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MCUs Feature Low Sleep Current
July 16, 2009 11:51 am | Product Releases | CommentsA family of 8-bit PIC microcontrollers (MCUs) from Microchip features nanoWatt XLP technology, enabling a sleep current of 34 nA. The IC18F13K22, PIC18LF13K22, PIC18F14K22 and PIC18LF14K22 (PIC18F1XK22) MCUs are available in 20-pin packages and provide 1.8 V to 5.5 V operation, with up to 16 Kbytes Flash program memory
Pushbutton Switch is Dust and Water Resistant
July 16, 2009 11:45 am | Product Releases | CommentsRated IP54, a pushbutton switch from Phaseda provides protection against dust & water without an external PVC cap. The HY52 features an electrical rating of up to 20A 125VAC with UL approval. This switch has loading life of up to 50,000 cycles with European approval. The function includes DPST, SPST On.Off and DPDT, SPDT On.On
Low-Cost, High-Resolution Time-Measurement Application
July 16, 2009 10:11 am | by Jim Bartling, Microchip Technology | Articles | CommentsTime Domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a measurement of the impedance of a transmission line using the reflected energy of a pulse sent down that transmission line. As a pulse is sent down a transmission line, it travels at the speed of light for the media it is in (typically, 60% to 80% of the speed of light in free space). As the pulse arrives at an impedance, mismatch energy is reflected back to the pulse source and arrives at a time
Scientists Discover Light Force with 'Push' Power
July 16, 2009 10:03 am | News | CommentsA team of Yale University researchers has discovered a "repulsive" light force that can be used to manipulate components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity.
Front End IC Simplifies Board Design
July 16, 2009 8:57 am | Product Releases | CommentsEliminating the need for RF component matching, the NEC UPG2253T6S Front End IC combines a power amplifier, low pass filter, and two SPDT switches into a single chip. Well-suited for Bluetooth and ZigBee applications, the device’s 3 mm x 3 mm x 0.7 mm package size enables product designs with tiny footprints
Leveraging COTS Technology to Advance Stand-Alone Rugged Boxes
July 16, 2009 7:49 am | by Mike Southworth, Parvus | Articles | CommentsTechnology developments that reduce complexity and enhance usability are always a welcome addition to rugged applications, since fewer parts means improved reliability. This truth is especially evidenced by the increasing availability of stand-alone rugged boxes. The development of stand-alone rugged boxes has provided a singular computing solution for rugged applications where reliable high performance computing is a must. Previously, rugged computing devices were dispersed among several different computing units
Ultrasound IC Is Highly Integrated
July 16, 2009 6:59 am | Product Releases | CommentsTargeting high-channel-count, cart-based, and portable ultrasound medical imaging applications, the MAX2078 octal ultrasound front-end receiver IC from Maxim Integrated Products combines an active-input-termination LNA, VGA, anti-alias filter, and I/Q mixer CWD beam former in one device.
Latest iTunes Release Ejects Palm Pre Users
July 16, 2009 6:56 am | by by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | News | CommentsPalm Pre users who enjoy syncing music and video with iTunes are in trouble—version 8.2.1 of the software locks out the Pre. Previously, Pre users were able to use rival software on their Palm smartphone, a most unusual arrangement. It’s not that archrivals don’t ever do business together. After all, this is much cross-pollination between Microsoft and Apple products. But arguably, the iPod’s greatest asset is its intuitive iTunes software. The hardware itself is somewhat ubiquitous.
VGA Offers Adjustable Gain Control
July 16, 2009 5:56 am | Product Releases | CommentsOptimized for operation from 1 MHz to 500 MHz, the LTC6412 800-MHz analog-controlled VGA from Linear Technology consumes 110mA on a 3.3V supply and provides continuous gain adjustment from -14 dB to 17 dB.
Damage eyed as shuttle heads toward space station
July 16, 2009 5:30 am | by MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsSpace shuttle Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station Thursday as engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft. Mission Control told the astronauts late Wednesday that the damage looked less extensive at first glance than what occurred on the last shuttle flight, but it will take days to sort through available data to reach a conclusion. The astronauts planned a Thursday afternoon inspection of their ship's thermal shielding, using a 100-foot laser-tipped boom.
VPX Single Board Computer Based on 8-Core P4080 QorIQ
July 16, 2009 4:59 am | Product Releases | CommentsSupporting eight 1.5 GHz Power Architecture processor cores, the the VPX6-187 single board computer from Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is based on Freescale's eight-core QorIQ P4080 Communications Processor. The computer is also optionally available in a VPX-REDI (VITA 48) configuration to support applications that requiring Line-Replaceable Modules (LRMs).
2-Position Slide Switches Offer Deployment Flexibility
July 16, 2009 4:50 am | Product Releases | CommentsSuitable for mobile communication devices, test and measurement equipment, computer peripherals, and network products, the RoHS-compliant OS-Series of two-position slide switches from C&K Components provide multiple actuator options and termination configurations.
Wideband Module Used in Broad Range of Applications
July 15, 2009 1:02 pm | Product Releases | CommentsA wideband variable attenuator module from Avago Technologies is intended for use in wireless infrastructure applications such as CATV, WCDMA, VSAT, WiMAX and cellular base station applications. The ALM-38140, which is a 50 MHz to 4 GHz PIN diode attenuator module, is housed in a miniature 3.8 mm by 3.8 mm by 1.0 mm multiple-chip-on board (MCOB) package with 6-pin configuration pads
Passive OLED Touted as one of Largest on Market
July 15, 2009 12:58 pm | Product Releases | CommentsMeasuring 146 mm(H) x 45 mm(V) x 1.6mm(D), a 5.5” diagonal 256 x 64-pixel passive matrix monochrome grayscale green OLED is touted as one of the largest passive OLED displays on the market. The OSD5664ASGGF01, from OSD Displays, supports up to 16 levels of grayscale and the Viewing area is 135.65 mm(H) x 33.89 mm(V) mm. The display features the Solomon Systech driver IC that supports 8-bit 6800/8080 Parallel
After Bing's first month, Microsoft still No. 3
July 15, 2009 11:56 am | News | CommentsMicrosoft Corp.'s redesigned search site attracted more Web surfers without doing much for the software maker's market share in its first month. ComScore Inc. estimates that Bing, the new site, snagged 8.4 percent of U.S. Web searches in June, up from 8 percent in May. Microsoft remains a distant third to Google and Yahoo, and while the number of searches performed on Bing rose 12 percent, Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. saw queries grow even faster.
