January 2009

10 technologies to watch 18
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Austria 43 662 457990-0 I Belgium 32 (0) 2 757 0020 I Czech Republic, Slovakia 420 224 235 774
Denmark 45 45 76 26 00 I Finland 358 (0) 9 725 72511 I France 33 (0) 1 57 66 24 24 I Germany 49 89 7413130
Hungary 36 23 501 580 I Ireland 353 (0) 1867 4374 I Israel 972 3 6393737 I Italy 39 02 41309277
Netherlands 31 (0) 348 433 466 I Norway 47 (0) 66 90 76 60 I Poland 48 22 3390150 I Portugal 351 210 311 210
Russia 7 495 783 6851 I Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia 386 3 425 42 00
Spain 34 (91) 640 0085 I Sweden 46 (0) 8 587 895 00 I Switzerland 41 56 2005151 I UK 44 (0) 1635 523545
©2009 National Instruments. All rights reserved. National Instruments, NI, and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments.
Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. 2008-10569-104-101-D
 CONTENTS JANUARY 2009

A TechInsights Europe Publication®

CEO, TECHINSIGHTS
Paul Miller
pmiller@techinsights.com
PUBLISHER
André Rousselot
+32 2740 0053 andre.rousselot@eetimes.be
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Peter Clarke
+ 44 7767 865593 pclarke@techinsights.com
EDITOR
Colin Holland
+ 44 208 319 1324 cholland@techinsights.com
PRODUCTS EDITOR
Henri Arnold
+32 2740 0054 henri.arnold@eetimes.be

EE TIMES EUROPE BUREAUX

John Walko – U.K.
+ 44 207 921 8271 jwalko@techinsights.com
Anne-Françoise Pelé – France 20 HD everywhere – who needs it?
+ 33 1-73-28-17-76 afpele@techinsights.com OPINION
Christoph Hammerschmidt – Germany
+49 89 44 45 02 09 chammerschmidt@techinsights.com 4| Uncommon Market: Digital radio 21 A ‘hospital’ for every home
Jean-Pierre Joosting – Brussels needs a makeover
+32 2740 0056 jean-pierre.joosting@eetimes.be 22 The winner of home network is...
CONTRIBUTORS 48 Last Word: The power of broad-
Paul Buckley – Power Management DesignLine Europe band over powerline 23 Flexible displays on the horizon
Drew Wilson – Eastern Europe drew.wilson@yahoo.com
24 The long road to 4G wireless
EE TIMES U.S.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Editorial 25 Widgets all the rage for CE
Junko Yoshida - Editor-in-Chief 7| Hard times and empty seats at
Nicolas Mokhoff, Rick Merritt, R. Colin Johnson,
the Consumer Electronics Show 25 Harvested energy unleashed
Mark LaPedus, Bolaji Ojo, Dylan McGrath,
George Leopold, R Colin Johnson, Bill Schweber,
9 Russian gas cut-off hits CEE’s
26 Remote-free, gesture control TV
David Carey, Gregory Quick, Richard Nass, auto, electronics makers
Patrick Mannion, Ismini Scouras, Gina Roos
K.C. Krishnadas (India) 9 Letter to the Editor: Soft human
Design & Art resources and maintaining jobs DESIGN + PRODUCTS
Debee Rommel, Mara Cruz

10 MBO and secret partner set 27 SPECIAL FEATURE:

PUBLISHING – Europe
Sales Director – Geert De Vuyst geert.devuyst@eetimes.be IPWireless free Power Management: Energy
Director of Events – Andrew Porter aporter@techinsights.com harvesting feeds ultra-low-power
Circulation & Finance – Luc Desimpel
– luc.desimpel@eetimes.be
12 Cadence board puts faith
device growth
Advertising Production & Reprints – Lydia Gijsegom in one of its own
– lydia.gijsegom@eetimes.be
Art Manager – Jean-Paul Speliers 30 Power Management: Using a
Accounting – Ricardo Pinto Ferreira 14 NXP’s survival options must NMOS LDO for low voltage I/O
Regional Advertising Representives: include more asset sales
Contact information on www.techinsights-europe.com 37 Under the Hood: MotoGP
16 CEO interview: John Daane of machines – electronics where
TECHINSIGHTS Altera
Paul Miller, CEO the rubber meets the road
David Blaza, VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS
Randall Freeborn, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER
Aharon Shamash, CFO 40 PRODUCT FOCUS:
Jenn Markey, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER COVER STORY
Harry Page, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Interconnect: Looking forward to
Paul Way, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MEDIA 10 technologies to watch making connections
UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA LLC
19 3-D TV ready for format rumble
42 Interconnect: Medical imaging
Kevin Prinz, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
Pat Nohilly, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT 19 Femtocells and ‘white spaces’ stretches connector reliability
AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Anne Marie Miller, CORPORATE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SALES
Marie Myers, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MANUFACTURING
Alexandra Raine, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS NORTH AMERICA

ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING TIMES EUROPE is published monthly in 2009 plus 4 special issues in April, June, September, November (16 issues) by
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COMMENTARY: UNCOMMON MARKET
Digital radio needs makeover
Component suppliers and radio makers have wel-
comed the U.K.’s Digital Radio Working Group
report on how to promote DAB technology, released
just as the lights were going out in most offices
before a holiday break that they hoped would boost
sales of digital radios.
But the government-sponsored group’s
recommendations left many questions unan-
swered about the timescales for ‘migrating’
listeners to digital radio; and thus enabling
the not-so hidden agenda of auctioning off
the analog frequencies for other services.
But in assuming the future was DAB the
report failed to mention the elephant in the
room – DAB+ – or any other digital radio
platform.
For the bitter truth is that the U.K. is
going out on a limb with DAB, a technology
born in the 1990s and which many feel, in
comparison with other technologies, is no
longer good enough to make digital radio
financially and commercially viable, mainly
because of the crippling transmission costs
involved.
DAB has the advantage
of an existing infrastruc- ...we will see the
ture and consumer base in
the U.K., largely created by success of digital
the pioneering BBC. But
DAB+ improves on the au-
TV repeated in
dio quality by adding AAC+ radio within the
codecs and Reed-Solomon
error correction. The reason next ten years.
many countries, includ-
ing for instance Germany,
– Sethill, CEO of
Switzerland and Australia, Frontier Silicon
decided to drop DAB and
opt for an improved and updated standard, is
because DAB+ has two to three times lower
transmission costs since multiplexes can
typically carry three times as many stations.
On the quality side of the argument, a
telling comparison is that DAB+ ACC at 128-
kbit/s, which is similar to Apple’s iTunes, is
bound to produce a superior listening expe-
rience to DAB’s MPEG2-compatible format.
Many who have bought DAB sets complain
that radio stations sound worse on their new
toy than FM on analog radios.
The U.K. got on the DAB bandwagon
4 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
before many others, and there are now about
7 million sets out there. Moving to another
standard would not be good public relations
for the government.
All this is not to argue against a digital
future for radio. Indeed we would have liked
the DWRG to stick to the previous target
that switching over to digital start by 2012.
Instead, it suggests that switching to DAB
should start by 2015 at the earliest, but is
more likely to commence in 2017, and that
analog transmission should not cease in the
U.K. before 2020.
This is less than impressive.
The report’s timetable speaks of “trigger
points” the most important of which is that
the transition should not start until radio
listening has passed a threshold of 50 per-
cent “via digital platforms.”
Those digital platforms
include free-to-air digi-
tal television broadcast,
broadband to PCs and
netbooks, and the other
giant elephants in the room
– Wi-Fi, Internet radio and
mobile phones. The U.K.
figure is currently 18.7
percent, and most observ-
ers believe it is realistic to
expect the trigger point to
be reached in 2015.
Regrettably, we can’t identify one mobile
phone available in the U.K. that incorporates
DAB radio. More pertinently, even though
DAB technology was originally pitched part-
ly as a means to optimize in-car reception
with the ability to send additional digital
data, DAB radios have so far almost com-
pletely failed to penetrate the dashboard,
again because of poor audio quality.
The bottom line is that when it comes to
spectrum efficiency, broadcasters’ use of ex-
isting DAB frequencies is not efficient at all.
Welcome to 2009
Welcome to 2009 and a new format
for the European print edition of EE
Times. We’ve reduced the page size
slightly and the new look emphasizes
the analytical and engineering support
function of our global publication.
We’ve also gone to a monthly fre-
quency although, with four additional
special issues, we plan to do almost as
many print editions in 2009 as we did
in 2008. For those that put a premium
on green, surely one of the recurring
themes for 2009, there is a digital ver-
sion of the print edition and of course
as electronics news breaks day-by-day,
hour-by-hour, it can be found at
www.eetimes.eu.
According to predictions 2009 is
going to be a challenging year. We
want you to make use of EE Times and
its associated websites but we will also
value your contributions and insights
as we try to serve and promote a com-
munity of engineers and managers
that can get things done. ■
The whole scene has also become mired
in politics, with the DRWG calling for a
relaxation of regulatory burdens and for
reception quality issues to be addressed by
broadcasters. To make reception as robust
as FM is now would require an expensive
upgrading of existing DAB transmission
networks.
Meanwhile many commercial stations
have dipped a toe into DAB and then thrown
in the towel because of the cost of transmit-
ting DAB signals, so some kind of govern-
ment subsidy would be needed to improve
DAB. In current economic circumstances
that seems unlikely.
For chip suppliers, the DAB versus DAB+
argument is not such a crucial one, as they
can mostly provide designs for either or
both. Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier
Silicon, the U.K.’s leading supplier of ICs and
modules for digital radios thus welcomed
the proposals, suggesting “as and when the
Government adopts the recommendations,
we will see the success of digital TV repeated
in radio within the next ten years.”
Nonetheless, DAB+ has the chance to be-
come a global standard, certainly a European
standard, while DAB is becoming marginal.
The success Sethill speaks of would be the
greater, and the easier to achieve, with DAB+
as a U.K. digital radio platform. ■
By John Walko (jwalko@techinsights.com),
EE Times Europe – London
www.embedded-europe.com
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News
Hard times and empty seats at CES
ANALYSIS
By Junko Yoshida

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – These are not ordi-

nary times. Philips, the Dutch giant, used to
routinely fly 600 employees to the Consum-
er Electronics Show. This year, reportedly,
there are two.
The company, which last spring decided
to license off Philips and Magnavox brands
for TVs in North America to Funai, held no
press conference and purchased no booth
space on the show floor.
Cisco, another giant – with expanding
business in the connected digital consumer
world – was nowhere to be seen on the CES
show floor, although it grabbed a few meet-
ing rooms and held a press conference.
One technology supplier who usually
comes here to meet with important custom-
ers – 12 in total – found only three of them
present. The rest cancelled.
CES President Gary Shapiro looked out at
the audience for his opening keynote session
and, for the first time in his ten-year reign,
saw empty seats in the room.
Executives, engineers and marketers
in the electronics industry are huddling
on show floors and hallways at the CES,
comparing notes to find out how others are CONSUMER
coping with the economic crisis. ELECTRONICS
Jean-Laurent Poitou, managing director
for electronics and high tech at Accenture, Business, during an interview here with important [but] scale is the key driver,” he
said everyone wants to know not only how EE Times. said.
others are reacting, but also where and how Hurting most, said Lagomichos, is the Mergers and acquisitions will be rampant
they are cutting costs. During a downturn, industry’s unpredictability. “Customers and “smaller guys are forced to be consoli-
Poitou said hard-hit businesses that invest don’t know what will happen.” Unable to see dated.” Putting it more bluntly, Lagomichos
strategically tend to show more sustainable ahead, they offer only “short-term” projec- added, “There are just too many guys [in the
growth over the following six to eight years. tion figures to suppliers. digital consumer segment] and nobody is
“Let’s be careful. The strategy shouldn’t be, Lagomichos added, “I’ve talked to making money.”
Let’s cut the cost across the board indiscrimi- everyone, including my friends at STMicro- The consumer electronics chip industry
nately,” he warned. electronics and Broadcom. They all say that has already seen a flurry of activity over the
But for many technology suppliers, the they’ve not seen anything like this before.” If last 18 months.
issue goes far beyond cost-cutting measures. it’s any consolation, he mused, “at least, we Last spring NXP bought Conexant’s set-
“We can control cost. We can control are not the only ones.” top business, ST completed its acquisition
strategies. But we cannot control the end Keenly aware of the current economy and of Genesis Microchip Inc. a year ago, and
market’s demand,” said Christos Lagomi- NXP’s position on the market today, Lagomi- Broadcom last summer acquired digital TV
chos, executive vice president and general chos stressed that “scale is the key.” business from AMD.
manager of NXP Semiconductors’ Home In tough times like this, “Technology is Accenture’s Poitou, predicting further

January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 7

NEWS ANALYSIS

“waves of mergers and acquisitions” over the

next 18 months in consumer electronics and
high-tech companies, observed that some
players are loaded with debt while others
are relatively solvent.” They are all over the
map.”
Those with higher financial profiles “will
be in the best position to cherry-pick and
acquire only the parts of those companies on
sale that fit their needs,” he said.
How NXP will survive in an even tougher
environment in 2009 is far from clear,
though.
The company has been shedding a variety
of business units. The issue is whether that’s
enough. It is one thing to do “spreadsheet
management,” observed a veteran ex-NXP
executive. “But it’s another for the company
to build a vision “ beyond the businesses
they already have,” he said.
Some financial analysts speculate
that newly appointed NXP chief Richard
Clemmer, known among industry circles
as “a hatchet man,” will pick apart NXP’s
divisions further, and go for asset sales or
another set of joint ventures (see story on
page 14).
However, Lagomichos, responsible for
NXP’s digital home business, was adamant
during the interview: “Our group will be the
consolidator, not the consolidated.”
In the digital consumer market consist-
ing of digital TVs and set-tops, NXP today
ranks a “solid third,” said Lagomichos, as
Broadcom and ST compete for first place.
Lagomichos’ mission now is to go for leader-
ship.
There are hundreds of smaller companies
in the same space – presumably some may
be worth considering for acquisitions. But
Lagomichos said that first choice would be
“organic growth,” while he quickly added,
“we are keeping all options open.”
Lagomichos concedes that the biggest
threat to his business in the digital consum-
er market today comes from Taiwan – nota-
bly, MediaTek and Mstar Semiconductor.
To ride out the recession, Lagomichos’
strategy is to leverage NXP intellectual prop-
erty, especially in the area of up-converting
picture quality, while aggressively pursuing
more highly-integrated, low-cost digital
consumer chips using a finer geometry
process. More specifically, NXP is betting
on a new global DTV platform chip, called
TV550, manufactured using a 45-nm process
at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co. Among all the digital TV chips on the
Christos Lagomichos
of NXP Semiconductors
market today, “this will be the first IC based
on 45 nm,” he said. In fact, at a time when
NXP’s competitors are rolling out 65-nm
digital TV chips, NXP made a bold deci-
sion to skip the 65-nm process entirely, and
jumped to 45 nm.
Integration of Conexant’s set-top box
business has gone very well, Lagomichos
reported. TV550 will now serve as a common
platform for both digital TV and set-tops,
with 70 percent of IP cores shared.
Lagomichos expects “the top three to four
[companies] to shape” the digital consumer
chip industry. But skeptics question whether
that’s enough to guarantee NXP’s growth in
the digital home business.
“The number three position [in any
market] is just enough for any company not
to die,” said Mark Hamersma, senior vice
president, business development at NXP.
Clearly, to survive in the scale game, each
business line at NXP needs to shoot for the
number one or two position, in his view.
Hamersma, a former partner at McKinsey
& Co., a global consulting firm, joined Phil-
ips in 2004 and took over the position long
held by Theo Claasen, the Dutch company’s
veteran, who retired last fall.
Hamersma said that NXP, which used to
have 75 businesses, has slimmed down to 35.
Half the company’s business is multi-mar-
ket semiconductors, while the rest consists
of three application-specific businesses:
automotive, identification and digital home.
Each business is roughly the same size, but
the identification business unit generates
only 11 to 12 percent of total revenue.
There are things consumers will spend
money on, despite the recession.
While the electronics industry is
bombarded with doom and gloom stories,
there is a glimmer of hope for consumer
electronics companies, said Kumur Puri, a
senior executive with Accenture’s consumer
technology practice.
According to Accenture’s recent con-
sumer behavior study, there are three things
consumers said that they are not going to cut
their spending on. These are: Internet access;
mobile applications/devices; and cable, high-
definition entertainment. “This is actually
good news for the C.E. industry,” she said.
Looking back on 2008, Lagomichos
said that a lot of people expected that 2008
would be a good year because of the Olympic
Games and soccer. “But that did not happen.”
During the Q1 and Q2 of 2009, the electron-
ics industry will be hip-deep in inventory
correction. He added, “But everyone is hop-
ing for recovery towards Q3 and Q4.”
Is that wishful thinking?
Perhaps. But there are two trends on the
current market, said Lagomichos. “Retail is
depressed. But operators are stable.”
In today’s economic climate, “stable is
good,” Lagomichos concluded. ■
Online:
Europeans plan major assault on CES.
www.eetimes.eu/212701007

8 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009


EASTERN
EUROPE
Russian gas cut-off hits
CEE’s auto, electronics
By Drew Wilson
BOSTON, MASS. – The cut-off of Russian
gas supplies to Europe has threatened or
shutdown factories throughout Central and
Eastern Europe, a region that owes its suc-
cess to manufacturing.
Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Aus-
tria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia
and Romania all reported a total halt in gas
supplies from Russia’s Gazprom following a
Russia-Ukraine dispute over gas prices.
Videoton, an EMS company that runs fac-
tories in both Hungary and Bulgaria, is feel-
ing the effects. The company employs 1,200
in Stara Zagora, central
Bulgaria, where it makes
automotive components
and household electronics
for major manufacturers.
Gas deliveries to the op-
eration halted on Monday
Jan. 5 and the company
switched to oil for heat-
ing, said Zoltan Horvath,
Videoton’s director of inter-
national projects.
“The cost level for oil is
higher than gas, which means that we can
work but not on an optimum cost basis,” he
said. “We hope this is a temporary situa-
tion.”
Horvath said his company has had no
production disruptions because they use gas
only for heating, not in production.
However, oil-based heating cannot re-
place gas. If the dispute lasts longer than two
weeks and the weather gets colder, Videoton
in Bulgaria may have to stop production in
order to protect equipment, he said.
Other Bulgaria manufacturers such as
glass and metal-working have already halted
production due to the gas dispute. The
Bulgarian government said more than 150
companies have reported losses totaling €4.3
million (about $5.9 million) per day.
In Hungary, Japanese car manufacturer
Suzuki said it would temporarily close
down.
Slovakia, which has a huge automo-
tive manufacturing base as well as display
and consumer electronics production, has
declared a state of emergency.
“We have feedback from mainly large
companies cutting their production and
switching to alternative sources of energy,”
said Miroslav Kucera, strategy director for
the Slovak Investment and Trade Develop-
ment Agency (SARIO).
“About thousand companies have been
afflicted and had to shut off the facilities en-
tirely, maintaining just the supply required
not to have their machines and technology
damaged,” Kucera said.
Korean car manufactur-
er KIA has stopped produc-
tion while Peugeot-Citroen
has canceled two of its
three work shifts, he said.
Chemical manufactur-
ers are impacted the hard-
est because of the nature of
certain components they
use, he added.
Though some of these
companies supply elec-
tronics manufacturers, no
issues have been reported from Sony or Sam-
sung, which run large factories in Slovakia.
Existing gas supplies go to homes, trans-
port and health facilities.
“On this basic level, the industry is ex-
pected to run without any critical issues for
approximately 10 days,” Kucera said.
If the dispute drags on, Slovakia has
pledged to reactivate a Soviet-era nuclear
reactor, which was decommissioned due to
lack of EU safety standards
Russia said it would resume the gas flow
but arguments over the issue of observers
posted in Ukraine to monitor the gas flow in
the pipeline delayed a settlement.
The EU and Ukraine had signed an agree-
ment to send independent monitors; Russia
insists only Russian observers should be
deployed. ■
Online:
Poland to emerge as powerful state: analyst.
www.eetimes.eu/212900372
NEWS ANALYSIS
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR
Softer human
resources and
maintaining jobs
DEAR SIR – I read with great interest your
article “Different ways to make job cuts”
(see EE Times Europe Dec. 15, 2008 and www.
eetimes.eu/212201845)
I live in France and work for a big semi-
conductor company and for years I have
been advocating to my friends and even to
some people in management and human
resources that it is time to move to version
2.0 of management, just as we moved from
Internet 1.0 to 2.0.
We have to move away from the domina-
tion of Excel and the laziness of the CFO
and others towards a really responsible
management team. A company is not just a
set of numbers, it is a collection of human
beings and the real richness of companies is
in their people. Just making job cuts is the
easy way because it always deals with cost
without reframing the business side.
With the possible exception of these
extremely turbulent times, where even
well-managed companies could suffer, job
cutting is usually the manifestation of the
incompetence of the management team. For
them when problems arise the short-term
solution is to reduce costs by firing people.
Beyond the trauma for those people
having to leave the company and also for
those who stay, there is the economic issue
of jobless people not spending which makes
the situation even worse.
In France it takes most people 25 years
to buy a home and 5 years to pay for a car.
How, when there is no guarantee of work
and revenue, can we imagine people will
make such long-term commitments in so
unstable an environment. It is clear that the
economy works if there are consumers. Yet
the industry, by laying people off, is destroy-
ing potential consumers and killing itself.
Therefore job-sharing in turbulent
economic conditions is a much better solu-
tion for the overall economy as it gives the
people some capacity to react in case of a
change in their revenue level.
The silicon industry, at least in terms
of consumer and mobile applications, is
focused largely on extracting money from
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 9
NEWS ANALYSIS
the marginal part of our spending. Silicon
only gets bought after food, housing, health
and transportation. So job losses will impact
this marginal part of the expense budget
first and will have a dramatic effect on the
silicon industry.
France has lessons to teach in terms of the
35-hour working week. Surveys conducted
by French organizations and foreign observ-
ers have concluded that French productivity
is generally very good. So the point is that
WIRELESS
TECHNOLOGY
MBO and secret partner set IPWireless free
By John Walko
LONDON – IPWireless Inc. (San Bruno, Ca-
lif.), the wireless chip and systems specialist
that was bought back by its management
late last month from NextWave Wireless,
expects to be profitable by the second half of
this year, according to a senior executive at
the company’s engineering base in Chippen-
ham, England.
Jon Hambidge, chief marketing officer,
also told EE Times that a large company will
finance the newly re-born and renamed
company’s product development and
would become a strategic partner for the
company. Hambidge would not be drawn
on the identity of the “significant strategic
partner” except to say it is major company
with which IPWireless has been working on
projects in the past.
“There were major financing issues at
NextWave (San Diego, Calif.), especially in
the latter part of the 18 months or so we
were part of the group, but we are confident
that the new set-up, under which a holding
company, IPW Holdings, has acquired 75
percent of IPWireless and the former parent
retains a minority stake, will put us on a
secure financial footing,” said Hambidge. He
added this means the company will provide
continuing support to its existing and new
customers in the commercial and govern-
ment sectors using its standards-based,
mobile broadband and broadcast solutions.
NextWave acquired the assets of IP Wireless
in April 2007 for a reputed $100 million in a
cash and stock deal.
10 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
it is not so useful to work long hours as it is
to be efficient when you do work. Similarly
friends who are working four days a week
have adapted their work plan and at the end
you don’t see a major difference with some-
one working full time.
Softer human resources will be the key
to limiting the impact of the financial crisis
and preventing it becoming a crisis for the
whole of our society.
In conclusion, it is time to put the ‘hu-
IPWireless was founded in 1999 and be-
came a pacesetter as a supplier of TD-CDMA
mobile broadband technology. Its TDtv
mobile TV technology has been and is being
tested by several European mobile network
operators
Now, IPWireless returns to being a pri-
vate, independent company that will be led
by the entire management team that went
to NextWave, with co-founder Bill Jones
continuing as CEO.
Most of the design engineers now at Chip-
penham came from Lucent and Motorola
when groups working in the Swindon area
were let go. Jones was a senior executive at
Lucent before he helped set up IPWireless
with Roger Quayle, who worked on develop-
ment of CDMA technologies at Qualcomm
Inc.
Hambidge said the company is now
developing silicon and software that will
comply with the recently agreed Release 8
of the 3GPP specifications, so the company
can participate in the emerging Long Term
Evolution of the UMTS cellular network and
on chipsets for the iMB (integrated mobile
broadcast) standard.
IPWireless was the first vendor to offer
commercial UMTS-based solutions for a
number of global spectrum bands includ-
ing the unpaired 1900-MHz and 2500-MHz
bands, to offer an all-IP mobile broadband
solution based on UMTS, and to offer a
UMTS broadcast solution. The company has
now delivered its 3GPP technology across
man’ back into human resources. Respon-
sible human resources management is not
incompatible with profits for shareholders.
We have to stop being driven by Excel. We
have brains so let’s use them!
Patrick Blouet
Grenoble, France
We welcome feedback to both our print and
online articles – please email any comments to:
pclarke@techinsights.com
Jon Hambidge,
IPWireless
five generations
of ASICs that
power devices
from handsets, to
USB modems, to
PCI Express cards
for embedding in
laptops, as well as in other form factors.
Hambidge noted that the commercial
trials of its TDtv technology with Orange
and T-Mobile in London had experienced
some delays while IPWireless was under the
ownership of NextWave. The technology al-
lows the mobile operators to deliver a range
of multimedia services, including mobile
TV, at a lower price point using existing,
unused 3G spectrum. Hambidge said the
company would “start seeing a great deal of
traction with that now. In any case, it has
been a tough 12 months or so for mobile TV
in general.”
A deal with a tier 1 handset supplier for
manufacturing a handset for TDtv is due to
be concluded soon, and could be announced
as soon as next month at the Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona, said Hambidge. The
baseband silicon, software stacks and inte-
gration pack would be supplied by IPWire-
less, with the RF element coming from third
party suppliers. . ■
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NEWS ANALYSIS
EDA SOFTWARE
Cadence board puts faith
in one of its own
By Dylan McGrath
SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly three months
after the resignation of Cadence Design
Systems Inc.’s controversial CEO Michael
Fister, the company’s board appointed one of
its own to the top job, saddling him with the
daunting task of leading Cadence’s resurrec-
tion.
Lip-Bu Tan, 49, was unanimously elected
on Jan. 8 to the position of president and
CEO after serving on the Cadence board of
directors since 2004, where he has been a
member of the board’s finance and technol-
ogy committees. He has spent most of his
career as a venture capitalist, serving on nu-
merous boards. His educational background
is in nuclear engineering.
Tan essentially served as Cadence’s acting
chief since Fister resigned, joining two oth-
ers in the interim office of CEO and leading
the company’s third quarter earnings call
last month.
Tan takes the helm of a company coming
off a disastrous 2008. Last year, Cadence
experienced revenue declines that knocked
it from the No. 1 spot in EDA that it held for
most of the past two decades. In addition to
the October resignations of Fister and four
other top executives, the company endured
a failed attempt to acquire Mentor Graphics
Corp., a postponed financial filing, an ac-
counting review and a major round of layoffs.
“We are very delighted that 2008 is over
and the worst is behind us,” Tan said in an
interview with EE Times .
Tan wouldn’t characterize Cadence’s long-
term goal as regaining the top spot in EDA
revenue, which it lost in 2008 to Synopsys
Inc. Instead, he said, Cadence would concen-
trate on a long-term strategy of enhancing
shareholder value through performance.
The company will focus on being “the total
broad solution provider to enable customers
to design and create,” he said.
Rich Valera, an analyst with Needham &
Co., said reclaiming the mantle of No. 1 EDA
vendor was not a practical goal for Cadence
without a pretty substantial acquisition and
not something the company should focus on
right now.
12 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
Cautious reaction from
EDA community to the
appointment of Lip-Bu Tan
Tan emphasized that his strengths lie in
building the right team and making deci-
sions. He said he has extensive relationships
with Cadence customers through his 28
years of experience investing in the semi-
conductor industry. He said Cadence would
focus sharply on product development.
“I always believe the best product wins,”
Tan said. “Technology will be critical.”
Early reaction from the EDA community
to Tan’s appointment has been cautious.
Valera said those who expected Cadence to
bring in a “rock star” CEO – an ideal, high-
profile executive with deep EDA experience
and a track record of running a large soft-
ware company – would be disappointed with
Tan’s appointment. But Valera said none of
the EDA veterans rumored to be under con-
sideration would have been a perfect fit. He
noted that Tan had an advantage in that he
was intimately familiar with Cadence from
his four years on the board and three months
in the interim office of the CEO.
“I don’t think there was the ideal can-
didate,” Valera said. “In some ways [Tan’s
appointment] is a little underwhelming, but
I don’t think he is going to screw anything
up.”
Tan said he did not immediately aspire
to take over as the Cadence CEO following
Fister’s resignation. After the board decided
to make a management change, he said, he
offered to step into the interim office of the
CEO (along with John Shoven and Kevin
Palatnik) while the board undertook an
“extensive” search for a new company leader.
The board looked at a number of candidates
across the EDA and semiconductor spectrum
and, in the end, persuaded him to take the
job on a permanent basis, Tan said.
Valera said he believes Tan is a solid
leader for Cadence, particularly at this point
in the company’s history, when it must focus
on digging itself out of a deep hole. He noted
Tan’s strong educational background and
history of leadership and success in the ven-
ture capital business. Tan is not exactly an
EDA outsider, having served on the Cadence
board for four years, Valera said.
“I frankly would have liked to see some-
one with more experience running a large
software company,” Valera said. “My perfect
candidate would have had more operational
experience. But I think [Tan] is a very capable
guy, very smart. He seems like a very moti-
vated, hard-working guy with a good track
record.”
John Cooley, moderator of EDA tool
users’ site Deepchip.com, had been among
those calling for Cadence to appoint an EDA
veteran to the top job. In a posting Cooley
said although Tan “doesn’t come from an
EDA background, as a five-year member of
the Cadence board, he’s not a totally clueless
newbie to EDA, either.”
Asked if he was “an EDA guy,” Tan
pointed to his role on the board’s technology
committee, relationships in the semicon-
ductor industry and business experience. “I
think I know enough to be challenging the
engineering team,” Tan said.
Gary Smith, head of Gary Smith EDA, said
Isn’t it exciting watching more
than 100,000 prices falling?

www.radiospares.fr/production
NEWS ANALYSIS
SEMICONDUCTOR
BUSINESS

it was too early to evaluate Tan’s appoint-

ment. One of the potential problems with it,
he said, is that the board of directors was the
focus of a lot of the questions surrounding
Cadence last year.
NXP’s survival options must
However, Smith drew a parallel to Tan’s
appointment and that of former Cadence
CEO Ray Bingham in 1999. Bingham also as-
include more asset sales
sumed the post as a Cadence insider, having
served as a board member and chief financial
By Bolaji Ojo
officer. “And Ray did a great job,” Smith said.
“The other problem is that if they are
going to survive they are going to have to
change the direction of the company,” Smith
said. “They probably have to get out of some
product lines and reinvest in the future.
That’s a hard thing for an insider to do.”
Smith said last October that he didn’t know
if Cadence could save its IC CAD group.
Tan said Cadence would “continually
review the product portfolio and make
adjustments when we have to,” but said the
company is not on the verge of cutting any
specific product lines. He said the company
would focus on driving product develop-
ment and technology, mentioning Cadence’s
mixed-signal design product franchise as
well as low-power design, verification and SAN FRANCISCO – Whatever ails NXP stop reorganization and associated hefty
design at advanced process nodes as particu- Semiconductors will not be resolved merely costs, declining margins, widening net losses
lar areas of focus. by the appointment of a new president and and huge debt servicing costs – up to $480
“I think it’s fair to say they needed to CEO, a surprising move made by the chip million per year, according to ratings agency
sharpen their R&D focus,” Valera said. maker’s board of directors in the final days Standard & Poor’s.
“There are definitely some areas where they of 2008. NXP’s Dec. 31, 2008, statement announc-
have to almost double down or throttle In today’s tough economic environment ing Fran van Houten’s departure offered no
back.” Valera added that a wholesale exit of where chip sales are now forecast to tumble specific explanation for the transition. A
some product areas is “probably not likely or sharply in 2009, no industry executive, how- close look at Clemmer’s background offers
the best solution” for Cadence. ever talented and experienced, can dramati- some insights into both why the company’s
One of the most frequent criticisms of cally alter a company’s fortune. board selected him and what kind of struc-
Fister was that he often seemed aloof, avoid- However, the regime change at NXP may tural changes might be ahead for the Eind-
ing appearances with fellow EDA CEOs set off another round of structural realign- hoven, Netherlands-based chip supplier.
while Cadence scaled back its participation ment in Europe’s semiconductor market as “There are no changes in strategy planned
in events such as the Design Automation new CEO Richard L. Clemmer – a passion- at this moment,” a spokesman for the com-
Conference in favor of its own CDN Live! ate deal maker with decades of experience pany said in an interview.
user event. as an industry executive and in the private
Walden Rhines, chair of the EDA Consor- equity field – is likely to force the company Background in finance
tium (EDAC) and Mentor’s chairman and to face the reality of its declining fortunes Although Clemmer has held executive posi-
CEO, said he hoped Tan would participate in and take tough decisions that could include tions at various semiconductor companies,
the broader industry. a breakup or joint venture transactions. his strength and background is in finance.
“I would certainly welcome him to the Anyone expecting the status quo to Clemmer is not a product guy; he is a money
EDA community and I’m hopeful that he remain unchanged should clear their desk. man with undergraduate and graduate
will actively participate in EDAC and other Despite his experience and knowledge of the degrees in business administration.
activities that the industry works on to im- the industry, not even Clemmer can surgi- He previously worked as CFO for Texas
prove our industry for our customer base,” cally resolve NXP’s boatload of problems Instrument’s semiconductor division and
Rhines said. ■ without resorting to drastic measures. Reli- held the same position at Quantum Corp.,
able rating analysts currently give NXP as where he helped lead the hard disk
Online: “vulnerable” and “highly leveraged.” drive maker’s $2 billion merger with rival
Analysis: Did Cadence hit rock bottom?. The company is dealing with a plethora Maxtor Corp.
www.eetimes.eu/212501058 of problems, including sagging sales, non- Perhaps the most prominent role Clem-
14 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009

mer has played in the
evolving consolidation of
the semiconductor market
took place at Agere Systems
Inc., the troubled commu-
nications IC vendor and
former Lucent Technologies
Inc. division, that, like NXP,
emerged from its parent
saddled with billions in
debts.
At the most critical
period in Agere’s history
in 2007, Clemmer drove
the IC vendor’s multibil-
lion merger with LSI Logic
Corp., moving on from
there to strengthen his
presence in the leverage
buyout market when he
joined equity fund investor
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
& Co. (KKR) as a senior
adviser. Prior to his stint
at Agere, Clemmer headed
Venture Capital Technology
LLC as president and chair-
man, and was also a partner for two years at
Shelter Capital Partners.
In his new position at NXP, Clemmer may
reprise the roles he played at both Agere and
Quantum before the companies were sold
to rivals. For instance, prior to assuming the
position of president and CEO at Agere in
2005, Clemmer initially served on the board
of directors, which he joined in 2002.
Clemmer joined KKR as a senior adviser
in June 2007 and was subsequently named
to NXP’s supervisory board. During the six
months preceding his latest appointment as
boss at NXP, Clemmer in a statement said he
worked closely with predecessor van Houten
to reshape the company.
“Rick has extensive executive leadership
experience in the high-tech industry, includ-
ing semiconductor, storage, e-commerce and
software companies,” said Sir Peter Bonfield,
chairman of NXP’s supervisory board. “He
is very familiar with NXP and well suited to
bring NXP to the next level.”
It’s not clear what that “next level” might
be, but it’s almost certain NXP will face ad-
ditional structural adjustments. Clemmer
will most likely accelerate the implementa-
tion of the company’s ongoing structural
reorganization, part of which led to the
mid-2008 sale of its wireless IC business to
STMicroelectronics.
That transaction boosted NXP’s cash posi-
tion by more than $1 billion, but by the end
of November NXP was forced to draw down
its revolving line of credit by $400 million in
response to the deteriorating borrowing en-
vironment. The move lifted NXP’s available
cash to approximately $1.54 billion but with
cash burn accelerating and sales slowing, the
company would probably need to imple-
ment other survival strategy by the middle
of 2009 unless revenue growth and available
cash flow pick up strongly.
That’s unlikely given the current state
of the global economy and the double-
digit sales decline expected for the entire
semiconductor market in 2009. NXP itself
has said fourth quarter 2008 revenue would
probably decrease sharply sequentially
in what should have been a strong three-
month period for the company. Meanwhile,
its ongoing reorganization could cost the
company up to $800 million between 2009
and 2010, according to Patrice Cochelin, an
analyst with Standard & Poor’s.
“We expect NXP to use a large portion of
its cash and a recent $400 million revolver
draw to fund a $800 million restructuring
program in 2009-2010, capital gain taxes, and
debt repayment in the third quarter of 2009,”
Cochelin said in a statement.
Market recovery
The reorganization already carried out under
van Houten will help position NXP for a
market recovery. But the company won’t be
in the clear for some time due to complica-
tions injected into its survival program by
the economic uncertainty that hit the sector
in the second half of 2008. Furthermore, NXP
cash position remains fragile despite the
injection of funds from the wireless IC unit
sales to ST.
Geneva-based ST has indicated it wants
to acquire NXP’s remaining 20 percent stake
in the wireless IC joint venture, but terms,
valuation and payment timing could be
negatively affected by the ongoing market
slowdown, according to observers.
“ST’s recently announced intention to
combine the joint venture with a division of
Ericsson LM is likely to provide NXP with
an early exit opportunity, if and when a
transaction closes,” said S&P’s Cochelin. “We
believe, however, that the recent and rapid
slump in wireless handset markets could
put pressure on the timing and valuation of
the transaction.”
Clemmer would therefore have his hands
NEWS ANALYSIS
full dealing with other operational problems
confronting the company, including what
to do with its growth and profit challenged
business divisions.
NXP’s home entertainment unit, for in-
stance, posted a 20 percent drop in sales for
the 2008 third quarter and will likely record
another sharp decline for the recently ended
quarter. The division, which manages a joint
venture between NXP and Thomson, could
be a likely candidate for a small-size spinoff
or sale to a bigger player.
The company’s second biggest business
division, the automotive and identification
unit, is also facing similar sales pressure,
which has accelerated in the last few months
as demand for vehicles began weakening in
several key geographical regions. The unit
is profitable on an operating basis, however,
and will most likely be retained by the
company.
NXP’s multimarket semiconductor busi-
ness is its crown jewel and it’s highly un-
likely the company will dump the division.
The unit eked out modest 2 percent revenue
growth in the 2008 third quarter and, despite
problems in the worldwide economy, will be
the growth leader for NXP for the foresee-
able future.
Perhaps one area Clemmer and his man-
agement team will focus their cost-cutting
action is in the area of manufacturing. The
sharp drop in sales has also eroded plant
utilization, and this may force the company
to accelerate efforts to further outsource
manufacturing operations.
Clemmer executed a similar strategy at
Agere, which faced similar debt leverage and
manufacturing outsourcing problems. Most
likely he will apply lessons learned during
that stint at NXP. The only difference this
time is that he will be dealing with a much
bigger company facing even much more
complex internal and external challenges.
The new NXP head is not getting much
of a honeymoon. A spokesman for NXP said
Clemmer was spending his first week at the
company meeting with employees, custom-
ers and suppliers. Soon after, he will need to
explain to NXP’s investors his strategy for
cutting the company’s $6 billion debt.
Is anyone willing to bet this won’t involve
asset sales or another set of joint ventures? ■
Online:
Van Houten leaves NXP as former TI, Agere exec
takes over.
www.eetimes.eu/212700305
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 15
NEWS ANALYSIS

CEO interview: John Daane

Despite economic difficulties across the chip industry, FPGA makers didn’t have it so bad
for Q3 08. Altera Corp. announced increases in sales and net income for Q3 08 over Q3
07. John Daane, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Altera, explains how market
slowdowns can be growth opportunities, and describes the company’s activities in Asia.

EETimes: How did Altera achieve growth in Q3 08 despite a general

market slowdown?
John Daane: Altera remains committed to its fundamental themes of
growth, efficiency and shareholder value, and we are pleased to have
achieved all three goals for a second consecutive quarter. Our 65-nm
devices – Cyclone III FPGAs and Stratix III FPGAs – had another
strong growth quarter, with sales once again more than doubling
sequentially.
Market slowdowns present an opportunity to accelerate the
replacement of ASICs and ASSPs over the long term.
System companies tighten budgets and cancel ASIC designs, and
semiconductor companies rationalize their product portfolios and
eliminate ASSP projects.
Nevertheless, system differentiation is still required, and in the
absence of ASICs and ASSPs, PLDs become the product of choice. It is
here that our efforts to design innovative new software and silicon
products pay off for our long-term growth prospects.

EETimes: How has Altera performed so far this financial year?

JD: We are very pleased with our progress to date. Our new products
are now 46 percent of our revenue, and sales of these devices have
grown 52 percent year over year as we continue to replace ASICs and
ASSPs.
In terms of market segments, we have seen the communications
segment grow 24 percent year over year across 2G and 3G standards. placed the company in a strong position to compete for designs that
We have also seen 25 percent year-over-year growth in the industrial were once the exclusive domain of ASIC-based solutions.
segment, led by gains in the military, automotive and broad indus-
trial markets. EETimes: What about your multi-core devices?

EETimes: Please tell us about the 40-nm Stratix IV FPGAs.
JD: Our Stratix IV devices are the industry’s first 40-nm FPGAs and
incorporate a unique architecture combining low-power consump-
tion with high performance, high density and high-speed transceiv-
ers. To date, Stratix IV FPGAs have achieved record design engage-
ments with nearly 600 customers in our early adopter program.
This is more than twice the number of customers as any previous
program.
Customers use our Quartus II design software to design Stratix IV
FPGAs into applications across all of Altera’s market segments. We
expect the first shipments of the Stratix IV devices by the end of this
year. We have gained share in the FPGA market in each of the last six
years with products noted for their architectural innovation. With
the Stratix IV family, we offer customers benefits that are even more
attractive based on a combination of both architectural and process-
node leadership.
As development costs for competing ASICs climb and engineers
are forced to use older process technology, the economics and per-
formance of leading-edge programmable logic become significantly
more attractive. By moving quickly to the 40-nm node, Altera has
16 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
JD: Because our Nios II processor uses a soft core, all of our FPGAs
and HardCopy ASICs have the capability to be multi-core devices.
The programmability of our FPGAs is a big advantage for designers
considering a multi-core device because it allows them to design a
device that fits their exact performance and power needs.
We simplify the task of multi-core design through our Quartus II
design software and SOPC Builder tool.
This tool eliminates the manual system-integration tasks of IP
blocks in an FPGA design. Designers can select functions from the
Altera or third-party IP core libraries to include in their FPGA. SOPC
Builder automatically generates interconnect logic and creates a test
bench to verify functionality, thereby saving valuable design time.
In addition, because FPGAs have inherent parallelism, our devices
compete well versus other multi-core architectures even without
using Nios II processors.
EETimes: What’s the outlook for Altera in 2009? Any other new
product developments?
JD: We are looking forward to the continued rollout of our 40-nm
 NEWS ANALYSIS

of Altera

devices in 2009 and continued gain of market share in program-

mable logic, as well as the ongoing replacement of traditional
ASIC and ASSP sockets.

EETimes: How is the partnership with TSMC coming along?

JD: Altera and TSMC have enjoyed a strong partnership since
1993. From design through tape-out, together we’re constantly
refining the manufacturing process, resulting in chips that are
rolled out successfully from node to node.
We’re also redefining the foundry model. Traditionally
foundries and their IC customers worked in their respective areas
— manufacturing process development and IC design – somewhat
autonomously. This resulted in longer time-to-market and higher
costs. Through a new integrated model, Altera and TSMC engi-
neers collaborate on both manufacturing process development
and IC design to achieve better and faster results that are, in turn, Available from stock!
passed on to customers.
TSMC often qualifies its manufacturing process with Altera Samples of standard inductors in stock
test chips because FPGAs are structured arrays, which are excel-
lent for developing and qualifying a process. Test chips address
design issues up-front while validating circuit design and process
s3-4INDUCTORS3)-)$
characteristics. For us, a faster manufacturing ramp means a faster s3-4POWERINDUCTORS
production cycle for our devices.
Our collaboration with TSMC does not end at tape-out. We also
s,EADED2&6(&CHOKES
work closely together on post-tape-out activities such as defect s#HOKESFORDATAANDSIGNALLINES
density improvements.
s#HOKESFORPOWERLINES
EETimes: Tell us more about Altera in Asia. s,!.MODULES
JD: Altera established operations in Asia Pacific over 10 years ago
and the region has seen strong growth year over year. Altera is
committed to the region, has offices throughout the region and
has invested in a regional support centre in Penang, Malaysia to
serve customers worldwide. The facility in Penang has a large
engineering group and is the company’s largest site outside of the
U.S. The company has also has a strong university program in Asia
and has established 52 joint labs with leading universities.
Altera also enjoys strong customer relationships in Asia and
we have received numerous supplier awards from Huawei, ZTE,
Mindray and Samsung, to name a few.

EETimes: Clue us in on Altera’s environmental concern.

JD: Whether it is developing new programmable devices that
dramatically reduce power consumption in our customers’ prod-
ucts or establishing extensive recycling and energy conservation
programs in our buildings, Altera is committed to green business Please order via
practices throughout the company. ■
www.epcos.com/inductors
A longer version of this article appeared in EE Times India, a sister or your contact person at EPCOS Sales/Distribution
publication to EE Times Europe.
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 17
COVER STORY
10 technologies to
watch in
EE Times’ global editorial team have selected ten hot
technologies and/or technology trends that will shape
the consumer electronics market in 2009 and beyond.
They range from 3-D, energy harvesting, personal hos-
pital and white spaces/femtocells to widgets, home
network, gesture-operated TVs, Long Term Evolution
(LTE) network, rollable/foldable/wearable displays
and HD everywhere.
Notice, our focus is on “technologies” rather than
specific gadgets. Also notice a common thread here.
A majority of hot technologies on this list are either
devices connected to the network, or new network
technologies themselves.
18 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 19 – February 8, 2009
The terrain consumer electronics system designers
must cover is expanding at unprecedented speed. The
playing field is no longer just limited to next-genera-
tion home entertainment equipment.
It’s also about a network of sensors, newly connect-
ed personal medical devices, ‘perpetual’ devices and
using piezoelectric, photovoltaic and thermoelectric
devices to convert ambient energy into electrical en-
ergy. A host of new portable communication products
will also emerge by leveraging femtocells and spec-
trums that have just become available.
Imagine that. And imagine what we can all do with
them.
 COVER STORY

The rumors of a format war begin

By Rick Merritt
NOW THAT EVERY CONSUMER electronics
(CE) giant is shipping a full product port-
folio of 1080p high-definition TVs (HDTVs)
in every size and display type, what’s left?
Plenty.
First, these systems all still lack rock sol-
id, easy-to-use links to the Internet. The Web
is rising fast as a prime source of movies, TV
shows and personal videos. Web-friendly
TVs can cut through the forest of proprietary
add-on boxes that take consumers to some
carefully groomed and narrow subset of the
Net.
But such ‘iTVs’ are systems any consumer
electronic company can – and should – de-
liver before the end of 2009. Take a longer
look down the road and the next big thing
will be stereoscopic 3-D video.
Just like color, stereo 3-D is just another
element of human vision that technology
needs to enable for a fully immersive experi-
ence. But it won’t be easy.
Vendors offer dozens of different imple-
mentations today and all have their short- tial for enough format wars here to make sions of their movies. Many suspect 3-D
comings. (Do you really want to wear those the VHS versus Betamax debate look like a versions of concerts and sporting events will
fat plastic glasses on the couch at home?) Ef- picnic. be even bigger sellers.
forts to set standards are just getting started But at the end of the day, there’s plenty So now that the 20-plus years of struggle
for everything from 3-D content mastering of potential, too. Hollywood studios already to get to HDTV are over, look out, the 3-D TV
to distribution and displays. There’s poten- know there’s a good business for 3-D ver- battles are just getting started. ■

Reading between the frequency lines

By Kenton Williston
FEMTOCELLS AND “WHITE SPACE” devices
are expected to usher in a new era of efficient
spectrum utilization in 2009. So what does
this mean for us? We’ll get high-speed access
for everything from laptops to portable net-
work devices, with service providers rolling
out compelling new services at surprisingly
affordable prices.
As an additional benefit, batteries will
last longer thanks to more efficient net-
works.
Both Femtocells and “white spaces” will
be enabled by cognitive radios, a new class
of devices that ‘sense’ the surrounding radio
frequency (RF) environment and adjust their
operation to avoid interference.
This flexibility lets cognitive radios take
advantage of unused spectrum, improving
the speed and reliability of wireless services.
Until now, the benefits of cognitive radio
have been largely theoretical. That is about
to change thanks to two key developments:
the opening of TV spectrum for white-space
devices and the realization of the $100 fem-
tocell basestation.
Today, much of the TV spectrum is
dormant white space. Even in major U.S.
markets, roughly one of every four TV chan-
nels is unused. Last November, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) ap-
proved new rules that will allow white-space
devices to communicate over these vacant
TV channels.
Unlike the TV spectrum, the cellular spec-
trum is heavily congested. However, cellular
reception is often poor inside buildings. The
obvious solution is to place low-power bases-
tations, known as femtocells, inside homes
and offices. Here’s the problem: Femtocells
must be cheaper before widespread deploy-
ment is practical. Today’s price is closer to
$200, but the market will hit the $100-sweet
spot by the end of 2009.
Femtocells and white-space devices will
do more than use wasted spectrum. They
will completely revolutionize wireless ac-
cess. These technologies will do for wireless
networks what the iPhone did for mobile
Web use – open up new markets that were
previously unimaginable.
Most importantly, the success of these
technologies will pave the way for wider ac-
ceptance of cognitive radios. When we look
back on 2009, we will see it as the start of an
overhaul of regulations and business models
that opened the airwaves to a new era of
innovation. ■
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 19
COVER STORY
Featuring a 3.8-inch wide
screen VGA display, HTC
Touch HD is described as
an entertainment-foucsed
mobile handset that
emphasizes multimedia
Quad definition and the
Emperor’s new television
By Dylan McGrath
HIGH-DEFINITION (HD) technology has been
the darling of the consumer electronics (CE)
industry in recent years, fueling sizeable
growth in television sales. After winning a
format war, HD Blu-ray disc players seemed
poised to enjoy rapid growth, too. But that
hasn’t happened, yet, and now that the
economy is in the tank, most analysts agree
that sales of HDTVs and Blu-ray players will
grow more slowly than expected for at least
the next two quarters.
In boom times, consumers are drawn to
the latest and greatest and have shown a
willingness to do as marketers suggest in or-
der to “maximize the quality of the viewing
experience.” In uncertain times, that old CRT
set and single-disc DVD player will work just
fine, thanks.
Featuring a 3.8-inch wide-screen VGA
display, HTC Touch HD is described as an
entertainment-focused mobile handset that
emphasizes multimedia.
“Higher priced items are going to be at a
disadvantage during the next two to three
quarters,” said Sheri Greenspan, senior
20 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
analyst for consumer electronics at market
research firm iSuppli Corp. in El Segundo,
Calif. Greenspan believes people will delay
their TV and disc player upgrades, possibly
until late next year, when they will get more
bang for their buck thanks to average selling
price declines.
Now CE vendors are pushing HD as a
marketing differentiator in other devices
such as handsets, mobile Internet devices
and camcorders.
But it’s unlikely that market demand is
strong enough to spur meaningful adoption,
particularly in light of the macroeconomic
gloom.
Take handsets, for example. Taiwan’s
HTC Corp. introduced the HTC Touch HD
handset in September, and rumors are
circulating that an iPhone HD from Apple
is in the works. Video compression technol-
ogy provider On2 Technologies now has
several licenses for its HD multi-format
configurable hardware RTL video decoder for
handsets.
But why? Who is going to pay a premium
to get HD capability on a three-inch screen?
For what applications?
Application processors supporting HD
are being released for handsets and other
mobile devices, according to Francis Sideco,
wireless analyst at iSuppli. While most can
support up to 1080p resolution, the consen-
sus is that the human eye cannot perceive
the difference of anything over 720p on a
small screen of three inches or less, he said.
But consensus be damned. Companies
will continue to push HD into all manner
of products, whether the human eye can
appreciate the difference or not. And they
won’t stop there.
Companies are already developing so-
called “quad-definition” displays that offer
twice the resolution as HD. Why? Because,
apparently, they can.
As Jordan Selburn, iSuppli principal
analyst, told an audience in October, “Except
for those few people buying garage-door-size
displays, you will not notice any improve-
ment with quad definition. Unless, of course,
you happen to be an eagle.” ■

Someday hospitals will make house calls
By Rick Merritt
TODAY’S GRAYING BABY BOOMERS
grew up thinking of health care as
something that happens in a hospital.
Meanwhile, practitioners in the emerg-
ing field of systems biology imagine a
very different future.
Tomorrow’s consumer, they say, will
stop by the local drug store to pick up
the latest health cartridge. At home, he
will load it into a personal DNA tester
that analyzes a drop of blood to deter-
mine any conditions he has now or may
develop in the future. The device also
will compute the formula for the treat-
ment best suited to his genetic makeup.
This scenario is, admittedly, years if
not decades away from breakthroughs
in genetics that will make this possible.
But some baby steps in the emerging
field of remote health care will come
even in 2009.
For instance, Intel Corp., the world’s top
semiconductor company by revenue, has
released for testing its Intel Health Guide, a
sort of home nursing PC. The Intel Health
Guide will monitor vital signs of elderly
patients with chronic conditions and pro-
COVER STORY
vide details via the Net to a doctor in
a remote clinic. Thanks to standards
developed by the Continua Health
Alliance of more than 100 companies,
including Intel, any company can
produce interoperable systems and
peripherals.
Eventually such systems will sport
ties to wireless sensors in the home
that can help remote family members
and care providers track how an elderly
person is doing.
As peripherals mature in their
sophistication, these systems will
offer more kinds of health services
to broader groups of people, leading
someday to the kind of personalized,
proactive health care today’s systems
biologists envision.
Perhaps non-invasive, out-patient
surgeries might even be handled by
remote physicians using devices rented from
clinics and delivered by FedEx. Who needs a
hospital? ■
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 21
 COVER STORY
Not getting the big
picture(s) yet
By Maury Wright
DEPENDING ON YOUR outlook, home-
networking technology is either a shining
example of success or a dismal failure. A
number of networking options shine when
the application is shared Internet access, but
every “no-new-wires” technology fails when
the mandate calls for carrying multiple HD
video streams simultaneously.
The no-new-wires requirement is the pri-
mary delineation between home network-
ing and enterprise networking. Companies
will spend money to wire offices and boost
productivity, but only tech enthusiasts
will retrofit a home with Category-5/6
twisted-pair cable for high signal integrity.
To achieve mainstream success, home
networks--even those that carry rich video
streams--must be wireless in nature or oper-
ate over existing phone lines, coax cable, or
power lines.
Wi-Fi in all of the IEEE 802.11 flavors
has broadly penetrated the home although
enterprise usage was the application that
drove prices down to home-friendly levels.
Unfortunately, the newest 802.11n flavor
is a troubled technology. The long-debated
standard resulted in fragmentation, and
products are falling far short of range and
speed specs. There’s little reason to believe
that Wi-Fi is going to deliver whole-house
HDTV.
22 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
Wireless USB based on ultrawideband
(UWB) technology is a bigger failure. It
doesn’t appear that Wireless USB will carry
HD video even within a room, although it
may find success in PC peripherals.
Today, consumer electronics vendors
are looking at proprietary in-room wire-
less links, but these solutions also pose
challenges. For example, Amimon Inc. has
limited support for its yet unproven 5-GHz
technology. Even if it works, it won’t carry
multiple streams and should be redirected
at compressed content. And the 60-GHz
research is too immature to judge.
Why are we talking in-room links? There
is no single perfect home-network technol-
ogy that can serve legacy data and HD-
streaming applications. Instead, a backbone
of some type will connect islands of devices
that might be served by a technology with
limited range.
For the backbone, coax-based networks
look viable but may not reach every island
in a home. Power-line options would be
ideal because power plugs are found in
every room. But alas, power-line technology
falls short of HD bandwidth requirements,
and phone-line options look like a long shot.
Ethernet and Category-5/6 cable remain
by far the best choice to serve whole house
video. Let’s watch what happens in 2009. ■

Flexible Display
Center
researchers
at ASU have
developed new
flexible display
designs for the
military that
can be applied
to consumer
electronics
devices
Scrolls of tomorrow
By Nicolas Mokhoff
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO with printed
electronics? There are a bunch of applica-
tions waiting to be exploited, ranging from
foldable, rollable, biodegradable and other
types of everyday electronics wear to flexible
electronic displays.
With the consumer electronics market
being one of the largest, small steps are be-
ing taken to move flexible electronics into
the mainstream.
One bellwether is Applied Materials,
through its Display Business Group-AKT.
The company has recently become an associ-
ate member of the Flexible Display Center
(FDC) at Arizona State University, which
could prove to be a crucial step for volume
production of flexible displays. First for the
military then for consumer devices.
Flexible Display Center researchers at
ASU have developed new flexible display
designs for the military that can be applied
to consumer electronics devices.
The FDC is a government/university
research partnership whose mission is to
advance the development and commer-
cialization of full-color flexible electronic
display technologies. It’s the result of a
10-year cooperative agreement between the
U.S. Army and Arizona State University.
The FDC partners with LG Display, HP, E
Ink, Universal Display Corp., DuPont Teijin
Films, EV Group, as well as display technol-
ogy integrators scuh as General Dynamics,
Raytheon, Boeing, Honeywell, and L3 Com-
munications.
“Applied can test its industry-leading
thin-film deposition technology using FDC’s
infrastructure and produce first versions
of a new advanced thin-film transistor
(TFT) technology for flexible displays,” said
Gregory B. Raupp, FDC director.
In another volume fab development, the
new Center for Organic Materials and Elec-
tronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD) facility
in Dresden, Germany, is gearing up to manu-
facture organic light-emitting diode (OLED)
displays using its roll-to-roll coating facility
to make OLEDs on flexible substrates.
COVER STORY
According to market research firm IDTe-
chEx Inc. 2009 will launch a new wave of
electronic consumer products powered by
printed electronics.
One example includes an e-book reader
from Plastic Logic built on a plastic sub-
strate, making it “thinner and larger than
other versions,” said Raghu Das, CEO at
IDTechEx, Cambridge, Mass.
At a recent conference in Japan, Samsung
showed off a mobile phone prototype with a
flexible display that folds like a book.
Those mentioned above are still mic-
rosteps in developing a viable consumer
devices market for printed electronics.
Advances in materials, interconnections
and scalability are needed before flexible
displays and electronics become wearable
and biodegradable.
Given the challenges and the steady
progress, flexible electronic displays should
become more entrenched in consumer de-
vices in 2009. But we need to wait a few more
years to see them at Wal-Mart stores. ■
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 23
 COVER STORY
The long road to 4G wireless
By John Walko
DON”T HOLD YOUR BREATH waiting for
the next wireless broadband technology. It
will be a few more years before we have ac-
cess to broadband Internet services that are
truly wire-free. However, the development
of Long Term Evolution (LTE), the evolving
4G technology for high-speed data access
over cellular networks, will be under the
gun in 2009.
Despite a host of uncertainties about
the pace of rollout for this flavor of mobile
broadband, IC vendors are busy getting their
designs ready for this emerging 4G technol-
ogy.
Players in the consumer electronics sec-
tor want to avoid the mistakes encountered
during the rollout of 2.5G and 3G networks
when interoperable handsets were not avail-
able in a timely fashion for the upgraded
networks.
LTE will become the first truly global
standard for mobile data, with launches for
data cards in 2010 and handsets in 2011.
For LTE, the issue is more likely to be
ensuring that LTE-capable devices are avail-
able for embedding into PCs and mobile
computing devices rather than phones,
since the initial emphasis is bound to be on
high-speed data transfer rather than better
and wider voice coverage.
Terminal availability has too often been
blamed for slow rollouts, due to endless
options that have made the poor handset
24 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
designers’ and manufacturers’ lives difficult.
This won’t be easy since the standardiza-
tion process for LTE has some way to go,
even though the important Release 8 for
the technology, being devised under the
auspices of the 3GP standard group, is due to
be finalized this month. But as the industry
is well aware, this will not be the end of the
story.
There is too much uncertainty regarding
the frequency ranges at which LTE will oper-
ate--anywhere between 900 MHz to 2.6 MHz.
Network topology is also a subject of debate
among operators: Will it be targeted at hot-
spots only? Will LTE be a rapid replacement
for 2G or 3G? Will it be for data only, or data
and voice from the outset?
For chip designers, this means the need
for greater flexibility and compatibility.
Why? LTE is not the only game in town for
4G; mobile WiMAX is slightly ahead of the
game. Chip, customer premises equipment
(CPE) and terminal designers will need
to ensure a single solution for broadband
wireless, deploying baseband and RF that
support both environments.
We should not expect major LTE rollouts
before 2010 for use with data cards and 2011
for handsets. The bottom line: LTE is speci-
fied to support multiple bands in both time
division duplex and frequency division,
duplex modes, and will evolve to be the first
truly global standard for mobile data. ■
 COVER STORY
This wonderful widget of ours
By Junko Yoshida
IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER electronics (CE)
system designer and don’t believe in widgets,
you might as well pack it in, and start look-
ing for another line of work.
Back in February 2007, Jon S. von Tetzch-
ner, Opera Software’s CEO, said, “The hottest
topic of the mobile phone software industry
has shifted from MMS to widgets this year.”
The widget revolution is now rapidly
spreading among a variety of consumer
electronics devices. They include a new class
of gadgets like the Chumby Wi-Fi device de-
veloped by Chumby Industries, the Widget
Channel proposed by Intel for Internet TV,
and Sony’s Bravia TV--with an Ethernet port-
-sold in Japan.
Widgets are set to transform the face of
consumer electronics products.
Widgets are targeted applications
designed to allow consumers to access Web
services. According to Intel, widgets are
“small locally resident applications that
allow Internet-based services to be played on By creating the Widget Channel with Yahoo, Sony is distributing the AppliCast kit,
connected CE devices and displayed on TVs.” Intel defined Internet TV as a platform for allowing consumers to develop unique
The key difference between the latest pushing Web content to TV. widgets for its Sony TV. Consumers can add
incarnation of Internet TV and previously Purists may disagree that the new direc- Web-based applications to the TV, such as
launched Web-enabled TVs could well be tion of Internet TV will be powered by an alarm clock as well as weather and stock
widgets. widgets. They believe that the Internet is information.
Chumby, designed to replace a clock all about giving people the power to “pull” At the moment, both Sony and Intel are
radio, comes with a Wi-Fi connection and content, not having someone decide which talking about using widgets for the intersec-
a 3.5-inch touch screen. It displays various content to “push.” tion of the Internet and television.
widgets with information pulled off the But that ultimate “pull” power may still But the movement won’t stop there. In
Internet. It plays podcasts, Internet radio come down to people. 2009, companies will deploy widgets across
and some Web video like David Letterman’s Look no further than Sony’s widget a broad range of devices, including digital
latest Top 10 list. efforts in Japan. Sony recently rolled out photo frames, game consoles and mobile
Eric Kim, general manager of Intel’s for hobbyists and consumers a software de- internet devices.
digital home group, has figured out that the velopment kit called AppliCast. It’s the first Widgets will soon let consumers decide
key to successful Internet TV is to prevent attempt by any Japanese company to deliver on feature sets and applications for their
any interruption in the viewing experience. a proprietary TV platform. favorite CE devices. ■

Harvested energy unleashed

By Patrick Mannion
FOR MANY, THE CONCEPT of energy
harvesting is tightly associated with the
‘green’ movement. While that’s certainly
one aspect, it overlooks a whole range of ap-
plications that have less to do with solving
the world’s so-called energy crisis and more
to do with solving the problem of powering
remote or embedded devices – indefinitely.
That is, without wires and without poten-
tially expensive battery replacement.
Also called energy scavenging, energy
harvesting uses piezoelectric, photovoltaic,
thermoelectric and inductive devices to
convert ambient energy (kinetic, light and
thermal) into electrical energy. This energy
can then be stored locally to power ‘perpetu-
al’ devices, usually sensors or other moni-
toring and control devices with a wireless
communications interface. It’s this storage
that dispels another misconception: that
harvested energy is too little to be of practi-
cal use. In almost all applications, it’s the
timed use of accumulated energy that makes
the devices practical.
The concept of energy harvesting is clear-
ly not new; the most obvious instantiation
is solar-powered cameras used on highways.
(For a list of energy-harvesting companies
involved in the area, go to www.energyhar-
vesting.net.) However, what is new are the
increasingly efficient conversion and power-
management ICs, innovative power storage
techniques and the availability of low-cost,
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 25
COVER STORY
low-power ICs that are combining to enable
greater functionality per millijoule of gener-
ated energy.
This has opened up a whole range of
truly tether-free applications from wireless
sensor networks for structural monitoring of
buildings and bridges to battlefield sensors,
backpack power generators and communi-
cators, devices embedded within airplane
wings and other hard-to-access locations.
In the consumer space, medical applica-
tions that take advantage of thermal and
kinetic energy are an exciting area of de-
velopment, while solar-powered Bluetooth
Sorry, I didn’t mean to change
the channel when I sneezed
By Junko Yoshida
A PERFECT MAN-MACHINE interface is the
never-ending quest for consumer electronics
(CE) designers.
Expect a gesture-controlled large-screen
TV to emerge in 2009. The goal here--sought
after by large CE companies like Panasonic,
Hitachi and Toshiba--is to enable consum-
ers, simply by waving a hand at the screen,
to turn the TV on or off, switch channels, or
browse multiple video windows on display
and select one. No remote needed.
Hitachi’s ‘gesture-controlled TV’ allows
a simple wave of the hand to turn it on; up
and down gestures to activate a menu dis-
play; and making circles in the air to adjust
volume.
Hitachi’s ‘gesture-controlled TV’ allows a
simple wave of the hand to turn it on; up
and down gestures to activate a menu
display; and making circles in the air to
adjust volume
26 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
headsets and cell-phone chargers are already
plentiful.
Meanwhile, ‘green’ automotive designers
are looking at perpetual devices to reduce
the amount of expensive and weighty har-
nessing required.
For 2009, consumers can expect a flotilla
of devices, particularly in the medical field,
as companies such as Texas Instruments Inc.
continue seeding the market with kits that
combine its low-power MSP430 microcon-
troller with conversion technologies from
the likes of AdaptivEnergy LLC and Per-
petuum Ltd., as well as innovative battery
The CE industry has in the past fiddled
with a number of user-interface tech-
nologies. They include a good-old infrared
remote, mouse, keyboard, joystick, track
ball, on-screen ‘carousel’, ‘wheel’, and even a
magic wand with an accelerometer. And let’s
not forget Microsoft’s ludicrous Bob (1995), a
“social interface” on Windows 3.1, hosted by
annoying little cartoon characters. Finally,
there is the voice-controlled user interface--
always touted as the next “UI paradigm.”
But why is the industry looking for ges-
ture-controlled TV now?
There are two key drivers. Remote con-
trols have grown increasingly complex and
harder for anyone to operate. Second, today’s
technology from Cymbet Corp. Other IC
companies also improving the state of the
art here include National Semiconductor, In-
ternational Rectifier and Linear Technology.
However, for designers, the space is
rife with opportunities. More research is
need for ultra-low-power conversion and
power management circuits. Power storage
techniques may include ultracapacitors and
novel battery chemistries. As innovations
are made in those fundamental areas, the
system applications for energy-harvesting
devices are set to rise exponentially over the
coming months. ■
large-screen TVs can display multiple video
windows simultaneously on one screen,
but they demand a more intuitive tool for
consumers to navigate.
Various hand gesture-operated TV demos
have shown that a user could rotate an
image, move one of the video windows to
the side, or zoom in or out of video on the
screen, simply by changing hand move-
ments (circling, moving to left or right, or
forward/backward).
Sensors are the underlying enabling
technologies.
Panasonic, for example, has developed
a new image sensor unit consisting of a
near infrared LED, a special charge-coupled
device (CCD) and a field-programmable gate
array (FPGA).
Panasonic’s image sensor unit detects
gestures by measuring “time of flight” (the
time it takes for the near infrared light to hit
an object and its reflected light to return to
the CCD image sensor module). Each “time
of flight” is measured per pixel. Its cumula-
tive data calculates the distance, capturing
the depth information of the gesture at real
time.
Hitachi also demonstrated a gesture-con-
trolled TV. Hitachi’s image sensor is set up to
best recognize gestures when the user stands
at a distance of two to three meters from the
TV.
Can a gesture-controlled TV create a bet-
ter and more intuitive user interface? Once
these products start rolling out in 2009, we
will know more if the new technology can
convince consumers to release their grip on
the remote. ■
DESIGN &PROUCTS
Energy harvesting feeds
ultra-low-power device growth
By Paul Buckley
ALTHOUGH THE GLOBAL economic
downturn has depressed growth prospects
across the electronics sector there still re-
main one or two bright spots that will nudge
the industry forward during 2009.
Power management devices will continue
to be the fastest growth segment of any ana-
log IC category. Despite the credit crunch,
the voltage regulator segment will grow at
a 3.0 percent CAGR through to 2012
according to Gartner’s ‘Forecast: Power
Management ICs, Worldwide, 2007-
2012’, G00164267.
A closer look at where growth in the
power management devices market is
coming from shows that the major-
ity of the progress is being spurred
on by the usage of voltage regulators
in computer systems and industrial
installations. Growth in this area is
forecast to be at a rate of 4.5 percent
CAGR through to 2012. By comparison
and for reasons all too obvious in the
general economic crisis, power man-
agement ICs supporting the consumer
markets are set to see negligible growth
of 0.1 percent CAGR.
Of all the component types ac-dc
regulators and dc-dc regulators will
show the fastest growth through 2012
– at 6.0 percent and 8.0 percent CAGR,
respectively. The high energy trans-
fer efficiencies these devices offer in
computers and telecom switching station
applications will help to drive the growth
rate. Meanwhile linear regulator growth
will decline through to 2012 as the result of
a combination of rapidly declining prices in
cellular phones and consumer equipment,
together with the multiplicity of suppliers.
Large computer systems and communica-
tions servers will continue to be the biggest
Paul Buckley is site editor of
Power Management DesignLine Europe
www.powermanagement-europe.com
users of voltage regulator ICs. These systems
use between 12 or 15 separate voltage regu-
lators on each circuit card, and dozens of
circuit cards per card cage. These regulators
act as ‘point of load’ supplies for the local
circuitry. Users are willing to pay a premium
for high efficiency because it reduces the
costs associated with aluminum heat sinks,
computer cooling and air conditioning.
High-efficiency switch-mode parts such as
dc-dc converters are ideal for these applica-
tions and will show the highest revenue
growth of any voltage regulator type at 8.0
percent.
The consumer electronics sector will
remain in the doldrums in contrast to the
IT/industrial market. Big volume items
such as stereo equipment and set-top boxes
are cost-driven and these equipment makers
select their voltage regulators on the basis of
cost rather than efficiency.
The drive to minimize costs in the
consumer equipment market ensures the
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
popularity of inefficient high-current linear
regulators and LDOs in portable equipment.
These devices are inexpensive, and their
prices will decline on an equal but opposite
slope with unit growth.
Some companies, such as Cambridge
Semiconductor Ltd. (Cambridge, England),
are aiming to buck the consumer market’s
low-growth trend by taking an innovative
approach to the challenge. CamSemi’s
controllers allow consumer electronics
manufacturers to access all the size,
weight and efficiency benefits of a
switched-mode solution. The devices
are designed to replace bulky, power-
and raw material-hungry linear power
supplies, but without having to pay a
price premium.
CamSemi’s C2471 performance
controller ICs further improves on the
size and performance advantages of
alternative flyback SMPS offerings but
without the hefty price tag of modern
energy-inefficient solutions. The con-
trollers are based on patented Resonant
Discontinuous Forward Converter
(RDFC) topology that maintains ‘EMI
clean’ resonant switching over the full
load variation. The approach generates
low levels of EMI, making it suitable
for telecoms and audio applications.
The C2471 controller complies
with the demands of the Energy Star
2.0 specification which requires an average
active efficiency for a 6-W cordless phone
application at 120-V of 73 percent. C2471-
based solutions deliver an 82 percent average
efficiency. The no-load power consumption
specification is 300-mW which CamSemi’s
solution cuts to 160 mW.
During 2009 system applications for en-
ergy-harvesting ultra-low-power conversion
devices look set to rise exponentially. IC
companies such as National Semiconductor,
International Rectifier, Linear Technology,
Analog Devices and Texas Instruments will
be leading the drive. For example, Texas In-
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 27
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Vibration energy
harvester-powered
wireless sensor
node – Perpetuum
struments is looking to benefit from seeding
the market in 2008 with kits that combined
its low-power MSP430 microcontroller with
conversion technologies from companies
such as Perpetuum Ltd. and AdaptivEnergy
LLC, as well as battery technology from
Cymbet Corp.
The MSP430 claims the industry’s lowest
power consumption for devices that can
provide up to 25-MHz peak performance,
increased flash and RAM memory and inte-
grated peripherals such as radio frequency,
USB, encryption and LCD interfaces. The
device offers designers the added functional-
ity required to advance a range of applica-
tions in personal medical, home automation,
human interface control, automated meter
reading (AMR), portable instrumentation,
sensors, consumer electronics and security.
Joule-thief technology
In August 2008 AdaptivEnergy revealed a
demonstration kit using so-called Joule-thief
technology to harvest energy and power
Texas Instruments’ ultra-low power MSP430
microcontroller and RF technology to collect
data, control the operation of a system or
send sensed data to central collection sites.
The Joule-thief energy harvesting device is
based on AdaptivEnergy’s ruggedized lami-
nated piezo (RLP) technology.
“The Joule-thief energy harvester col-
lects and stores electrical energy from tiny
mechanical vibrations and then uses this
harvested energy to power a small, low-pow-
er MSP430 MCU. The MCU helps enable a
compact RF sensor design to implement am-
bient intelligence that can detect and report
critical conditions in factories, automobiles,
offices, homes and other environments, all
without wiring or batteries,” explained Jim
Vogeley, CEO, AdaptivEnergy.
At the Embedded Systems Conference
Boston in October 2008 Cymbet Corp.
unveiled the EnerChip CC CBC3112 and
CBC3150 thin-film batteries with integrated
battery management which combine the
Cymbet EnerChip with battery control logic
in a single surface mount package.
The EnerChip provides a backup power
alternative to traditional bulkier power
sources, such as coin cell batteries and super
capacitors. EnerChip is designed for a range
28 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
of MCUs including: TI MSP 430, Freescale
HC, Atmel PicoPower AVR, MicroChip PIC,
ST Micro ST62, EM Microelectronics EM.
The EnerChip CC combines several pow-
er system features: thin-film battery, charge
pump with integrated dc-to-dc converter,
supply supervisor, low-ripple charger, con-
figurable switchover to battery when input
power fails, supply voltage status signals,
and operation from 2.5 volts to 5.5 volts.
Texas Instruments’ CC430 technology
platform was demonstrated for the first
time at Electronica. The platform offers the
industry’s lowest power, single-chip RF solu-
tion for microcontroller-based applications
and is aimed at driving mass-market adop-
tion of consumer and industrial wireless net-
working applications. The CC430 platform
helps advance applications including RF
networking, energy harvesting, industrial
monitoring and tamper detection, personal
wireless networks and automatic metering
infrastructure. The power-efficient, flexible
CC430 platform also enables battery-free
sensors that use energy harvesting modules
that run off of solar power, human body tem-
perature or vibrations for a power source.
Perpetuum’s recently launched wSNAK
wireless sensor node assessment kit allows
OEMs and end-users to assess the benefits of
condition monitoring systems powered by
vibration energy-harvesting. The wSNAK
is solely powered by Perpetuum’s PMG17
vibration energy harvester which is enabled
by low-power chip sets such as the CC430.
Roy Freeland, CEO of Perpetuum,
summed up the benefit of using low-power
chip sets by saying: “Sensing applications
are limitless, power supplies are not; solu-
tions like the CC430 platform that combine
low power and high functionality with the
know-how to take the mystery out of RF
design help bridge this gap to usher in a new
age of energy solutions.”
Electronica also saw International
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
Rectifier Corp. reveal its plans for the next
generation of power management solutions
by unveiling prototypes using its gallium
nitride (GaN)-based power device technol-
ogy platform.
The high throughput, 150-mm GaN-on-Si
epitaxy platform, together with subsequent
device fabrication processes, has been devel-
oped to offer improvements in key applica-
tion-specific figures of up to a factor of ten
compared to current silicon-based processes.
IR anticipates the process will lead to en-
ergy efficiency advances in a wide variety of
applications including ac-dc power conver-
sion, dc-dc power conversion, motor drives,
lighting, high density audio and automotive
systems.
Oleg Khaykin, IR’s president and CEO,
said: “The GaN-based technology platform
and IP portfolio heralds a new era for power
conversion. We fully anticipate the poten-
tial impact of this new device technology
platform on the power conversion market to
be at least as large as the introduction of the
power HEXFET by IR some 30 years ago.”
In conclusion, while the overall demand
for electronics equipment may be sup-
pressed in 2009 as the global economy ad-
justs to financial circumstances, the demand
for reclaimed, renewable and energy-
efficient circuits represents a bigger opportu-
nity than ever before. ■
For more information:
AdaptivEnergy: www.adaptivenergy.com
Analog Devices: www.analog.com
Cymbet: www.cymbet.com
Gartner : www.gartner.com
International Rectifier: www.irf.com
Linear Technology: www.linear.com
Maxim: www.maxim-ic.com
National Semiconductor: www.national.com
NXP Semiconductor: www.nxp.com
Perpetuum: www.perpetuum.co.uk
Texas Instruments: www.ti.com
 Highest-integration signal
conditioner/digitizer for radar
and industrial applications

The MAX11043 is a quad, 400kHz 16-bit, sigma-delta ADC with per-channel PGAs and programmable,
seven-stage, 2nd-order digital filters. This high integration reduces design time and saves board space,
while maximizing performance and flexibility. The MAX11043 is ideal for FM CW (continuous-wave)
radar and other systems requiring multichannel, simultaneous sampling.

Maxim’s solution has the highest integration

REF HIGH 2.5V

VCO CONTROL
MAX11043
12-BIT 8-BIT REF VOLTAGE
OF RF FRONT END DAC ADJ DACs REFERENCE

REF LOW
EQUALIZER
DE
ECA
B/D PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL FILTERS
20d
FREQUENCY 40MHz
16-BIT 3-$ BIQUAD BIQUAD SERIAL
FILTER 1 FILTER 7 SPI™
ADC PORT
CHANNEL 1
1x to 64x GAIN SIMULTANEOUS
SAMPLING
CHANNEL 4
ADC AND FILTER SET 4

HIGHER INTEGRATION THAN THE COMPETITION

Applications
t
Automotive radar systems t
Motor control
t
Data-acquisition systems t
Power-grid monitoring
t
Industrial automation

Features Benefits
90dB SFDR, -86dB THD, 76.5dB SINAD, and 77dB SNR at Ensure high-precision conversion to frequency domain for
100kHz input signal analysis
PGA with equalizer and gain of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 Enables input matching to ADC
Four channels at 400ksps/channel or two channels at 800ksps Provide high throughput
Shutdown and power-saving modes Minimize power consumption

Resolution Temperature Price†

Part Channels Package
(Bits) Range (°C) ($)
MAX11043 16 4 -40 to +125 40-TQFN-EP 8.03

†1000-up recommended resale. Prices provided are for design guidance and are FOB USA. International prices will differ due to local duties, taxes, and exchange rates. Not all packages are offered
in 1k increments, and some may require minimum order quantities.
SPI is a trademark of Motorola, Inc.

DIRECT ™

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For free samples or technical support, visit our website or call +44 (0) 118 900 6300.
The Maxim logo is a registered trademark of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. © 2009 Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. All rights reserved.
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Using a NMOS LDO
for low voltage I/O
By Andy Scott
FOR MANY PORTABLE applications, when
using a Li-ion battery (3.6V nominal) as the
main power source, the key requirements for
the design engineer is to optimise efficiency
and power consumption on all areas of the
board. Traditionally, a dc/dc converter is
used in the power management circuit and
although this creates an effective solution, it
comes with the drawback of noise creation.
The noise versus efficiency trade-off may
not be such an issue if the dc/dc is used to
supply, say, the I/O on the main system pro-
cessor, but for the processor’s core voltage,
often below 1.8V, noise must be avoided. By
coupling a low input voltage LDO regula-
tor with the dc/dc converter, a more stable
Figure 1 : XC6601 series driver transistor
supply for the main processor’s core can be
produced.
Most high speed LDOs available on the
market today use a P-channel MOSFET
(PMOS) at the output stage – this is simply
because the internal transistor can be driven
directly from the VIN pin. Sharing the VIN pin
brings benefits in package size reduction;
however it is necessary to restrict the mini-
mum input voltage to a level that is regarded
safe enough for the IC to operate and often,
this level is just not low enough for today’s
low I/O voltage applications. It needs to also
be considered that the internal PMOS is
Andy Scott (andy@torexsemi.co.uk) is Europe-
an marketing manager for Torex Semiconductor
Europe.
30 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
driven by a negative VGS voltage
and is actually turned ‘ON’ via a
low level signal (0V) applied to
its gate pin. If the voltage level
at the VIN pin (which is also
the source pin for the internal
PMOS) becomes too small, then
the voltage difference between
the gate and source is no longer
negative enough to turn the
PMOS ‘ON’.
By using an NMOS driver
transistor, such as used in
Torex’s new XC6601 Series
LDO regulators, low voltage
operation can be achieved as the VIN pin is provides good load transient response per-
not shared and the internal NMOS is driven formance, as shown in figure 3. Even at load
from a separate VBIAS pin. In the revised cir- transients from 1mA to 100mA, the drop in
cuit architecture, as shown in figure 1, the VOUT is only 45mV for a very short period of
driver transistor’s VGS is now represented time before VOUT returns to a stable 1.5V.
by the difference between VBIAS and VOUT, If we take a look at a typical application
rather than VIN and VSS. With the XC6601, circuit, as presented in figure 4, an efficient
this means that by supplying a voltage synchronous step-down dc/dc, such as
above 2.5V to the VBIAS pin, no matter what Torex’s 3MHz XC9235/36/37 Series, is used to
the VOUT, VGS will always be sufficiently provide 1.8V from the battery. The XC6601
biased for low ON resistance operation to be then uses the dc/dc’s 1.8V output rail, con-
possible. Further, with low VOUT levels, ON nected to the VIN pin, to regulate down to
resistance is lowered and because VGS is in- 1.5V for the processor core voltage.
dependent of VIN, operation is possible even The NMOS LDO regulator can be used for
at input voltage levels as low as 1.oV. such low I/O requirements because it has a
Figure 2 illustrates the dropout perfor- voltage drop of only 38mV at 100mA (VBIAS
mance of the XC6601 and compares it to the – VOUT = 2.4V). In addition, a small I/O differ-
XC6210, a PMOS ultra LDO regulator also ential doesn’t present the same problems as
available from Torex.
With VIN at 1.8V and
output voltage at 1.5V,
and all other conditions
being equal, the XC6601
provides approximately
50% better dropout per-
formance across the full
load current range than
the XC6210. At a load
current of 200mA, for
example, the XC6601’s
dropout voltage is
around 75mV compared
to around 150mV with
the XC6210.
The XC6601 also Figure 2 : XC6601 Series dropout voltage
 High Performance. Low Power.
Energy-Efficient Automotive Infotainment Solutions
National Semiconductor’s PowerWise® solutions for automotive infotainment applications
feature small size, EMI mitigating techniques and power-saving technology. Infotainment,
the fusion of driver information systems with in-car entertainment, continues to evolve
as the automotive customer experience demands more advanced multimedia, integrated
navigation and robust sound systems.

Temp
Sensor
Audio
White
or RGB
Display
LED
Driver Audio

Temp Processor
LVDS
Sensor Video/Audio

Keypad Car Information Network

Vbatt Power CAN

Control/data

Shown: Central Information and Instrument Cluster Displays

Power Management Boomer® Audio Subsystems Video Interfaces

© 2009, National Semiconductor Corporation. National Semiconductor, , Boomer, and PowerWise are registered trademarks. All rights reserved.

National’s power management National’s audio amplifier National’s single-lane

solutions regulate voltages
for digital domains within
the infotainment system and
provide the highest levels of
efficiency, with low quiescent
current (Iq), reduced EMI,
and soft-start features for
power sequencing and in-rush
current limiting.
subsystems support both
analog and digital audio
functions. The Spread
Spectrum Class D architecture
reduces EMI, provides high
quality outputs with minimal
external components and
improves ease of design.
The audio power amplifiers for
instrument clusters generate
warning and alert tones and
include a comprehensive
output fault detection.
Serializer/Deserializers
(SerDes) leverage Low Voltage
Differential Signaling (LVDS)
for low-power, low radiated
emissions (EMI) and high noise
robustness. While minimizing
cables and weight, these
chipsets offer an efficient and
cost-effective way to route
video and audio content to
display modules in the driver
and passenger compartments.

national.com/automotive
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Figure 3 : XC6601 Series load transient response performance
it would for a standard regulator, even when
supporting load currents of 300mA.
With the new XC6601, output voltage can
be factory set anywhere from 0.7V to 1.8V in
50mV steps, and the operating voltage range
is from 1.0V to 3.0V. Output currents up to
400mA can be supported and the LDO can
be used with low ESR ceramic capacitors,
which give added output stability.
The XC6601 consists of a voltage refer-
ence, error amplifier, driver transistor,
current limiter, fold-back circuit, thermal
32 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
Figure 4 : XC6601 Series typical application circuit
shutdown circuit, under voltage lockout
(UVLO) and a phase compensation circuit.
The built-in over current protection and
thermal shutdown circuits will operate
when the output current reaches its current
limit or the junction temperature reaches its
temperature limit.
With the built-in UVLO function, the
regulator output is forced OFF when the
VBIAS pin or the VIN pin drops below the
UVLO voltage level.
The chip enable (CE) function enables
#!!*
design engineers to turn off the output, put-
ting the device into standby mode, thereby
greatly reducing power consumption.
In addition, during the switch into
standby mode, the electric charge at the CL
capacitor is discharged via the internal auto-
discharge switch, ensuring that the VOUT pin
drops down to ground quickly.
The device is available in a wide range
of ultra small USP-6C, SOT-25 and SOT89-5
packages, making it suitable for portable
applications. ■
Zi^X`Zi/
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dl[dgndjg[g
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 Bergquist Thermal Clad
Turns Big Power Modules
Into Small Powerhouses.

NEW

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ORIGINAL
(48) FETs (9) Low profile capacitors (5) Low profile bus bars Total Wt. 370.6 g

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(66) Thru-hole FETs (15) High profile capacitors (9) High profile bus bars Total Wt. 1543.6 g

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Jungheinrich, a leading European forklift manufacturer, needed to clips, fans and other discrete components that increase package size
reduce their motor control size and cost while maintaining power and require costly manual assembly. Now, using surface mount tech-
output levels.Thermal Clad insulated metal substrates (IMS®) allowed nology, Jungheinrich was able to automate much of the assembly
their engineers to replace high profile thru-hole FETs, capacitors, and process thus reducing cycle times and long-term manufacturing costs.
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Thermal Products • Membrane Switches • Touch Screens • Electronic Components
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Battery charger IC manages system load
AnalogicTech has introduced the
AAT3672, a integrated, single-
cell Lithium-ion (Li-on)/polymer
battery charger and system man-
agement IC. Using an innovative
three-switch architecture, the
dual path device enables simul-
taneous battery charging and
system load management.
It automatically reroutes
power from the battery to the
system without interruption
when load requirements exceed
available current. As a single-
chip alternative to complex dis-
crete solutions, the IC simplifies
power circuit design, reduces
board space requirements and
drives down system cost in a
variety of smart phones, naviga-
tion devices, and portable media
players (PMPs).
Control IC targets POL converters 175 W ac/dc supply
International Rectifier has
introduced the XPhase IR3513
control IC for point-of-load
(POL) converter designs. The cir-
cuit provides overall control of a
scalable number of phases along
with an internal gate driver,
current sense and sharing, and
PWM to provide a stand-alone
single-phase regula-
tor or interface with
additional phase ICs
enabling a power
solution with any
number of phases.
With this arrange-
ment, the final solution requires
only a single IC per phase to
deploy one to X phases.
Alternative approaches
require a control IC plus 1 to X
driver ICs or scalable “all-in-one”
ICs that do not utilize all IC pins
or circuitry, leading to increased
solution cost and size.
The IR3513 features 0.8
to 5.1-V output voltage with
0.5 percent system set point
accuracy and programmable
250 kHz to 9 MHz daisy-chain
digital phase timing to provide
a per phase switching frequency
of 250 kHz to 1.5 MHz with no
34 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
The AAT3672 is a single
input dynamic battery charger
and control IC, compatible with
either an ac power adapter or a
USB port power source. Three
internal switches on the device
provide dynamic power sourc-
ing to the system load. If the
system load exceeds the current
supply from the input source,
the AAT3672 supplies addi-
tional current from the battery
cell. The device automatically
external components. A host of
protection features include over-
voltage protection, detection and
protection of open remote sense
lines and open control loop
protection. Packaging is a 3 x 3
mm MLPQ.
When co-designed with the
IR3505 and IR3507 phase ICs,
the IR3513 XPhase
control IC enables a
power supply that is
smaller and easier to
design while provid-
ing higher efficiency
and a lower overall
system cost than alternative
approaches, delivering a full-
featured and flexible way to
implement a complete power
solution.
XPhase is IR's distributed
multiphase architecture that
consists of control ICs and phase
ICs that communicate using
a simple six-wire bus scheme.
Phases can be added or removed
without changing the funda-
mental design, thus simplifying
the circuit board layout.
International Rectifier
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500635
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
manages distribution of power
between the source, the battery
and the system simultaneously,
charging the battery cell with
the maximum amount of cur-
rent possible. Battery charge
current can be programmed up
to 1.6 A.
An intelligent thermal loop
control system continuously
measures internal circuit die
temperature and automati-
cally reduces fast charge current
when the device exceeds a preset
internal temperature threshold.
Qualified across the -40 to
+85 °C range, the AAT3672 is
available in a 14-pin, 3 x 3-mm
TDFN package.
Advanced Analogic Technologies Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300099
fits into a 1U space
XP Power has announced the
CLC175 single output, open
frame ac/dc power
supply. Rated at
175 W, the low cost
unit, measuring
76.2 x 127 x 31.8 mm, fits into
a standard 1U space and offers
a power density of 9.3 W per
cubic inch. Resonant topology
converter techniques used in the
design result in an efficiency of
typically 87 percent with a very
flat efficiency curve. The power
supply has an excellent EMI per-
formance as well as low ripple
and low noise. 10 CFM of forced
airflow is required in order to
achieve a full power output.
No external voltage source
is required to power an exter-
nal fan since the unit includes
a standard 12 Vdc, 0.5 A fan
output. The CLC175 is available
with output voltages of 12, 24 or
48 Vdc, from a 85 to 264 Vac in-
put. Remote sense compensates
for up to a 0.5 Vdc total voltage
drop in the end-system.
XP Power
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400084
Low power LDO
has low quiescent current
XC6502 series low dropout
regulators provide a quiescent
current of only
1.0 • A. Available
in industry stan-
dard SOT-23 and
SOT-89 packages,
the devices are
well suited for power sensitive
applications. They operate from
a supply voltage within a range
of 1.5 to 6.0 V to provide output
voltages that can be factory set
anywhere from 0.9 to 4.0 V in
100-mV steps (accurate to ÷2 per-
cent), with an ultra low dropout
of typically 200 mV at 100 mA.
For extra output stability, the de-
vices are fully compatible with
low ESR ceramic capacitors.
Features include a reference
voltage source, an error ampli-
fier, current limit circuit, and a
phase compensation circuit plus
a driver transistor. The foldback
current limit circuit also oper-
ates as the output current limiter
(300 mA max) and output pin
protector.
Torex Semiconductor Ltd.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300377
Power entry module
is vertical-flange mounted
Vertical-flange mount power
entry modules, rated for 6 and
10 A, expand the
high-performance
P Series from Tyco
Electronics. The
vertical-mount configuration
reduces panel area requirements
and gives designers greater pack-
aging flexibility in a range of ap-
plications, including healthcare
equipment, household machin-
ery, single- and switched-mode
power supplies and portable
electronics devices.
The modules are rated up to
10 A at 250 Vac, 50/60 Hz. They
are UL recognized, CSA certified,
and VDE approved.
Tyco Electronics
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300310

Voltage regulator
is rated at 40 A
Ericsson Power Modules’
BMR451 is a digitally controlled,
non-isolated
voltage regula-
tor rated at 40 A.
Featuring a high
current density of 7.90 A/cm3
(129 A/in3), it is the company's
second digitally controlled POL
regulator, following on from
the recently released 20 A rated
BMR450. Monitoring data, avail-
able through an open standard
interface PMBus, inform on
load current, load status, tem-
perature, voltage deviations, and
many other parameters.
The BMR451 measures 30.85
x 20 x 8.2 mm, offers a 4.5 to
14-V input voltage range, a 0.6 to
3.6-V output voltage range and
an MTBF figure of 2.6 million
hours. The unit also features a
range of standard functions such
as remote on/off, over-tempera-
ture protection, output over-cur-
rent/over-voltage protection,
input under-voltage protection,
and remote control monitoring.
Ericsson Power Modules
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500652
Regulator protected to 60 V
Linear Technology announces
the LT3682, a 1-A, 36-V input
step-down switching regulator
with input transient protection
up to 60 V. Its burst mode op-
eration keeps quiescent current
under 75 uA in no load
standby conditions. The
unit’s 3.6 to 36-V input
voltage range and wide
transient ride through
make it well suited for load
dump and cold-crank conditions
commonly found in automotive
applications. Its 1.5-A internal
switch can deliver up to 1 A
of continuous output current
to voltages as low as 0.8 V. The
ultralow quiescent current suits
applications such as automo-
tive or telecom systems, which
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
65-W medical supplies
offer outputs of 12 to 48 V
A series of internal power sup-
plies from SL Power Electronics
offers medical
OEMs a high
performance at
a popular power
level. The MINT1065 single-out-
put family is the latest addition
to the company's Condor-brand-
ed power supplies. The compact,
open-frame designs measure 51 x
102 x 27 mm, and have a typical
full-load efficiency of 90 percent.
They are available in five models
ranging from 12 to 48 V.
The family features a uni-
versal 100-240-Vac input that
provides flexibility for use any-
where in the world. The ac/dc
supplies are protected against
over voltage, over current and
short circuit with optional over
temperature protection.
They are immunity compli-
ant to EN61000-4-2, EN61000-
4-3, EN61000-4-4, EN61000-4-5,
EN61000-4-6, EN61000-4-8 and
EN61000-4-11 and carry a wide
set of safety approvals.
SL Power Electronics
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500543
demand always-on operation
and optimum battery life.
Switching frequency is user
programmable from 250 kHz to
2.2 MHz, enabling the designer
to optimize efficiency while
avoiding critical
noise-sensitive
frequency bands.
The combination of
a 3 x 4 mm DFN-14
package and high switching fre-
quency keeps external inductors
and capacitors small, providing
a very compact, thermally effi-
cient footprint. Low ripple burst-
mode maintains high efficiency
at low output currents.
Linear Technology Corp.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212700800
DESIGN &PRODUCTS
Switch and Schottky regulators
Micrel has introduced the
MIC2605/6, two wide-input
range integrated switch and
Schottky diode boost regulators
operating at 1.2 MHz (MIC2605)
and 2 MHz (MIC2606).
Both devices supply
up to 0.5-A switch cur-
rent and are aimed at
TV-tuners, broadband
communications, TFT-
LCD bias supplies, posi-
tive output regulators, SEPIC
converters, DSL applications and
local boost regulators.
The wide-input range
(4.5–20 V) regulators provide an
output voltage as high as 40 V
and are well suited for multiple
applications. The integrated
0.5-A switch and Schottky diode
Dual channel dc-dc IEC inlet filters
has manual reset function with earth line choke
The XC9515 series from Torex
Semiconductor is a dual channel
synchronous step-down dc-dc
converter plus a
voltage detector
with delay circuit
built-in. The series
is available in the
compact QFN-20
package and is suitable for a
variety of applications, includ-
ing DVD and Bluray equipment,
LCD TVs and modules, multi-
functional printers and set top
boxes.
The converter block operates
from a supply voltage range
between 2.5 and 5.0 V, provid-
ing output voltages that can be
factory set in 100-mV incre-
ments between 1.2 and 4 V per
channel and output currents up
to 800 mA. It incorporates a P-
channel 0.35 ohm (typ) MOSFET
driver and a synchronous N-
channel 0.35 ohm (typ) switch-
ing transistor. Efficiency is of up
to 95 percent and stable output
up to 800 mA per channel.
Torex Semiconductor Ltd.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501386
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe
bring several key benefits to the
designer, including high power
density and low external com-
ponent count, as well as a low
BOM cost. In addition to being
easy to use, the de-
vices offer up to 2-MHz
PWM frequency, and
feature high efficiency.
Enhanced stability
comes from the use of a
small ceramic capaci-
tor, which contributes to a low
external component count and
associated BOM cost. The solu-
tions come in a small footprint,
reliable Pb-free 2 x 2 mm MLF-8
package.
Micrel Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212700745
The Schaffner FN 9244 IEC
Inlet filter offers approximately
10 dB more noise
attenuation than
the company's
existing FN 9222,
making it well suited for noisy
applications. Medical versions
meeting IEC/EN 60601-1 are
available. Reliability is enhanced
by the use of a saturation
resistant core and good thermal
behaviour. High differential and
common-mode attenuation is
achieved and current ratings
are up to 15 A. Snap-in mount-
ing versions are available to fit
panel thickness from 0.7 to 2.2
mm and a wide mounting flange
option may be specified for rug-
gedized products.
All models are RoHS com-
pliant. The complementary
FN 9244E offers the same high
performance and functionality
as the standard FN 9244 with the
inclusion of an earth line choke
for additional EMC suppression
on the earth line.
Schaffner
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300042
35
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
CV switcher IC provides ±5 percent voltage accuracy
Power Integrations has intro-
duced the LinkSwitch-CV series
of ac/dc switched-mode power
conversion ICs. The family
includes the LNK626PG, which
the company claims to be the
highest-power accurate constant
voltage (CV) integrated switcher
IC with primary-side control on
the market.
The family targets applica-
tions requiring ÷5 percent volt-
age accuracy, such as ac/dc adapt-
ers up to 10 W, auxiliary power
supplies for appliances up to 17
W and multiple-output supplies
for consumer products.
LinkSwitch-CV ICs simplify
the design of CV converters by
eliminating all secondary-side
CV and control-loop compen-
sation circuitry, significantly
Power manager for USB control
The LTC4099 is an autonomous
I2C controlled, high efficiency
power manager, ideal diode
controller and Li-ion/Polymer
battery charger for
portable USB pow-
ered devices. Param-
eters including input
current limit, charge
current, termination current,
and float voltage can be pro-
grammed via I2C. The device’s
switching PowerPath topology
seamlessly manages power flow
between a wall adapter or USB
Ac/dc supplies
meet efficiency standards
XP Power has announced the
AEB series of energy
efficient external ac/dc
power supplies aimed
at desktop and portable
applications. The series,
comprising 36, 45 and
70 W models, meet cur-
rent US and European energy
efficiency standards including
those of CEC 2008, EISA and the
European Code of Conduct con-
36 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
reducing the system cost. System
reliability is increased by the
elimination of the optocoupler.
The devices feature high ener-
gy efficiency, exceeding ENERGY
STAR 2.0 specifications for exter-
nal power supplies by 10 percent
across the entire load range and
consuming under 70 mW in no-
load mode. The devices combine
a 700 V power MOSFET, on/off
control state machine, self-bias-
port and the device’s battery
while preferentially providing
power to the system load.
For automotive, Firewire, or
other high-voltage
applications, the
LTC4099 provides
Bat-Track control of a
companion switch-
ing regulator, maximizing
battery charger efficiency and
minimizing power dissipation.
Linear Technology Corp.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300106
cerning energy using products.
The units are up to 85 percent
efficient. AEB45 and AEB70 mod-
els provide +12, +15, +18, +19,
+24 or + 48 Vdc outputs.
The AEB36 offers +5, +9,
+12, +13.5, +15, +18, +24 or
+48 Vdc outputs. Operat-
ing temperature range is
up to +60 °C with derating
and full power output
available at +40 °C.
XP Power Ltd
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212200296
SPECIAL FEATURE:
POWER MANAGMENT
ing circuit, frequency jittering,
cycle-by-cycle current limit and
hysteretic thermal shutdown
circuitry.
The high power level achiev-
able with the LinkSwitch-CV is
due to continuous conduction
mode operation, which optimiz-
es utilization of the integrated
transistor. A 700-V MOSFET rat-
ing allows clampless designs us-
ing the LinkSwitch-CV LNK623
and LNK624, further reducing
system cost. LinkSwitch-CV also
provides excellent cross-regula-
tion for multiple-output flyback
applications, such as DVDs, set-
top boxes and auxiliary power
supplies used in appliances.
Power Integrations
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212200657
650 W supplies
meet medical standards
The TM650 series of 650W ac/
dc switching power supplies is
approved to UL
60601-1, CSA
C22.2 No. 601.1
and EN 60601-1
medical standards. Withstand
voltage is 4000 Vac from input
to output, 1500 Vac from input
to ground and 500 Vac from
output to ground. The earth
leakage current is as low as
90 • A at 115 Vac/60 Hz or 150 • A
at 230 Vac/50 Hz typically. The
series includes 20 standard mod-
els of single to triple outputs of
650 to 700 W continuous power
at 50 CFM forced air. With all of
the outputs being floating, the
power supplies can be user-
configured for further output
combinations.
Operating at a 90 to 264Vac
universal input, the series has a
typical power factor of 0.98 and
includes PFD, remote inhibit, re-
mote sense, overvoltage, overcur-
rent and thermal protections.
Tumbler Technologies + TRUMPower
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212200907
High voltage modules
are temperature-stable
UltraVolt now offers a 25 ppm
option on its AA Series product
line. This
option was
available ear-
lier on larger
modules, the 10 to 25 A, and the
30 to 4 A A Series. The company
claims that it is the first time a
25 ppm temperature coefficient
has been achieved on a module
that is only 3.34 in3.
High-voltage power supply
modules featuring the 25 ppm
option provide an improved
temperature coefficient for users
who have critical applications in
variable temperature environ-
ments. AA series units have an
output voltage of 0-62 V through
0-6 kV and maintain a 25 ppm
temperature coefficient on both
the output voltage and output
voltage monitor.
UltraVolt Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212200947
NiMH charger IC
detects alkaline-cells
Maxim introduces the DS2710,
a stand-alone, NiMH charger
IC that incorpo-
rate fast-charge
control and
alkaline-cell de-
tection. Eliminating the need for
circuit design or microcontroller
programming, the device offers
an elegant, single-chip charger
solution that protects against
system damage due to corrosive
cell leakage. It makes it easy to
add in-system NiMH charging to
end equipment powered by AA
or AAA batteries.
The charge-control output
regulates charge current using
a switch-mode or linear control
scheme, enabling application de-
signers to choose between maxi-
mizing charge rate and minimiz-
ing solution cost and size.
Maxim Integrated Products
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212200940

MotoGP machines –
electronics where the
rubber meets the road
IT’S FAST MACHINES all over again. A previ-
ous interview (www.eetimes.eu/202101943)
with EFI engineer Danilo Casonato of Kawa-
saki’s MotoGP Engineering Team touched on
how electronics get woven into that team’s
entries for the top tier of motorcycle racing.
At the MotoGP race at Mazda Laguna Seca
Raceway, in Monterey, Calif., I went back for
more, primed by my earlier introduction to
a high-technology, one-off race-hardware
world characterized by big-time speed,
sound and an underlying air of secrecy.
To better grasp the whole of MotoGP
electronics, a repeat visit in Kawasaki’s
pit-lane paddock was accompanied by a
session each with Yamaha’s GP-team data
engineer, Suzuki’s GP crew chief along with
a co-founder of Germany’s 2D Systems, a key
sensor and electronics box supplier to those
three factory teams.
The almost absurd power-to-weight ratio
of MotoGP bikes has led teams to pursue
sophisticated machine-control intervention
to help keep riders on two wheels, and one
of my primary questions revolved around
autonomy in bike control during the race.
Since the pit is prohibited from making in-
race changes, race-time modifications--such
as ignition timing and throttle-fuel map-
ping--must be made by the rider and onboard
systems that determine if, when, how and
even where performance adjustments are
implemented.
Kawasaki relies on a variety of sensors to
enable smooth power delivery.
But less clear is
how these decisions
are driven by real-
time sensory inputs.
Does the bike posi-
tion on-track enter
into the control equa-
tion and, if so, how
is it done reliably?
UNDER
How is the rider’s
THE HOOD
throttle application
modulated with electronic “ride-by-wire” on
the way to air/fuel delivery? Drilling deeper
gets one to the question of sensor arrays used
to drive all the control functions. What’s
being measured, what data do these sensors
provide, and how do teams use and collect
data? Figuring prominently are datalogging,
data analysis, and decision-making based on
both. In an ocean of data, how do you swim
in the right direction to improve perfor-
mance?
Getting revved up
Kawasaki’s Ian Wheeler arranged a discus-
sion with Andrea Dosoli, EFI technician
onsite at Laguna Seca this year. As a former
crew chief and current motocross rider,
Andrea’s focus on electronics systems is
balanced with the perspective of the entire
system and the rider responsible for making
it all work on the track.
This year, Kawasaki’s main focus is a
new, more capable engine control unit
(ECU). Working more closely with long-time
DESIGN &PRODUCTS
partner Magneti Marelli of Italy, Kawasaki
sees a deeper development role as strategic
imperative for a competitive control system.
Similarly, post-action data analysis is placing
greater demands on a rich data set and soft-
ware analysis to bring home a clearer picture
of the bike in action.
But mechatronics and control loops can
still fall short when it comes to a human-
driven activity. Despite moves by other
teams to a full ride-by-wire system (where
throttle application is electronically translat-
ed into acceleration of the engine) Kawasaki
maintains – at least for now – their “half-
and-half” system.
A physical cable from the rider throttle
input controls half of the four-cylinder
throttle bodies but electronic systems pick
up the rest. In essence, Dosoli acknowledged
a team “philosophy of feel,” which keeps the
rider more fully connected to the machine.
To my surprise, Dosoli indicated that real-
time control based on the location of the mo-
torcycle on the circuit had not yet fully made
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 37
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
the transition from test track to racetrack.
The system is definitely in the later stages
of development and its full-time use on the
race bike is fairly imminent, though Dosoli
refused to be drawn on whether elements
of the real-time control system are in use on
the team’s current MotoGP machines.
Putting the power down
A two-year-old mandate reducing MotoGP
engine displacement has given engineers
a bit less raw power to manage. Smooth
power delivery is key; the measures the ECU
takes to level the peaks and valleys of engine
output become more tractable when the
engines are a bit smaller. Dosoli indicated
that sensors for acceleration, bank angle,
front-wheel and GPS-speeds, along with
front-wheel suspension stroke, are the more
important parameters for real-time control
in Kawasaki’s MotoGP machine.
Controlled wheel spin can be a racer’s
tool for riding fast, but too much can result
in a dramatic “high-side” which bucks the
rider off the bike in dangerous fashion. By
comparing front- and rear-wheel speeds
with GPS-speed and engine rev-up, the bike
can “see” when a muted response to throttle
input is needed from the traction control
system (TCS) in order to maintain grip. In
fact, racers coming from production-class
racing to MotoGP experience the impact of
unprecedented tire grip, TCS, ride-by-wire,
and rich sensor-based control. Several have
commented on how much sooner they can
get on the gas in a turn.
So, what does Kawasaki’s electronics
control system look like? Of course the team
will never fully say, but Dosoli acknowl-
edged an array of about 50 sensors on board,
all communicating over multiplexed ECU/
datalogger feeds with CAN busses. Thirty
analog sensors join with four temperature
monitors, exhaust oxygen level (lambda),
38 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
and a host of other digital sensors. ECU
control and datalogging can get to be a busy
affair. For example, the “quick shifter” strain
gauge on the foot shift lever--used for timing
the ignition cut-out during clutchless gear
changes--benefits from KHz sample rates to
get it right.
Mounds of data also demand an Ethernet
interface on the race bike to download infor-
mation and upload new control programs
in short order. But not all the work hap-
pens at the frenzied pace of the racetrack.
Post-practice and qualifying hours are spent
with engineers and technicians poring over
much deeper and granular acquired data to
improve setup and systems for the race, and
the racing season.
The varying approaches to racing
electronics within the GP campaign were
highlighted in my visit with Andrew
Griffith, data engineer for one of Yamaha’s
two factory MotoGP teams. Griffith began
with a Motorsport Engineering degree from
Swansea University in Wales, eventually
distributing his graduate research project
up and down the pit lane to land his job in
MotoGP.
Griffith said there are teams using “in-
house” ECUs, such as Honda and Ducati, but
like Kawasaki, Yamaha Tech3 is using Mag-
neti Marelli for engine control and 2D Sys-
tems for datalogging and sensory systems.
While sharing similarities with Kawasa-
ki’s approach, Griffith’s team has gone to a
full throttle-by-wire system. Physical cables
from throttle to engine bay still exist--to
provide the rider a conventional feel--but
Yamaha has chosen to fully interject step-
per-motor throttle body control between the
rider’s physical input and engine response.
Yamaha too employs a vast array of
sensors on the motorcycle, along with
accelerometers and gyros that track bike
movement. GPS is on-board for data-tag-
ging, but Griffith echoed Dosoli’s comment
about the tenuous nature of GPS as a reliable
real-time control positioning input. To the
larger point, Griffith spoke of the need for
control-system simplicity because overly
complex approaches breed their own set of
safety issues.
Though “turned off for qualifying ses-
sions,” TCS and wheelie control are areas of
focus for Yamaha during the race. The many
other sensors onboard may play a role in TCS
but “front- and rear-wheel speed differences
are the key parameters you have to have
to make it work” said Griffith. Since riders
sometimes need to get a little loose, Griffith
indicated it’s more about controlling a win-
dow of allowable spin versus demanding full
traction full-time.
Rider control
To this end, Griffith and his team seem to ap-
preciate the need for a rider to feel in control
of the bike. When a racer’s inputs sometimes
contradict the data-implied optimums for
settings and setup, an approach that delivers
comfort and confidence over sterile comput-
er-driven ‘optimization’ is what’s best.
Like its competitors, Yamaha can’t stand
still in development however. The team is
employing a “new philosophy this year,”
but Griffith didn’t reveal much more due
to competitive issues. When asked about
the development of a position-based, real-
time, autonomous control system, the only
response was a grin and the suggestion that
this “was one possible direction” for the
team. ■
David Carey is president of Portelligent, a
TechInsights company that produces teardown
reports and related industry research –
www.teardown.com.
A more detailed version of this story can be found
at www.ettimes.eu/221601082.
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DESIGN & PRODUCTS
PRODUCT FOCUS:
INTERCONNECT
Bishop & Associates’ market
segment directors anticipate
a challenging year ahead.
Looking forward to making connections
UNCERTAINTY IS PROJECTED in all mar-
kets, and this may be a major understate-
ment as the year progresses.
Telecom/Datacom
The global telecom/datacom market for con-
nectors is expected to top $7 billion in 2008.
The forecast value of connector factory ship-
ments for 2009 is $7.62 billion, represent-
ing a gain of 4.8 percent. In early 2008, we
witnessed a shift in capital investment from
network equipment modernization to acqui-
sitions and industry consolidation among
service providers. In late 2008, we experi-
enced the current market liquidity crunch.
The combined impact of these developments
is a longitudinal shift to the right for equip-
ment-related capital spending. However,
much of this deferred investment is aimed at
reducing operating expenses and increasing
competitiveness. Therefore, we project that
2010 will be a catch-up year, with a year-
over-year growth of 9.2 percent.
Medical
The world medical market for connectors
is expected to close at $1.23 billion in 2008.
The forecast value of connector factory ship-
ments for 2009 is $1.33 billion, representing
a gain of 8 percent. The medical equipment
market is largely driven by demographics
and the need to manage health care costs.
Consolidation among health care providers
is driving network-centricity in all aspects of
health care delivery, including tele-medicine.
We also see rapid growth of diagnostic
and therapeutic modalities that enable early
detection of chronic diseases or that have the
ability to shorten hospital stays. An example
40 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
of the latter is robotically controlled endo-
scopic surgical systems.
– John Colwell, director, telecom & medical
Military and aerospace
The military/aerospace market will certainly
change in 2009, but experts cannot project
exactly how much the market will change.
The budget for the next year is set, so the
Obama administration will have responsibil-
ity for the budget beginning in October 2009.
However, with the increased Democratic
majorities in the House and Senate, the odds
are probably good that the defense sector
and programs for defense are going to be cut.
The good news is that with the economy
doing so miserably in almost every other sec-
tor, the defense area is one place where there
is employment, business, and money being
made and paid into the tax coffers—which
the new occupants of the White House
and Washington are going to find getting
smaller and smaller. It is noble, perhaps, to
want to bail out everyone who is in trouble,
and there certainly are lots of folks in that
category, but this money has to come from
somewhere. The defense sector pays taxes,
and the government will need all the tax
income it can get in this economy.
Yes, there will be cuts in defense. Will
they be draconian? Absolutely not! Will
over-budget and late programs be targeted?
You can bet on it. Will the big-ticket items,
like some Navy ships and other high-cost
technology programs get cut back or get the
ax? You can be sure of it. Let’s face it, even
with the war over – estimate its cost at more
than $150 billion per year – that money may
be taken for other bailouts and social pro-
grams. But it is not going to happen in 2009,
or even to a large degree in 2010. It will take
more than a few months to disengage and
redeploy a full Army Division with all its
support, aviation, vehicles, and equipment.
The key in the next year is to read and
understand all one can about the military
programs and deduce what areas and
programs are going to be funded by the new
Washington. The Bush years are over, but
the Defense sector continues on.
Read voraciously, attend those meetings,
briefings, and expos, and follow the Bishop
Report. We can help you through the “mine-
field” of the next several years.
– Scott Clay, director, mil-aero
Cable assembly market
The cable assembly market for 2008 con-
tinued growing, taking its lead from the
connector market. Although it has slowed in
the last half of the year, overall, it will show
growth for the year. The pressures on pricing
continued throughout the year, particularly
on the high-volume standard assemblies,
such as USB and Ethernet cables, which
continue to drive off-shore sourcing for this
type of product. Military cable assemblies
continue to be a strong point in the market,
with the military spending for repair and
replacement running at an elevated pace.
The market for 2009 will depend greatly
on the outcome of the current economic
uncertainties. Continued growth of wireless
technologies will undoubtedly impact some
of the traditional business in the computer
and consumer electronics arena. Military
spending should continue to be a bright spot
in this market segment.
 DESIGN &PRODUCTS
Bishop & Associates plans to release a new vices. Future demand may be less, with more ● Connector applications are centered
cable assembly market study early in 2009. upgrades vs. original procurement. around I/O ports, LCD displays, mobile
This study will focus more on the overall ma- ● Liquid crystal displays (LCD) will trend phones and other mobile devices.
terial content of the assemblies by assembly toward dominance: 2.13 billion units in 2009, ● Significant players include USB, IEEE1394,
type, giving a more detailed perspective on 3.35 billion units in 2014. Organic light emit- micro-USB, RCA, HDMI, FPC, wire-to-board,
the overall value of the market. ting diodes (OLED) are beginning to emerge micro-coax, other RF, and antennas.
– David Pheteplace, as a serious contender for future LCD applica- – John MacWilliams,
director, cable Assembly tions. New applications in this area include director of computer
wireless TV, 3DTV, Internet radio, HD radio,
Computer, peripheral and and 1080P. This article was reprinted courtesy of Bishop &
● The appliance market will be affected Associates Inc. and ConnectorSupplier.com. To re-
office equipment by the housing downturn and recession. ceive the latest connector industry news, subscribe
Fourth quarter 2008 appears to be the begin- High-end appliances could be significantly to ConnectorSupplier.com at www.connectorsup-
ning of a worldwide recession. How long and impacted. plier.com/subscribe.htm.
how severe the downturn will be is yet to be
seen.
Significant trends in computer and office
equipment markets:
● Notebook PCs will overtake desktop
volume in 2009 (182 million vs. 170 million
units).
● Servers will continue to shift from propri-
etary to X86, from box to blade.
● Hard disk storage will increase from 556
million in 2009 to 1.12 billion by 2014, but
solid state drives will increase at more than
60 percent from 27 million units in 2008 to
270 million units in 2013.
● Outsourcing of manufacturing is nearing
100 percent – Mexico, Eastern Europe, Asia-
Pacific, and China. The global players are on
the rise and include Apple, HP, Acer, Sony,
and Levono.
● Networking has consolidated around
fewer players, with Cisco achieving domi-
nance.
● Xerox and several Japanese players domi-
nate the office equipment arena. All-in-one
devices proliferate and will continue to do so.
Connector content in the above markets
is stable and increasing with equipment vol-
ume. Wireless (802.11, Bluetooth, Wireless
USB) will impact cables. WUSB is suspect.
USB 3.0 is in development at 4.8 Gb/s and
may revolutionize I/O port applications.
Many other connector developments are
moving forward: Display Port, Micro-TCA,
10 Gb backplanes, fiber optic connectors and
cables, Gbit serial (versus parallel) interfaces,
high-density/low-mating connectors, and
environmental.

Consumer electronics
The impact a 2009 world recession would
have on consumer demand depends on many
factors. A few thoughts:
● Smart Phones are a growth segment of
mobile phones, 10.4 percent vs. 2.6 percent
CAGR 2009 to 2014. Mobile phone demand
could be reaching a saturation point in the
developed world. This could also be the case
with digital cameras, iPods, and other de-
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 41
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
PRODUCT FOCUS:
INTERCONNECT
Medical
imaging
stretches
connector
reliability
By Gijs Werner
MANY HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES now require
increasing levels of functionality and
flexibility. This is most true in the medical
industry, where applications are critical to
patients’ successful care and safety. Continu-
ous improvements in the medical imaging
segment, in particular, are due to the avail-
ability of easier-to-use and more accurate
technologies in hospitals and at home.
The increasing demands on new medical
imaging equipment are driven mainly by in-
vestments in scanning systems by hospitals;
replacement of older outpatient facilities
and conventional analogue machines by
digital X-ray systems; growth in diagnostic
ultrasound equipment; and the trend to
combine different technologies within the
same equipment (e.g. computed tomography
or CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging
or MRI).
According to Bharat Book Bureau, an
aggregator of global business intelligence
with an on demand collection of published
market researches, demand for medical im-
aging products will expand 3.9 per cent an-
nually to $15 billion in 2010. Equipment will
make up $10.4 billion of this total, with the
balance posted by consumables and acces-
sories. CT scanners will generate the largest
demand among medical imaging equipment
through 2010 and beyond.
As medical testing and procedures
become more advanced, the electronic com-
ponents designed into the equipment must
42 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
be more than just reliable in critical applica-
tions. Connectors used in today’s medical
applications must function at higher speeds,
provide higher density, require smaller foot-
prints and lower profiles, and comply with
ever-stricter industry standards.
These trends are most evident in medi-
cal imaging applications. But they are also
prevalent in data storage devices, communi-
cation systems, image archiving and online
manipulation of images in the medical
industry.
Need for speed, performance
Higher speed requirements are a result of
the desire for real-time diagnoses, increased
accuracy and faster imaging to ensure
patient safety and to make diagnostics
more effective. There is also a need for
improved functionality for machines that
combine previously separate systems, such
as positron emission tomography and CT,
imaging techniques which when combined
allow doctors to more readily identify and
diagnose cancer, heart problems and brain
disorders. In ultrasound systems, new diag-
nostic imaging technology enables systems
to move from 2D to generally preferred real-
time 3D/4D imaging, thus requiring higher
speeds to display all information.
A fundamental design parameter is speed,
which has system-wide implications – from
board-level to PCI bus. OEMs must choose
component suppliers that understand these
end-product requirements, because choosing
the right connector can save time during the
design and testing process that can be spent
on other aspects of the system. Components
that provide increased performance, such as
connectors that are ideal for high-speed ap-
plications, can help bring down the overall
cost of medical imaging systems every single
year. This is because as the performance of
an individual connector increases, fewer
connectors are required for the overall
design.
Part of this drop in end-product prices is
due to the shrinking of overall system size.
To meet that need, connector manufacturers
have significantly increased the density of
their products, packing more speed and per-
formance into less space. Product engineers
try to prevent complete system redesigns by
making systems upgradeable to keep pace
with market trends. This makes scalability
an important feature, not just in systems but
in the electronic components as well.
For example, FCI’s AirMax VS high-speed
backplane connectors offer design versatility
because signal connectors can be scaled by
varying the number of columns of contacts,
the number of contacts per column and the
column spacing. AirMax VS connectors also
allow for mixed pin assignments (differen-
tial or single ended signals or power). Data
rates can scale from 2.5Gbps to more than
12 Gbps without requiring re-design of a
basic platform. Medical equipment continu-

ally requires more performance, but it helps
if the architectural design remains intact.
The miniaturization of connectors in the
medical industry is being driven by equip-
ment (e.g. mobile monitoring stations) and
handhelds (e.g. field-operable CT scans or
laptop-sized portable ultrasound systems). It
is also driven by the trend towards outpa-
tient treatment over in-hospital stays, which
requires components with lower profiles
and smaller footprints.
Photo diode
One of the best connector solutions for these
machines is the flex cable connector. In
the past, however, using these connectors
may have meant a lower level of electrical
performance. But connector manufacturers
have developed more advanced solutions
such as FCI’s MEG-Array on flex foil or Berg-
Stak/Conan on flex foil for less demanding
applications.
The MEG-Array High Density Mezzanine
System provides the features needed for
MRI, CT and other imaging applications to
achieve real-time, higher-resolution imag-
ing. Used to connect the photo diode within
the scanner, MEG-Array’s higher density
allows a greater number of slices, resulting
in accurate imaging. Flex cable connectors,
such as FCI’s MEG-Array, provide the fea-
tures needed for MRI, CT and other imaging
applications to achieve real-time, higher
resolution imaging.
Additionally, MEG-Array achieves data
rates of up to 10Gbps. Finally, more than
ever, new industry standards such as USB,
PCI, RJ45, DVI, MicroTCA and PCIe are being
incorporated and are sometimes required
It is crucial to make the
right choice of connec-
tor: interconnects are
an essential element of
overall system reliability.
for new equipment designs. Today, leading
connector manufacturers are developing
products specifically for these markets.
The growing implementation of such
standards can be attributed to their facili-
tation of shorter design cycles and faster
system introductions. Moreover, it may also
because open standards technology offers
ready-made solutions to expanding connec-
tivity requirements. All these give OEMs an
edge in a competitive marketplace.
OEMs are often pushed to “experiment”
with new architectural options, which can
make even the latest electronic components
quickly obsolete. Because of this, OEMs
prefer to avoid proprietary systems be-
cause they result in higher costs and longer
development cycles (typically five to seven
years for a new generation of MRI scan to
be introduced, for example). Components
that do not readily work with a specified
architecture can create additional lag time
and affect overall design.
It is crucial to make the right choice of
connector: interconnects are an essential
element of overall system reliability. OEMs
should work with suppliers that have a
proven history in the design and manufac-
turing of the components they need,
and the parts should be known to be
DESIGN &PRODUCTS
reliable for demanding applications.
Medical equipment’s lifetime is rela-
tively long. Thus, the ability to scale up and
upgrade via open standards, and a high level
of reliability are essential elements of the
equipment’s performance. This is especially
true for complex and expensive combined-
modality systems, which require constant
use to provide proper payback. If the
interconnectivity selection has been care-
fully made with an eye on open standards
and future product road maps, increasing
functional and financial needs of medical
equipment will be achieved.
Extending family
A good example is the introduction of PCIe,
which is now the connector standard of
choice for PC-based systems and has found
its way into medical equipment as well.
More and more medical applications are
using the PCIe standard. To respond to medi-
cal customers’ needs, FCI has extended the
vertical PCIe card-edge connectors family
with SMT to accommodate the market need
for surface-mount connectors for the use of
high-speed, serial PCIe architecture.
Ultrasound systems traditionally used
standards-based architectures like Compact-
PCI bus or VMEbus. With the backplane per-
formance hitting the limitations of standard
architectures, however, there is a clear need
for connector technologies that offer higher
performance and reliability at a reasonable
cost. ■
Gijs Werner is Global Market Manager FCI.
This article was first published in EE Times
India – a sister publication of EE Times Europe.

The SA306-IHZ puts next generation performance

inside a space saving 64-pin PowerQuad package

innovation measuring less than two centimeters square.

This pulse width modulation (PWM) IC combines
output current of 17 A PEAK with supply voltage
operation up to 60 V, an industry first for a mono-
lithic PWM solution. The SA306-IHZ features a
unique ability to limit current on a cycle-by-cycle
basis that allows the processor or DSP to control
current for each motor phase in real time. For
easy prototyping, the DB64 demo board is the
easiest way to evaluate the SA306-IHZ to drive
three-phase brushless motors.

Shrink Motor Drive Circuitry For product selection assistance or

technical support with Apex Precision
Power™ products email tucson.support@
Product Innovation from Cirrus Logic With Single IC Solution cirrus.com.

New PWM IC requires up to 70% less board

space compared with discrete solutions for
LEARN MORE AT driving brushless motors operating on © 2009 Cirrus Logic, Inc. All rights reserved. Cirrus Logic, Cirrus, the Cirrus Logic logo

www.cirrus.com < 9 V to 60 V supplies

designs, Apex Precision Power, Apex and the Apex Precision Power logo designs are
trademarks of Cirrus Logic, Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks
or service marks of their respective owners. EET1122009

January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 43

DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Jack connector performs to >1 GHz
The AMP-TWIST 7AS SL connec- Category 7A frequency limit.
tor from the AMP Netconnect This extra system bandwidth
combines ease of installation means that the connector will
with a high-density SlimLine function reliably in demanding
style, and has been designed to applications such as CATV, with
offer premium performance an upper frequency requirement
well above the Category 7A Class of 862 MHz, broadband video
FA frequency limit of and high-speed data
1000 MHz. distribution. In addi-
The connector pro- tion, it offers powerful
vides improved shield- multimedia capabili-
ing and screening ties even when several
performance together services are shared
with optimized quadrant design within a single cable sheath.
to allow a connector perfor- The connector features a
mance tested up to 1500 MHz on spring-loaded 360° screen termi-
all pairs. nation, along with integrated
The high bandwidth offered strain relief. Installation is car-
by this connector closes the gap ried out using the AMP Netcon-
between the connector perfor- nect SL termination tool with
mance and that of the best PiMF PiMF foil stripping function.
cable performance, resulting in Tyco Electronics
a system operating frequency Full article & links online at:
which is twice as high as the www.eetimes.eu/212201297
More innovations!
NEW
Nanom
iniature
s
D
Micro -
Hermetic
State of the art hermetic
glass to metal and ceramic
to metal seal technology
MICRONOR 7 DOLOY
3308
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Lots 13/15
77184 EMERAINVILLE
Tél. : +33 (0)1 60 17 60 60
Fax : +33 (0)1 60 17 33 44
www.micronor-7d.com
44 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
PRODUCT FOCUS:
INTERCONNECT
EMI shielded terminal block is rated 30 A
Spectrum Control expands its
line of standard barrier strip
terminal blocks with a model
featuring a higher 30-A current
rating. The unit delivers the
higher rating without
incurring the expense of
a true "higher current"
block and provides high
insertion loss for EMI/
RFI filtering of ac and dc power
lines and control lines. The ter-
minal blocks are available with 2
to 6 terminals and a capacitance
range of 2,500 to 5,200 pF. They
have an operating temperature
Nano connectors are polarized, save space
Omnetics offers a series of min-
iature polarized nano connectors
for military, aerospace, defence
and medical applications where
size and weight are
critical. The insulators
are designed to hold one
row of pins and one row
of sockets, which polar-
izes the connector with-
out the space normally required
for guide pins. Available in 4, 6,
8, 10 and 12 position sizes, the
connectors are on a 0.635 mm
(0.025 inch) pitch spacing and
feature gold-plated contacts.
Rated at 1 A per contact, with a
Stacking interconnect handles power & signal
ITT Interconnect Solutions
has developed a stacking
power interconnect unit which
eliminates multiple proprietary
power and signal cable connec-
tors by integrating them
into a single stackable
unit. The stacking
power interconnect
streamlines product
appearance, provides
superior power and signal han-
dling performance and is more
cost-effective than separate con-
nectors. The connectors have a
locking feature, IP67 sealing and
a lifecycle of at least 1000 mating
range of -55 to 105 °C and a
100 Vdc working voltage. The
barrier strip terminal blocks
are UL recognized and CSA ap-
proved for dc voltages and are
available in RoHS com-
pliant versions. They
are offered in various
sizes with terminals for
soldering or spade lugs.
The block's rugged construction
protects the filter elements dur-
ing installation and field service.
Spectrum Control Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/211200886
maximum contact resistance of
25 mohm, they feature an insula-
tion resistance of 5000 Mohm
minimum at 100 Vdc. Insulator
material is thermo-
plastic polyester, type
GLCP-30F to MIL-M-
24519. Sockets are
made of copper alloy
and pins are beryllium
copper. Termination options
include pre-wiring, straight tail,
horizontal surface mount and
vertical surface mount.
Omnetics Connector Corp.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/210800031
cycles. Each module consists of
seven gold contacts capable of
handling 15 A each, which can
distribute signal and power. The
unit features a positive “snap”
lock when engaged and
a sliding lock mecha-
nism so it is possible
to check visually that
the unit is properly
engaged.
Further specifications include
a built-in polarization and cable
strain relief.
ITT Interconnect Solutions
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/211200568
 DESIGN &PRODUCTS
PRODUCT FOCUS:
INTERCONNECT

10- and 54-pin SMT connectors FPC connector Micro-USB connector

ERNI Electronics has expanded
its 0.8 mm MicroStac SMT con-
nector series to include 10-pin
(single row) and 54-pin (dual
row) versions. The MicroStac
advantage is based on a pat-
ented hermaphroditic design,
requiring only one part
number and reducing
logistic and inventory
costs for board-to-board
applications.
The combination of minia-
ture construction and innovative
design makes the connectors
well suited for space-restricted
and demanding applications,
ranging from sensor technology,
medical instruments and mobile
communication to automotive
electronics, automation engi-
neering, measurement technol-
ogy, test equipment and building
automation. Antistatic versions
are available for medical use.
Stability of the miniature
connector is facilitated through
a tilt-proof contact design with
dual side positioning of the
contact on the circuit board.
Minimal weight (0.18 g for
the 6-pin design), 100
percent SMT co-planar-
ity of < 0.1 mm and
suction areas integrated
in the insulating body
for pick-and-place assembly
meet high-speed manufacturing
requirements.
With an ambient tempera-
ture of 20 °C and current feed to
all contacts, the MicroStac 50-
pin connector can transfer 1.6 A
per contact. The 50-pin Micro-
Stac can safely carry 80 A.
ERNI Electronics
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212701050
has secure contact retention saves up 50 percent space
Molex introduces an 0.25-mm
(0.010 inch) pitch FPC connector,
which saves up to
40 percent of space
compared to simi-
lar 0.30-mm pitch
connectors for applications in
mobile phones and other mobile
equipment. This SMT ZIF (zero
insertion force) connector claims
the smallest overall size in terms
of height, depth and length of
any FPC connector in the market
today. Available from 21 to 39
circuits, the connector includes
spring features on the termi-
nals, ensuring secure electrical
contact is maintained even if the
cable is pulled. The contacts are
rated at 0.2 A and 50 V.
Molex Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500645
With the Micro-USB connec-
tor series 8270 W+P Products
enables the
development of
smaller mobile de-
vices. Compared
to conventional Mini-USB con-
nectors, the new types reduce
the required space by up to 50
percent. With their stainless
steel housing, the connectors
offer a shielded interface with
improved mechanical durability
and a guaranteed life of 10 000
mating cycles. The connectors al-
low mobile devices to communi-
cate directly via USB without the
need of a PC. They are available
as Micro-USB female connector
types B and AB in SMT.
W+P Products
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212201373

January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe 45

DESIGN & PRODUCTS
Circular connector takes 300 size 22D contacts
The KJA 300 series high-density connector
from ITT Interconnect Solutions accom-
modates 300 size 22D contacts in a
single connector – more than double
the 128 contacts found in a standard
Mil-DTL 38999 connector. Designed
to accommodate both cable and panel
mount applications, the connector conforms
to operating standards specified in MIL-DTL
Correct-A-Chip™
Makes It Easy!
Aries Correct-A-Chip lets you take advantage of
device enhancements, or dodge the problems of chip
obsolescence without board rework, redesign or delays.
With Correct-A-Chip, you can change from one
footprint or package type to another, from surface
mount to through-hole, from one pinout to another,
or even add additional componentry and circuitry–
all in the same space! Now available in both
standard and RoHS
compliant versions!
Visit our web site
or call us.
ISO 9001
Certified
46 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 19 – February 8, 2009
PRODUCT FOCUS:
INTERCONNECT
38999 and offers a space-saving solution
for demanding military environments,
where extreme heat and vibration
are encountered. The pin connector
features superior EMI shielding and
has gold plated contacts.
ITT Interconnect Solutions
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300063
Tel: +1 215 781 9956
Fax: +1 215 781 9845
e-mail: europe@arieselec.com
http://arieselec.com/products/correct.htm
Sensible Solutions... Fast!
Additional jumpers
have 2.0 and 1.27 mm spacing
The product range of Fischer Elektronik has
been extended by two jumpers. The CAB
14 has a grid spacing of
2.00 mm, and the insulator
has an opening suitable for
miniature test probes and a
tag. The contact spring is provided with gold
flash plating. Optimum contact is achieved
with square contacts 0.5mm and precision
contacts of 0.4 to 0.5 mm.
The CAB15 jumper has a grid spacing of
1.27 mm. It is closed and is provided with a
tap. This jumper is also provided with gold
flash plating. Optimum contact is achieved
with square contacts of 0,4 mm and precision
contacts of 0.4 to 0.5 mm.
Both jumpers are RoHS compliant.
Fischer Elektronik
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212701054
Plug-in terminal
withstands high vibration
CTBA/FL plug-in terminal blocks feature
screw flanges enabling male and female
connectors to be clamped
together to create reliable
connections in all applica-
tions including high vibra-
tion. The terminal blocks also suit applica-
tions where a heavy cable on the female part
could break the connection with the circuit
board-mounted male component. Two sizes
are available, offering 5 and 5.08-mm pitch
with 0.2 to 0.4-mm2 cable entry (24 to 12
AWG).
Terminal blocks are available with 2 to 22
poles and can be supplied in vertical and hor-
izontal orientations for both the male circuit
board header and the female connector. The
captive screws in the flange of the female
part ensure the connection is 100 percent
reliable even in hostile and high vibration
applications. Guided pin alignment ensures
a good fit for the male header into the drilled
holes on the circuit board.
Specifications include 16-A rating (VDE
at 380 V, UL at 300 V), dielectric strength of
2000 Vac, insulation resistance of 2 Mohm
and working temperature from -40 to
+105 °C. Pin/terminals are tinned phosphor
bronze, while rising clamp terminals are
nickel plated brass.
Camden Electronics Ltd.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212700990

PCIe Gen 2 switching supports multicast
IDT announces two PCI Express
(PCIe) Gen 2 switching solutions
that are optimised for comput-
ing and embedded applica-
tions. The solutions are based
on proven, robust switching
architecture and technology, and
support multicast functionality
for increased system resource
utilisation.
The two devices – a 32 lane, 8
port and a 48 lane, 12 port – sup-
port PCIe multicast functional-
ity, which allows any switch port
to simultaneously send identical
data to two or more switch ports,
increasing system resource
utilisation by decreasing the
previously required hardware
and software overhead needed
to send copies of data in a looped
manner. This extension of the
Fanless panel PC
is sealed to IP54
The latest addition to the range
of low cost fanless panel PCs
from BVM is
the PT-170PF, a
17 inch touch
screen unit, and
a larger version of the compa-
nys PT family of 12 and 15 inch
units. Designed for point of sale,
point of information and general
control applications, the stain-
less steel front bezel presents an
attractive appearance and seals
the unit to IP54. The integrated
design with the PC housed
behind the screen assembly
reduces the number of intercon-
nections required by multi-box
solutions, providing a tidy and
reliable assembly. The power
of an ultra low voltage Celeron
CPU with up to 1 GB of RAM
ensures adequate performance
for the majority of applications
whilst minimising power con-
sumption. The unit has a 5-wire
resistive touch screen, and a
VGA port enables an additional
monitor to be driven.
BVM Ltd.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400362
PCIe standard ensures consis-
tency in data and table informa-
tion among multiple system
elements and extends the reach
of PCIe into emerging enterprise
computing and embedded ap-
plications requiring robust data
coherency and sharing.
The IDT Gen2 PCIe switches
are fully compliant with the PCI-
SIG PCIe base specification 2.0
and provide the option of dou-
bling the throughput bandwidth
Low-power MCUs score on analog functions
NEC Electronics has begun
sample shipment of 24 flash-
memory-embedded microcon-
trollers that claim the lowest
level of power consump-
tion in the industry. The
lineup includes twelve 8-
bit models and ten 16-bit
models. There are six models in
the 8-bit 78KO/KY2-L line with
16 pins; six models in the 8-bit
78KO/KA2-L line with 20 pins;
six models in the 16-bit 78KOR-
KF3-L line with 80 pins; and six
models in the 16-bit 78KOR/
BLDC motor controller
suits harsh environments
Melexis introduces the
MLX81200, it’s first member of
the second generation of inte-
grated BLDC motor controllers.
The product features TruSense
and SineDrive technologies,
opening new doors for system
integration of automotive BLDC
motor applications.
TruSense technologies com-
bine reluctance measurement
with BEMF sensing for detection
and tracking of the rotor posi-
DESIGN &PRODUCTS
of existing PCIe lanes to 5 Gbits/s
data transfer, for cutting-edge
designs or allowing a 50 percent
reduction in the number of PCIe
lanes and board traces neces-
sary to support link throughput
requirements for a more cost
effective design.
Each of the PCIe switching
solutions has a dedicated evalu-
ation and development kit for
device testing and analysis, and
system emulation.
IDT also provides users with
extensive, collaborative techni-
cal support including system
modelling and signal integrity
analyses, and schematic and
layout review services.
Integrated Device Technology, Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500249
KG3-L with 100 pins. Using these
microcontrollers can reduce the
number of parts necessary for
building systems – the products
including enhanced
analog features like
analog-to-digital convert-
ers. The MCU's enable the
development of energy efficient
home electronic products and
battery-operated systems that
require low standby power.
NEC Electronics
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400110
tion, allowing a robust motor
operation with wide dynamic
range in harsh environments.
The BLDC motor controller
features dedicated hardware
blocks as well as patented motor
control algorithms to guarantee
fail safe and robust sensorless
operation under stringent au-
tomotive conditions. On-the-fly
rotor position sensing allows
fast start up to nominal speed
within 70 ms.
Melexis
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212300372
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe
PFC capacitors
designed to be rugged
EPCOS has developed the
B25836B A305 series of espe-
cially rugged
PFC capacitors.
The devices are
based on MKV
technology and
are distinguished by their high
temperature tolerance and long
operating life. They are available
for voltages of between 400 and
800 V at 50/60 Hz. Their reactive
power ranges between 5 and
30 kVAr. The inrush current
can be up to 500 times the rated
current, and the surge current
capability is three times the
rated current. As stipulated by
temperature class -40/D, the
capacitors have a life expectancy
of 300 000 hours.
EPCOS AG
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400368
Serial EEPROMs
have MAC addresses
Microchip announces a family
of serial EEPROM devices with
built-in EUI-48
and EUI-64
compatible
MAC address-
es. Designed to work on standard
buses, such as SPI, I2C and the
UNI/O bus, the devices provide
easy and inexpensive access to
MAC addresses and feature up
to 1.5 Kbit of EEPROM that can
be used for storing configuration
and user settings, or as a scratch-
pad area for buffering small
amounts of data. The devices
can be ordered when needed
without volume restrictions, and
because they eliminate the need
for designers to burn a unique
MAC address into every micro-
controller (MCU), they enable
quick integration and shorter
time-to-market. The 24AA02E48,
25AA02E48 and 11AA02E48
serial EEPROMs have a 48-bit Ex-
tended Unique Identifier (EUI) .
Microchip Technology
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212500330
47
DESIGN & PRODUCTS
COM Express modules reduce development time
A reduction in development
time of systems when us-
ing computer-on-modules is
achievable with the industrial
platform MSC CX-MB-IP1 from
MSC Vertriebs GmbH.
The motherboard in Mini-
ITX format (170 x 170 mm) is
designed to accept COM Express
modules in basic and compact
form factors in compliance
with Type 2 of the COM Express
specification.
MSC offers its COM Express
modules in different perfor-
mance classes, for example with
Intel Pentium M, Intel Atom
or Intel Core 2 Duo processor,
enabling a simple upgrade or
Small form-factor CPLDs
target high volume handheld devices
Lattice Semiconductor offers
two small footprint packages
for its ispMACH 4000ZE CPLDs
(complex programmable logic
devices), making them attractive
for use in high volume, hand-
held designs that demand ultra
low power.
The ispMACH 4000ZE family
of ultra low power CPLDs is
based on the company's isp-
MACH 4000 CPLD architecture.
The ispMACH
4064ZE device is
available now in a
64-ball ucBGA (ul-
tra chip scale BGA)
package with a 4
x 4 mm footprint,
and the ispMACH 4128 is avail-
able in a 132-ball ucBGA package
with a 6 x 6 mm footprint. The
small dimensions enable both
devices to accommodate the
tight space constraints common
with portable and handheld
equipment.
The ispMACH 4000ZE family
in-system programmable CPLDs
have a typical standby current as
low as 10 uA. They operate from
a nominal 1.8-V power supply
with operation extended down
to 1.6 V, accommodating extend-
ed end-of-battery-life voltages
48 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
scaling of the respective applica-
tion. The industrial platform
MSC CX-MB-IP1 has a broad
range of interfaces for indus-
trial applications. In addition
to USB 2.0, two LAN interfaces
are provided, whereby only one
connection is featured on the
COM Express Type 2 module
and the other is implemented on
that can provide useful added
margin for many systems. The
family offers enhanced system
features such as Power Guard
dynamic power reduction, per
pin pull-up, pull-down or bus
keeper control, an on-chip user
oscillator and timer and input
hysteresis. The Power Guard fea-
ture lowers power consumption
by selectively disabling unused
input pins so their switching
does not consume
dynamic power
needlessly.
The devices’ 5-V
tolerant I/Os may
be used for con-
necting to TTL and
PCI. Two I/O banks each have
their own power supply voltage
that can be set at the appropri-
ate level to support LVTTL and
LVCMOS 3.3, 2.5, 1.8 and 1.5-V
outputs.
The ispMACH 4000ZE family
is supported by Lattice’s isp-
LEVER Classic design tool suite,
which includes all the tools
necessary to take a project from
concept stage to programmed
device.
Lattice Semiconductor Corp.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400319
the baseboard. In order to allow
serial communication – which
is important for industrial ap-
plications – two 9-pin D-Sub
connectors are located on the
platform. The bus interfaces can
be extended by raiser cards on
PCI and PCI Express x1. A total
of four different raiser cards are
available from MSC: 2 x PCI or
PCI Express plus PCI and 4 x PCI
or 3 x PCI plus PCI Express.
A MiniPCI card holder is
implemented on the board for
integration of e.g. wireless LAN
or Bluetooth extensions.
MSC Vertriebs GmbH
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212700494
Curve tracer
allows high-speed testing
A high-speed, high-accuracy
real-time V/I curve tracer that
is well suited to carrying out
dc parametric
testing on semi-
conductor and
optoelectronic
devices has been introduced
by Yokogawa. The compact,
lightweight unit consists of the
GS820 multichannel source mea-
sure unit and the 765670 curve
tracer software, which runs on
a PC connected to the GS820
via a USB link. The GS820's
high-speed communication and
sweep features allow high-speed
real-time updating of the graphi-
cal display at a rate up to 20
pages per second.
Screens guide the user
through the setup process and
the selection of sweep range,
graph axes, measurement range
and measurement conditions.
Curves can be based on various
combinations of current and
voltage inputs along with
time-stamp references. Sweep
shape can be ramp, triangular or
rectangular, and the number of
sweep points from 5 to 1000.
Yokogawa
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501824
3-phase line filters
efficient and economic
Schurter's 3-phase line filters, se-
ries FMAC ECO and FMBC ECO
are compact and cost optimized
and well suited
for use in drive
systems, engi-
neering installa-
tions and places
where frequency inverters cause
electromagnetic disturbances.
The EMC filters are arranged for
use with 480-Vac installations
and are available in single or two
stage versions. The FMAC ECO
single stage filter is available for
10 A, while the two stage FMBC
ECO filter for 8 A. The FMBC
ECO series has a leakage current
of just 5 mA, making it suited
for use in installations equipped
with residual current circuit
breakers.
Schurter AG
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501810
Watchdog IC
features chip-enable
By providing a chip-enable
input, the STWD100 watchdog
timer IC from
STMicroelec-
tronics prevents
automatic reset
generation during in-system pro-
gramming or boot-up, enhanc-
ing flexibility for developers to
control and manage applica-
tions. The circuit is housed in
a 5-pin SC70-5 package with
a footprint of 2.0 x 2.1 mm, or
alternatively in a SOT23-5 pack-
age, with a footprint of 2.8 x
2.8 mm.
Timeout periods of 3.4, 6.3, or
102 ms or 1.6s can be specified,
while a choice of push-pull or
open-drain active-low output
configurations simplify hard-
ware integration. An operating
temperature range from –40 to
+125 °C allows use throughout a
variety of commercial and indus-
trial environments.
STMicroelectronics
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501813

Surge protection for critical facilities
Raycap has developed a surge
protection device (SPD) that
provides continuous protec-
tion from lightning strikes,
temporary overvoltage events
and transient voltage activity for
medical facilities and the vital
equipment inside. Strikesorb
modules provide uninterrupted
protection, are resistant to
repeated surges, and do not expe-
rience physical or performance
degradation over time, ensuring
that the facility and equipment
are never left unprotected from
transient voltages.
The modules are certified
under the recently revised UL
1449 3rd edition safety standard.
They meet all of the standard's
intermediate current abnormal
overvoltage tests by successfully
Capacitive sensors have relay output
Rechner’s series 95 capacitive
sensors with relay output are
versatile level probes. They have
a universal supply
voltage range from
20 to 250 V ac/dc, and
offer simple mounting
and installation with
a potential-free relay
output. Intelligent microcon-
troller technology allows vari-
ous options, like adjustable time
delay (from 1 s up to 10 min.)
and changeable on- or off-delay.
UMA chipset
for cellular Wi-Fi network
ST-NXP Wireless has announced
that its 3G unlicensed mobile
access (UMA) chipset platform is
now in mass production, paving
the way for a new range of con-
verged fixed and mobile phones
with enhanced multimedia
capabilities. The Cellular System
Solution 7210 UMA combines
UMA and 3G technology in a
single solution, enabling hand-
set makers to gain a competitive
edge with the ability to offer
conducting current at 1000 A for
seven hours, without discon-
necting from the circuit.
Strikesorb modules can be
installed at the building service
entrance or anywhere critical
equipment is connected. They
can be directly connected onto
the busbar on the load side of
a circuit breaker, eliminating
the need to install additional
interconnection wires, circuit
Power consumption is only
2 mA. The sensors are available
with body sizes of M 30 x 1.5,
M 32 x 1.5 and in
a slightly tapered
smooth bodied version
with a diameter of 32
mm. A PG36 pressure
type connection is
available as an accessory. The
relay outputs switch 1 A max.
Rechner Industrie-Elektronik GmbH
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212100479
a wider range of high-speed
handsets. Dual-mode 3G UMA
handsets allow users to seam-
lessly roam and handover be-
tween UMTS cellular networks,
GSM/EDGE networks, and
home or enterprise Wi-Fi access
points. In addition to significant
improvements in connectivity
and voice quality, the Cellular
System Solution 7210 UMA will
deliver data speeds at more than
1 Mbits/s over UMA.
ST-NXP Wireless
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501175
DESIGN &PRODUCTS
breakers or fuses, and providing
low let-through voltages to the
equipment. The modules can
also be installed via a T - connec-
tion.
Two variations are offered: a
40 mm module is rated at 140 kA
(8/20) and an 80 mm module is
rated at 200 kA (8/20) according
to NEMA LS-1-1992. Both types
have also successfully passed
the complete testing procedures
for Class I surge suppressors, as
specified in the IEC61643-1:2005
international standard for surge
protection. They are certified by
the VDE Institute in Germany,
and are available for operating
voltages of 120 up to 600 V.
Raycap Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212400309
Ethernet clock IC
eases frequency conversion
Silicon Laboratories has ex-
panded its Any-Rate precision
clock fam-
ily with the
Si5315, a jitter-
attenuating
clock multiplier IC that meets
or exceeds the performance,
integration, frequency and jitter
requirements for the 1G and 10G
Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE)
market. The IC supports 10G
line encoding rates of 161.13
MHz in addition to SONET/SDH
and Ethernet frequencies.
The device requires no
external phase-locked loop com-
ponents, simplifying line card
design and frequency translation
in carrier Ethernet switch rout-
ers, wireless backhaul, 3G/4G
base stations, multi-service
access platforms, passive optical
networking, IP DSLAM and
T1/E1 infrastructure. Phase jitter
is less than 0.6 ps rms, meeting
the jitter requirements specified
by ITU-T G.8262.
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501816
January 2009 Electronic Engineering Times Europe
Audio codec
features Class-D amp
The TLV320AIC3107 low-power
stereo audio codec from Texas
Instruments
enables CD
quality play-
back and ex-
tends battery
life in portable products such
as cell phones, portable naviga-
tion devices and portable media
players. The codec integrates a
stereo headphone amplifier and
mono Class-D speaker amplifier
to substantially reduce board
area and cost by 20 percent when
compared to discrete solutions.
It includes a stereo 8-96 ksam-
ples/s D/A converter with 97 dB
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and
a 8-96 ksamples/s A/D converter
with 92 dB SNR. Power con-
sumption is 15 mW at 48 kHz
with a 3.3-V analog supply. The
integrated mono Class-D speaker
amplifier is capable of driving 1
W into 8-ohm load.
Other features include a
low impedance passive analog
switch, an integrated phase-
locked loop (PLL) and multiple
inputs and outputs, program-
mable in single-ended or fully
differential configurations. The
codec comes in a space-saving 5
x 5 mm QFN-40 package.
Texas Instruments Inc.
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212700545
Snap-action switch
for ATCA applications
The MDS Series surface-mount,
micro-miniature, snap-acting de-
tect switch is de-
signed for ATCA
applications. It is
available in verti-
cal or right angle circuit-board-
mount styles and features a long
total travel of 2.9 mm. Contact
rating is 0.3 A at 6 Vdc, with a
contact resistance of 200 mohm.
Mechanical and electrical life is
10,000 operations.
C&K Components
Full article & links online at:
www.eetimes.eu/212501399
49
LAST WORD
The power of broadband
over powerline
By Lance Watson
Home networking applications of today, which
include gaming and high definition video stream-
ing across all rooms of the home, put high demands
on existing home networks – not just in terms of
connectivity, but also in terms of Quality of Service
(QoS).
This, in conjunction with consumer
expectations of zero latency in every applica-
tion, whereverhe or she is in the home, set
the scene for the debate – wireline or wire-
less; Ethernet, coax, wireless, phoneline, or
powerline.
However, performance and availability
vary greatly among the technologies avail-
able for each of these media, with data
rate the most obvious limiting factor for
many types of service. As a rule of thumb
however, if a technology cannot support a
20 Mbits/second data stream, it will not be
able to support streaming of HD TV – the
next major incremental step that such
technologies must bridge in order to build a
truly digital home.
Another key determining factor is cover-
age. All technologies are limited in some
way by range – some more than others. Yet,
regardless of which technology is chosen,
whole home coverage will be a key element
for digital home applications.
Wired networking has a number of
demonstrable advantages over wireless: bet-
ter coverage, where coverage is defined as
the likelihood of achieving a certain speed
in the deployment location, better availabil-
ity and faster overall speeds.
Recent internal tests by DS2 revealed that
today’s 200 Mbits/second PHY powerline
technologies achieve 30 Mbits/second in
95 per cent of test locations in a home
depending on the house’s size and layout.
Even the most recent draft – 802.11n – wire-
less technologies cannot guarantee bit rates
above 10 Mbits/second in such a high pro-
portion of test locations.
This is due to the complex nature of wire-
less propagation where reflections cause
signal nulls due to high levels of wireless
50 Electronic Engineering Times Europe January 2009
absorption intrinsic in many building mate-
rials such as bricks, metals and reinforced
concrete. Therefore the better coverage that
wireline provides means that higher speeds
can be achieved with greater reliability.
Another area where wireline outper-
Simply put, it’s
the quality of the
QoS that matters
for multimedia
applications.
forms wireless is in terms of availability, or
its ability to guarantee an individual link
over time. Whilst the configuration of the
home wiring remains static over time, the
wireless environment is constantly chang-
ing. For example, as doors are opened and
closed, changes in wireless availability
ensues. Whilst all communication media
can be affected by interference, wireless
communication in the 2.4 GHz band is espe-
cially vulnerable to microwave radiation, so
just using the microwave can imply a drop
in service that is unacceptable for real-time
applications, such as video streaming.
One area where wireless has traditionally
suffered has been in QoS. This is because
these wireless protocols were developed
before the QoS requirements for multimedia
streaming received high levels of interest. As
a result the QoS extensions, such as Conten-
tion Free Slots, have had to be shoe-horned
into a primarily data oriented CSMA (Car-
rier Sense Multiple Access) medium access
protocol.
Simply put, it’s the quality of the QoS that
matters for multimedia applications. Wire-
line designs are based on TDMA rather than
CSMA. TDMA has deterministic behaviour
when multiple data streams contend for the
same resource, greatly increasing QoS per-
formance. This ability to ensure determin-
istic channel resolution leads to excellent
low-latency performance. Two milliseconds
latency per link is easily within reach of
modern wireline protocols, whilst wireless
adds tens of milliseconds to the latency
budget. This is of special interest to gam-
ers obsessed with the “ping-time” of their
ISP and for VoIP applications where excess
latency generates an annoying echo effect.
Of the wireline technology options
available today, high speed powerline
communications technology offers the
speed, coverage and QoS for digital home
applications. Powerline has far greater
penetration than coaxial or phone line
technologies and there are far more power
outlets available per room, offering greater
connectivity. Powerline technology has also
been developed to survive the very hostile
environment of electricity lines. As a result,
powerline technology performs well not
only over powerline but also over coaxial
cable. ■
Lance Watson is strategic marketing manager
at DS2 (Valencia, Spain)
www.ds2.es
POWERED WITH ELECTRICITY, GAS,
AND AUTOMATICALLY-GENERATED CODE.

THAT’S MODEL-BASED DESIGN.

To create a two-mode hybrid

powertrain, engineers at GM
used models to continuously
verify their design, test prototypes,
and automatically generate the
embedded code.
The result: a breakthrough HEV,
delivered on time.
To learn more, visit
mathworks.com/mbd

©2009 The MathWorks, Inc.

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