ams AS3953 NFiC interface chip
05 February, 2013The ams AS3953 interface chip offers a high data-rate interface between an NFC device such as a smartphone and any host microcontroller with a standard serial peripheral interface (SPI).
NXP Semiconductors NextPower Live power MOSFETs for hot-swap applications
24 January, 2013NXP Semiconductors’ NextPower Live family of linear mode Power MOSFETs is designed specifically for use in hot-swap environments. The family offers both good linear mode performance and a low RDS(on) value.
Emerson Network Power ATCA-7470 40G ATCA blade
14 January, 2013The latest 40G AdvancedTCA (ATCA) packet processing blade from Emerson Network Power - the ATCA-7470 - is designed to utilise the full capabilities of the Intel platform for communications infrastructure, formerly codenamed Crystal Forest, with an optimised balance of processing, memory, I/O, data movement and interfaces.
congatec reference board for video wall system design
10 January, 2013Video wall systems increasingly rely on high-quality videos and (3D) graphics and therefore require a maximum number of graphics interfaces. The congatec reference board offers up to nine independent DisplayPort connectors in combination with an MXM graphics module and a COM Express CPU module.
Microchip Technology MGC3130 e-field-based, configurable 3D gesture controller
10 January, 2013MGC3130 is an e-field-based, configurable 3D gesture controller that includes a library of gestures and is claimed to provide precise hand position tracking.
Extension of operation temperature range to 200°C enabled by Al/Cu wire bonds
19 December, 2012The demand for an extension of the operation temperature range to 200°C has been promoted by several trends.
Boosting heat transfer with nanoglue
13 December, 2012A team of interdisciplinary researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new method for significantly increasing the heat transfer rate across two different materials. Results of the team’s study could enable new advances in cooling computer chips and lighting-emitting diode (LED) devices, collecting solar power, harvesting waste heat and other applications.
Self-assembled monolayers create p-n junctions in graphene films
11 December, 2012 by John ToonA low-temperature, controllable and stable method has been developed to dope graphene films using self-assembled monolayers (SAM) that modify the interface of graphene and its support substrate. Using this concept, a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has created graphene p-n junctions - which are essential to fabricating devices - without damaging the material’s lattice structure or significantly reducing electron/hole mobility.
Milestone for instrument driver network
10 December, 2012National Instruments has announced that the NI Instrument Driver Network (IDNet) has reached a new milestone of 10,000 instrument drivers for automating stand-alone instrumentation.
Phoenix Contact TP 5000 series HMI product line
04 December, 2012Phoenix Contact has expanded its HMI product line to include the TP 5000 series. In addition to the high-performance Intel Atom 1.6 GHz CPU, the devices have a range of functions.
Some more electronics may stop us all seeing red about traffic lights
30 November, 2012 by Mike Smyth, specialist technical writerWhat is it with traffic lights? They often make me see red and seem to be stuck on that colour. They just don’t seem to have kept up with today’s traffic flow and demands on road space.
Implanting electronics into the brain
23 November, 2012If you’re thinking about the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’, you’re not entirely off base. University of Utah electrical engineering professor Florian Solzbacher is pushing the boundaries of electrical devices that can be implanted into the brain and used as an interface between neurons and computers.
Surprising findings could influence material choices in nanoelectronics
12 November, 2012To build the computer chips of the future, designers will need to understand how an electrical charge behaves when it is confined to metal wires only a few atom-widths in diameter. A team of physicists has shown that electrical current may be drastically reduced when wires from two dissimilar metals meet.
Faster, smaller electronics
24 October, 2012The dilute magnetic semiconductor gallium manganese arsenide could open up an entirely new class of faster, smaller devices based on ‘spintronics’. Materials of this type might be used to read and write digital information, not by using the electron’s charge, as is the case with today’s electronic devices, but by using its ‘spin’.
RS Components now a distribution partner for Arduino’s educational kit
08 October, 2012The Arduino Uno educational kit aids entry-level electronics design and prototyping.