Measure temperature accurately // Color books to disappear // Use compensated silicon sensors

	Share this Newsletter: June 21, 2012

Issue Highlights Make accurate temperature measurements using semiconductor junctions How to avoid a Hindenburg-level USB meltdown in harsh industrial environments The basics of waterproofing capacitive touchscreens Editor's Note Welcome back! Features this week include: Make accurate temperature measurements using semiconductor junctions, which talks about the fundamentals of diode's forward voltage and steps to make accurate temperature measurement using them. Measure pressure with compensated silicon sensors and precision delta-sigma ADCs, describing difference in modern pressure sensors and recent advances in MEMS temperature-compensated pressure sensors. Upcoming Webinar: Cypress USB3.0 Solution with Altera FPGA Evaluation Kit Check these out: Do industrial robots contribute to unemployment? Unions say yes, a new report says no. I would have thought yes--how about you? Color Books going away—IEEE 3000 Standards Collection unveiled, includes links to the first three standards available. Until next week! Carolyn Carolyn Mathas Site Editor, Industrial Control Designline cmathas@earthlink.net Design How-To Articles Make accurate temperature measurements using semiconductor junctions This article discusses the fundamentals of a diode's forward voltage and steps to make accurate temperature measurements using them. Selecting the right battery In Part One of this two-part article, Cypress engineers describe different types of rechargeable batteries, their differences and how to select a battery technology for a specific application. Testing hybrid engine technology Essentially a vehicle's powertrain is the system that powers the car - traditionally a combustion engine - and transfers that power to the transmission, drive shaft and finally to the wheels of the car. How to avoid a Hindenburg-level USB meltdown in harsh industrial environments What do USB and the Hindenburg have in common? While it may be smooth sailing (or flying as the case may be) for a long time—and then, based on ESD, everything can go up in smoke. A bonus to the article is a photo gallery showing rather crispy USB meltdowns. The basics of waterproofing capacitive touchscreens Touchscreen get wet? Here's what's happening and what to do about it. TECH TRENDS: Software tools allow auto OEMs to quickly meet changing consumer preferences Automakers have the technology tools to rapidly and accurately incorporate consumer preferences into their vehicles. Electromagnetic modeling of three dimensional integrated circuits Three Dimensional Integrated Circuits (3DIC) are generating increased interest as a way to increase speed and density while reducing power and form factor... Power Tip 48: Tame conducted common-mode emissions in isolated switchers – Part 2 We continue our discussion of common-mode currents which started in Power Tip 47. Delta-Sigma converters for audio output in an infotainment FPGA Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) present an efficient and inexpensive alternative when it comes to implementing complete embedded systems along with important peripheral functions. The reconfigurable logic circuitry of an FPGA offers tremendous flexibility. A lesser known feature is that the outputs of a digital FPGA also permit various analogue applications. Boost production reliability with ATE Find out how a systems integrator designed and deployed a reliable ATE (automated test equipment) system that's easy to operate and maintain. Optimizing FPGAs for power: A full-frontal attack This piece is a hands-on how to optimize FPGA designs for low power operation. This is a universal topic but, of course, it is really important for wireless and mobile military and aerospace applications that run on battery power. Such applications go from planes, to drones to frontline soldier communication equipment. Products RF power transistors combine ruggedness, broadband, and range The 25 W MRFE6VS25N and 100 W MRFE6VP100H RF power transistors offer enhanced ruggedness and wideband operation over a broad frequency range. Whitepaper: Rapid 32-bit MCU configuration As 32-bit MCUs become more complex, the degree of configurability for each general purpose input/output (GPIO) pin and peripheral increases significantly. Impulse achieves 16X speed-up of genome analysis on $2,500 FPGA module Impulse and Pico Computing collaboration brings faster, cheaper bio research tools. Microsemi FPGAs and cSoCs for extreme temperatures Programmable devices operate at 150-to-200 degrees Celsius Automotive power MOSFETs come in TO-220 fullpak package Applications include BLDC motors, pumps, and cooling systems. News Freescale adopts ARM cores in QorIQ line Freescale will add ARM cores to its Power-based QorIQ line next year, using a new modular architecture called that can be programmed in high-level languages such as C. Research project to avoid rare-earth metals for electric motors A three-year research project aims to work on the design of next generation electric vehicle motors that eliminate the use of expensive magnetic materials. Freescale selects Spansion flash for Vybrid automotive chips Spansion Inc. said Freescale Semiconductor selected its serial peripheral interface flash memory as the high-bandwidth memory subsystem for its new Vybrid automotive and industrial chips. Next app for TI's DLP is large touchscreens Texas Instruments' digital light processor is 25 years old, and the company is seeking to expand DLP applications to large touchscreens. Report: Renesas Mobile up for sale in re-org Renesas Mobile, the mobile chip subsidiary of struggling Renesas Electronics, could be put up for sale as part of a previously reported re-organization. Other details that emerged in an Asahi Shimbun report included that Renesas is considering closing or selling off at least 10 of its 19 domestic manufacturing plants over the next three years. Ultra-low-power 32-bit ARM core debuts Freescale Semiconductor will debut its Kinetis L series 32-bit microcontroller using ARM Cortex-M0+ processor with one-third the energy consumption of 8-bit processors while delivering twice the performance of a 16-bit processor. Ford test drives Android in Silicon Valley lab Ford researchers at a new Silicon Valley lab have created a version of Android that taps into dozens of car sensors in an effort to explore its own automotive OS. Ramtron rejects Cypress Semi offer The board of directors of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory maker Ramtron reviewed and rejected a proposal by Cypress Semiconductor to acquire the firm for $2.48 per share, Ramtron said. Six-axis sensor fuses accelerometer with magnetometer By housing its magnetometer and accelerometer in the same package with a digital signal processor, Freescale Semiconductor hopes to capture a bigger share of the $1.5 billion market for e-compasses forecast by ABI Research by 2016. BMW: Silicon Valley honks at Detroit Silicon Valley is becoming the next Detroit, but Detroit is by no means asleep at the wheel these days when it comes to next-generation connected, green vehicles. Large capacity LiFePO4 batteries require high power chargers The modern portable product designer of industrial and medical portable devices has an extremely challenging job – particularly when it comes to power. Businesses continue to demand features that require more power and consequently, larger batteries. Commentary/Blogs Do industrial robots contribute to unemployment? Remember when we used to go to trade shows and watch, nose up to a Plexiglas window, while a robotic arm picked up an item with military-salute precision, whirling with a techno-music sound, placing the item just two feet away? Color Books going away--IEEE 3000 Standards Collection unveiled In a move to set guidelines and standards for nearly every aspect of the power generation process, the IEEE announced the launch of the IEEE 3000 Standards Collection for Industrial & Commercial Power Systems. Keep the focus on requirements Mission creep, getting distracted, and what the heck a keyboard needs with an LCD clock, anyway. Building reliable and secure embedded systems Neither reliability nor security can be tested, debugged, or patched into a product. They must be designed into embedded systems from day one. Tech Papers Evaluating the low-frequency power-line communications channel in Rural North America Sub-metering made easy using Texas Instruments energy measurement ICs WELL Isolation Methodology for Power Domain Independent Implementation Courses and Webinars Cypress USB3.0 Solution with Altera FPGA Evaluation Kit Understanding Mobile Apps for Automotive Resources Around the Network Events EDN's 50 Classic Design Ideas STMicroelectronics Virtual Conference :: Challenges in High-Performance Embedded Designs EDA Designline Power Series 10 outstanding noise, vibration and acoustics videos View element14 TV's online television channel for EEs ESC Boston 2012, a DESIGN East summit September 17-20, 2012 Hynes Convention Center Boston, MA Are you up-to-date on the latest products, technologies and practical design information? ESC Boston -- alongside Android Summit, DesignMED, LED Summit and Sensors in Design -- is the most powerful and cost-effective avenue for acquiring the latest knowledge, skills and techniques you need to: Get your ideas from concept to reality as quickly as possible and on spec Accelerate the design and development of your products Facilitate the incorporation of new technologies & techniques into existing and future projects And with the All Access Pass, you'll get unlimited entry to everything: Choose from 100+ sessions & tutorials in 21+ conference tracks Network with visionary keynotes and top industry speakers Attend the Android™ Certificate Program See exciting DESIGN East Theater events like product teardowns Visit 150+ Exhibitors on the Expo Floor showcasing the latest products Enjoy Happy Hours, win Prizes & Giveaways and more! Join thousands of your peers at the center of the engineering universe -- you can't afford to miss this. Register today!