Complex Programmable Logic Devices meet portable needs

MAX[R] II EPM240, EPM570, and EPM1270 are available in 100- and 256-pin, 0.5 mm Micro FineLine BGA[R] (MBGA) packages or 100-pin, 1.0 mm FineLine BGA (FBGA) package to meet form-factor and power capabilities needed by portable systems. MBGA packages suit applications requiring high I/O count per board area to interface with LCD displays, keypads, flash, or memory. Along with power-down capability, features include high logic density, on-chip voltage regulator, and internal oscillator.

New Ultra-Small Packages Offer 50 Percent Lower Cost and 50 Percent Lower Power Than Competing Devices

San Jose, Calif., July 10, 2006-Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) today announced it has expanded the MAX[R] II device family to address the growing portable applications market. With new ultra-small packages, a new power-down capability and the lowest cost in the industry, MAX II devices offer designers of handheld applications half the cost and power of competing products. Altera[R] MAX II CPLDs meet the small form-factor package and low power capabilities needed by designers of portable systems such as point-to-multipoint (PMP) systems, barcode scanners, PDAs and handheld sensors.

“After evaluating a number of component solutions, we determined that MAX II devices were the best fit for our Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement Systems (MILES)-compatible battery-powered wireless laser sensor,” said Mark Chaildin, systems engineer at Intercoastal Electronics. “MAX II devices’ low power consumption, short power-up times, density offerings and low cost help us stay competitive in the marketplace.”

According to the Gartner Dataquest report entitled “Semiconductor Forecast Worldwide-Forecast Database” by Nolan Reilly and Richard Gordon (May 2006), portable applications use in the consumer market is expected to grow from an estimated $16B in 2006 to $19B by 2008, a CAGR of 9 percent. The new MAX II ultra-small packages and power-down capabilities are targeted at this market and are expected to accelerate the adoption of MAX II devices into portable applications.

Higher Levels of Integration at Lower Cost and Power

The MAX II EPM240, EPM570 and EPM1270 devices are now available in 100-pin and 256-pin 0.5-mm Micro FineLine BGA[R] (MBGA) packages and 100-pin 1.0‑mm FineLine BGA (FBGA) package. Using the new MBGA packages, designers can integrate 50 percent more user I/O and logic elements (LEs) for a given board area, on average, than competing CPLD solutions. This makes MAX II CPLDs ideal for applications requiring high I/O count per board area (mm2) to interface with LCD displays, keypads, flash or memory. Designers can further reduce system cost by using the new packages and MAX II devices’ differentiating features, including high logic density, an on-chip voltage regulator and an internal oscillator, to integrate discrete devices and minimize the number of power rails.

MAX II CPLDs also offer the lowest dynamic power-more than 50 percent lower than competing CPLD solutions-and a power-down capability that conserves battery life. Unlike competing CPLDs, the power characteristics of MAX II devices enable them to power down to eliminate current draw entirely. To learn more about power savings using MAX II CPLDs, visit www.altera.com/max2-lowpower and www.altera.com/support/examples/max/exm-power-down.html.

“Designers of portable or battery-powered applications face many of the same challenges that have fueled the programmable industry for the last twenty years, namely shortened schedules, feature uncertainty caused by changing industry standards and cost pressures. With a zero-power mode and package sizes common to this market, portable designers can now benefit from using CPLDs from Altera,” said Luanne Schirrmeister, Altera’s director of low-cost product marketing.

Read more about the new MAX II enhancements in the “Reduce Total System Cost in Portable Applications Using MAX II CPLDs” white paper, at www.altera.com/literature/wp/wp-01001.pdf. To learn more about MAX II CPLDs, visit www.altera.com/max2.

http://www.electronics-automation.com/articles/

Guidelines for Online Public Access Catalogue Displays: Final Report, May 2005

From the Final Report of the Task Force on Guidelines for OPAC Displays in May 2005, this handbook provides common international practices for displays designed by librarians of general collections in the humanities, social sciences, and pure and applied sciences. The standards serve to facilitate public use from catalog to catalog. Focusing on authority and bibliographic information, the guidelines are divided into principles and recommendations, based on user needs, content, arrangement, and standardization, with examples of screen shots. There is no index.

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Sanyo Electric demonstrates DDD TriDef software with new “glasses-free” 3D LCD displays at CeBIT 2004

DDD Group plc (LSE:DDD) has announced that it has integrated DDD’s TriDef 3D content solutions with SANYO Electric Company’s (”SANYO”) new 2D/3D switchable “glasses-free” 3D LCD displays. SANYO is showcasing its 8″ and 40″ multi-viewer 3D LCD displays at the CeBIT show from March 18th to the 24th 2004. CeBIT ranks as the world’s leading showcase for information technologies and telecommunications.

The SANYO CeBIT demonstration will include music videos and Hollywood movie clips converted from 2D to 3D using DDD’s patented conversion technologies and played back with DDD’s TriDef Movie Player. In addition, still images converted from 2D to 3D using DDD’s TriDef Photo Transformer will be played utilizing the TriDef Photo Viewer.

Mr. Hideyuki Kanayama, Principal Researcher for SANYO’s 3D Project, said, “DDD’s software and content solutions are one of the best we have seen. We are very pleased with the results of the combination of our respective technologies. We believe there are many opportunities for the use of our displays in the retail world. DDD’s market leading 3D conversion and presentation software is a valuable component to help us secure customers by offering a complete content and display package.”

Chris Yewdall, Chief Executive of DDD, added, “We are delighted that SANYO has elected to use DDD’s TriDef suite of tools and 3D content at CeBIT. The new multi-viewer switchable 2D/3D SANYO LCD displays fill a gap in the 3D display market and will be well received by our customers, particularly in retail advertising and promotion. Our relationship with SANYO further underlines the role that DDD is playing in delivering high quality content solutions for professional and consumer users in the growing market for 3D displays.”

http://www.electronics-automation.com/articles/

Gardens in glass: small, shapely plants make long-lasting tabletop displays

A tiny, intricate bromeliad or cactus just begs to be viewed up close. That’s why each is a perfect candidate for temporary display indoors in a clear glass vase. Shop for plants in 1 1/2- or 2-inch containers at nurseries and big-box stores. Then create the illusion of a garden in miniature by surrounding the potted plant with pebbles or sand. The living sculptures look especially pretty when softly illuminated from above.

* Assembly. Fill the bottom of a vase with 1 to 2 inches of polished river rock, sand, or aquarium pebbles. On top, place a container without a drain hole, and conceal it with more pebbles. Slip the plant (still in its plastic pot) into the container.

http://www.electronics-automation.com/articles/

Electronics Charts Auto's Future Course

While electronics has been on the automotive scene ever since the introduction of semiconductor transistors in the 1950s, only in the last few years has it pervaded almost every section of the vehicle. Thus, it has begun to reshape its form and feel. From high-performance entertainment and global positioning systems (GPS) to drive-by-wire and active occupant safety, electronics is bringing about a radical change in modern and emerging vehicles. Recognizing that electronics is the wave of the future, automakers worldwide have commenced that transformation process, and the pace of development is astonishingly rapid.
Penton Media - Automotive Electronics, Click Here!

Until now, the high cost of electronics was a prohibitive factor. However, advances in semiconductor processes and manufacturing technologies have changed that scenario. Coupled with more players in the supply chain, it is helping suppliers to make automotive electronics competitive with consumer electronics and thus, facilitating electronics to permeate every aspect of the auto system.

As multimedia and infotainment products gain popularity, the OEMs also have stepped up the focus on occupant safety. While earlier designs have made significant progress in protecting the driver and the passengers, automobiles are still prone to collisions and crashes. Hence, automakers, in conjunction with electronics suppliers, are developing a new generation of safety technologies, such as blind spot detection, collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, and pre-crash sensing systems. Interestingly, as the auto industry readies these occupant safety technologies, the government has taken a wise step. To help stimulate the adoption of intelligent vehicle sensing and control systems in U.S.-sold vehicles, the U.S. House of Representatives recently proposed a new law, Intelligent Vehicle Highway Safety Act of 2004, according to a new study by ABI Research. The ABI Research report suggests that such government support will spur the adoption of these technologies despite their initial high cost.

Because such anticipatory systems will deploy sensors, proprietary algorithms, and high-speed communications to interact with other system functions in this integrated methodology, the role of system software will grow significantly. Concurrently, these electronic controls and systems are entering the new digital era. Unlike the conventional analog approach, the new solutions are also reaping the benefits of microprocessors and digital signal processors (DSPs) to transform the modern car into an interactive vehicle system of the future. While the smart digital control will allow functions such as brakes, steering, powertrain, and similar other vehicle subsystems to interact, this intelligent digital control system will permit the motorist to interact with gadgets like PDAs, cell phones and the Internet. In short, digital electronics is converting the conventional automobile into a smart environment wherein human-to-machine interface (HMI) begins to play an important role.

This further emphasizes the importance of software in forthcoming models. Like computers, software is ready to play a key role in upgrading your car's functionality and features. As the new electronic revolution sets the stage for plug-and-play and interoperable components, it will also help bring down the number of microcontroller units in future cars. Toward that end, German automakers and electronics suppliers have formed a consortium that intends to put a standard software vehicle infrastructure on the road by 2006.

This spate of activity is spurring the growth of electronic and semiconductor content in today's average vehicle. As a result, the auto electronics market is growing at an impressive pace.

In essence, as mechanical and electromechanical methods give way to electrical and electronic technologies, novel vehicle architectures are being developed to further accelerate this transformation. Unlike traditional bottom-up architecture, a top-down engineering approach is under way wherein models, simulation, and analysis will be integral parts of the design flow.

http://autoelectronics.com/infotainment/consumer_electronics/electronics_charts_autos/

Emerging Vehicle Technologies and Services

Emerging technologies and associated services to enhance the productivity and entertainment attributes of the automobile experience are at various phases of innovation, incubation and implementation. For example, navigation in its various forms — real-time or non-real time, map-based displays or turn-by-turn route assistance — are examples where information plays a defining role in enhancing the convenience or improving productivity experience while in a vehicle.

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Another attribute that is undergoing a metamorphosis is automotive security. There is nothing new about locking cars but transforming the locking function into a service that is human-centered is a new opportunity. Who wouldn't mind a car that automatically locked and unlocked itself upon recognizing you?

As an industry, we face challenges in addressing the emerging automotive infotainment and security needs, but we also have an ocean of opportunities ahead of us. The consumer is in for exciting times — plug and play entertainment in the form of portable audio, video, games and text on demand — wirelessly downloadable; navigation systems, real-time traffic and other roadside information — all upgradeable over the ownership duration of a vehicle.

What is stopping the automotive industry from delivering on this convergence of information, entertainment and security systems? There are two significant challenges: One is the technology and the other involves the processes. As we take an end-to-end view, beginning with system creation, and progressing to design, development, manufacturing, assembly, sales and life-cycle management, one sees the gaps in technologies and processes that need to be filled in order to make the delivery of infotainment systems viable.

Even if the component technologies such as an MP3 player or a hand-held navigation system are ready, the system technologies such as an integrated solution that allows an MP3 player and navigation units to cohabit and share the interior “utilities” of the vehicle, are yet to mature. The utilities include power supply, input and output devices such as buttons, knobs, sliders, loudspeakers and video displays. These system technologies are software intense and demand a redesign of software systems and tools for requirements capture, modeling, verification, validation, testing, bundling, deployment, maintenance and upgrade. Other than in the powertrain function where software has been designed and written in-house by many of the major carmakers, software as an entity in its own right is a relative newcomer in the automotive industry, which has traditionally viewed automotive components in terms of hardware modules.

From a process standpoint, infotainment and emerging security components demand fast development cycles to match the relatively short life periods, about 18 months, of their associated technologies, compared to the 120 months for an automobile. If the infotainment specifications are created 60 months in advance, their features will be obsolete when the vehicles reach the showroom. Even if one manages to create the specifications in time for production, the challenge is not over because one must have the means of supporting late-stage customization and updating features as they “age” over the ownership of the vehicle. The industry has recognized this and is working pre-competitively and competitively in several ways.

Examples of pre-competitive collaborations include the Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR) development partnership, the Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) alliance and the Automotive Multimedia Interface Collaboration or AMI-C. Over the past two years there have been several products and concepts — BMW's iDrive™-based products, Lincoln's “Wi-Fi” Aviator concept — that are beginning to manifest the emerging product value of the convergence of infotainment and security technologies.

As a consumer-driven industry, we'll do what it takes to find the answers to deliver the products and services that help our customers better manage and enjoy their driving experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K. Venkatesh Prasad is the founding leader of Ford Motor Company's Infotronics Technologies Group — a globally distributed activity the company established in 1998, within the Ford Research and Advanced Engineering Organization. Prasad is responsible for the research and accelerated development of a broad spectrum of end-to-end communications and in-vehicle computing technologies.

Automotive Electronics Spurs Semiconductor Growth

Five or more years ago if you talked to major semiconductor companies in North America about their involvement in the automotive market, you would get a cold response. Many of these suppliers were observing the market growth but without real commitment. While their European and Japanese counterparts were more involved with dedicated groups within the organization, the North American suppliers, except for a few exceptions like Motorola, were unexcited. But, the picture today is much different.
Penton Media - Automotive Electronics, Click Here!

Because there is pressure to implement emerging advanced automotive safety, engine, infotainment, chassis control, and wireless technologies, analysts predict this decade will witness an unprecedented growth in automobile electronics content. This growth in automotive electronics is spurring demand for a new generation of semiconductor devices. Analysts at ABI Research believe that differing requirements around the world are driving growth for automotive-specific semiconductors. In Europe and Asia, for example, smaller engines are the norm and there is a defined need to match their performance with larger displacement engines. To maximize the performance of these smaller engines, advanced engine management technologies including displacement on demand (DoD), variable valve timing (VVT), and direct fuel injection are being aggressively rolled out in these regions.

The same is happening in the United States, although predominantly due to rising fuel costs and emission standards. New government legislation mandates that automakers must implement advanced airbag safety systems and tire pressure-monitoring systems into future car lines. Consequently, automotive processors are proliferating. The evolution of microcontroller and sensor technology is allowing OEMs to create systems that can provide levels of vehicle control and safety unheard of 10 years ago. A study from ABI Research, “Automotive Electronics Systems: Market Requirements for Microcontrollers, Accelerometers, Hall-effect and Pressure Sensors,” shows that ever-tightening emissions standards and taxes on vehicles with poor fuel economy are indirectly resulting in a surge from engine management systems based on 16-bit processors, to designs based on 32-bit architectures. ABI Research analyst Robert LaGuerra said, “We believe engine management systems will go to a 32-bit processor architecture as a result of stringent emissions standards and higher taxes on vehicles with poor fuel efficiency.” For the engine to burn as efficiently as possible additional sensors and processing power must be added to obtain more accurate control of fuel supply, spark and emissions. That demands the use of 32-bit systems. Emerging countries will still be able to use 16-bit, but by the end of the study's forecast period in 2010, nearly all engines in the United States will be using 32-bit microcontrollers. Additionally, emergence of onboard cameras, as well as occupant detection as part of next-generation airbag systems will be driving the growth of semiconductor devices and associated components to new heights as well.

Likewise, general purpose and optimized DSP processors are finding use in digital radio broadcasts, high-quality audio, mobile TV reception, and telematic applications in the automobile arena. Transition from conventional combustion engines to hybrid electric vehicles is creating demand for a new generation of power semiconductor devices. Migration to solid-state lamps is fueling growth in power ICs.

Proliferation of these high-performance semiconductor devices, power management solutions and electronic components has attracted companies like Fairchild Semiconductor, Maxim Integrated Products, Linear Technology Corp., National Semiconductor Corp., Micrel Semiconductor and Texas Instruments who have created automotive groups to tap this growing pie. Even FPGA makers like Xilinx see a need for FPGAs in tomorrow's automotives and are going after this market. Just as PCs crafted a new market for semiconductor devices in the 1980s, and mobile handsets in the 1990s, automobiles offer new opportunities this decade.


http://autoelectronics.com/infotainment/consumer_electronics/automotive_electronics_spurs/