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Table of Contents
Task
Manager
When
Off-the-Shelf Won't Do—by
Jennifer Huber
Priority
Interrupt
Be
Careful How You Define "Convenient"—by
Steve Ciarcia
New
Product News—edited
by John Gorsky
Smart
Tracker 2
The
Innovative Wire Tracker
Motorola Flash Innovation 2003 Design Contest
Winner
by Robert
Lacoste
With Robert’s prize-winning
wire tracker, you can identify wires in even the
most tangled situations. As you’ll see, the design
is simple and inexpensive. p.10
Keywords:
Wire tracker, identification,
channels, LED, UART, ASCII, diode bridge, MC68HC908QY4,
transmitter, probe
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
Build
an Inexpensive Temperature-Testing Chamber
by
Steve Hageman
Most home laboratories lack sufficient
temperature-testing technology, which means kitchen
ovens and refrigerators find use as heating and
cooling systems for PCBs. Steve’s home lab had been
no different until he built his own benchtop temperature
chamber. p. 16
Keywords:
Temperature, chamber, PIC16F876, thermo-electric
cooler, Peltier, heatsink, power, efficiency, ADC,
TC1047A, RS-232, remote operation
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
—Feature
Article —
Remote
Observation Station
Motorola
Flash Innovation 2003 Design Grand Prize
Winner
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Read
it now!
by Richard
Dreher
Richard’s
Remote Observation Station is a nature lover’s
dream. It allows you to watch wildlife on
a TV from more than a mile away. At the heart
of this inexpensive solar-powered system is
an HC08-based photovoltaic charge controller.
p. 26
Keywords:
Video, remote, solar,
TV, battery control, on-screen display, RF,
antenna, camera, MC68HC908QY4, ATV transmitter,
LM1881, sync, MON08MULTILINK, C++
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Fault-Tolerant
Electronic Systems
by
George Novacek
There’s no escaping it: sooner or later, all electronic
systems fail. As a designer of embedded systems,
how can you prepare for system failures? Is there
a way to plan for the unforeseen glitches? George’s
article is a must-read for anyone with an electronic
system in the pipeline. p. 36
Keywords:
Fault tolerance, failure, malfunctions, fail-operational,
fail-passive, fail-active, FTA, FMEA, built-in test,
fault propagation, redundancy
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
Single-Pin
Analog-to-Digital Conversion Techniques
by
Ingo Cyliax
Picture this: you need to add an analog input to
a design, but you have only one digital I/O pin
remaining. This month, Ingo presents an intelligent,
cost-effective solution. p. 44
Keywords:
Analog, ADC, RC, RL, temperature, thermistor,
NTC, proximity
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
Microcontroller-Based Digital Lock-In Milliohmmeter
by
Dick Cappels
A milliohmmeter is a handy tool for tasks like measuring
a switch’s contact resistance and checking the trace
resistance on a PCB. Dick built his own microcontroller-based
digital milliohmmeter using lock-in amplifier topology.
The project is simple as long as you follow Dick’s
instructions. Get ready to improve analog performance
with a microcontroller. p. 50
Keywords:
Milliohmmeter,
lock-in amplifier, IR drop, preamp, frequency response,
synchronous demodulator, AT90S2313A, integrator,
CE4066, serial, LM324
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
Tracing
Current and Voltage
Design a Unique PC Sound Card Curve Tracer
by
George Steber
George has come up with a new method for obtaining
the I-V curves of two- and three-terminal devices.
Following his lead, you’ll be able to plot the I-V
characteristics of diodes and transistors. If you
have a PC and a Windows-compatible sound card, you’re
well on your way to being able to trace current
and voltage from your workbench. p. 56
Keywords:
I-V curves, sound card, PC, curve tracer, coupling,
compensation, Visual Basic, display, calibration
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
GNU
Development
by
M. Tim Jones
Flexibility in software design is essential in many
situations. That’s why Tim likes working with the
GNU compiler toolchain. It gives him the freedom
of choice. This month, he gives us a guided tour
of the GCC. p. 62
Keywords:
GNU compiler toolchain, GCC, compiling, optimizing,
libraries, make, automation, GDB, debugging, objcopy,
objdump, nm, xscale
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
FROM
THE BENCH
Global XPortation
Harness
the Power of the ’Net with the XPort Server
by
Jeff Bachiochi
With Lantronix’s XPort embedded device server, you
can Internet-enable embedded products without wasting
too much time, money, and design space. This month,
Jeff shows you how he used the XPort to allow a
Java-enabled browser to communicate with a thermostat.
Offsite temperature control just got a whole lot
easier. p. 70
Keywords:
XPort,
embedded device server, Java, thermostat, Internet
enabling, Ethernet, TCP, UDP, HTTP, SNMP
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
SILICON
UPDATE
Hot Chips 15
by Tom Cantrell
Last summer’s Hot Chips conference at Stanford University
was the coming-out party for many of the industry’s
newest high-end chips. As usual, Tom was in attendance,
doing the rounds and taking copious notes at all
of the meetings and presentations. This month, he
provides a glimpse of the high-end silicon that
will drive your future designs. p. 78
Keywords:
Hot
Chips, Itanium, PXA800F, ARM, RAMP-IV, ReX, Edge,
DM310, Single event upset, nanotechnology, nanowires
(If you have pop-ups disabled click
here for password)
Test
Your EQ
Index of Advertisers
PREVIEW
February #163
Wireless
Communication
Wireless
Vehicle Tracking: Part 1
Wireless Water Heaters
$1 Wireless Interface
Wearable Wireless Transceivers
CoolRunner-II-Based Digital Telemetry Transmitter
ABOVE THE
GROUND PLANE: Filters and Firmware
APPLIED PCs: Picking Apart Microchip's dsPIC
FROM THE BENCH: The Growth of the Atmel AVR
Family
SILICON UPDATE: ’51 Flavors
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