EDN 1999 INNOVATION WINNERS
Your Web votes have been tallied in EDN's annual competition to recognize the most innovative people and products of the year. At an April 10 reception at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA, EDN's editors honored the winners and the finalists from this year's competition. Innovator of the Year Barrie Gilbert of Analog Devices receives a $10,000 scholarship that EDN donates to the college or university of his choice. Entries for next year's contest will be posted on our Web site soon.
By Staff -- EDN, April 27, 2000
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Innovator of the Year Barrie Gilbert  Barrie Gilbert emigrated from England to the United States in 1964, joining Tektronix to design real-time oscilloscopes and ICs. At Tektronix, Gilbert created several fundamental analog-design techniques, including now-classic translinear circuits. Perhaps the best-known innovations include the Gilbert mixer, the Gilbert gain cell, and the Gilbert multiplier. He also invented carrier-domain devices, including the carrier-domain magnetometer and the solid-state potentiometer.
From 1970 to 1972, at Plessey Research Labs, he developed optical holographic memories, first-generation communications ICs, and systems for optical character recognition and first-generation handwriting recognition. In 1972, he joined Analog Devices, where he has designed 40 products including the first laser-trimmed monolithic multiplier/divider (the AD534). In 1999, he designed the AD8361 2.5-GHz TruPwr Detector, a true rms-to-dc converter that enables accurate measurement of the RF power level of complex waveforms. Gilbert holds more than 50 patents in analog circuits and has co-authored several books. He is the five-time recipient of the Best Paper Award at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference and has been an IEEE fellow since 1984. He currently manages Analog Devices' Northwest Labs (Beaverton, OR) and teaches analog design in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Analog Devices Inc , 1-781-329-4700, www.analog.com. |
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Components, Hardware & Interconnect Light pipes reach anywhere.  The BivarOpto flexible-light-pipe (FLP) series comprises optically clear, flexible tubing clad in flame-retardant 94V-0 UL-rated material. The light pipes extend to reach any location on the pc board. The family carries the full intensity of a surface-mount or through-hole LED to a front-panel display as far as 100 ft away. Standard lengths range from 3 to 48 in., with custom-order lengths to 100 ft.
The light pipes use a monofiber construction, featuring an inner core, an inner cladding with a lower refractive index, and a flame-retardant jacket. Light attenuation is low; after an initial 2 to 3% reduction, light transmission does not degrade further over practical distances. The FLP series comes in two pieces—the light pipe and diffusing lens as one piece and either a complete LED assembly or a surface-mount adapter as the second piece. The light pipe costs approximately $1 (OEM) for a full, 6-in.-long LED assembly. Bivar Inc , 1-949-951-8808, www.bivar.com. |
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Test & Measurement Option enables digital scopes to respond to voice commands.  With Agilent Technologies' Infiniium digital scopes' voice-response option (from $495), engineers working on fine-pitch pc boards can have both hands free for probing. No longer must these EEs try to operate the scope controls with their noses or toes. The speaker-independent option's collar-mounted microphone accepts straightforward English-language commands, such as "sweep speed...faster." Because the scopes use standard PC motherboards, the hardware design involved merely adding a sound card and microphone.
The speech-recognition engine came from a third party, Lernout and Hauspie (www.lhsl.com). Agilent added the interface to the scope application and online tutorial and performed hours of usability testing and tweaking of the commands. Voice control of a PC-based instrument may be a simple idea, but you have to think of it before it is of any value to anyone. Agilent says that it can find no record of any previous application of voice control to a test-and-measurement instrument. Agilent Technologies , 1-800-452-4844, www.agilent.com. |
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EDA Tool combines synthesis with accurate preliminary placement and routing.  Envisia Synthesis with Physically Knowledgeable Synthesis reduces or eliminates design iterations by integrating synthesis and placement-and-routing capabilities. It generates physical results that correlate final timing to within 5% of the timing estimated after synthesis.
The software works by concurrently optimizing your circuit in the logical, timing, and physical domains using acquired—Envisia Synthesis (formerly Build Gates)—and internally developed-Silicon Ensemble—tools. Using design constraints and physical library files, the software first synthesizes and places your design and then uses global routing to provide accurate estimated timing. It finishes the job with the detailed routing. The software costs $250,000 per seat. Cadence Design Systems Inc , 1-408-943-1234, www.cadence.com. |
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Power Sources Power modules slash size.  Three models of power modules in the Titania family from Lucent Technologies provide reduced size and fast transient performance. The modules use switching frequencies greater than 1 MHz (compared with the industry-standard 100 to 300 kHz).
The Onami Series, a point-of-load power module with 48V input and programmable outputs of 1.3 to 3.5V, boasts 48V/µsec transient response. Austin Series modules are three times smaller than comparable-spec industry modules and deliver a maximum output current of 6A. The Austin modules take 3.3 to 5V inputs and provide 1.5 to 3.3V outputs. Zephyr Series modules have the fastest transient response (600A/msec) in the industry. Zephyr converters accommodate low-voltage-output needs by providing a programmable output voltage of 0.8 to 3.5V at 20A. The Onami Series comes in a SIP format; the Austin and Zephyr devices are surface-mount modules. Prices for Onami, Austin, and Zephyr power modules are $65.33, $19.89, and $43.65 (1000), respectively. Lucent Technologies , 1-512-257-6579, www.lucent.com. |
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Analog ICs IC solves longstanding RF-measurement problem.  Measuring the true rms power of complex RF waveforms is both important and difficult; it is even more so with the advanced, high-crest-factor waveforms that cellular systems use. Current techniques, such as diode and thermal circuits, have severe performance and practical limitations. By using an implicit analog computation architecture, Analog Devices' AD8361 yields a dc signal proportional to the true power of the input and with a bandwidth that reaches 2.5 GHz.
The circuit uses a high-gain-error amplifier to balance the outputs of two identical squaring cells—one in the signal's forward path and the other in a feedback loop. The converter's dynamic range is 30 dB, and the transfer function is 7.4VOUT /VRMS . The 2.7 to 5.5V, eight-pin IC consumes 2 mA when active (1 mA in standby) and costs $3.75 (1000). Analog Devices Inc , 1-781-329-4700, www.analog.com. |
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Embedded Systems Real-time make-versus-buy choice.  EXpressDSP, an open software-development environment for Texas Instruments DSPs, gives users a real-time make-versus-buy choice for DSP algorithms.
A user works with eXpressDSP through the Code Composer Studio integrated development environment, which provides development tools and access to a growing list of DSP algorithms available for purchase. EXpressDSP also includes DSP/BIOS, a universal-foundation-software layer that provides basic runtime services and integration support. The final piece of the technology, an algorithm standard, gives third-party developers a set of coding conventions and application-programming interfaces to ensure that their algorithms are ready for use in users' applications. The Code Composer Studio integrated development environment, including eXpressDSP features, costs $2995. The eXpressDSP algorithm standard is free to current Code Composer Studio users or $149 for future users. Texas Instruments , 1-281-274-4878, www.ti.com/sc. |
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Digital ICs DTV decoder beams HDTV signals.  A $200 to $300 PC add-in card based on TeraLogic's $50 (10,000) Janus lets users view high-definition TV (HDTV). Janus, a variant of TeraLogic's TL850 processor for set-top boxes, interacts with the host CPU over a 33- or 66-MHz PCI bus. The device's 8 Mbytes of 100- or 125-MHz synchronous DRAM supports digital TV's (DTV's) highest resolutions or as many as four simultaneous standard-definition-TV (SDTV) programs; with 4 Mbytes, it can display 480P or 480I modes; and 16 Mbytes provides additional frame-buffer space for the chip's optional 2-D acceleration functions. Janus supports input and display of all 18 DTV resolutions, to 720P/1080I, using its integrated 19-tap video scaler.
It can also handle DVD and upconverts incoming CCIR656 video signals. Janus' built-in transport demultiplexer also comprehends data broadcasting along with audio and video in the HDTV stream. To interface Janus with a separate 2-D/3-D accelerator, you can either route the graphics chip's CRT output into an analog switch controlled by Janus for full-screen display or send Janus' digital output to the graphics chip over the VESA video-interface port. TeraLogic Inc , 1-650-526-2000, www.teralogic-inc.com. |
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Computers & Peripherals Printer reference design uses DSP.  When's the last time you witnessed a color or monochrome page printer deliver on its specified page-per-minute rating? Probably not since the HP Laser Jet III and probably never if your documents contain more than straight text. Texas Instruments claims that it rectifies that situation with the xStream DSP technology, which the company delivers to printer manufacturers as a reference design.
The xStream design uses a single DSP in place of the typical RISC CPU plus rendering ASIC that many printers use. The DSP tackles the interpretation of the page-description language, the rendering process, the compression/decompression of data necessary to minimize memory, and the driving of the imaging engine. The company has benchmarks showing that its controller driving a 3-ppm engine is significantly faster than other 6-ppm products, and those tests relied on a 60-MHz processor. The company plans to offer the design with processors that ramp to 200 MHz. The xStream DSP technology will match the cost profile of printer-controller technologies and will initially target color laser printers that sell for around $2000. Texas Instruments Inc , 1-800-477-8924, ext 4500, www.ti.com/sc. |
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Microprocessors Efficient hardware threads improve off-chip memory.  The IXP1200 µP features a StrongRM core and six independent, programmable microengines. Each microengine has hardware support for four execution threads. The thread support yields single-cycle context switching between threads; however, you can use a deferred token within an instruction to obtain zero-overhead switching. Using a deferred token, the microengine executes the instruction following a branch before the branch takes effect. The microengine threads determine when to sleep and allow another thread to run, but the context-event arbiter determines which microengine thread will wake up via the status of the wake-up-signal event enabled by a thread.
When a thread requests a memory resource, that request enters one of the associated read or write queues for sequential access. An efficiently written thread then switches context and allows another thread to execute while waiting for the signal event. This scheme improves the efficiency of off-chip memory accesses and simplifies the programming because it allows you to think in discrete execution blocks. LevelOne , an Intel Co, 1-916-855-5000, www.level1.com. |
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