Serving the Electronic Design Community Since 1956
Talking in turbulent times
March 26, 2008 6:44 am | by Alix Paultre, Editor in chief | Articles | CommentsAnyone who has survived the last several years in the electronic industry know what I mean when I say that these are very turbulent times. Disruptive technologies in both the hardware and software arenas combined with the relentless pressure of convergence in functionality, marketplace, and the business itself have made life very interesting for electronic design engineers.
Zener Diode Assemblies Shield Automotive Peripherals
March 26, 2008 6:06 am | Product Releases | CommentsCreated to help protect consumer infortainment devices that require in-vehicle charging, a pair of 2.3A polymer-enhanced Zener diode assemblies from Tyco Electronics include a resistively non-linear, polymer positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) layer that responds to either diode heating or overcurrent events. Features include a max input of 16VDC, a resistance of 0.04O, and a power dissipation of 0.7W.
Snap-In, Panel Mount Pushbutton Switch Offers Bi-color Illumination
March 25, 2008 12:26 pm | Product Releases | CommentsAvailable in a choice of silver-plated or gold over nickel plated copper alloy, the DG Series snap-in, panel mount pushbutton switch offers design engineers bi-color illumination. The RoHS-compliant switch suits applications, such as audio/video equipment, consumer electronics, and test instruments. With a tested electrical life of 100,000 cycles with an electrical rating of 100 mA at 30V with silver contacts and 0.4V A max at 20V max with gold contacts, the device has a contact resistance is <50? initial and a dielectric strength of at least 750Vrms with an insulation resistance of over 100?.
PCI-express Bus Extender Allows Swapping of PCIe Boards without System Reboots
March 25, 2008 10:05 am | Product Releases | CommentsFuraxa Inc. announced its PCIeExt16HOT “Smart” PCI-express Live-insertion bus extender board which, when installed in any PCI-express ×16 motherboard socket, facilitates fast production testing and engineering debug of PCI-express boards of all data widths (×16, ×8, ×4, ×2 and ×1). Live insertion enables boards to be rapidly removed and exchanged without the need to power down or reboot the system. Ability to selectively reduce supply voltages by 0 percent, 5 percent or 10 percent enables margin testing of boards.
Miniature Accelerometers Address Tight Spaces
March 25, 2008 9:41 am | Product Releases | CommentsEncapsulated in a titanium package measuring 6.4 mm x 5.5 mm, the 3225M23 and 3225M24 voltage-mode (IEPE) piezoelectric accelerometers from Dytran are able to mount in spaces potentially inaccessible to other types of accelerometers. Intended for shock and vibration measurements in space-constrained lightweight applications such as in board-mounted devices
6U CompactPCI Express Carrier Board Fills Need For More Compatible CompactPCIe Products
March 25, 2008 7:25 am | Product Releases | CommentsOne Stop Systems 6U CompactPCI Express (CPCIe) carrier board enables OEMs to utilize PCIe I/O boards on their CompactPCIe systems. This Type 2 board supports a PCIe short card, usually in PCIe ×8, ×4, and ×1 configurations. While the carrier board is equipped with a PCIe ×16 connector, it communicates at ×4 speeds.
320W Switching Power Supplies Designed To Meet Space and Performance Needs
March 25, 2008 6:33 am | Product Releases | CommentsAstrodyne Corporation announced the PMK320 line of high density switching power supplies that offers output power of 320W with active PFC. All models accept universal input from 90V AC to 264V AC. Six models are available providing single outputs from 5V DC to 48V DC. The PMK320 series is approved for UL/EN60950-1 safety specifications.
RF Dongle Reference Design Uses Single RFIC
March 25, 2008 5:25 am | Product Releases | CommentsProviding an air data rate of up to 2 Mbps, a single-chip USB dongle reference design based on the nRF24LU1 RFIC with integrated RF synthesizer and PLL is intended for use in applications such as PC peripherals, remote devices, and sports accessories. The design integrates the RF chip, PCB antenna, 16 MHz crystal, and required passives in a 12 mm × 32 mm form factor that is FCC, ETSI, and USB compliant.
40V Synchronous Rectifier Enables High Efficiency In Switching Designs
March 24, 2008 10:24 am | Fairchild Semiconductor | Product Releases | CommentsFairchild Semiconductor's 40V breakdown DC/DC synchronous rectifier for power supplies such as DC-DC brick modules and servers features desirable RDS(ON) and total gate charge (QG), and provides 20 percent lower Figure of Merit (FOM) compared to other 40V MOSFET solutions, according to the company. It comes in an industry standard and green
Analog Front End Enhances Ultrasound System Performance
March 24, 2008 9:47 am | Product Releases | CommentsPresenting a complete analog signal chain solution designed for portable ultrasound systems, Texas Instruments' AFE5805 integrated analog front end (AFE) delivers as much as a 50 percent space savings with up to 20 percent lower power consumption and 40 percent less noise than existing integrated solutions. Presented as the smallest device of its type and the first in the AFE58xx family of devices, the AFE reduces component count to decrease power consumption by up to 20 percent and offers 40 percent less noise than similar devices
Speed Controllers Utilize Built-in Digital Display
March 24, 2008 7:49 am | Product Releases | CommentsOriental Motor Corp. announced a RoHS compliant speed controller that enables the speed control to be set by using the built-in digital display. The FE100/FE200 drives and controls a wide range of the company’s 3 phase fractional horsepower AC induction motors. As the speed controller parameters have been set for motors in advance, the motor performance can be maximized at both low and high speeds. It has a 200 rpm to 2400 rpm (12:1) speed range that can be set through the speed knob on the front of the speed controller box.
Side Bar: Get a Trusted Security Certificate
March 24, 2008 6:46 am | by Jon Titus, Senior Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsJon Titus exlains that you can buy digital certificates to identify your products and provide a public/private key for each.
Mini Switchers Target Point-of-Load Applications
March 24, 2008 5:49 am | Product Releases | CommentsDesigned to replace linear regulators in board-level power applications, the SR7805 Series of SIP miniature point-of-load (POL) switching regulators have an output of up to 7.5W. The devices are available in six models operating from inputs of 4.75V DC to 32V DC and delivering a regulated output of 3.3, 5, 6.5, 9, 12, or 15V DC. packaged in a miniature, The 0.45" x 0.3" x 0.4" SIP convection-cooled UL94-VO-rated devices can operate at temperatures from -40°C to +85°C with no derating
Synchronized, Portable USB Module for Sound and Vibration
March 24, 2008 5:45 am | Product Releases | CommentsData Translation announced the DT9837A, a high performance USB module for sound and vibration analysis. It has four independent 24-bit IEPE (Integrated Electronics Piezo Electric) sensor inputs that are synchronized with a tachometer input to provide data streams matched in time for field or laboratory use. A read-back channel from the analog output guarantees perfect correlation of all signals with the input stream, the output stream, and the tachometer.
X PRIZE Group Offers $10 Million Challenge to Auto Industry for 100-MPG Car
March 21, 2008 10:54 am | Blogs | CommentsThe goal is to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that offer more consumer choices.
