2007

Designing User Interfaces for Cooperating Devices

Niall Murphy

It's hard enough to design a user interface for a standalone product. But when you have two devices that must work in concert, the level of difficulty multiplies.

Integrating and Evaluating Speech Algorithms

Nitin Jain

Maintaining the proper level of performance is the key to integrating speech algorithms.

Delivering Video Over IP Networks

Pankaj Gupta

Delivering broadcast and multicast video, on-demand media, and personalized content with a consistently high quality of experience (QoE) is no small task.

Pump Up The Volume With USB

Ed Tittel

Enlist the humble peripherals connector to deliver realistic surround-sound to clients' systems.

Toshiba's HD DVD Player: Pushing the Performance Envelop

Rich Nass

Because the HD DVD standard is relatively new, there were few shortcuts to be taken by the system's designers.

Designing and Debugging ROM-based Code

Arvind Chauhan

Assuming ROM is your memory of choice, proper debugging can save you loads of time and money.

Stacking Up High-speed Bluetooth Against Certified Wireless USB

Mike Foley

As ultra wideband (UWB) radio nears mass production, manufacturers and expert observers alike forecast a collision between the two major wireless protocols that will ride upon this new high-speed technology: high-speed Bluetooth wireless technology and Certified Wireless USB.

Vista: Not Cutting Edge, But Bleeding

David Gilbert

Why one system builder now advises his clients to postpone the move to Microsoft's newest operating system

Build A PDF Practice In A FlexSnap

Mario Morejon

FlexSnap is a complete multi-image viewer in a box.

How To Revive An Old PC With Linux

Ivan Schneider

Here's a short guide to getting your old clunker up and running again with a free Linux download and a reasonably quick installation.

Fundamentals of Power System ORing

Martin Patoka

Power ORing is an important tool in creating flexible and redundant powering systems.

Toward 1 Billion IPv6 Searches per Second

Dave Cech and Audrey Mendoza

To meet the search-performance challenge, equipment will move to DDR quad-SMDL lookup architectures with 80-bit interfaces that deliver 1 billion searches per second.

What is a Video Processor and Why Is It Important?

Jay Deame

The video processor plays the most significant role in picture quality today.

Build a Budget Gaming PC

Chuck Miller

Offer value-minded gamers an affordable but solid system today that can be upgraded tomorrow. Here's how.

Tear Down: ZapIt Game Console

Rich Nass

The challenges in this design were many, including adopting some high-volume components in a not-so-high-volume application.

Open Source Soft Microprocessors

Gordan Hands

FPGA designers are embedding soft microprocessors in an increasing number of designs.

The New Wave in Functional Verification: Algorithmic Testbench Technology

Mark Olen

Algorithmic testbenches are a proven technology for dealing with complex design challenges.

Airing of Ideas Urged In Imaging

Junko Yoshida

Technology innovations in digital imaging are stymied because there is very little opportunity for engineers to "air their ideas" with others in public.

Accelerometers and Free-fall Detection Protects Data and Drives

Bill Raasch

By anticipating a free-fall incident, you can design into your systems a "safe" condition that will improve the likelihood of saving precious data.

Return of the Thin Client

David Gilbert

They're baaack! Deploy Windows-based applications for remote access by thin-client PCs using Microsoft Terminal Services to secure and streamline the network.

RFID Basics

Jack Shandle

A basic RFID system consists of an antenna, transceiver with a decoder, and transponder.

Challenges in Wireless Sensor Networks

Jimi Simpson

The emergence of standards such as IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee have changed the market's perception of wireless technologies for sensor networks.

Advanced Video Frame Rate Conversion via Object-based Motion-compensated Interpolation

Andre Vincent and Demin Wang

High-quality frame rate conversion has proven more challenging than de-interlacing and other video processing functions commonly built into displays. CRC Canada has developed an advanced frame rate converter called CRC-FRC which can accurately estimate true motion trajectories, process motion occlusion, and generate high quality images and smooth motion.

Scientists Develop Mind-Reading Brain Scans

K.C. Jones

Researchers have demonstrated that brain scans can reveal peoples' intentions.

Parallel Processing Architecture Brings Advanced Vision Applications to Today's Cars

Jens Eltze

Technologies now on the road enable automotive design engineers to implement robust and powerful recognition algorithms, while meeting the stringent power consumption and operational constraints associated with automotive design.

How to Run Windows and Linux on a Single System

A. Lizard

VMware virtualization software lets system builders offer more functionality without higher costs. Here's how to get it working.

How To Protect Your Precious PC Data: From Physical Security To Encryption

David Strom

With computer and data theft on the rise, protecting your laptop or flash drive is more critical than ever. Fortunately, there are steps you can take, along with an array of encryption and security tools.

Fixed vs. Floating Point: A Surprisingly Hard Choice

Boris Lerner

Which is better: a fixed-point DSP or a floating-point DSP? The answer may surprise you -- and so may the reasons. This article shows how to make the right choice, using two $5 DSPs as examples.

Using Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers to Test Passive RFID tags

Elaine May

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) applications are rapidly growing as both reader and tag prices drop, and global markets expand.

Engineering Education Prepares for 2020

Richard Goering

Engineering education for 2020 and beyond will require a variety of skills not commonly taught in universities today, according to Leah Jamieson, dean of engineering at Purdue University and 2007 IEEE president.

Parallel Processing for Multi-core DSPs

Bruce Schulman and Zafer Zamboglu

Vendors are starting to introduce parallel-processor chips. But successfully porting applications from a low-performance uniprocessor to a high-performance parallel processor takes planning and some clever tools to get the desired parallel speedup.

Build This Cheap But Effective Firewall

Andy McDonough

Fight the bad guys without busting your budget. Here's all you'll need to create a low-cost, super-secure firewall using Linux-based freeware and an old PC.

Internet Appliances: Converged Platforms, Connectivity, and Intelligent Oversubscription

Mathew Steinberg

Internet Appliances, such as Firewalls, VPNs, Intrusion Detection Systems, Load Balancers and Content Switches, are becoming increasingly more powerful.

File Transfer Appliance Aims To Deliver -- Securely

Marc Spiwak

With the Courier SFTA, files and folders are encrypted, fingerprinted, compressed,and delivered via secure tunnels

Software Integration, Interoperability Key to Video-over-WiFi Mobile Phones

David Brown

Making videophones a reality

Ball Lightning Explained?

R. Colin Johnson

Ball lightning has mystified electricity researchers since Benjamin Franklin first flew his kite in 1752.

NASA Mandates UML for Next Space Telescope

Charles Babcock

To insure as much quality review up front as possible, NASA is telling each participant it must design and develop software using UML.

Break Free of the Mouse

Lamont Wood

Alternatives to the conventional mouse pointer can relieve users' physical stress while building up a profitable new market.

Keep Your Systems Cool

David Gilbert

By designing PCs for optimum cooling, system builders can lengthen their systems' useful lives -- and reduce the time spent servicing them

Camera Modules, Image Sensor Wafer-level Packaging, and Silicon Layout

Giles Humpston and Michael Nystrom

More is less in CMOS image sensor economics -- compromising silicon layout optimization can reduce the overall cost and form factor of solid state camera modules.

Achieving Optimum ADC Performance In Embedded Systems Design

Gary Hendrickson

An overview of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and recommendations on how to apply them successfully in an embedded design.

Review: openSUSE 10.2

Eric A. Hall

Eric Hall was looking for a Linux distro that combines stability with the capabilities needed to test bleeding-edge technology. After a long search, he found that openSUSE 10.2 was up to the job.

Games Online Bring Bandwidth Down

Nicolas Mokhoff

As CES celebrated its 40th year last week, gaming was front and center with Intel and Microsoft Xbox leading the way.

Integrating USB Into Products

Allan Neville

The USB specification defines everything from mechanical connectors and cables, all the way through operation of the system, network layers, and power management.

Establishing Mobile Security

Janne Uusilehto

An industry-wide open standard for mobile phone security promises to enable mobile phone information security assurance

H-P Paints the Big Picture

David Em

David examines Hewlett-Packard's 42-inch wide Designjet 5500 inkjet and the new $699 13-inch bed Photosmart Pro B9180.