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Low-Power Wireless

This year's NI Week show focused more than ever on wireless products and applications. The breakout product was a PXIe-based 60 GHz vector network analyzer (VNA) featuring a dynamic range of more than 110 dB and sweep speeds of less than 400 μs/point over 3,201 points. NI has aimed the VNA at the automated design validation and production test markets--the sweet spot for Tektronix and Agilent. Stay tuned.
      Their RF and Wireless Communications Summit was well attended and well done. More on that later this week. 

 
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Low-Power Design
The past month has been busy in Austin, between NI Week and the International Symposium on Low-Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED).
     The 15th annual ISLPED conference brought in attendees from all over the world. The IEEE/ACM-sponsored show featured a number of very interesting keynotes and papers, which we'll document as time allows. Start by checking out Ajith Amerasekera's keynote, Ultra Low Power Electronics in the Next Decade.
John Donovan
John DonovanUltra Low Power Electronics in the Next Decade
As a TI Fellow and director of TI's Kilby Research Labs, Ajith Amerasekera's job is to predict the future and plot a roadmap to it. His keynote at day two of the low-power electronics show (ISLPED) in Austin-"Ultra Low Power Electronics in the Next Decade"-did both. [Spoiler alert:] There are some major bridges to be crossed and the arrival end point is far from guaranteed.More...
Steve Leibson
Steve LeibsonEthernet ports, low power, and multimedia
The interoperability of today's Ethernet-enabled devices is staggering. To see an iPad in a Starbucks coffee shop surfing Web servers in far-flung places such as Eastern Europe, India, Asia, or even North America through a casual WiFi connection is stunning-yet it is so commonplace that the feat rarely reaches our conscious minds these days. It just happens. Conjoined with that ease of connectivity however is a dark cloud: wasted energy to keep those billions of Ethernet connections alive even when they're not carrying data. More...
Robert Cravotta
Robert CravottaFirst and second generation touch sensing
I recently proposed a tipping point for technology for the third generation of a technology or product, and I observed that touch technology seems to be going through a similar pattern as more touch solutions are integrating third generation capabilities. It is useful to understand the difference between the different generations of touch sensing to better understand the impact of the emerging third generation capabilities for developers. More...
Fundamentals of High Level Synthesis--Part 1
HLS bookOne of the common misconceptions held by people is that synthesizing hardware from C++ provides users the freedom of expressing their algorithms using any style of C++ coding that they desire. When designing using high-level C++ synthesis, it is important to remember that we are still describing hardware using C++, and a "poor" description can lead to a sub-optimal RTL implementation. This chapter attempts to cover the basics of high level synthesis, and to show what designers can expect from a given coding style. More...
A Practical Guide to Adopting the Universal Verification Methodology--Part 1
ARM adThe UVM is first and foremost a methodology and collection of best practices for functional verification. As mentioned before, the UVM library is a capable and mature enabler of this high-level methodology. While the library classes and engines can be used in arbitrary ways, we highly recommend following the UVM as prescribed in the following chapters, as they suggest a proven recipe for successful verification. More...
RF Receiver Front-End Topologies for Software Radios
SDRA number of different RF front-end topologies are appropriate for software radios, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. This article explores the tradeoffs involved with each approach. <br><br>The most common types of RF front-ends for software radios are dual conversion, single conversion, and tuned radio frequency receivers. The suitability of a particular receiver topology depends on a number of parameters that may include the following... More...
Musical Chairs in RF Chip Market
 
ARM adBy engaging an investment banker, Infineon is certainly interested in getting multiple bids for the cellular business and realizing the highest price possible. Rumors abound that in addition to Intel, Samsung, Broadcom and even Apple are among those in talks with Infineon. I think we can forget the Apple rumor, since even Nokia has decided it doesn't want to be in the chip design business anymore (see Renesas, below). The asking price has been reported as about Euro 1.5 billion ($1.9 billion), so let's examine the possibilities:... More...
Is Cell Phone Radiation a Health Hazard?
microwaveEveryone with a microwave oven knows that radio waves can heat up water molecules, which is handy when you're making Mac and Cheese for the kids but a little more problematic when you spend hours every day with a cell phone pressed to your ear. Are cell phones a health hazard? More...
That's a brief look at what we have to offer--and we're adding more every day. Please check back with us regularly to get the latest news, tips and techniques for implementing green/low-power/RF designs.

Sincerely,
John Donovan
Editor/Publisher, Low-Power Design & Low-Power Wireless