OpenVPX

For 25 years, the VME architecture defined COTS systems that met the demand for increases in computing and connectivity. Successive generations of new processors provided more and more compute cycles, while VME bandwidth evolved in a...

Secure Software Flashing

More and more devices in our modern world come with a multitude and variety of embedded systems. An obvious example of this trend is today’s vehicles, which have dozens of electronic control units (ECUs) that control...

Cloud Computing: What Are the Networking Implications?

The growth of data centers and the concept of infrastructure as a service is leading to significant focus on cloud computing architectures. Pundits have proclaimed cloud computing as the...

The Physics of Failure: Predicting Reliability in Electronic Components

A lot has been written about Moore's Law and the potential limitations of semiconductor design and manufacturing in the future. Can we really continue to double the number...

VMEbus Processing Blade

Emerson Network Power (Tempe, AZ) has released the MVME4100 single-core, next-generation VMEbus processing blade that is suitable for industrial, medical, and defense/aerospace original equipment manufacturers. The...

AC/DC Switching Power Supply

The EPM-FPS-50 module from VersaLogic Corp. (Eugene, OR) is an effective method for supplying power to PC/104-type systems, including PC/104, PC/104-Plus, EBX, and EPIC platforms. The AC/DC switching power supply...

Touch Screen Panel PC

VIA Technologies, Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan) has introduced the VIA VIPRO VP7710 touch screen panel PC, a fullfeatured, fanless panel PC suitable for intelligent display applications in demanding environments. The VIA VIPRO is...

Single-Board RIO

National Instruments (Austin, TX) now offers NI Single- Board RIO devices for deploying embedded control and data acquisition applications. The eight sbRIO- 96xx devices combine an embedded real-time processor, reconfigurable...

High-Speed Development Tool

The MPLAB® ICD 3 from Micro - chip Technology Inc. (Chandler, AZ) is a cost-effective, high-speed development tool that supports in-circuit programming and debugging of Microchip's Flash-based 8-bit PIC®...

Wireless Ethernet Port Adapters

Based either on Bluetooth or Wireless LAN 802.11 technology, the Rugged Ethernet Port Adapters from connectBlue (Chicago, IL) are well suited for all Ethernet-based devices and systems in need of wireless...

Standalone LXI Digitizers

Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) now offers standalone high-resolution digitizers with LXI connectivity for R&D and manufacturing engineers. The Agilent L4532A 2- channel and L4534A 4-channel digitizers...

Embedded Database

Empress Software (Beltsville, MD) has announced that the Empress Ultra Embedded Database V10.20 works on Windows 7 Beta. Windows 7 Beta is Microsoft's next-generation operating system for PC users. The embedded database...

Three Steps to Cost Control: Addressing the Root Cause of Unexpected Product Costs

We often hear a common story from small and mid-size manufacturers. The VP of sales nails a really big order that will secure the company’s future — if the...

Wafer Level Camera Technology

Film cameras were traditionally manufactured by discrete assembly, which means each component was fabricated as an individual item, tested if necessary, and then assembled into the final working product. The advent...

Measuring the Color and Appearance of Special-Effect Paint

Manufacturers that design, formulate and apply coatings have struggled for years to find a rigorous and easy-to-use method that reliably measures the color and appearance of...

Product of the Month: Mini Fiber Laser Transmitter

RPMC (O’Fallon, MO) has introduced the new Manlight ML1550-PL-R-OEM mini laser transmitter for LIDAR, telemetry, or range finding applications. The ML1550-PL-R-OEM has a compact size of 90 ×...

Digital High-Speed Camera

The Phantom® v310 digital high-speed camera from Vision Research (Wayne, NJ) offers users a wide aspect ratio and a top speed of 3,400 frames-per-second (fps) at the camera’s maximum resolution of 1280 x 800. At...

Line Scan Camera

The DiViiNA line scan camera from e2v (Cedex, France) is a cost-effective industrial inspection camera that features 1024, 2048, and 4096 pixel sensors, running at 40 MHz and outputting 8 bits on Camera Link. The camera can be...

Illumination Design Software

LightTools® 6.2 illumination design and analysis software from Optical Research Associates (Pasadena, CA) is for applications ranging from LEDs to displays and luminaires. A backward ray tracing capability reduces...

Thru-Beam Sensors

UltraFrameTM self-contained thru-beam sensors from Balluff (Florence, KY) are ideal for error-proofing, process monitoring, and general automation tasks in a number of environments. The UltraFrame sensors’ one-piece housings...

Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

Novelx (Lafayette, CA) introduces the mySEM® compact field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) for imaging and characterizing nanoscale objects and materials. In a compact design that...

PbSe Thermal Imaging Array

The LIRA5S lead selenide (PbSe) thermal imaging array from Cal Sensors (Santa Rosa, CA) is sensitive in the 1.0 to 5.5μm wavelength region and has state-of-the art integrated electronics. LIRA5S can be programmed for...

Laser Diode Controller

VueMetrix (Sunnyvale, CA) has released the Vue-LV-15, a 15A high performance, low-cost laser diode controller based on a powerful microprocessor and proprietary current control algorithm. The Vue-LV-15 features an all...

Fiber Coupled Laser Modules

FiberLight fiber coupled laser modules from Modulight (San Jose, CA) are for applications in medical, industrial, defense, and research activities. The FiberLight products are based on the company’s broad-area...

Sensing Method Checks Refrigerant Levels, Saves Energy

A new “virtual refrigerant charge sensor" saves energy and servicing costs by indicating when air conditioners are low on refrigerant, preventing the units from working overtime....

Computing Cost-Effective Pollution Control Strategies

A new tool could help in choosing the best ways to control pollution on even the smallest of waterways. The tool analyzes data from an area, and can compute the most cost-effective...

A Step Toward Producing Plastic from Biomass

Researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have discovered a mild and relatively inexpensive procedure for removing oxygen from biomass. This procedure, if it...

New “Electronic Glue” Could Accelerate Advances in Solar Cells

Researchers at the University of Chicago and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an “electronic glue” that could speed up advances in...