RF ICs cut the ties that bind By Bill Schweber, Technical Editor
It's easier and more cost-effective than ever to use a dedicated wireless link in place of a cable, but your choice also requires many decisions.
Design Features
Microcontrollers wrap many features in small packages By Markus Levy, Technical Editor
Although marketing efforts focus on high-end, 32- and 64-bit microprocessors, DSPs, and very-long-instruction-word processors, lowly 8-bit processors continue to dominate products shipped. Find out what new features, higher performance, better memory integration, and technology have helped to keep these devices the popular and practical choice among designers.
A century-old technology enters the digital age By Dan Strassberg, Senior Technical Editor
Although it will be awhile before all special-purpose digital ICs and all analog components except ADCs and DACs disappear from radios, some applications are already enjoying software radio's benefits.
Behavioral modeling in VHDL simulation Gary Peyrot, Lattice Semiconductor
Using an effective testbench is an important part of programmable-logic simulation. Knowing which VHDL features support high-level modeling helps reduce your testbench-development time.
Measuring precision-amplifier settling time By Jim Williams, Linear Technology Corp
Obtaining a reliable settling-time measurement is difficult and requires a careful approach and an experimental technique. You can use new circuits to test the 30-nsec settling time of a precision wideband amplifier.
