At $995, this scope costs less than any other Tek DSO and less than DSOs of comparable bandwidth from most competitors. The $1695 TDS 220 offers 100-MHz bandwidth. In addition, both scopes include a peak-detect mode that eliminates the need for deep memory to eliminate aliasing at low sweep speeds. Memory depth is 2.5k samples. Tektronix Inc, Beaverton, OR. 1-800-479-4490, www.tek.com/Measurement. Free programmable-logic-design tools on the Web There may be no free lunch, but until the end of January you can get a free copy of Aldec's graphical state-machine-editor and HDL-editor tools on the company's Web page. The complementary tools, part of Aldec's Active-CAD Development Series, support Abel, Verilog, and VHDL. The tools do not include logic synthesis but do include interfaces to a number of PC-based synthesis tools, including Aldec's own Active-synthesis and synthesis products from Exemplar Logic (Alameda, CA) and Minc (Colorado Springs, CO). Along with the editors, you get a language assistant and HDL-design wizards--aids to help designers who are familiar with schematic-based design learn about designing with HDL-based tools. The self-extracting setup program for the editors uses 3 Mbytes and contains installation files for both Windows 95 and NT. Aldec, Henderson, NV. 1-702-456-1222, fax 1-702-456-1310, www.aldec.com. Software includes free schematic viewer Version 1.26 of the WinDraft schematic-capture program lets you view any size sheet created with a licensed copy of WinDraft. The program's view mode allows you to view a document without having to purchase a full version of the software and enables you to freely distribute schematics in a standardized format to anyone, anywhere--even across the Internet. Existing users can download the free WinDraft 1.26 upgrade from the vendor's Web site at www.ivex.com. Prices for WinDraft range from $99 to $495, depending on the pin capacity. A free 100-pin-capacity shareware version is also available. Ivex Design International, Beaverton, OR. 1-503-531-3555. Thermal-management software replaces catalog The Cool Cat thermal-management software from Aavid Thermal Technologies provides a search engine and thermal-algorithm solutions for cooling complex systems. The software derives thermal solutions on the fly for forced-air and natural-convection systems. You can use Windows 3.1-driven menus or enter data in prompted boxes to assemble thermal components and integrate interface materials and attachment methods to obtain cooling solutions ranked according to performance or height. Cool Cat supports thermal systems incorporating liquid cooling; stamped, die-cast, extruded, and cross-cut heat sinks; and heat sinks with bonded fins and integrated fans. The software, distributed on two 3.5-in. floppy disks, requires at least a 486 processor running Windows 3.1 or higher. You need at least 4 Mbytes of RAM and 9 Mbytes of free disk space to run Cool Cat. The $19.95 price includes free upgrades for one year. Aavid Thermal Technologies Inc, Laconia, NH. 1-603-528-3400, www.aavid.com. Diode array clamps as many as six signal lines The DA112S1 comes in an SO-8 package and contains 12 diodes configured as six cells of two series-connected diodes for protecting as many as six high-speed transmission lines from damaging voltage transients. Each of the DA112S1's 12 diodes withstands a peak reverse voltage of 18V, enabling you to use the device to protect signals in 3, 5, and 12V systems. Repetitive peak forward current is 12A (8/20-µsec surge). The diodes also have a less than 35-pF capacitance. The DA112S1 costs $0.59 (100,000). SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, Lincoln, MA. 1-617-259-0300. Affordable GPS chip set speeds location information You can add the SiRFstar GPS chip set and software from SiRF Technology to car navigation systems, portable PCs, cellular phones, entertainment systems, and handheld devices. You can use the system with a CPU, digital map, and destination database to provide local information or with a simple microcontroller in a handheld device to plot a return path from a hike in the wilderness. The system's 24 GPS satellites transmit a spread-spectrum signal at 1.6 GHz giving position information. The receiver uses the location information from four of these signals to determine its own location within a few hundred feet. SiRFstar GPS has some patented algorithms that make it useful in mass-market applications. SiRF has improved the product's reacquisition time to reduce start-up time and improve mobility. SiRFstar can also continue to provide location information from a single satellite when that is all that remains available. A dual, multipath, signal-rejection scheme improves the quality of the system by reducing errors from reflected signals. The product comprises a two-chip set, including an RF front-end IC and a DSP chip, and modular software. A $995 evaluation kit contains all the hardware, software, and documentation necessary to test performance. The SiRFstar costs $49.95 (10,000). SiRF Technology, Sunnyvale, CA. 1-408-737-6607, fax 1-408-737-6605. Audio-amplifier IC eases driving headphones and speakers The LM4863 from National Semiconductor incorporates appropriate load-switching circuitry to let you drive stereo headphones or speakers in PC and other multimedia applications. Continuous output power is 1W into an 8 ohm load at 5% THD with a 5V supply. The 3 to 5V IC also includes a low-power shutdown mode (0.7-µA typical supply current), circuitry to reduce turn-on clicks and pops, and thermal shutdown protection. The 16-lead surface-mount or DIP device costs $2.99 (1000). You can configure the output for speakers using the IC's dual bridge-connected, ungrounded output stages to provide differential drive to the load. For head-phone operation, typically with a 32 ohm load value, the LM4863 has a control pin that turns off the unneeded output-amplifier stages and mutes the bridged speakers. The headphones then run in single-ended mode, which reduces the IC's power consumption. You can switch between speakers and headphone by plugging the headphones into a jack or by leaving the headphones plugged in. When the headphones are plugged in, you electronically make the switch by enabling the headphone-control signal. National Semiconductor Corp, Santa Clara, CA. 1-800-272-9959, www.national.com. Chip offers 6.4-kbps, real-time encryption/decryption The XL103 CryptChip from Exel lets you protect access codes in remote communications, including telephone, cable, and wireless applications, without learning cryptography or writing cryptographic software--and for less than $1. The XL103 needs no external components to function as an encryption/decryption engine and as a serial EEPROM. Instead, you use a 3-bit opcode, a 6-bit address, and a 1-MHz clock serial connection to encrypt/decrypt. The device can read or write 32 16-bit, general-purpose EEPROM registers and read or load the 32-bit encryption/decryption register. It stores eight 64-bit, unreadable keys in EEPROM. Encryption and decryption takes 5 msec. First, the device loads a 32-bit data word into the register; the address of the load instruction corresponds to one of the 64-bit key registers. The encryption operation then places the results back into the register, which then is read to get the result. The XL103 is available in an eight-pin SOIC for $0.97 or DIP for $0.94 (1000). Exel Microelectronics, San Jose, CA. 1-408-432-0050. Solid-state heat pump operates at 200ºC and higher The first in a series of thermoelectric coolers, the ThermaTEC HT6-12-40 offers a heat pumping capacity of 52W with 14.4V and 6.0A maximum. The solid-state heat pump uses the Peltier effect to provide cooling (or heating) and the Seebeck effect for power generation. The ThermaTEC modules are intended for high-temperature cooling, packaging, or power-generating applications operating to 200ºC or higher. The HT6-12-40 costs $23.80 (100). Melcor, Trenton, NJ. 1-609-393-4178. Keyless-entry chip set has rolling code Texas Instruments has announced a set of ICs that provides the core of an RKE system that also embeds a self-programming, 40-bit, rolling, or "hopping," code algorithm. Interlopers attempting to tap these systems would find eavesdropping useless, because the key code changes with each use and will never be used again in any practical product lifetime, and the odds of guessing the correct code are approximately one in 4 billion. The multichannel, advanced-remote-control, serial data transmitter and receiver (MARCSTAR) devices comprise two encoder/decoder ICs, the TRC1300D and TRC1315D. The 1315D has an internal voltage regulator to allow operation from supplies as high as 12V. The encoder/decoder function links to the TRF1400DW tuned-RF (TRF) AM receiver, which contains all needed active circuitry and has 103-dBm sensitivity. The receiver accepts 500-bps to 10-kbps data rates, which the sender transmits as amplitude-shift keying of the carrier (basic on and off modulation). The encoder and decoder cost $0.98 and $1.08 (1000), respectively; the AM receiver costs $1.68 (1000). By using a SAW de-vice for frequency selection, the 5V TRF receiver requires no tuning or manual adjustment. Also, it produces little radiated RF, because it has no mixer or IF stage, thus making it easier for your design to meet RFI/EMI standards. Although TI designed the initial product for the 315-MHz, US RKE frequency, future designs will accommodate worldwide standards in the 200- to 450-MHz band. Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX. 1-800-477-8924, ext 4500, www.ti.com. Ballast chip improves fluorescent lighting One chip that combines 0.99 power factor correction and fluorescent lamp ballast control reduces ballast power consumption by 35%. The ML4832 extends fluorescent tube life through the use of a programmable starting mechanism that matches the requirements of any tube. The ML4832 converts the standard 60-Hz line voltage into a 20- to 60-kHz waveform, allowing the lamp to be driven from highly efficient resonant networks. Housed in a 20-pin plastic DIP, the part costs $1.88 (1000). Micro Linear Corp, San Jose, CA. 1-408-433-5200. Ferrite chip beads vanquish EMI Ultra-high-loss ferrite chip beads provide EMI noise suppression in standard 0603, 0805, 1206, and 1812 packages. The BK and FBM families are available in standard impedances and a range of current ratings. The devices cost less than $120/1000 units (50,000). Taiyo Yuden (USA) Inc, Arlington Heights, IL. 1-847-364-6104. Transient suppressor aids IEC-801 compliance Surface-mount TransGuard transient-voltage-suppression devices help bring your system into compliance with electromagnetic-compatibility directives. The monolithic, multilayer, ceramic varistors offer bidirectional ESD protection as low as 3.6V, response times of 200 to 700 psec, and multiple-strike capability of more than 50,000 strikes. TransGuards come in EIA chip sizes ranging from 0603 through 1210. Inductance is less than 1 to 3.5 nH; capacitance is less than 100 pF. Typical price for a 1-J 0805-size device is $0.162 (50,000). AVX Corp, Myrtle Beach, SC. 1-803-496-0244. Tiny PC/AT card packs 100-MHz 486DX4 processor With dimensions of only 3.4×2.2 in., the Cardio-486-DX4 PC/AT credit-card-size subsystem operates at speeds as high as 100 MHz and is 100% DOS- and Windows-compatible. The board comes with as much as 32 Mbytes of memory, an SVGA graphics accelerator, 512 kbytes of video RAM, and as much as 4 Mbytes of flash ROM. It also has I/O ports for IDE hard drives (as much as 8.3 Gbytes) and an IrDA-compliant infrared interface on board. A 75-MHz version of Cardio-486DX4 costs $1220 (1000). S-MOS Systems Inc, San Jose, CA. 1-408-922-0200. Voice processors include caller ID Three RISC-based digital voice processors provide caller ID and full-duplex speakerphone functions, along with digital voice recording, storage, and playback. Processors in the NSAM266 family include a serial flash-memory interface, enabling them to store as much as 2 hours of voice data in two 8-Mbit flash devices using a 4.8-kbps CELP-based algorithm. The vendor's International Vocabulary Support software tools simplify the creation of voice prompts in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Mandarin. Packaging options include 68-lead PLCCs and 100-lead PQFPs, with prices starting at $7.15 (100,000). National Semiconductor Corp, Santa Clara, CA. 1-800-272-9959. Embedded
single-board computers are SystemCard
embedded-system boards allow x86 desktop computing on a
board that has the same footprint as a 5.25-in. disk
drive. CPU options include a 33-MHz 80386SX; 80486SX, DX,
DX2, or DX4; 100-, ZF Microsystems Inc, Palo Alto, CA. 1-415-965-3800. Ceramic gas tubes guard against electrical transients A line of ceramic surge-arrester gas tubes protects telecommunications and data-communications equipment from electrical transients from industrial overvoltages, lightning surges, inductive switching, and ESD. Units are available with breakdown voltages from 75 to 5000V and high-energy-dissipation characteristics from 5 to 100 kA. The two- and three-electrode, ceramic gas tubes come in various sizes, including a surface-mount micro tube. Prices range from $0.30 to $0.90. Citel America Inc, Miami, FL. 1-305-621-0022. Isolated A/D converter eases motor-current measurements Using this two-chip set from Hewlett-Packard and an external current-sensing resistor, you can measure full-scale currents from less than 1A to more than 100A with isolation and transient immunity greater than 15 kV. The HCPL-7860 sigma-delta modulator and HCPL-7870 digital interface allow you to select trade-offs between resolution and speed with maximum resolution of 15 bits (12-bit linearity) and minimum 1-µsec conversion time. The chip set targets measuring motor-phase currents in precision closed-loop ac servo-drive systems. The serial interface between the converter pair and system microcontroller is compatible with the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), Queued SPI , and Microwire Synchronous Bus standards. The isolated front-end IC meets relevant UL and CSA requirements; VDE approval is pending. The HCPL-7860 comes in eight-pin DIP and surface-mount packages and costs $6.52 (1000); the HCPL-7870 is available in various 16-lead packages and costs $2.77 (1000). Hewlett-Packard Co, Palo Alto, CA. 1-800-537-7715, ext 3131, www.hp.com. IC hastens demise of ISA bus The PCI9050 from PLX provides a rapid migration path for ISA-based board designs to become PCI boards. The device acts as a 33-MHz PCI slave interface but connects to the board electronics at ISA's 8 MHz. It automatically handles big- and little-endian byte swapping; includes a bidirectional FIFO buffer between the PCI bus and the board's local bus; and supports 8-, 16-, or 32-bit multiplexed and nonmultiplexed local buses running asynchronously to the PCI bus. The device also includes five local-bus address spaces and four chip selects. The combination of features should allow device drivers to port to the new design with few, if any, changes. The PCI-9050 chip comes in a 160-pin PQFP and costs $12 (20,000). An evaluation board is available for $99. PLX Technology, Sunnyvale, CA. 1-408-328-3502, www.plxtech.com. PC Linux operating system installs without tinkering Release 4.0 of the Linux Pro operating system is easy to install and provides a stable production environment for developers. All components are preconfigured to run once installed. Linux Pro 4.0 installs directly from CD on most systems without the need for boot floppies. The operating system also includes PCMCIA support for notebook computers and emulations for DOS, SCO Unix, and Unix-Ware. A boot manager allows Linux to reside on the same machine as other operating systems. The Linux Pro 4.0 six-CD set costs $49. WorkGroup Solutions Inc, Aurora, CO. 1-303-699-7470. High-current inductor has low dc resistance Supplied in a standard size 1815 case, as well as custom sizes, the LPC4045 wirewound inductor carries dc currents as high as 1A with a dc resistance of 0.08 ohms. The device comes in versions with inductance values of 10 to 680 µH and tolerances of ±10%. Intended for dc/dc conversion and power supply applications, the LPC-4045 withstands reflow soldering and comes taped and reeled for automatic insertion. The inductor costs $0.40. KOA Speer Electronics Inc, Bradford, PA. 1-814-362-5536. Low-profile switch-mode transformers save space Less than 0.5 in. high, these dc/dc switch-mode transformers fit in confined spaces and occupy approximately 1 in.2 of board space. Intended for applications greater than 15W, the Model 671-3833 delivers ±5V at 0.8A or 5V at 1.6A, and the Model 671-3834 provides ±12V outputs. The Models 671-3844, -3845, and -3846, which are only 0.35 in. high and 0.7 in. on a side, offer a choice of single, dual, and triple outputs, respectively, at 5 and ±12V with current levels ranging from 75 mA to 0.75A. These devices also come in surface-mount versions. From $2 (10,000). Midcom Inc, Watertown, SD. 1-605-886-4385. 8-bit microcontroller increases on-chip flash memory The AT89C55 8-bit microcontroller expands internal flash memory to 20 kbytes and, like its 8-kbyte predecessor, is pin-compatible with the Intel i8XC51. In addition to the enlarged memory section, the AT89C55 also operates at 33 MHz rather than 24 MHz. The static-logic design of the controller allows it to operate at lower clock speeds to reduce system power requirements and lets you stop the clock without data loss. The part comes in 40-pin plastic DIPs, as well as 44-pin PLCCs and QFPs. Prices start at $12.20 (1000). Atmel Corp, San Jose, CA. 1-408-441-0311. Microcontrollers
target automotive, Motorola has enhanced its 68HC11 family of 8-bit µCs with the 68HC11EA9 and 68HC11KW1 for automotive and communications applications. The 68HC11EA9 features 12 kbytes of ROM; 512 bytes of RAM; 512 bytes of EEPROM; a PLL; asynchronous SCI; a 16-bit timer; an 8-bit pulse accumulator; and an eight-channel, 8-bit A/D converter. The 68-HC11KW1 features 768 bytes of RAM; 640 bytes of EEPROM; a memory-expansion unit; asynchronous SCI; three independent, multifunction, 16-bit timer systems; a 10-channel, 10-bit A/D converter; and a four-channel, 8-bit PWM system. The 68HC11EA9 targets automotive-body electronics applications in which the system must react to changes in speed, temperature, or keypad activity. Such applications include air conditioning, automatic-window mechanisms, security, and door locking. The PLL allows low-power operation for industrial-control and communications applications requiring low battery drain. The 68HC11KW1 suits applications requiring expanded memory and numerous timer channels. Such applications include automotive transmission control, factory automation, and industrial control. Motorola offers the MCU-asm assembly-language tool set, an evaluation system, and a modular development system for the two devices. The MCUasm includes a project manager, a relocatable macro-assembler, a linker, a librarian, a Motorola S-record generator, and other tools. The two-board evaluation system lets you design, debug, and evaluate systems based on the MC68HC11 family. The development system offers hardware and software in-circuit emulation for embedded applications. The 68HC11EA9 comes in a 52-pin PLCC package and costs $6.79 (10,000); the 68HC11KW1 comes in a 100-pin TQFP and costs $11.48 (10,000). Motorola Advanced Microcontroller Division, Austin, TX. 1-800-328-2268, ext 958. Andrew word processor comes in C++ version Offered free of charge in binary form, a C++ version of the Andrew User Interface System gives you an integrated suite of compound document applications for creating documents containing combinations of text, pictures, graphs, figures, spreadsheets, and other embedded objects. Andrew handles text in various fonts and sizes, as well as automatic indentation. The suite of Andrew 7.4 applications is on the World Wide Web at www.cs.cmu.edu/˜AUIS. A user's guide costs $25. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. 1-412-268-6710. Free evaluation software addresses EPAC design An evaluation package provides a look at Analog Magic 2.0, a Windows-based program for configuring and programming electrically programmable analog circuit (EPAC) silicon. You can complete an analog design based on either the IMP50E10 signal-conditioning circuit or the IMP50E30 monitoring and diagnostic IC. Download the free software from the vendor's Web site at www.impweb.com or by calling 1-800-438-3722. The vendor also offers an EPAC design handbook that includes product information and application notes. IMP Inc, San Jose, CA. 1-408-432-9100. Handheld 200-MHz DSO/DMM zooms in on waveform details Tektronix has added to and enhanced its THS700 series of handheld, battery-powered, two-channel, real-time DSOs/DMMs. The THS730A ($2995) hits 200-MHz bandwidth. This model can take 1G samples/sec. Previously, handheld DSO/DMMs topped out at 100 MHz. In addition, unlike most handheld DSOs, the THS scopes need not operate in the equivalent-time-sampling mode to achieve their maximum bandwidth. In fact, the scopes don't even have such a mode. Thus, unlike most other handheld scopes, the THS scopes capture single-shot transients in the fastest waveforms they display. With point and zoom on the THS710A (60 MHz, $1895), THS720A (100 MHz, $2295), and THS730A, however, you use cursors to define the portion of the waveform that you want to reacquire. Moreover, you can repeatedly invoke the feature to further improve the resolution by progressively faster resampling of smaller regions of the waveform. Other improvements include quicker battery recharging without removing the batteries from the scope. Although the optional external charger is faster (1.5 hours; the scopes operate from the batteries for 2 hours), you can now recharge the batteries within the scope in 9 hours, even if the scope is in use. On earlier THS700s, recharging batteries within the scope took 19 hours if the scope was on and 15 hours if it was off. Tektronix, Beaverton, OR. 1-800-426-2200, www.tek.com/Measurement. VMEbus board nears 1 Gflops via mezzanine modules To meet the needs of floating-point-intensive, real-time algorithms, CSPI's MAP-1310 (and MAP-1311) multiprocessors use quadruple or octuple clustered SHARC ADSP-21060 DSPs in a 6U VME format, yielding 480 or 960 Mflops. A PowerPC 603 provides system-level and cluster-management support, minimizing VME host interaction. Each board also provides extensive DMA I/O of as much as 240 Mbytes/sec per DSP with front-panel ports that operate independently of the VME bus, thus avoiding bus contention. Software support is based on the VxWorks RTOS and a Posix-compliant package for efficient multiprocessor communications. For algorithm implementation, you can call on a library of more than 240 signal- and arithmetic-processing functions, which are C-callable assembler routines that run on the SHARC architecture two to 10 times faster than standard compiler-generated routines. Prices begin at $12,000. CSPI, Billerica, MA. 1-800-325-3110, www.cspi.com. Prototyping tools speed PCI/PCMCIA card design Design tools consisting of prototype cards and extenders decrease development and de- bugging time of PCI bus and PCMCIA add-on cards. The prototype cards come with power and ground signals routed and distributed throughout the board, with plated throughholes on centers. The extender cards aid troubleshooting by placing PCI bus signals approximately 5 in. above the motherboard and allowing easy access to components located on add-on cards. Prices range from $35 to $125. Advanced Microcomputer Systems Inc, Pompano Beach, FL. 1-954-784-0900. Palm-sized digital camera stores high-resolution images Contained in a package that is smaller than many point-and-shoot 35-mm cameras, the PVDC1000 PalmCam digital still camera stores as much as 2 Mbytes of information. You can view images on a built-in 1.8-in. color LCD, which doubles as the viewfinder. The camera stores 94 images at a resolution of 320×240 pixels or 32 images at 640×480 pixels in standard JPEG format. Once downloaded to a PC, you can enhance and manipulate images in a variety of ways. The PalmCam is equipped with a 5.7-mm lens that is the functional equivalent of a 55-mm lens on an SLR camera. PalmCam costs $499.95. Matsushita Consumer Electronics Co, Secaucus, NJ. 1-201-348-7000, www.panasonic.com. UHF ICs form core of simple, effective AM receivers The 400- to 460-MHz KESTX01 and 290- to 350-MHz KESTX02 UHF transmitters from GEC Plessey use amplitude-shift-keying (ASK) modulation for a data link that spans as far as 50m. The ICs target applications such as keyless-entry systems, remote control, medical-alert pendants, and electronic tagging that need simple, low-power, wireless links. You can use the 14-lead ICs with any simple AM receiver, although the vendor does provide a matching KESRX01 receiver. Each transmitter includes a VCO, PLL, and power amplifier. A 4- to 7-MHz crystal establishes the operating frequency and determines carrier accuracy and drift. You need do no manual tuning in a final design, which reduces cost and simplifies meeting regulatory and electromagnetic-compatibility requirements. These 3.5 to 6.5V ICs require less than 500 nA in power-down mode. You can use the transmitters with a simple 28×37-mm loop antenna. The surface-mount plastic ICs cost $1.28 (10,000). GEC Plessey Semiconductors, Dedham, MA. 1-617-251-0117, www.gpsemi.com. RF headaches? Take a 2.4-GHz "aspirin." The 2.450-GHz DAC2450A antenna from Toko America, measuring 16 mm in diameter and 6.5 mm high, looks like a pill. It mounts directly to a pc board, such as an extended PCMCIA Type II card. You attach the disk directly to the circuit board, using a 50×76-mm underlying area of the board as its ground plane. The 50 ohm ceramic dielectric element produces a vertically polarized omnidirectional radiation pattern. Bandwidth is ±50 MHz (3 dB), and peak gain is 0 dBi typical and 2.15 dBi maximum. The DAC2450 is less susceptible to interference from adjacent metal objects than the common inverted-F antenna, which typically uses a 20×20-mm plane element spaced off from a ground plane. The 4g device costs $5 (1000). Toko America, Mount Prospect, IL. 1-847-297-0070, www.tokoam.com. Self-trimming op amp cuts errors The TLC4502 dual op amp from Texas Instruments invokes an analog/digital self-calibration circuit and 300-msec procedure on power-up, yielding a maximum input offset voltage of less than 50 µV. After the op amp completes a cycle, it automatically removes most of the calibration circuitry from the signal path, leaving a device that appears and operates as any conventional op amp. It requires no external input, calibration, or control signals. Applications include data-acquisition, sensor-interface, and automotive designs. The calibrated offset value is repeatable to ±3 µV. The TLC4502 drives capacitive output loads as large as 1 µF and impedances as low as 1 kiloohms, slewing as fast as 2.5V/µsec. Open-loop gain is more than 100 dB, and input impedance is at least 1012ohms. The dual-channel, CMOS op amp comes in a standard SOIC package and costs $1.28 (1000). Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX. 1-800-477-8924, ext 4500, www.ti.com. Low-cost touchpads cut power drain by 85% The VersaPad touch pad from Interlink Electronics aims to overcome false-actuation and power-drain problems that occur with capacitive touch pads. False actuation--when your hand activates the pad by passing nearby--occurs frequently on most notebook PCs in which touch pads reside between a user and a keyboard. To solve this problem, the VersaPad uses force-sensitive resistors, like those in eraser-head pointing devices, in what Interlink calls "semiconductor touchpad technology." The technology offers lower cost; insensitivity to humidity; ability to accept input from a hand, stylus, or pen tip; and a pad that can modulate its response as you vary the applied force. The technology also lowers power drain, and Interlink further reduces the drain by putting the pad-support circuits into a "sleep" mode when nobody touches the pad for 1 sec. The VersaPad uses one-seventh the power of a capacitive pad. Interlink expects the VersaPad to be less expensive than capacitive touchpads partly because of the lower cost of one of the VersaPad ICs. VersaPad is available as an OEM drop-in replacement for capacitive pads. A developer's evaluation kit costs $150. The company expects a retail price of less than $60 for an end-user mouse-replacement de-vice. New software will take advantage of the pad's proportional response to force. With this software, you should, for example, be able to negotiate Windows menus more easily by varying the pressure you apply to the pad, thus varying the speed of the "elevators" adjoining the menu items. Interlink Electronics, Camarillo, CA. 1-805-484-8855, fax 1-805-484-8889, www.interlinkelec.com. Chip matches 486 to embedded needs The Radisys R400EX core-logic chip for the 80486 CPU family eliminates the risk--inherent in using the PC architecture for embedded systems--that parts, particularly core-logic chip sets, will become obsolete and out of production. Radisys has committed to produce the part for at least five years. The device encompasses all the logic of a PC motherboard in a single 208-pin PQFP. It includes two communications ports, three counter/ timers, keyboard and mouse controllers, enhanced-IDE disk interfaces, a real-time clock, and a DRAM controller. It also has an IR data interface, a watchdog timer, and interfaces for flash memory and ROM. The R400EX tolerates temperatures of 40 to +85°C and can operate with 5 or 3.3V power. At 3.3V, the R400EX operates as fast as 33 MHz; at 5V, the device works as fast as 50 MHz. The chip's estimated price is $20.89 (10,000). Radisys Corp, Beaverton, OR. 1-503-646-1800. USB products use state-machine design approach Texas Instruments offers a family of USB devices, including macrocells. The first members are the four-port TUSB2040 and seven-port TUSB2070 hub controllers, which cost $4 to $5 (1000). These controllers use a state-machine design approach, eliminating the need for programming the hub. Future devices will include a four-port hub with the I2C communications bus for monitor control, a peripheral-interface device with 64 kbytes of FIFO memory, and a peripheral-interface macrocell. Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX. 1-800-477-8924, ext 5504. Battery-charger
IC switches The LT1513 eases the task of designing a battery-charging circuit whose input voltage varies both higher and lower than the battery voltage. The device switches between buck and boost modes, so that the charger input can be higher than, equal to, or lower than the battery voltage. When you configure the IC with necessary passive external components, the constant-current/ constant-voltage charger charges any number of cells with terminal voltage as high as 20V and can deliver as much as 2A of charging current. The LT1513 operates at a 500-kHz switching frequency, which lets you use smaller inductors. A single resistor sets the charging current. You can set up the device so that the battery is directly grounded, which eases system grounding considerations. The nominal voltage across the current-sense resistor is 100 mV for high efficiency, and charging voltage accuracy is 1%, compatible with the requirements of lithium batteries. Linear Technology Corp, Milpitas, CA. 1-408-432-1900, fax 1-408-434-0507. Controller cuts IEEE 1394-application costs by 50% The TSB12LV31 GPLynx, a third-generation link-layer controller for the IEEE 1394 standard, cuts costs by 50% for riding on the IEEE 1394 bus. The device targets digital cameras, TVs, CD players, and tape decks in the consumer market and printers, scanners, and drives for CD-ROMs, hard disks, and DVD in the computer arena. The part comes with PCI-bus-based design kits that support Windows 95 using Microsoft's 1394 application-programming interface. The device works only with 100- or 200-Mbps 1394 physical-layer devices. The GPLynx operates from 3.3V, interfaces to 3.3 or 5V devices, and supports both isochronous and asynchronous data transmissions. A separate 8-bit interface integrates a data mover for isochronous buffered or unbuffered data in the receiving direction. The generic microcontroller interface is programmable for 8 or 16 bits and is compatible with both microcontroller or DSP interfaces. The device contains a 200-byte FIFO buffer, reduced from 2 kbytes in the previous generation, to buffer data in either isochronous or asynchronous mode. You can logically partition this FIFO buffer into two memory spaces of any size as large as 200 bytes, and you usually use the largest partition for isochronous traffic. The data mover supports an external FIFO buffer when an application requires additional buffer space. The GPLynx comes in a 100-pin PQFP and sells for $9.72 (1000). Texas Instruments Inc, Dallas, TX. 1-800-477-8924, ext 4500, www.ti.com. Tiny component puts videocamera into PC The Micro Unit CCD from Sony Semiconductor contains a CCD image sensor, a timing generator, a sample-and-hold IC, an A/D converter, and a lens in a ceramic package measuring only 17.5×17.5×9.8 mm. With the addition of an application-specific DSP chip from Sony, the package can function as a complete camera, with YUV or CCIR H.601 output. Conforming to the CIF (Common International Format), the Micro Unit CCD creates output data with a 10-bit A/D converter. An internal 1/5-in. color CCD provides 180,000 pixels in a 362×492-pixel configuration. Horizontal resolution, according to Sony, is 200 lines. The package's fixed-focus lens provides an image that's in focus from 20 cm to infinity and that covers a horizontal range of 48º. Total power consumption is 630 mW. In production quantities, the device costs about $60. Sony Semiconductor Co of America, San Jose, CA. 1-800-288-7669 or 1-408-955-6572, fax 1-408-955-5176, www.sel.sony.com/semi. Processor slashes system costs Cyrix's MediaGX processor costs $79 and $99 for the 120- and 133-MHz versions, respectively including the companion chip set, video drivers, and BIOS extensions that drive the GX. The CPU performs all standard north-bridge functions, including those of the PC's graphics controller, audio chip set, memory controller, and CPU-to-PCI bridge. Rather than using only transistors to perform these functions, Cyrix developed its Virtual System Architecture (VSA), which supports the graphics- and audio-hardware functions through software. VSA uses the MediaGX's system-management interrupt (SMI) to capture any application's accesses to the memory or I/O-address ranges of the graphics and audio functions. The graphics portion of VSA, XpressGraphics, uses compression technology and buffering to reduce the bandwidth contention of traditional unified-memory architectures. Some new GX instructions include block read/write from and to the cache's or graphics controller's virtual memory. XpressGraphics uses the MEM_BB instruction to grab bit-map or compressed video data and place it in the blit buffer. Once the data reaches the blit buffer, the core or the graphics accelerator can independently work on the data. You can load a bit map from virtual memory into a blit buffer and then have the graphics pipeline transfer that bit map to the screen. The graphics pipeline can expand or transform the bit map as it traverses the pipeline. The GX uses Cyrix's XpressRAM technology to achieve main-memory performance comparable with accessing L2 cache. Compaq Computer (Houston) integrates the device in the Presario 2100. The unit comes with a 133-MHz GX, 24 Mbytes of EDO DRAM, a 2-Gbyte hard drive, 8X CD-ROM, 33.6-kbps data/fax modem, speakers, and Windows 95. It sells for $995. Cyrix Corp, Richardson, TX. 1-214-994-8388, www.cyrix.com. Near-field
recording promises Terastor Corp has pledged to produce near-field recording products within one year. Near-field disk drives store 10 times as much data on a surface as optical or magnetic disk drives. In near-field disk drives, a focused laser heats a spot, or "bit cell," on the rotating media while a magnetic field changes the state of the spot. An optical read element can detect the magnetic orientation of each stored bit via the polarization of reflected light. Near-field drives, however, will cost significantly less to build than do MO drives. MO drives use a costly, servo-based laser-focusing mechanism that has kept prices high, limited bit density, and prohibited the development of multiplatter or even double-sided drives. Based on quantum rather than classical physics, Terastor's near-field technology leverages characteristics of light during a fraction of the first wavelength from the source to focus a laser. A solid immersion lens handles the focusing chore and results in significantly smaller bit cells than does MO technology. Moreover, the entire magnetic/optical head assembly will fly just like traditional Winchester disk heads, and the controlled flying height will ensure accurate laser focus. Prisms and mirrors will channel the laser energy to the head in multiplatter or double-sided drives, and subminiature lasers may eventually be mounted directly on each head. Together, the flying head and increased bit densities should allow near-field drives to match or exceed Winchester drives in seek time, rotational speed, and data-transfer rate. The media should cost less than does traditional Winchester media because the near-field media can use a plastic substrate. The drives can use standard Winchester read channels, although the 10-times areal-density boost will allow near-field drives to take advantage of much faster read channels than are currently available. Products could include a 3.5-in. removable disk drive like the 1-Gbyte Jaz from Iomega (Roy, UT), except that the near-field drive could store 10 Gbytes. Moreover, Jaz cartridges cost around $100. Based on current MO pricing, it's conceivable that the near-field cartridge could cost less than $20. Terastor also plans to license the technology to other data-storage vendors, so a plethora of product types could emerge in the next few years. Terastor Corp, San Jose, CA. 1-408-324-2143, www.terastor.com. PC diagnostic-software tool handles variety of hardware American Megatrends' AMIDiag V5.0 tests PCs that run MS-DOS, with or without Windows 3.x. On a PC that runs MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11, for example, AMIDiag finds and tests all of the hardware, except for the tape drive, the scanner, the printer, and the modem. The software checks all of the COM ports and the LPT port. If the system uses an EIDE hard drive instead of a SCSI drive, the hard-drive tests are even more comprehensive. AMIDiag also exercises several text and graphics modes. If you install it on a hard drive, AMIDiag runs faster than it does from a floppy drive. However, even if you run the software from your hard drive, you may have to boot from a floppy because, on most systems, the hard drive's copy of CONFIG.SYS installs an extended-memory manager, such as EMM386. Also, in most cases, AUTOEXEC.BAT starts Windows. You must exit from Windows to run AMIDiag, and AMIDiag does not run most memory tests if EMM386 is installed. AMIDiag costs $149. American Megatrends, Norcross, GA. 1-800-828-9264, fax 1-770-246-8790, www.megatrends.com. |
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