Articles
Brainstorm: Sensors and Testing
July 15, 2009 6:33 am | CommentsIn the development cycle, where does test play the most important role?
Brainstorm: Military Electronics Part 2
July 15, 2009 6:18 am | CommentsWhat is the most pressing issue concerning the deployment of autonomous military robots?
Brainstorm: Lighting
July 15, 2009 5:14 am | CommentsWhat do you think is the chief factor preventing the mainstream adoption of solid-state lighting?
When Good Memories Go Bad – Data Recovery of Flash Media
July 2, 2009 7:55 am | by Sean Barry, Kroll Ontrack, www.krollontrack.com | CommentsComputer hard disk drive storage has an impressive history of technological advances, from the RAMAC storage systems in the 1950s to perpendicular recording introduced a few years ago. The advancement of these technologies has increased the density of today’s hard disk drives to the terabyte range. Along the way frustrations with new storage technology have been proprietary equipment formats, initial high investments, and failed expectations of reliability.
Sensors Expo Report, 2009
July 1, 2009 2:12 pm | CommentsEnergy harvesting technology took center stage at this year’s Sensors Expo in Rosemont, IL. Whether the solution obtained its power from the sun, heat, vibration, wind, RF or magnetics, there was a device at the show to take advantage of many of these or other ambient conditions. Infinite Power Solutions’ THINERGY thin micro-energy cells (MECs), in capacities of .0 mAh and 0.4 mAh initially, are positioned as the world’s most powerful batteries for their size and outperform all other micro-batteries.
Design Talk - Harsh Environments
June 19, 2009 10:06 am | CommentsAn application does not have to be in the arctic or a desert waste to be considered operating in a harsh environment.
China expands Internet censorship with new software
June 13, 2009 11:36 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsAutocratic nations rarely feel the need to justify their actions. So China’s recent defense of its new internet filtering software was extraordinary. It also rings hollow. Starting July 1, the “Green Dam Youth Escort” software must be pre-installed on all computers sold within mainland China. The net-filtering software is aimed at protecting users from “harmful content.”
Brainstorm: New Product Development
June 11, 2009 11:53 am | CommentsWhat is the primary consideration when developing a new product? For this Brainstorm question we asked people at ITT Interconnect Solutions, CoActive Technologies KDM, Knight Electronics, Orchid Technologies, and AVX.
Why MAX? – The purpose of WiMAX
June 2, 2009 9:40 am | by John Schwartz, Digi International | CommentsWhenever a new standard is adopted or starts to gain some ubiquity in the marketplace, I always have to ask, “So what? What does this new stuff give me that I don’t already have?” It’s an important question. If there is not any difference, then there is no reason not to just keep on using known and proven technologies. If there are differences, then knowing what these differences consist of can enable the appropriate business and design decisions.
Design Talk - Chips and DIPs
June 1, 2009 11:57 am | by poe, ehternet, power, transformer, REACH | CommentsHere are some essays on design for you on Power over Ethernet (PoE), Transformer Basics, and info on the REACH chemical regulations.
Brainstorm: Solid-State Lighting Adoption
June 1, 2009 10:59 am | CommentsThis Month's Question: What do you think is the chief factor preventing the mainstream adoption of solid-state lighting?
Silicon Oscillators Offer EMI Improvements
June 1, 2009 10:50 am | by Greg Zimmer, Linear Technology, www.linear.com | CommentsOne of the most difficult electronics design challenge is to track down and eliminate electromagnetic interference (EMI). Switching regulators, a common source of EMI, continue growing in usage due to their space and efficiency advantages over linear regulators. For the designer, however, the EMI and associated regulatory requirements can present a significant challenge. To specifically address EMI in switching regulators, a multi-phase, spread-spectrum silicon oscillator is an appropriate solution.
Fathoming the future
June 1, 2009 10:31 am | by Alix Paultre, Editor in Chief | CommentsOnce upon a time, if you wanted to know the future you went to a colorful character who told you your fortune by examining bird guts, tea leaves, or other obscure random pattern generator. They were called witch doctors, clairvoyants, and fortune-tellers. Today we call them business analysts.
New PICMG 2.30 Draft Standard for cPCI Can Extend Legacy System Life
May 22, 2009 10:14 am | by Charles Staley and Lindsay Powell, 3M Electronic Solutions, www.3m.com | CommentsTo take advantage of advances in high-speed serial data transmission technologies, PICMG is releasing a new option for its popular CompactPCI standard. The new PICMG 2.30 Compact PCI PlusIO standard is based on PICMG 2.30 core specification and defines the migration path from parallel PCI to the serial PCI Express.
The Climate is Right for Wireless Environmental Sensors
May 21, 2009 2:39 pm | by Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries, www.tadiran.com | CommentsThe effects of man-made climate change, once seen as a problem for future generations, is now viewed as an immediate threat, have led to significant technological investments to build a more sustainable future. From measuring the decline of snow packs in Antarctica and the North Pole, to measuring the impact of man-made dams on salmon migration patterns, to the development of systems that better predict natural disasters, remote wireless sensors are playing an increasingly critical role in advanced scientific technology.
