CONTENTS December 2007
 
Cover Story 
How low can you go? A look at 45-nm-IC-design challenges
By Michael Santarini, Senior Editor, EDN
If you have tools for the 65-nm or even the 90-nm node, moving to the 45-nm node requires no retooling. But designers moving to this node must adopt some advanced design techniques and be aware of some new design rules that foundries have imposed to ensure that SOC designs yield acceptable results.
 
Design Feature 
Permanent-magnet motors boost efficiency and power density
By Margery Conner, Technical Editor, EDN
Sensorless versions of these highly efficient motors reduce cost and parts count, but the motors still require complex control algorithms. Match the right motor type and controller to your application for the best performance and cost.
The 802.11n standard: grown up at last
By Ann R Thryft, Contributing Technical Editor, EDN
The 802.11n Wi-Fi standard promises much. After an especially angst-ridden development process, it's ready to go to work.
 
Special Report 
Speed up your design verification process with frequency domain clock jitter analysis
By Akihiko Oginuma, Senior Product Manager, Agilent Technologies
 
Pulse 
TI intros industrys fastest 14-bit ADC at 400 MSPS
Breakthrough in residential metering technology
Silicon drift detectors with low energy detection capabilities down to beryllium
Low-voltage dual-supply voltage translator with independent-direction controls
CSR qualifies first Bluetooth v2.1 product
Tiny 1Gb mobile DRAM
Solid tantalum chip capacitors offer 220μF/4-V CV rating in molded 0805 case size
STMicros first 1Mbit serial EEPROM with SPI in SO8 package
NI LabVIEW 8.5 improves test throughput with multicore and FPGA technologies
SuperH Family SH72546RFCC achieves top operating speed of 200MHz
8-bit digital potentiometer with high performance EEPROM
USB-driven digital headset solution for mobile phones
Fujitsu's 32-bit MCU to integrate automotive CAN networks
Single-chip solution for Full HD 1080p flat-panel TVs
12-Bit ADCs for WiMAX provide industrys highest SFDR of 84.1dB at 250MHz input frequency
 
EDN Asia.Comment 
Driving EDA
Kirtimaya Varma, Editor-in-Chief
 
Interview 
Virtual instrumentation is often less expensive
By Denice Cabel, Group Online Editor
Dr. James Truchard, National Instruments President and CEO, recently spoke with EDN Asia on the continuing development of virtual instrumentation to complement the new era of multi-core processing and programming. Excerpts:
 
Design Ideas 
CPLDs internal oscillator performs autocalibration
Rafael Camarota, Altera Corp., San Jose, CA
Swapping bits improves performance of FPGA-PWM counter
Stefaan Vanheesbeke, Ledegem, Belgium
Relays eliminate high-voltage noise
Jui-I Tsai, Woei-Wu Pai, Feng-Chang Hsu, Po-Jui Chen, Ching-Cheng Teng, and Tai-Shan Liao, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu, Taiwan
 
New Products 
High-density Flash memory board provides double storage space
High-density full/half duplex serial communication PMC module
High-speed cell computing board
Noise modules for computing equipment market and military
Dual-LAN, dual-LVDS mini-ITX mainboard
Transmitter modules for W-CDMA mobile phones
Ultra low jitter timing modules for synchronous Ethernet
High performance USB modules
Reliable space-saving film capacitors
Inductor libraries for Ansoft
Micro USB connector reduces applications size
Edgecard connectors accommodates 0.125 daughtercards
Male Type N connectors added to V-Bite Edgeboard series
HE3 wet tantalum high-energy capacitor with ultra-high capacitance range
High power wirewound resistors
30W external power supply meets Energy Star requirements
Digitally controlled 500W AC/DC power supply
Optoelectronic LED power supply family expands
Worlds smallest pcb or chassis mounted power supplies
1U power supply is user configurable
Highest output power in the 2 x 4 inch industry-standard footprint
600 to 800W power supplies with flexible output voltage
Batteries for single phase UPS systems
Crosspoint switches support 4.25Gbps data rates
Ambient light sensor with logarithmic output
Data transmission reach of FR-4 backplanes doubled
Integrated FET regulators support input voltages up to 60V
Low bit-rate RALCWI vocoder IC
Low-power, 802.11g/b RF transceiver with integrated PA
Supervisor features 27 selectable thresholds without external resistors
Tiny transceiver for bi-directional communication
Sub-1GHz RF transceiver for low-power wireless apps
1.5A ultra low quiescent current, 20V LDO
High performance transistors increase power supply power density
90% higher ESD for portable battery pack protection designs
High intensity white LEDs for backlight and illumination
Step-down dc/dc converter draws 75uA quiescent current
DPP in ultra-small 2 x 2.5mm TDFN package
Single-chip integrates RTC, binary counter, and 64-bit derial number
 
Global report 
Chinese EES seek transformation before the age of 35
TECHNOLOGY CREATIONS DRIVE JAPANESE ENGINEERS
GLOBALLY, ENGINEERS SHARE SIMILAR GRATIFICATION AND CONCERN
BY MAURY WRIGHT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, EDN WORLDWIDE
First global salary survey shows North American engineers receive higher compensation than even counterparts in established regions, such as Japan and Western Europe.
UK ENGINEERS RELISH WORKING WITH TECHNOLOGY AND QUALITY OF LIFE
KOREAN ENGINEERS FACE MANDATED CAREER CHOICES
REFERENCE DESIGNS WORLDWIDE: UNDERSTANDING THE IP IMBALANCE
By Nicholas Cravotta, Contributing Technical Editor
Does it matter how engineers in other countries are using reference designs? The answer is a resounding yes.
 
India Supplement 
Designed in India, sold across the world
by Denice Cabel
Designers deliver great value
by Chitra Giridhar, EDN Asia, Bangalore Correspondent
From service provider to product engineering partner
H.R. Venkatesh, Vice President Telecom & Product Engineering, Asia Pacific, Wipro Technologies
Tracing the outsourcing growth
By Dr. Madhusudan V. Atre, Vice President & Managing Director, LSI India Pvt Ltd
Reaching the upper echelon
By Dhananjai G. Paturi, Vice President & GM India Operations, Time To Market (India) Pvt. Ltd
A partner in technology
By Raju Pudota, Managing Director, Denali Design Systems India
Bridging the chasm between design and manufacturing
By Santosh Reddy, Application Engineer, Agilent Technologies
The worlds technology offshoring haven
by Vic Kulkarni, President and CEO, Sequence Design
An ideal outsourcing destination
By Jaswinder Ahuja, Corporate Vice President and Managing Director, Cadence Design Systems (I) Pvt L
SoC design and development
By Jai Durgam, India Technical Director and Jack Chen, Director of Design Consulting Synopsys, Inc.
 
Prying Eyes 
Apples iPhone delivers more than just a dial tone
By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor, EDN
MCU/MPU Finder Powered by RENESAS
 
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