You Owe Your PC to a Circuit Board Screwed onto a Piece of PlywoodIt all Started with a simple integrated circuit board screwed onto a piece of plywood.You owe your laptop or PC to a kit for flashing lights. How was it that in our time the Personal Computer (P.C) and the laptop computer came about to be? It all started with the invention of the transistor in 1949 by Bell Labs – the research arm of the “phone company”. . The transistor was nothing more than a solid state electronic switch. The transistor or integrated circuit replaced the much larger vacuum tubes of the day. Vacuum tubes were large, hot and unreliable. Transistors performed essentially the same functions as tubes but were smaller , lighter , cooler and more reliable All said and done they were better ,smaller and more efficient than the vacuum tubes they replaced. . And transistors did not “burn out” like a vacuum tube. Transistors allowed a trend of miniaturization that has led all the way to our present portable small laptop / notebook computers which can run on batteries. It is hard to visualize for us today that computers used to house large office buildings themselves – along with maintenance backup support staff and even their own air conditioners to remove the great amounts of heat the early, primitive computers produced. In 1959 engineers at Texas Instruments figured out how to put more than one transistor on the same base and connect these transistors without wires. Thus the next step was born – the integrated circuit. The first integrated circuit consisted of only six transistors. Current computers have in the range of 100 million transistor equivalents. In 1969 Intel introduced the 1 k memory chip. This was much larger than anything else produced at the time. Through coordination of Intel with a Japanese calculator manufacturer named Busicomp the next step was made where a generic multipurpose chip was devised. What made this step important was that no one chip could do a number of tasks. Previously each chip had a purpose that was burnt in. Now one integrated chip could do a number of different functions. One single integrated circuit chip was almost an entire computing device. The successor to this multi purpose integrated circuit or “CPU” was what went on to the basis of our whole generation and concept of personal computers/ In 1973 some of these microcomputer kits based on the initial 8080 Intel integrated chip were developed. In the hands of hobbyists these kits were put together and were nothing more than blinking lights. However the impetus was on. Many of these early hobbyists went on to become computer industry giants. With Intel introducing an even much more powerful microprocessor chip the computer industry was on its way. A company MITS introduced the “Altair Computer Kit”. The Altair was the impetus for fledgling software companies, such as Microsoft and Lotus, to write software programs for these early computers. Among the early innovators and producers of software in this field was Microsoft with its first version of Microsoft “Basic”. Along came the computer industry leader and stodgy monolith IBM to introduce the first “personal computer” in 1975. The model 1500 was beyond piddly compared to today’s dollar store calculators and cost only $ 9,000. Next came a smaller “upstart “Computer Company which came to be called Apple Computer. Apple computer introduced the Apple I computer in 1976 for the princely sum $ 695. Believe it or not original “Apple 1 computer” consisted of a main circuit board screwed into a piece of plywood. Talk about IBM having to hold its laughter The Apple I appeared to be such a home garage made amateur none professionally made product that the case and power supply were not even included. The buyer of the Apple I had to scrounge or source this himself. IBM thought the Apple I was nothing more than a foolish fad. A minor inconvenience that would soon go away and disappear. Yet department heads started buying these simple computers for uses in business departments. This was in spite of serious advice from IBM experts to corporations about the perils and shortcomings of these toy computers and outright threats by IBM salespeople to IT staff and heads. The Apple I was followed in 1977 by the Apple II. The Apple II because of its enormous success set the standards for nearly all the important microcomputers to follow, including the IBM PC. The very core of the early computer world – IBM “International Business Machines” – the master of the profitable mainframe computer industry had been awoken from its deep profitable slumber by a small upstart computer maker with a simple computer system that began its product cycle as an integrated circuit board screwed onto a piece of plywood. Monitor No Display - How To Repair Likom No High Voltage ProblemThe complaint for this LIKOM 15” L4031NDG Monitor was no display and has power. Well, no display can be no high voltage, failure in G1, G2 and heater circuit, defective flyback transformer, failure in picture tube and microprocessor or many other reasons . In order to find out the answer we have to switch on the Monitor. Upon switching on the monitor, I could not hear any sound from the monitor but the power led is on (green light). You can’t feel any static at the glass of the picture tube. This could be a sign of no high voltage symptom.Anyhow, I have to use my faithful Kaise SK9000 high voltage probe to check if the high voltage present at the anode. Sometimes if you can’t feel the static at the glass of CRT, doesn’t mean that the high voltage is not present. It’s only low in high voltage; say may be 10 to 12 kilovolts. Low high voltage and no high voltage are totally two different symptoms. In the above case, my high voltage probe registered zero volts! So it’s confirmed no high voltage problem. There are many reasons for no high voltage problem. A missing B+ voltage, a defective flyback transformer, no horizontal drive pulse from h/v oscillator ic, low or missing supply voltage to horizontal driver transformer and etc could cause no high voltage. The first point that I have checked was the flyback internal capacitor-the capacitance is within the normal range which is 2.7 nanofarad. If the internal capacitor is shorted, it would cause no high voltage. The second point that I have checked to be okay was the B+ voltage. It showed about 50 + volts and this mean there is supply entering the B+ pin of flyback transformer. When checking the third point (the voltage at the primary winding of horizontal flyback transformer), I found that it has zero volt which is very unusual. The base drive power supply input has about 14 volts but after the resistor it showed zero volts (by right it should have about 12 volt-voltage drop after the resistor). When I placed my finger on the base drive power resistor just after switching off the Monitor, I could felt it was very hot. Now this is what we call a clue. A good working base drive power resistor won’t get hot till it burns your finger! There must be something that has gone wrong or shorted that makes the power resistor turned extremely hot. From the result we get, we can say that the horizontal drive circuit is having problem so my concentration is on this circuit. A shorted horizontal driver transformer primary winding, horizontal driver transistor, components surrounding this circuit could cause the power resistor to turn hot. The horizontal driver transformer primary winding can be check by using a dick smith flyback tester while the horizontal driver transistor and surrounding components can be test with a normal multimeter. The result, surprisingly not even one component in this circuit found to be faulty. Since I could not locate the defective components, the only way to find out the culprit is to come out with my own schematic drawing base on this monitor circuit (using monitor circuit theory to solve problem). When the monitor is turned on the h/v oscillator tda4858 will receive a supply voltage about 9-12 volts from power supply. Then it will send a square wave pulse to horizontal driver transistor through pin 7 (horizontal driver output) to cause the transistor to switch. Once the horizontal driver is switching the horizontal driver transformer would work and a base signal was produced to turn on the Horizontal output transistor (HOT). This HOT would then drive the flyback transformer and 24 kilovolt would appear at the anode. I asked myself what if the h/v oscillator ic tda4858 instead of producing a square pulse, it produce a constant signal? If it sends out a constant 5 volts signal to the horizontal driver transistor, then this transistor would not switch and causing it to turn “on” all the time. If this happen, the base drive power resistor and the horizontal driver transformer primary winding would suffer. The base drive power resistor and the horizontal driver transformer primary winding now would acts just like a filament or a lamp!. No wander the base drive power resistor was getting hot when the monitor was turned on. After carefully studied the horizontal drive circuit, I’ve made the conclusion that it was the h/v oscillator tda4848 that sends a wrong signal causing the base drive power resistor to get hot and at the same time causing no high voltage in the monitor. I did not use an oscilloscope to check for the square wave in order to prove my theory right because I’m very certain that it was the h/v oscillator IC that output a wrong signal that caused no high voltage. You would not believe this; yes it was this culprit (TDA4858) that caused the monitor no display problem. After replacing the IC, the high voltage immediately energized and the zero volts measured at the pin of horizontal driver transformer now showed 12 volts! What a relieved and a great satisfaction in my heart. I believe if we continue to switch on the Monitor for a longer period, either the base drive power resistor or the horizontal driver transformer primary winding would burnt out causing it to open circuit. Repairing Monitors need patience, understanding how Monitor work and its signal and also the right way to test electronic components. If the practical way can’t solve a problem, you can always use the theory way to help you out. Thus it is important to know on how to read a monitor schematic diagram. Don’t give up and continue to learn and I believe one day you shall achieved what’s desired in your heart! Have a good day! Advantages And Disadvantages Of The TC74 And The DS18B20 Digital Temperature SensorsI have recently worked with 2 different digital temperature sensors and I want to discuss some of the pros and cons of both sensors in this article. The first one was the DS18B20 from Maxim (used to be Dallas Semiconductors). The package was the TO92 which is a small three terminal transistor type. The interesting part about this device is that it has a one wire interface. This means that apart from Gnd and Vcc, there is only one communications wire between the interrogating device, usually a microprocessor, and the sensor. Communications are therefore bidirectional and done using a set of strict timing rules. One can even take it a step further by removing Vcc and shorting it to the data pin. This means one can have a remote temperature sensor using only 2 wires. This gets even better because this structure has the ability to handle multiple sensors on the same pair of wires. In this way one can have a number of sensors in a room measuring its temperature and then make a decision on the average.All these advantages however do have a down side and that is that the complexity of the software increases quite dramatically. I say this because it is not a case anymore of asking a sensor, "what is your temperature". Now a certain procedure has to be followed. The address (internal unique fixed 48 bit) of each sensor has to be determined (see the application notes on the suppliers website), stored in EEPROM (so that we don't forget it) and then each sensor can be individually addressed and its data queried. The second digital temperature sensor that I have worked with recently is the TC74A2-5.0 from Microchip in the 5 pin SOT23 package. This is usually best mounted onto a pcb but soldering 4 wires onto it works just as well . The communications to this device works completely differently to the Maxim chip. The communications interface is the industry standard I2C bus which consists of 4 connections namely Gnd, Vcc, Clock and Data. The device is configured by default as a slave with a limited number of fixed addresses. These addresses are made known by the markings of the device eg A2 in the device under discussion has the fixed address 0b1001010. This a 7 bit address used within the I2C communications protocol to talk directly to a specific device. The problem here is that one can only hang so many devices onto the bus before the range of available addresses are exhausted (max 8). Secondly, it requires 4 wires. The advantages start appearing in the software especially if one already has an I2C bus running. All that is then required is one additional line of code to query the data from the new I2C device and the integration is complete. The choice is then ultimately yours. If one is new in writing software for microcontrollers then I would suggest the Microchip device but those that are comfortable with an increased level of software complexity may find it more convenient to use the 2 wire Maxim device Some Emerging New Economy CareersEffect Of New Economy CareersSome of these emerging careers may require higher skills and educational qualifications and are accompanied by higher compensation packages. An increase in such jobs has also seen a parallel growth in the number of colleges offering courses that are relevant to them. For years, people have found it exceedingly hard to find a career path that strikes a balance between personal passions and lucrative career growth. The discontent this caused has also led to the development of newer and better job opportunities. These new economy jobs aim at offering a good working environment along with substantial pay packages. Modifications In Job Fields New jobs in the 21st century will revolve around the information, health care, energy and financial industry. The jobs created will primarily focus on computer science, robotics, biotechnology and fiber optics. With the dawn of the information age, there is an increasing reliance on technology than ever before. The rapid advancement in technology has resulted in the clash of new thinking styles with the traditional and orthodox ones. Science And Technology The fastest emerging careers today relate to fields like forensic science, health care, homeland security, case management, life care planning, geriatric care management, genetics, and cyber security. These fields are now gaining popularity and proving to be the fastest emerging new economy careers as compared to several years ago. Until recently, in the United States, the automobile and related industries accounted for a major part of employment opportunities. However, employment avenues in these fields have declined as a result of increased automation. Medical Prospects Nursing informatics is an upcoming career that involves skills in nursing, computer science and information technology. New medical imaging techniques have given rise to radiological specialties and improvements in data management have led to geographic information systems. Other Opportunities Computer security is another emerging specialty that is gaining popularity. Improved computer graphics have led to a variety of animation specialties. Other emerging job positions include Internet development specialist, multimedia specialist and wireless communications technician. Occupations that may emerge from unforeseen technological breakthroughs include artificial intelligence technician, aqua culturist, automotive fuel cell battery technician, benefits analyst, bionic electron technician, computational linguist, computer microprocessor, cryonics technician, dialysis technologist, electronic mail technician and space mechanic. Reason For New Economy Careers Demographic trends like increased immigration, aging, higher educational levels, changes in consumer needs and tastes are creating a need for more skills from employees. The opportunities for people are limitless and if tapped correctly, this trend is sure to bring economic stability and job satisfaction around the world. Water Softeners Buying GuideThis water softeners buying guide will help you get a better overview of the water softener manufacturers in the market and what they offer. It's important to navigate through each of these before you make your decision as to which model you'll purchase and use.The Autotrol line of water softeners range from softeners to be used in the home to softeners that can be used in commercial buildings. They come as complete units. These systems will have the following features: a 12-volt wall mount transformer, a microprocessor which monitors your actual daily water usage, an good looking unit, the ability to renew itself, simple program, a NOVRAM memory chip to store water usage data, new efficient valve design, automatic flow control, internal bypass to provide water during regeneration, among others. These water softeners range in price from around $500 to around $2000 based upon the size of the water softener. The conveniences that are included in some of the softener tanks and not others will also affect the price tag of the overall unit. These softeners are well worth the investment as they will work hard to make your water the best possible for you. The Fleck water softeners have a variety of features on the products they offer. Each softener in their line focus on one aspect on water softening and will come in a range of sizes with that focus. For example, the Fleck 2510 line is a line of water softeners that claim an on-demand status. These are typically residential softeners and will help control the amount of water used in the home. The meter is "on-demand" so that no water is wasted in the process of turning on or off the water. These are high flow softeners and have the benefit of being time tested units. The Fleck 2510SE line of softeners are also "on-demand." They also help to conserve water and limit the amount of water wasted. Yet, these are controlled by simplified electronic units. The tanks that come with these units will vary in size which will help determine their price. They will range from around $600 to around $1350. The final Fleck product line is the Fleck 5600 Ecominder. This product, as explained by its name, is one that is more environmentally friendly and will work to help keep the planet safe. This will help control the amount of water and salt you use and they are economically priced. They will range from $450-$650. The last line of products in this water softeners buying guide are the Clack WS1 water softener systems. They feature state of the art electronics and include a high flow rate. They are often used in combination with simple end operations for those that will control and operate them. These tanks have high capabilities. They will range from 24,000 grain to 64,000 grain tank. They are controlled through the Clack WS1 high flow rate valve. They will differ in the amount of water they expel per minute. The tanks themselves and the control of those tanks are all run by the state of the art technology on the Clack design. These tanks will range in price from around $620 to about $730. They can be purchased and shipped to you which will leave you to install and start using them based on the included instructions. If you own a commercial business within an area that has hard water it's more important than ever to ensure that you have a water softener that works well. This will mean that all water used in your business will be as healthy as possible while being used in appropriate amounts and not being wasted. The units that are designed for higher capacities are what every business needs. Their warranties and state of the art technology will help keep costs down and give the best water possible. Brake Me!The sound of screeching tires may be one of the most annoying things you get to hear on the streets. However, for some people, the violent screech of tires and the nauseous whiff of brake fluid can mean something totally different: that their brakes are doing their job of keeping passengers safe from a collision.Brakes are devices that are used to slow rotating wheels until they stop. Friction brakes are the most common examples of such brakes. Brakes like the ones used on everyday vehicles such automobiles, bicycles, trucks and trains use friction between brake pad and a wheel to slow the motion of a vehicle. However, the friction created by the brakes generates a great deal of heat. The brake system should be able to dissipate this heat or else the brake could lose its efficacy. There are many kinds of brakes – the most common of which are the ones used in automobiles: the disc and drum brakes. Both, however, rely on hydraulics, or the use of brake fluid pressure to activate the brakes. The drum brakes work by the constriction of brake shoes installed on the inside of the wheel. The friction generated by this action slows the motion of the vehicle. The disc brake works by clamping the rotors of the wheel itself. Disc brakes are superior to drum brakes due to the fact that disc brakes are not prone to malfunction even when wet or immersed in water. This malfunction is called brake fade. Disc brakes can also handle higher braking temperatures and dissipate heat more quickly. Also, disc brakes do not trap water as drum brakes can. In 1985, the first antilock brake system (ABS) was introduced for motor vehicles in the United States. ABS works as a safety feature to give drivers more control when braking. ABS has a microprocessor and individual wheel-speed sensors that monitors the brakes of a vehicle. The hydraulic control valves for each brake circuit prevent skidding during panic stops or when braking hard on wet or slippery surfaces. By 1990, ABS was available on about 25 percent of all new cars and trucks. Today, ABS is available on over 90 percent of all new vehicles. Other Braking Systems In 1869, George Westinghouse invented a different system of applying brakes. Instead of using liquid pressure to apply the brakes, he used a system wherein it is the air pressure that prevents the brakes from applying. This is helpful since the Achilles heel of hydraulic brakes is that when there is a loss of pressure, the brakes become ineffective. In Westinghouse’s system, when there is loss of air pressure, the brakes automatically apply. This is a safer alternative that is useful in high-load transportation such as trains. Large, heavy-duty trucks, as well as buses and trains, use compressed air pressure rather than hydraulic fluid to operate their brakes. Tomorrow’s Brakes While we still mostly rely on friction for braking, many technological advances call for new braking methods. For example aircraft also use spoilers, and flaps to slow its velocity through the air. Electric cars and other electric vehicles use drum and disc brakes to stop, but some vehicles also make use of magnetic brakes, which create opposing magnetic fields to resist motion. This type of braking is called regenerative braking. This technique recaptures some of the vehicle’s momentum as electrical energy. Regenerative braking uses the magnets within the electric motor itself to slow the vehicle. When the driver releases the accelerator pedal, the electric motor changes into a generator, thus recapturing the energy from the moving car and transforming it back into electricity As transportation becomes faster, safety becomes a primary concern. More powerful means of controlling speed are needed, and the evolution of braking systems is not far off. High density SRAM for system on chipMoSys, a provider of high-density system-on-chip (SoC) embedded memory intellectual property (IP), and Progate Group, a Taiwanese ASIC design turnkey service provider, have announced that their latest joint customer will begin production of a new-generation CMOS chip that will enhance the real-time conference-calling capabilities of mobile phones.Together, the companies have satisfied the customer's need to incorporate a large amount of embedded memory on a competitively priced consumer-oriented SoC. Progate was selected to lay out and produce the SoC based on customer specifications. To meet the performance, leakage and area requirements, Progate chose a high-density 1-T SRAM product from MoSys. 'Progate was an obvious choice to develop this SoC due to our track record and our certification under the TSMC Design Centre Alliance program', says Jack Kao, Director of Research and Development at Progate. 'MoSys' 1-T SRAM offers the ideal embedded memory solution in the integration of the SoC. Its compact size and high performance enabled us to reduce the die size while maintaining a high yield'. 'MoSys and Progate worked very efficiently together to ensure that the product was delivered to the customer on time and within budget', says Chet Silvestri, President and CEO of MoSys. 'By working with experienced design service providers like Progate, we can deliver the advantages of our 1T-SRAM technology to a large number of customers'. Foundry offers support services for 45nm processTaiwan semiconductor manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced a full range of design support services for its 45nm process. TSMC's 45nm production will start from September of this year. Designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies, TSMC's design ecosystem offers the foundry industry's largest portfolio of process-proven libraries and IP, design tools and reference flows.TSMC's prototyping programs streamline the transition from first silicon to production, including the QuickStartSM IP program, the Prototype Diagnostics Alliance and CyberShuttleSM. CyberShuttle allows multiple customers to share the costs of a single mask set and prototype wafers on a pilot run. TSMC's 45nm design ecosystem includes the industry's most advanced technology libraries, including standard cell, standard I/O, single-port SRAM, dual-port SRAM and more. The Library Alliance Program supports TSMC's extensive portfolio of silicon-proven third-party IP. TSMC 45nm PDKs cover the entire design flow from schematic entry, simulation, layout, and layout check to post-simulation. The 6-stage automatic PDK quality assurance flow with over 133 procedures ensures consistent quality control and faster development lead time. Adoption is simplified with smart installation and tutorial, and design accuracy is improved with support for well proximity effect (WPE) modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, and estimated parasitic RC device information for pre-simulation. TSMC's 45nm initiative goes beyond traditionally supplied design rules and Spice models, providing additional manufacturing variance data that is essential for achieving high yields at the nanometer level. A model-based approach and a rule-based approach are available for designer implementation, with a DFM Data Kit (DDK) for third-party EDA tools and a TSMC DFM toolkit with advisories and utilities. TSMC also provides extensive in-house services that enable reliable, rapid tape-out and production, along with comprehensive backend services from CP test to drop-shipping. TSMC's 45nm process employs a combination of 193nm immersion photolithography and extreme low-k (ELK) material. With an exceptionally high gate density and high-density 6T SRAM cell, more than 500 million transistors will easily fit into a 70mm2 die area. TSMC's low-power 45nm process is expected to be available first, followed soon after by the general purpose and high-performance process. In addition, the 45nm logic family includes a low-power triple gate oxide (LPG) option. All three processes offer multiple threshold voltage (Vt) core devices and 1.8, 2.5 and 3.3V I/O options to meet different product requirements. DSP chips form heart of new navy sonar systemRaytheon has selected TMS320C6455 digital signal processors (DSPs) from Texas Instruments for use in the US Navy's DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer program. Raytheon serves as the main mission-systems equipment integrator for all electronic and combat systems for the Navy. Tuned for a myriad of infrastructure equipment including high-end telecom, wireless infrastructure, and video and imaging applications, TI's 1GHz C6455 DSP is the processing workhorse for ATRIMT (acoustic transmit receive integration module) sonar, a sonar signal subsystem that incorporates multiple boards, each processing four channels of sonar.Raytheon has selected TMS320C6455 digital signal processors (DSPs) from Texas Instruments for use in the US Navy's DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer program. Raytheon serves as the main mission-systems equipment integrator for all electronic and combat systems for the Navy. Tuned for a myriad of infrastructure equipment including high-end telecom, wireless infrastructure, and video and imaging applications, TI's 1GHz C6455 DSP is the processing workhorse for ATRIMT (acoustic transmit receive integration module) sonar, a sonar signal subsystem that incorporates multiple boards, each processing four channels of sonar. Peak performance, small code size, large on-chip memory and integrated peripherals, including the Ethernet MAC and Serial RapidIO bus for interprocessor communications, and optical Ethernet interface, all elevated the selection of the C6455 DSP to support the design and development of this revolutionary surface combatant. DDG 1000 Zumwalt, the first ship of a class of multimission destroyers tailored for land attack and naval support, will provide forward presence and deterrence operating as part of joint and combined expeditionary forces in ground campaigns and littoral dominance. Texas Instruments is a prime supplier of signal processing technology to the sonar portion of the total ship computing environment (TSCE), an open architecture infrastructure designed by Raytheon to integrate all combat and peacetime operations into a single, common network-computing environment, including the overall operating system, command/control communications, and middleware and infrastructure services. Graphics processor and ARM core on one chipFujitsu Microelectronics has announced the MB86R01 'Jade', the first device in a new family of graphics controllers aimed at high-end embedded automotive graphics applications. Jade is the first Fujitsu System-on-Chip (SoC) to integrate the 32bit ARM926EJ-S CPU core with the company's successful graphics processor 'Coral PA'.Based on Fujitsu's proprietary 90nm CMOS process technology, Jade is optimised for applications requiring high CPU performance combined with sophisticated 2D/3D graphics features. Target applications are onboard and mobile navigation systems, graphical dashboard systems, HUD (head up display) units, rear-seat entertainment, point-of-sale terminals and industrial control panels. Packaged in a 484-pin BGA, the device requires a supply voltage of 3.3V (I/O), 1.8V (DDR2), 1.2V (Internal) and is designed to operate over a temperature range of -40 to +85C. The ARM926EJ-S is a fully synthesisable processor with a Jazelle technology (Java Acceleration) enhanced 32bit RISC CPU, 16Kbyte instruction cache, 16Kbyte data cache, 16Kbyte ITCM, 16Kbyte DTCM and a memory management unit (MMU). The CPU runs all major OSs and existing middleware including Microsoft Windows CE, QNX, Wind River VxWorks, Linux and Itron. Further features include an ETM9 (medium) and JTAG ICE interface, 8-channel DMA and 32bit timers. Core frequency is 320MHz (generated by on-chip PLL). Onboard peripherals include a unified DDR2 memory supporting 320Mbit/s, a parallel Flash/SRAM host interface with decryption engine, parallel ATA, SD-Card, CAN, Media LB, USB 2.0 (Host and Function), ADC, DAC, I2C, I2S, PWM, SPI, UART, GPIO and an external interrupt. Fujitsu's Coral PA processor provides sophisticated features for embedded graphics applications, such as in-car infotainment systems, which require more display and rendering functions. These features include a rendering engine for 2D/3D graphic acceleration functions, a geometry processor supporting floating point transformations for smooth graphics animation and a dual-display capability (2 x RGB digital output) that enables independent contents to be shown on two connected screens. Display resolutions from 320 x 240 up to 1024 x 768 are supported. For application development support and functional evaluation, a number of evaluation boards are available from Fujitsu, together with a stand-alone starter-kit for all graphics controllers, which enable the evaluation of the features and application building. Source code for various application examples, application notes and the Fujitsu Graphics API is included. Engineering samples are available now with volume production due to commence during Q3 2007. Low-power processor licence boosts systems on chipAtmel has licensed the ARM1176JZF-S processor for implementation in high-performance system-on-chip products. 'The licensing of the ARM1176JZF-S processor reinforces Atmel's long-term commitment to the ARM architecture as one of the industry standards for 32bit microcontrollers', says Alfredo Vadillo, Atmel's Managing Director for 32bit MCUs.'We were one of the first licensees of the ARM7 processor family and have extended our partnership with ARM through the ARM9 processor family and now to the ARM11 processor family'. 'Together with our proprietary AVR32 architecture, Atmel offers the industry's broadest range of 32bit Flash microcontroller-based system solutions'. 'Atmel is a leading microcontroller vendor with an extensive portfolio of ARM technology-based devices featuring the ARM7 and ARM9 family processors', says John Cornish, VP Marketing, Processor Division, ARM. Further reading Kit is quick start for RFID applications RFID demo kit enables evaluation and prototyping of low-frequency devices used in a broad range of RFID applications from access control to animal identification ZigBee 2006 certification for microcontrollers The first ZigBee-certified stack for the Atmel AVR Z-Link hardware platform consists of an ATmega1281 AVR Flash microcontroller and an AT86RF230 RF transceiver 'Atmel's decision to use the ARM1176JZF-S processor in future system-on-chip products highlights the importance of the fast growing 32bit market and the widespread adoption of the ARM architecture'. The ARM1176JZF-S core clocks at up to 620MHz in 90nm technology, while achieving a power consumption as low as 0.45mW/MHz. It includes ARM Trustzone technology for enhanced security, ARM Jazelle technology for efficient embedded Java execution, and ARM Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM) technology that can reduce processor energy consumption by 25 to 50%. ARM TrustZone technology provides support within the processor architecture for the trusted computing environments required to protect critical system functions from downloaded applications, copyright protection of downloaded media, and secure over-the-air system upgrades. The ARM1176JZF-S also has an integrated floating-point coprocessor, which makes it particularly suitable for embedded 3D-graphics applications. The core runs the ARMv6 instruction set with media processing extensions and the Thumb instruction set extensions for compact code. It is fully upward code-compatible with Atmel's existing licensed cores, the ARM7TDMI and the ARM926EJ-S processors. Atmel, a member of the ARM Connected Community, has also licensed the PrimeCell high-performance amba 3 AXI interconnect technology (PL301), along with the AMBA Designer tool, for a next-generation on-chip bus development. Atmel's first system-on-chip products based on the ARM1176JZF-S processor will be available 4Q 2007. Digital TV specialist licenses processor coreMIPS Technologies has announced that Trident Microsystems, a provider of digital TV technology for the consumer digital video marketplace, has licensed the MIPS32 24KEc Pro core for use in its next-generation consumer devices. Additionally, the patent and trademark infringement lawsuit filed by MIPS Technologies last December has been dismissed.'We are pleased that Trident has selected MIPS Technologies' cores for its next-generation digital SoC designs', says John Bourgoin, President and CEO of MIPS Technologies. 'Our joint success in resolving our differences quickly avoided costs for both companies'. 'MIPS and Trident are both leaders in the DTV market, and working together, we are quite optimistic about the inroads we can make'. Further reading Electronics company renews MIPS licence NEC Electronics has now licensed MIPS Technologies' 64-bit architecture for use in the company's digital consumer ASSPs and VR series line of products Licence takes 64bit cores to China STMicroelectronics has licensed MIPS Technologies' 64bit architecture for its co-operative venture with the Chinese Institute of Computing Technologies 'We are committed to the success of this new collaboration'. 'Trident is delighted that both companies are focused on mutually beneficial business opportunities', says Dr Jung-Herng Chang, President of Trident'. 'Our engineers are excited to upgrade our core processing to the MIPS family of high-performance microprocessors'. 'As DTVs begin to access broadband media, the demands on embedded CPU computational power will increase'. 'We believe the MIPS architecture and products will help us continue to provide the competitive solutions our customers need to compete effectively in the fast-changing digital era'. The MIPS32 24KE core family uses the high-performance 24K microarchitecture and the MIPS DSP Application Specific Extension (ASE). These instructions improve signal-processing performance up to 200% over a range of embedded applications when compared to RISC implementations without the DSP ASE. The distinguishing feature of the 24KE family is that it provides very efficient DSP capability while significantly reducing overall SoC die area, cost, and power consumption. The 24KE core family is supported by a complete suite of software development tools, the MIPS DSP Library, and a third party DSP applications network. This enables SoC designers to work in a single design environment and lower system costs by migrating DSP capability on to a 24KE core. Global role for high-tech industry veteranWafer foundry Silterra Malaysia has appointed Lai Yit Loong, a prominent high technology industry veteran, as Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. As head of Silterra's sales and marketing group, Loong is responsible for the company's overall marketing strategy and sales operations.He is based in Taiwan and reports directly to Eg Kah Yee, Chief Executive Officer of Silterra. 'Yit Loong has very strong acumen with proven experience in identifying markets and managing the sales channels', said Yee. 'He has demonstrated the ability in building and fostering strategic business relationships with key corporate level executives, creating customer loyalty resulting in increased revenues and bottom-line profitability'. Further reading Bligh takes global responsibility Semiconductor industry veteran Kevin Bligh has joined Silterra Malaysia as Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Fab ramps up to meet demand To support increased customer demand, Silterra Malaysia has increased production capacity of its manufacturing fab by 20% to 33,500 wafer starts per month 'I am very excited to have Yit Loong join our team'. 'He is a successful leader with an impeccable reputation and numerous accomplishments to help guide our sales organisation'. Loong has a strong background in engineering, sales and marketing and brings over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry to Silterra. Before joining Silterra, he was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Taiwan and South East Asia for leading graphics chip supplier Nvidia. Prior to that, Loong had spent over ten years in various senior positions at microprocessor giant Intel. His last assignment at Intel was Country Manager for Intel China. He had also held sales management and technical positions at Computer Associates and Hewlett Packard. 'Silterra has excellent process technologies and manufacturing capabilities', stated Loong. 'My job is to help lead Silterra's sales and marketing team to focus on high-growth multimedia, consumer and communications market segments, to expand our customer base and to drive deeper partnership with design houses, OEM/ODMs, and the distribution channels'. 'I look forward to help put Silterra on a fast track to success and be a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain'. Lai Yit Loong takes over from Kevin Bligh, who left the company for personal reasons at the end of March 2007. RAID adapter chips enable two-drive recoveryLSI Logic has announced channel availability of its second-generation MegaRAID ROC (RAID-on-Chip) SAS adapters. With these adapters, channel customers can now build single-platform SAS infrastructures that support low- cost SATA drives and high-performance SAS drives with the added data security of RAID 6 support.Based on the LSI SAS1078 controller IC, these MegaRAID products provide high-performance internal RAID for traditional server applications, such as databases and email, where data loss simply is not acceptable. The adapters' RAID 6 support is a critical feature for the channel market where lower reliability SATA drives are commonly used. RAID 6 tolerates two simultaneous drive failures and thus, the ability to manage unrecoverable media errors during rebuilds. 'The demand for both SAS and SATA is growing in the channel and, in conjunction, so is the demand for RAID 6 support as customers look to take all necessary precautions to protect their data', says Tom Kodet, World-wide Channel Marketing Manager with LSI. 'With the availability of our new MegaRAID solutions, LSI is providing channel customers with a single source for meeting all of their SAS, SATA and RAID infrastructure requirements'. Further reading Encoder platform powers to 1080p60 resolution High definition real-time encoder claims the performance and quality required to support the highest resolution format for HD content LSI drops the Logic to mark Agere merger LSI Logic has completed its merger with Agere Systems, effective 2nd April 2007, and will rename the newly merged company LSI Corporation New Chief Technology Officer appointed Semiconductor company appoints new Chief Technology Officer Hoogenbloom becomes Excutive Vice President at LSI New executive VP of sales for storage specialist The RAID 6 MegaRAID adapters now available in the channel, include the MegaRAID SAS 8708ELP, MegaRAID SAS 8704ELP, and the MegaRAID SAS 8888ELP models. All of these low-profile adapters are powered by the proven LSI SAS1078 IC, which is an I/O storage engine that transparently performs all data protection, data checking, and restoration tasks. The SAS1078 has a PCI Express host interface which enables the MegaRAID products to overcome traditional PCI host bus bottlenecks and to delivers 1.5Gbyte/s sustained sequential throughput for applications such as high-performance data streaming or backup. Also contributing to the performance of this MegaRAID SAS family is its 667MHz cache interface, the fastest in the industry. The MegaRAID SAS 8708ELP has eight internal-connect ports and the MegaRAID SAS 8704ELP has four internal-connect ports. With selectable connectors, the 8888ELP serves multiple deployment needs, enabling users to select one of three connector configurations: two internal, two external or one of each. All of these low-profile products are supported by the MegaRAID Management Suite of software and offer 3Gbyte/s throughput per port. They also support both SAS expanders and SATA native command queuing (NCQ). The adapters offer battery backup options to protect the integrity of cached data. In the event of server failure, battery backed cache provides low-cost protection that allows the RAID controller to be installed in a new server without loss of data. LSI storage products are supplied in the channel in North America through distribution partners including Arrow Electronics, ASI, Bell Microproducts, Insight Electronics, and Microland. Custom engineering manager appointedJamshed Qamar has joined ChipX as Vice President of Customer Engineering Services. In this position, Qamar will be responsible for integrating and growing ChipX' engineering services organisation. He will report to the CEO, Amnon Fisher. Ophir Nadir has been promoted to General Manager of ChipX, Israel and will continue in his role as Vice President of Research and Development.Qamar has 27 years in the semiconductor industry and now leads ChipX' Customer Engineering department in Santa Clara, California. Prior to joining ChipX, Qamar was Executive Vice President, Technology and Marketing centre for Oki Semiconductor for 23 years. He has extensive experience in ASIC products, design implementation and business development. 'This is an opportunity and a challenge for which I have great enthusiasm and commitment'. 'I see tremendous opportunities for ChipX', said Jamshed Qamar. 'Our newly expanded product offering resulting from the OKI partnership and ChipX' commitment to innovation positions us for rapid growth in this exciting market'. 'I am pleased to welcome Jamshed to ChipX', said Amnon Fisher, ChipX President and CEO. 'His long-standing ASIC experience and understanding of customer requirements and trends will be instrumental as we take the company to the next level'. Qamar holds a Masters degree in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University. IEEE 1588 development platform releasedThe transition from circuit connectivity to packet-based systems creates a need to get equipment synchronised. The IEEE 1588 2002 is already part of the LXI Consortium, Ethernet Powerlink and Ethernet/IP standards. Revision 2 of the protocol will include many enhancements and will allow sub-microsecond accuracy, satisfying the telecom industry's needs in base stations including femtocells.The 1588 Development Kit is an easy to use tool and includes an API where time and frequency can be adjusted by the application program. A periodic output, PPS, and a user-specified frequency such as 10 or 30.72MHz can be achieved. The developer can choose between a mix of ASM32, C and Java programming language. Imsys is cooperating with Zurich University of Applied Science, ZHW, for the implementation of the protocol stack. 'The combination of our field proven products and state of the art IEEE 1588 protocol implementation enables designers to get high accuracy synchronised clocks at an affordable price', says Ola Andersson, Imsys CEO. MCUs and design kits simplify motion controlLuminary Micro has released two new Reference Design Kits (RDKs) using the company's Stellaris microcontrollers (MCUs) designed specifically for motion control applications such as those found in HVAC systems, industrial conveyer systems, liquid pumps, printers, robots, and CNC and other milling machines.The two kits demonstrate variable speed AC induction motor control and stepper motor control, and complement the recent launch of five new Stellaris MCUs featuring powerful motion control functionality. These new parts represent the first time that real-time motion control has been integrated into an ARM-based MCU. Together with the new reference design kits, the new MCUs ease the complexity of motion control designs for OEMs and slash the associated time to market and software development costs. The power subsystem for each motion control design features power semiconductors from Fairchild Semiconductor. 'The motion control industry is a 'nearly invisible' industry, in that it is ubiquitous in everyday applications but nearly unseen'. 'While many recognise that power and control must come together for the basic functions of motor control, the complexity of optimising those functions together is often underestimated', said Luminary Chief Marketing Officer Jean Anne Booth. 'So while the market potential is great, the challenges facing motion control OEMs are even greater: energy efficiency, complexity of applications, time to market, and software development costs'. 'Bringing an ARM architecture to the motion control industry, and particularly the Stellaris implementations of the Cortex-M3 architecture, addresses not just one of these challenges, but all of them'. AC induction motors are widely used in appliance and residential applications, in what the industry traditionally refers to as 'white goods'. The reliability and simplicity of AC motors also makes them popular in industrial applications, such as residential and light commercial HVAC. Stellaris microcontrollers enable advanced variable speed control that improves efficiency and enables new areas of application. The RDK-ACIM design features a Stellaris LM3S818 microcontroller and drives three-phase AC induction motors up to 750W. Consumer preference and governmental mandates for energy efficiency are driving the need for more computationally complex control algorithms for variable speed AC induction motors. The space vector modulation implemented in the AC induction motor reference design increases motor efficiency to nearly 100%, thereby consuming significantly less power. 'Reducing energy consumption has become a global concern, with the United States and China as the largest consumers of energy in the world', added Luminary's Booth. 'More than half of the worldwide electrical output is used to generate motion, and with overall consumption projected to increase dramatically over the next two decades, designing with an energy-efficient, fully integrated MCU with an ARM core, combined with energy management, appeals to OEMs struggling to meet government mandates for energy efficiency improvements'. Stepper motors are widely used in printers, scanners, and automation applications. One of the few classes of motor that features high starting torque and precise motion without the aid of sensors, the stepper motor's capabilities have established it as the motor of choice in countless electronic and automation products. The RDK-Stepper demonstrates advanced control of bipolar stepper motors using the Stellaris LM3S617 microcontroller and Fairchild power semiconductors. Its primary application is driving NEMA17, NEMA23, and NEMA34 stepper motors rated at up to 80V at 3A. Stepper motors are usually controlled either by a dedicated control chip that lacks programmable intelligence, or by a microcontroller, such as Stellaris, that uses a basic unipolar scheme. Luminary Micro's stepper motor reference design performs direct high-performance software-based chopper control using the Cortex-M3 microprocessor, enabling the designer to add additional software features without compromising motor performance. Both the RDK-ACIM and the RDK-Stepper feature everything needed to evaluate and develop motor control designs. Both kits include the main control circuit board, graphical control program for Windows, power and USB cables, quick start guide, software source code, schematics, BOM, and Gerber files. The AC Induction motor reference design includes an Inverter-Duty 186.425W three-phase AC motor (0-5400rev/min). The Stepper Motor reference design kit includes a NEMA23 Stepper Motor. Both kits ship with multiple motion control algorithms loaded into flash, enabling engineers to evaluate motor and system performance through the graphical user interface (GUI) within 10 minutes of opening the box. The GUI allows designers to configure motor capabilities and safety parameters, test controls and effects, and to understand tradeoffs in the end motor system design. The GUI also allows users to monitor system statistics easily, with visual indicators showing processor performance, bus voltage, and motor currents. The five new Stellaris family members were announced in February 2007 at the Embedded World trade show in Nuremberg, Germany, and have been optimised to support the complex algorithms necessary for efficient energy-saving motion control applications. The MCUs are referenced by part numbers LM3S317, LM3S617, LM3S618, LM3S817, and LM3S818. As with all Stellaris family members, these MCUs are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, the microcontroller member of the ARM Cortex processor family. Microcontrollers allow versatile pin useMicrochip has added eight new members to the cost-effective PIC24F 16-bit microcontroller family, with up to 64Kbyte of Flash program memory and up to 8Kbyte of RAM, in smaller, lower cost, 28- and 44-pin packages, including a tiny 6 x 6mm 28-pin QFN package option. The 28- and 44-pin PIC24FJ64GA004 family contains a similar peripheral set to the 100-pin PIC24FJ128GA family.Peripheral pin select pin-mapping allows designers to use the available pins exactly as they like. For many applications, this can allow the use of a smaller, more cost-effective microcontroller. The wide range of on-board peripherals includes two independent channels, each of I2C, UART and SPI communications. The new devices support simple migration from a 16MIPS PIC24F microcontroller all the way up to a 40MIPS dsPIC33 digital signal controller. The new PIC24FJ64GA004 family is supported by the MPLAB integrated development environment - including the enhanced Visual Device Initialiser, which graphically assists the Peripheral Pin Select feature, generating the required initialisation code. The MPLAB C30 C compiler provides industry-leading code densities, along with free maths and peripheral libraries. For emulation and debugging with the new family, Microchip offers the MPLAB REAL ICE and the cost-effective MPLAB ICD 2. In addition, a new version of the Explorer 16 development board is available, fitted with a 44-pin PIC24FJ64GA004 (part number DM240002). For those who already own the Explorer 16 board, a new Plug-in Module (PIM) has been created (part number MA240013) to enable development with the new family. A number of PICtail Plus daughter cards are also available for use with the Explorer 16 board that enable designers to add Ethernet connectivity, an SD/MMC card, speech playback or an IrDA interface. Microchip has also developed a web seminar about this new 16bit family, which can be viewed via its website. All eight members of the new family are available now for general sampling and volume production. The PIC24FJ64GA004, PIC24FJ48GA004, PIC24FJ32GA004 and PIC24FJ16GA004 are available in 44-pin TQFP and QFN packages, while the PIC24FJ64GA002, while the PIC24FJ48GA002, PIC24FJ32GA002 and PIC24FJ16GA002 are available in 28-pin SOIC, QFN, SSOP and SDIP packages. Design contest US $10,000 winner announcedLuminary Micro, Keil and Circuit Cellar magazine have named Jingxi Zhang as the winner of the US $10,000 DesignStellaris2006 design contest for the Stellaris family of microcontrollers, the world's first silicon implementation of the ARM Cortex-M3 processor. The US $3000 first prize went to Zhang's Handheld Multifunction Scope project based on the Stellaris EKK-LM3S811 evaluation board.The Handheld Multifunction Scope can be operated in stand-alone mode with three AAA batteries. It can also be powered through a PC USB port, and in this mode, the PC screen is used to show the oscilloscope display and the measurement values. Zhang's flexible tool functions as a dual-channel trace oscilloscope; an AC/DC voltmeter, ohm meter, capacitance, and inductance meters; a frequency counter; a logic probe; and a pulse generator. 'I enjoyed using Luminary Micro's wonderful Stellaris chip for the Circuit Cellar DesignStellaris2006 contest', said Jingxi Zhang, Senior System Architect of Jupiter Systems. 'The rich on-chip peripherals and plentiful GPIO pins of the LM3S811 make it possible to build this multifunction tool with few external components'. Second place went to Thomas Alldread's RF NimbleSig, an RF signal generator and power meter, which is a compact direct digital synthesiser (DDS) generator / RF power meter module that provides a frequency agile RF output signal source and a low-level RF power measurement. Jake Gunderson captured the third prize for his Squawk Box, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) user instrument that interfaces the widely accepted Asterisk open source soft telephone switch. Honourable mentions were awarded to: Ilya Mamontov (Stroboscopic Pocket Tuner), Alexandre Guimaraes (Not Just Another SMD Reflow Controller), James Koehler (Audio Noise Figure Meter), Lindsay Meek (Uninterruptible Solar Power Supply), Naubert Aparicio (ArmExe: an RTOS for Luminary Micro Stellaris Cortex-M3 microcontrollers), Jeffrey Berezin (Bicycle Simulator), Fabian de la Fuente (Timecode generator), Henry Pfister (Multitone Music Keyboard), Peter Baston (AIS Decoder), Alex Wolfing (PGKey), Benjamin Wolpoff (Shock-N-Awe), Andrew Sterian (Coil Gun Controller), Hoa Phan (Automatic Antenna Positioner), Fernando Jordan (Swissjazz), Robert Papp (StellarisGfx), and Sylvain Davaine (Large LCD screen Driver). To win the top prize, Zhang competed against top embedded engineers worldwide for more than US $10,000 in cash prises using Luminary Micro's Stellaris family of ARM Cortex-M3 processor-based controllers with the ARM RealView microcontroller Development Kit. To enable designers to develop applications for the contest even more quickly, Luminary Micro and Keil specifically developed the Stellaris LM3S811 Evaluation Kit with RealView Microcontroller Development Kit evaluation software. Thousands of engineers worldwide responded to the call and obtained evaluation kits for the contest. 'We are very impressed with the diverse and creative designs that poured in from around the world', said Jean Anne Booth, Chief Marketing Office of Luminary Micro. 'These inventive applications certainly demonstrate that Stellaris is indeed the performance product for serious microcontroller applications'. 'The response to the DesignStellaris2006 design contest was phenomenal', said Steve Ciarcia, Editorial Director and Circuit Cellar founder. 'So many design engineers around the globe were excited about working with Luminary Micro MCUs and Keil tools that I knew right away this contest would be a hit'. 'ARM has been very impressed with the number and quality of entrants for the DesignStellaris2006 competition', said Alistair Greenhill, Director of Mass Market Tools, ARM. 'We believe that this illustrates the strong momentum within the marketplace to move to next-generation ARM 32-bit microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, with devices that deliver outstanding performance and ease of use at competitive pricing points'. The Stellaris LM3S811 Evaluation Kit used for DesignStellaris2006 is both an evaluation platform for the Stellaris LM3S811 and a serial in-circuit debug interface for any Stellaris microcontroller-based target board, spanning the design spectrum from evaluation to prototyping to application-specific design. The kit also includes an evaluation copy of the RealView Microcontroller Development Kit software tools on a CD packed with datasheets, schematics, applications notes, and programming examples. The board is powered over USB (cable included), and also contains silk-screened through-hole-mount pin headers that can be user populated with pin stake headers for use in hardware prototyping. Microcontroller has SuperFlash code memoryToshiba has expanded its series of low-cost SuperFlash-based Flash microcontrollers with a device that integrates a 16bit high-speed, ultra-low-power core, 128Kbyte Flash, 12Kbyte RAM and a variety of peripherals and interfaces in a 64-pin package measuring just 10mm2. The TMP91FW27UG high-speed 16bit microcontroller is intended for use in portable devices and other mid- to high-end applications requiring high-performance, low-power operation.Based on Toshiba's ultra-low-power 16bit TLCS-900/L1 processor core, the new device has an onboard micro DMA controller and accommodates external memory expansion for programs and data up to 16Mbyte. Toshiba's new microcontroller includes a 10bit ADC, an I2C interface, IrDA connectivity and a general-purpose serial interface offering UART and synchronous mode capabilities. Onboard timer functions comprise a six-channel 8bit timer, a single-channel 16bit timer and a watchdog timer. In addition to the Flash and RAM, the microcontroller also offers 4Kbyte of mask ROM for booting. The new device operates at speeds to 27MHz for minimum instruction execution times of 148ns, and will work with input voltages from 2.7 to 3.6V. Typical power consumption is rated at 13mA in normal mode (3.3V, 27MHz) and just 20uA in slow mode (3.3V, 32kHz). Further reductions in system power requirements are provided via three different 'halt' modes for flexible configuration of standby operation. TheTMP91FW27 uses Silicon Storage Technologies' (SST) Superflash technology to implement the 128Kbyte low-cost, highly reliable onboard Flash memory. Toshiba's SuperFlash implementation can be programmed much faster than many alternative Flash technologies, in addition to offering a high level of pre- and post-production flexibility. This comes in the form of three distinct programming modes known as parallel mode, serial PROM mode, and in system programming (ISP) mode. ISP mode allows upgrades and fixes in the field under the control of the user program. Custom chips-compress signal-acquisition dataSamplify has brought out its Samplify compression engine for FPGAs and Samplify for Windows signal-analysis tool to address the challenge presented by the widening gap between ever-increasing digitisation rates and the fixed-bandwidth infrastructure. Targeting rates from 10Msample/s using PC software, 250Msample/s in FPGAs, and up to 60Gsample/s in ASICs, Samplify's high-speed field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based compression improves system performance and lowers system cost in such real-time embedded applications as COTS, military, medical imaging, homeland security, ATE, test and measurement and data acquisition.Significantly reducing bandwidth and storage requirements of embedded systems, the Samplify compression engine for FPGAs compresses and decompresses signals in real time from 2:1 to 8:1 compression with user-selected lossless, fixed-rate, and fixed-quality options. Taking compression out of the domain of the microprocessor, Samplify's compression engine for FPGAs is optimised for sampled data received from analogue-to-digital (A/D) and sent to digital-to-analogue (D/A) convertors. Samplify's FGPA compression engine is 10x to 1000x faster than other microprocessor-based compression products. Samplify's ERT compression algorithms deliver equivalent results in the area between lossless and lossy compression, delivering the same end-to-end system results that customers expect, but at significantly lower bit rates. Designers benefit from higher data rates while still receiving the bits that matter for their end uses - all conveniently implemented in one FPGA. As a companion product to Samplify's FPGA-based compression engine, the Samplify for Windows signal-analysis tool allows users to experiment with all of Samplify's lossless and lossy compression modes. Samplify for Windows displays input and output (compressed) file sizes and other relevant compression results, including compression ratio, dynamic range, noise floor and distortion levels, and a one-click rate-distortion curve. After using Samplify for Windows, customers will know exactly how their own signals will compress using Samplify's real-time FPGA products, with bit-forbit accuracy. 'Whether the challenge is moving huge amounts of data into the processing elements in real time, or storing and decompressing at a later time, Samplify offers the hardware and software to break today's data-transfer and data-storage bottlenecks', says Al Wegener, Samplify founder and CTO. 'No other solution can match Samplify's modest use of resources while operating at compression rates greater than 200Msample/s'. 'Samplify Systems is in exactly the right place at exactly the right time', observes Clive 'Max' Maxfield, electronics industry expert and Editor of Programmable Logic DesignLine. 'The amount of real-world data to be processed is increasing in leaps and bounds'. 'The only way to cope with this is to compress digital information intelligently to reduce communications bandwidth and storage requirements'. 'That's where Samplify excels with its FPGA-based compression technology', Maxfield adds. 'FPGAs are now used for approximately 80% of the world's high/extreme-end DSP applications'. 'Anything that can be done to get data into and out of FPGAs faster and/or more efficiently is going to be significant'. 'Samplify has developed extremely powerful lossless and lossy algorithms that operate with sample rates from 1Ksample/s to 40Gsample/s'. 'The fact that these algorithms can be efficiently implemented in FPGAs using relatively a small amount of programmable fabric is extremely impressive'. 'In my opinion, Samplify's technology will dramatically change the playing field'. The Samplify compression engine for FPGAs is available now and is priced at US $25,000, representing a licence for one user and one company over a period of one year, plus royalty. Samplify for Windows is also available now and is priced at $995. Single-chip ZigBee cuts power, boosts performanceSingle-chip platform solution based on the ZigBee specification is designed to deliver the industry's lowest power consumption and highest performance.Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a single-chip platform solution based on the ZigBee specification that is designed to deliver the industry's lowest power consumption and highest performance. The MC1322x platform is engineered to support battery life of up to 20 years, doubling the expectations for current ZigBee solutions. Freescale's MC1322x is available in a platform in package (PiP) solution that integrates the essential components of a ZigBee application within a single package, thereby reducing component count and system cost. The MC1322x platform contains a 32bit microcontroller (MCU), a fully compliant IEEE802.15.4 transceiver, balun and RF matching components-all integrated into a small-footprint land-grid array (LGA) package that virtually eliminates the need for external RF components. The platform solution also features a TurboLink technology mode, engineered to increase datarates by up to 2Mbit/s between nodes. 'We have worked closely with our customers to determine the optimal features for our next-generation ZigBee solution', said Brett Black, Manager of Freescale's Wireless Connectivity Operation. 'We designed our ZigBee platform in package from the ground up to deliver the lowest power consumption and highest performance within a highly integrated package'. 'The MC1322x is designed for a new class of wireless applications that require faster streaming of audio and data files across an IEEE802.15.4 or ZigBee network'. Itron, a leader in advanced metering technology for the global utility industry, has selected the ZigBee standard for home energy management and load control applications for its OpenWay advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) platform. 'By providing high-performance functionality at a cost-effective price point, ZigBee solutions such as Freescale's MC1322x platform in package are designed to enable utilities to deploy advanced energy management and load control capabilities to their mass market residential customers', said Arun Sehgal, Product Line Manager for Itron's OpenWay AMI system. 'This capability gives electric utilities new tools to manage peak load while providing consumers with the ability to make smart choices to conserve energy and save money in their homes'. 'ZigBee wireless communication not only makes this possible for the mass market, but cost-effective as well'. 'Freescale's platform in package raises the bar for other global ZigBee wireless communication platform providers', said Jean-Pierre Desbenoit, Electronic and Software Research Director of Schneider Electric. 'This platform illustrates what an open-standard technology can provide to OEMs: active competition between best-in-class players who continue to produce innovative solutions'. 'I am confident that the MC1322x platform will contribute to new successes for ZigBee technology'. ZigBee technology currently targets industrial, commercial and medical applications, such as energy management and asset tracking. Freescale's proprietary TurboLink technology mode boosts the datarate up to 2Mbit/s, providing an ideal platform to support diverse applications, such as voice, wireless headsets and compressed audio, as well as large data transfers. For healthcare-related applications, such as patient monitoring systems, TurboLink technology also enables real-time data collection from sensors on the body. That data then can be sent via a ZigBee network to a central location for monitoring. The MC1322x devices will switch automatically between the IEEE802.15.4 protocol and TurboLink technology packets, allowing the developer to take advantage of the high-speed capabilities, while simultaneously controlling and monitoring a ZigBee mesh network. This high-speed capability creates a tremendous opportunity for new designs and applications. The MC1322x platform was designed from the ground up to support battery-powered applications. Optimised for lithium-ion or NiCad batteries, the MC1322x is designed to support batteries as small as coin cells or use standard alkaline batteries that can provide up to 20 years of system life. Freescale's BeeKit wireless connectivity toolkit provides an easy-to-use configuration tool for creating networks ranging from simple point-to-point to full ZigBee mesh networks. Freescale plans to offer MC1322x device samples to key OEM customers in May 2007. General market sampling is planned for December 2007. The company plans to offer the MC1322x device in two package options: a 9.5 x 9.5mm LGA and a 7 x 7mm QFN. The devices also are planned to be available in standard mode or TurboLink technology mode. Dual-core processor is engineered for performanceFreescale has begun shipping its MPC8641D dual-core device based on Power Architecture technology, and showcased its capabilities this week at the second annual Multicore Expo Conference and Exhibition. Recently released benchmark results from the embedded microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) show that the MPC8641D performed exceptionally well in a host of tests specific to embedded infrastructure and other applications. The EEMBC-certified benchmark scores are conducted to help designers predict device performance in a range of real-world applications.Detailed score reports are available free of charge on the EEMBC website. 'The performance of Freescale's MPC8641D device, as demonstrated by a number of recent EEMBC tests, provides further reinforcement of the value of the Power Architecture', said Markus Levy, President of EEMBC. 'These new EEMBC results for the MPC8641D are only the latest in a long list of certified scores provided by Freescale to make its customers aware of the performance characteristics of its offerings'. Built using e600 Power Architecture cores and leveraging the PowerQUICC system-on-chip (SoC) platform, Freescale's MPC8641D dual-core processor is engineered to deliver breakthrough performance, connectivity and integration for embedded networking, telecomms, military, storage and pervasive computing applications. The strength of the device is its integration, which translates into smaller boards and higher processing density. With dual-core performance and integrated northbridge and southbridge functionality, this single chip can replace what could take up to four chips using other solutions. Additionally, all core-to-peripheral connections are internal, so board designers avoid difficulties related to laying out high-speed parallel buses. The MPC8641D features two e600 cores operating at up to 1.5GHz - the highest performing cores in Freescale's portfolio today. Each has its own ECC-protected 1Mbyte backside L2 cache to circumvent 'cache thrashing' issues. The per-core AltiVec 128bit vector processing engines commonly achieve a 2-12x performance increase as demonstrated by EEMBC benchmarks. Peripherals are derived from the field-proven PowerQUICC communication processor family, allowing for significant software reuse across Freescale product lines. Samples of the MPC8641D and its evaluation board are available now. Compact microcontroller has many serial interfacesA compact 8bit CMOS microcontroller combines 16kByte of SuperFlash memory with a large number of serial interfaces and new analogue IP blocks to detect low voltages and perform power on reset.Toshiba's latest compact 8bit CMOS microcontroller combines 16Kbyte of Superflash memory with a large number of serial interfaces and new analogue IP blocks for LVD (low-voltage detector) and POR (power on reset) capability. The TMP86FH92 is based on Toshiba's low-power, high-performance TLCS870/C core and is suited to automotive and industrial applications including actuator control, sensor interfacing and power supervision. A fully automotive qualified version of the device is available. Designed to minimise external component count, the TMP86FH92 features single-channel UART and single-channel SEI outputs, an I2C/UART connection and an 8-pin LED driver output capable of delivering a typical 20mA drive current. Twenty-four further I/O ports are available. Onboard peripherals include a 10bit, 6-channel successive approximation type ADC with sample hold feature, a single-channel 16bit timer, dual-channel 8bit timer, and watchdog timer. Both the 16bit and 8bit timers offer event counters and PWM and PPG output modes. The built-in LVD function can be set with two voltage thresholds, WHILE the POR circuit features a detection voltage of 2.4V +/- 0.2V. The TMP86FH92 is based on Toshiba's TLCS-870/C core, which offers 731 basic operations and can accommodate 23 interrupt sources. Low power consumption is achieved by combining low voltage operation (down to 2.7V at 8MHz and 4.5V at 16MHz) with nine separate low-power states. A four-channel key-on-wakeup facility allows the device to be activated from these states. Supplied in an ultra-compact, 30-pin SSOP package, the new microcontroller has dimensions of just 10.0 x 5.6 x 1.2mm. Second generation of storage-specific processorsSteelVine storage processors facilitate drive cascading for hot-plug expansion, dual eSATA Gen2m and USB 2.0 host interfaces, automatic drive locking, single button backup and RAID features.Silicon Image has announced availability of its second generation SteelVine storage processors, the SiI5723, SiI5734, SiI5744 and SiI5733. Several companies demonstrated new products integrating the functions of the second generation of SteelVine processors at CeBIT. The second generation SteelVine processors offer advanced storage capabilities, including drive cascading for hot-plug capacity expansion, dual eSATA Gen2m and USB 2.0 host interfaces, automatic drive locking and single button backup, RAID 0, RAID 1 and two multi-RAID modes, SAFE33 and SAFE50, without requiring any software, drivers or special user knowledge. 'The second generation SteelVine storage processors add exciting new capabilities at an extremely attractive price point', says Conrad Maxwell, Silicon Image's Senior Product Line Manager for SteelVine products. Key features of the second generation SteelVine processors include eSATA- based capacity expansion that allows users to add capacity as their needs grow by simply adding more drives. eSATA-based and hot-pluggable, capacity expansion allows additional hard-disk enclosures to be cascaded in 'daisy chain' fashion to increase the size of an existing disk. Using currently available drives, customers can add up to 3Tbyte of storage to a single system. eSATA's 3Gbit/s interface ensures speedy access to all drives in a cascaded array. Customers with legacy USB ports can also take advantage of this family of storage processors. When users upgrade their systems to benefit from the full power of a 3Gbit/s SATA host link, they gain up to six times the performance increase using the same storage processor. Drive locking helps protect users' critical personal or office data by allowing them to password protect all drives. Once locked, a drive's data is protected from access until it is unlocked by a user-supplied password. Single-button backup is supported through third-party applications for simple and automatic data backup. The new SteelVine processors also have the signature hardware-based multi-RAID solution that addresses both data security and capacity expansion with as few as two external drives. The two multi-RAID modes - SAFE33 and SAFE50 - divide external drives into multiple volumes: one Safe and one Big. The new multi-RAID modes present a more efficient way for users to keep critical data safe and increase drive capacity at the same time. The SiI5723 processor is designed specifically for consumer electronics devices, digital video recorders (DVRs) and PC motherboards. This SteelVine Storage Processor has a 3Gbit/s SATA host interface and two eSATA capable device ports. The SiI5734 processor, with its combination of eSATA and USB 2.0 host interfaces, is suitable for single-drive external enclosures and external backup drives. This SteelVine Storage Processor has two eSATA device ports, one eSATA host port and one USB 2.0 host port. The SiI5744 processor, designed for digital home and small-office storage appliances, delivers additional power through advanced RAID functions, including RAID 0, 1, and new modes SAFE 33 and SAFE 50 at a competitive cost. This SteelVine Storage Processor connects a USB 2.0 or an eSATA host port to two eSATA device ports. Features of the SiI5744 include advanced RAID modes, drive locking and single-button backup. Extensive software developer kits are available from Silicon Image to simplify product differentiation. The SiI5733 processor is aimed at HDTV, DVR, set-top box and PC motherboard manufacturers, giving them cost-effective storage that is simple, scalable, reliable and secure. This SteelVine Storage Processor has a 3Gbit/s SATA host interface and two eSATA capable device ports. The SiI5733 is the first storage processor on the market to offer content security through automatic drive locking, making drive security simple and requiring no effort by the user. The SiI5733 addresses the risk of data theft from a stolen or lost drive by locking the drive to the host (HDTV, DVR, set-top box or PC) automatically. All SteelVine storage processor SATA ports operate at 3Gbit/s and comply with the eSATA Gen2m portions of the SATA 2.5 specifications, making them suitable for use with the current crop of high performance SATA Gen II drives. Software development kits are available from Silicon Image allowing OEMs to create custom branded products using these new storage processors. The next-generation SteelVine processors are generally available now with volume pricing at less than US $5.00. 32bit microcontroller majors on motor controlThe MB91480 series is optimised for industrial and home appliance three-phase motor control and offers a rich feature mix designed to target applications in these markets.Available now from Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME), the MB91F487 is the first member of a new series within its 32bit FR microcontroller family. The MB91480 series is optimised for industrial and home appliance three-phase motor control and offers a rich feature mix designed to target applications in these markets. The MB91F487 integrates three fast (1.2us) 10bit A/D convertors, providing 18 channels that allow measurement of motor parameters and other sensor information. Together with two multifunction timers and PWM (pulsewidth modulation) units, the device offers a cost-effective, single-chip solution for applications which require control of two three-phase motors. 'Three-phase motors are increasingly being used in industrial, automotive and home appliance applications where high-reliability, low acoustic noise, variable speed capability and high-efficiency are requirements', commented Dr Gerhard Roos, Director Automotive and Industrial Business Unit, FME. 'The new MB91480 series is further evidence of Fujitsu's commitment to continuously introduce devices destined for these markets'. Fujitsu's 32bit RISC core (FR), which operates at a clock frequency of 80MHz, is accompanied by an independent micro-DSP unit, supporting digital signal processing such as FIR (finite impulse response) or IIR (infinite impulse response) filtering. This coprocessor features dedicated instruction, coefficient and variable memory, and can execute a 32 x 32 + 72bit calculation in one machine cycle (12.5ns) in parallel with the CPU. Other features include two 16bit reload timers, three USARTs with SPI and I2C functionality, timebase and a watchdog timer. On-chip prefetch and five channels of DMA are included to ensure best possible performance. The device covers a supply voltage range from 4.0 to 5.5V and a temperature range of -40 to +85C. Housed in a 100-pin LQFP package, the MB91F487 features 512Kbyte embedded Flash memory and 32Kbyte RAM. Voice processor reduces system complexity and costDevice enables high-quality voice in cost-efficient hands-free communication systems, including speakerphones, home automation applications and car kits.Zarlink Semiconductor has expanded its family of voice processing solutions with a new device enabling high-quality voice in cost-efficient hands-free communication systems, including speakerphones, home automation applications and car kits. Available now, the ZL38005 voice processing platform integrates dual channel narrowband codecs, on-chip memory, multiple interfaces and advanced voice processing firmware. Supported by a range of design tools, the voice processor improves voice quality, minimises background noise and reduces system complexity and cost. With this new product, Zarlink now offers a complete portfolio of hands-free voice processing solutions. The new ZL38005 device delivers high-quality voice processing performance and is an easy-to-implement solution for mainstream hands-free communication systems. The previously introduced ZL38004 platform is an enhanced voice processor integrating advanced firmware and functionality for high-end hands-free communication systems. Zarlink also offers the lightly featured ZL38002 digital echo canceller for basic hands-free communication. 'Zarlink is building on over three decades of proven experience in telephony, digital signal and voice processing to deliver high-quality voice performance to hands-free communication applications', said Andrew Faulkner, Product Line Director, Voice Processing, Zarlink Semiconductor. 'Our voice processing portfolio offers hands-free equipment manufacturers and system designers a range of solutions with features tailored to their specific application, design and budget requirements'. 'The programmable nature of our solutions allows system integrators to easily evolve their hands-free systems as their end customers' communication needs change'. Zarlink's voice processing family is supported by a range of design tools that remove system-tuning complexity, help speed design time and shorten time to market. Zarlink's design tools include a complete evaluation board, and a miniature evaluation board that fits directly into a speakerphone plastic enclosure to provide quick and easy performance testing. Zarlink's diagnostic tool kit supports simple 'plug and test' capabilities to easily measure echo profile, frequency response and distortion. Zarlink also offers a Bluetooth evaluation kit for advanced hands-free car kits. The ZL38005 hardware platform and integrated ZLS38501 firmware ensure hands-free voice quality in severe noise conditions. For example, conference phones must cope with background noise, sound reverberation due to poor plastic enclosure design and acoustic coupling between the microphone and speaker. Car kit designers must provide solutions that support high-quality voice despite severe noise conditions caused by engine, tire and wind noise. The ZL38005 platform includes narrowband codecs with input/output sampling of 8kHz, and integrated acoustic and line echo cancellers with programmable echo tail up to 256ms and noise reduction up to 20dB. The device delivers exceptional performance is double-talk situations. Most commercial voice processing solutions fall back to half-duplex operation during double-talk, meaning voice signals pass in only one direction. During double-talk only the signal with the highest strength is transmitted. This results in a choppy and unnatural conversation. In comparison, Zarlink's ZL38005 voice processor algorithm is able to continuously converge and track changes in the echo path to support full-duplex operation. Designed in to hands-free desktop speakerphone, for example, Zarlink's voice processing solution continuously converges, actively tracks echo and adapts to the changing echo path. Poorly designed voice processing solutions will stop tracking echo during double-talk situations. A lower-quality algorithm will re-adapt when double-talk ceases, creating an audible burst of echo. Million microcontroller milestone passedInnovasic Semiconductor has now shipped over one million microcontrollers. 'Innovasic has rapidly evolved to providing innovative microcontroller solutions for the embedded industrial market as well as supporting replacement ICs to the market in general', says Datar Lalvani, VP of Marketing for Innovasic. 'Over the last few years, we have developed 8, 16 and 32bit microcontroller architectures'.'We have used our design expertise and market knowledge to develop a family of 32bit real-time microcontrollers - fido (flexible input deterministic output) - that we believe specifically addresses the needs of the industrial control market'. Innovasic's microcontrollers are used in a wide variety of industrial applications - from engine control modules and antilock brake systems to medical instruments. The first product in the fido family of microcontrollers, the fido1100, was introduced last year. FireWire set for shift into consumer electronicsTexas Instruments has now shipped more than 300 million 1394 devices to more than 3500 customers. Although 1394 is established in PC markets, TI expects shipments to accelerate in the consumer electronics (CE) market as well, particularly in the set top box, digital video camera, digital video recorder and digital television segments. The adoption within the CE space is driven by the technology's ability to transport multiple streams of high definition (HD) content simply, seamlessly and securely within the living room entertainment cluster and throughout the home.According to In-Stat, the average home will soon have three TVs, with at least one being high definition television (HDTV). HD content and corresponding HD streams will face increased demands and require more than 200Mbit/s bandwidth to support multiple audio, video and data streams. A popular networking approach uses 1394 over the existing Cat5 or coaxial cable already found in the home. This enables these high bandwidth applications to operate with one cable, one remote, and no new wires. Using TI's 1394 solutions to support the network, devices can be controlled by one remote through on-screen menus which eliminates the need for multiple wires or remotes throughout the home. '1394 has enjoyed tremendous growth in the PC and PC peripheral markets in recent years'. 'Market penetration is 13% of all desktop PC and 55% of all notebook PCs in 2006', says Brian O'Rourke with In-Stat. 'Annual growth will accelerate by 25% in the CE space, driven by increasing penetration of 1394 in digital televisions and DVD recorders'. 'A proven leader in established 1394 markets, TI is well positioned to help drive this technology into new applications'. With the largest 1394b portfolio in the industry, TI makes home networking easy for design engineers, applications providers and consumers. TI's market-leading 1394b portfolio includes the TSB83AA22A PHY and link layer device, the TSB41BA3and TSB81BA3 PHY devices. TI's chipsets enable high-speed audio, video and data connections (up to 400Mbit/s) across longer cable lengths (up to 100m), using a variety of cable media (STP, Cat5, POF, GOF) for home networking applications. In an effort to demonstrate its leadership in the CE connectivity market, TI actively participates as board members in industry-standard bodies such as the 1394 Trade Association and the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA), a cross-industry organisation comprised of content providers, service providers, CE manufacturers, and software and silicon providers. Through its work with these industry organisations, TI helps ensure device interoperability and a clearer vision of the roadmap of the future. 'TI's leadership in 1394 technology enables users to simply plug in devices to set up their home network - quickly and securely'. 'By using the cross-industry standard HANA 1394-enabled node, all devices can be added seamlessly to the HD network', says Sheau Ng, a Vice President at NBC Universal, a founding member of HANA. 'TI's silicon products enable the delivery of a reliable, content protected, easy to use, guaranteed quality of service network that each part of the value chain - from content providers to consumers - demands'. Not only does TI lead in 1394 devices, but it retains the industry's largest portfolio of interface solutions and provides the right products to solve design problems in customers' applications. TI sees continued demand for interface in every region and in every leading market. The company continues to develop diverse, leading-edge, high-performance products to meet demand, and empower customers to differentiate their products and win in their markets. 8bit MCU speeds LINbus development in new carsMotorola has expanded its 8bit HC08 "Q-LIN" family with a LIN-slave device, the 68HC908QL4. The QL4 helps enable rapid design of automotive options, such as power window lift motors and side-view mirrors, connected to the LINbus for control. Wiring to switches, actuators, lamps and motors can then be minimised, resulting in lower overall vehicle weight.LIN is a cost effective serial communication system for distributed electronic systems in vehicles. The QL4 is Motorola's first microcontroller (MCU) to offer fully automatic LIN slave functionality. The Flash-based QL4 is engineered to support the LINbus operation at full LINbus communication speed (20Kbit/s). This automation enables the QL4 to find and communicate to LIN messages at virtually any speed using its advanced automatic synchronisation and baud features. This plug-and-play flexibility allows an automotive designer to easily use the QL4 MCU in the LINbus environment - without any code changes. The QL4 also supports high-speed communications for rapid in-circuit programming. Part of a growing family of Motorola's LIN system solution devices, the QL4 sets a new standard of intelligence for automotive designers. No LINbus synchronisation code is needed in the QL4 software and no trimming of the internal oscillator is required to communicate. The QL4 also offers exceptional performance by helping to reduce system interrupts by more than 80% over UART solutions. It also has the smallest driver code required to process LIN messages. Like existing "Q" HC08 devices, the QL4 incorporates 4Kbyte of world-class Flash, with ROM-based options planned for later introduction. Other standard features include an integrated internal oscillator that helps save money and space by virtually eliminating the need for external components, a computer operating properly (COP) watchdog, low voltage interrupt (LVI), keyboard interrupt (KBI), LED drive capability and a six-channel 10bit A/D convertor. The 68HC908QL4 family and all QL products are designed to be compliant with the LIN 1.3 and forthcoming LIN 2.0 protocols without the need for any device timers. LIN drivers from Volcano Communications Technologies (VCT) are planned for later in 2004. Motorola is developing the Q-LIN devices to enable the proliferation of the LINbus worldwide in future vehicles. Beyond automotive applications, the 68HC908QL4 family may also cost-effectively enable the LIN network in various industrial applications including appliances, motor control, home automation, copiers, exercise equipment and more. The Metrowerks CodeWarrior Development Studio Special Edition for the MC68HC908QL4 series is available at no charge to registered users of Motorola's website. This tool, which contains more than US $2000 of advanced tools, is designed to enable full-chip simulation and Flash programming and includes a C compiler, assembler, linker and debugger. Samples of the 68HC908QL4 are available today with production quantities expected in 2004. Suggested resale pricing for the MC68HC908QL4 (4Kbyte Flash, 16-pin package) in one million-piece quantities and above is expected to be less than US $1.00. An evaluation board is available at a suggested resale price of US $199. The board includes the complimentary Metrowerks CodeWarrior Development Studio for HC08, Special Edition with Processor Expert auto code compiler. SoC simplifies move to LCD-based digital TVsThe Nexperia PNX8550 Home Entertainment Engine is an SoC for hybrid digital televisions and home entertainment hubs serving the needs of the connected home. Philips has also developed a flexible TV reference design based on the new SoC that provides TV manufacturers with the semiconductors and software to make a cost-effective, seamless transition from analogue cathode ray tube (CRT) TV to liquid crystal display (LCD) and digital TV. The PNX8550 supports all digital and analogue TV standards; CRT, LCD and plasma displays; 100Hz progressive scan video; high definition video decode and display; multiple picture improvement features; and decode and display for other media such as digital photos and digital home video directly from Flash memory cards or Memory Sticks.Due to the worldwide consumer demand for LCD and plasma displays as well as the transition to new digital broadcast standards in many regions, TV manufacturers are looking for a cost-effective way to bring new TV products to market quickly. According to DisplaySearch forecasts, the LCD TV market will grow by 87% over the next two years, and the digital TV market will more than double in the same time according to Instat. Manufacturers will need to be able to easily tailor their products to the unique consumer preferences and varying TV standards in each part of world, yet offer products that are priced for very competitive markets and offer unique features. "With the Nexperia PNX8550 Home Entertainment Engine, Philips is offering consumer electronics manufacturers a flexible cost-effective way to enter the fast growing LCD and digital television markets", said Paul Martin, marketing manager, Broadband IC solutions, Philips Semiconductors. "Our newest Nexperia SoC solution incorporates Philips proven media processing, rendering and scaler technology in a single chip, allowing our customers to define unique LCD and DTV products exactly aligned with their feature, function and cost requirements; allowing the end consumer to enjoy a new TV experience in a far greater connected home". The Nexperia PNX8550 Home Entertainment Engine is a highly integrated SoC incorporating a control processor, two programmable media processors, high definition video decoders, a scaler, renderer and numerous other on-chip functions. The SoC will support all analogue and digital TV broadcast standards (standard definition and high definition), picture improvement features such as deinterlacing and advanced features such as multiformat audio/video decoding and rendering. For example, a TV based on the Philips SoC could decode and display digital photographs, MPEG-4 and DV video clips directly from a Flash memory card or Memory Stick. Dedicated MPEG-2 decoders can also process up to two high definition program streams simultaneously for simultaneous display on the screen (picture-in-picture or side-by-side) or to convert an HD video programme for recording on a standard definition recorder. The SoC also allows manufacturers to add their own proprietary picture and sound improvement features. Building on its experience with the first generation Nexperia Home Entertainment Engine, Philips has made all of the audio/visual processing functions that the SoC supports, easy for TV developers to use by implementing application program interfaces (APIs) to handle all the tasks associated with media processing requests, including descrambling, decoding, enhancement, output selection, rendering, memory allocation, priority setting and audio-video synchronisation. This allows the TV developer to focus on the application, while media processing tasks are handled automatically by the Home Entertainment Engine. This API will be available for third party software companies to development applications on. The first of these vendors, ANT, will launch the first product ported to this API this week at IFA 2003. Two basic chip versions of the PNX8550 Home Entertainment Engine are also available to TV manufacturers. The Nexperia PNX8551 Home Entertainment SoC offers enhanced features including portable media, Flash media storage connectivity and support for various media formats, such as MP3. Finally, the PNX8552 is a further alternative chip to the PNX8550 Home Entertainment Engine, offering TV manufacturers a low cost mid-range solution and provides for the ideal transition from analogue to digital TV in mid-end TV sets. General sampling for the Nexperia PNX855x Home Entertainment Engine SoCs begins in Q1 2004 and will enter volume production in Q2 2004. |