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Editorial archive;

Mixed signal photos of earth (30 November 2010)
The performance required of satellite-based photography, along with its hostile environment and absolute necessity for no-maintnentaince operation, has placed huge demands on the electronics. Paul McCormack describes a mixed-signal environment and introduces a new AFE to facilitate it. More..

Semiconductors – Yesterday and today (30 September 2010)
The story of modern electronics is the story of the semiconductor. Rick Zarr looks back (and forward) at the influence of the semiconductor industry’s influence on society. More..

Software-defined radios enabled with ‘fastest’ 12-bit ADC (30 July 2010)
At 3.6 Giga-samples per second (GSPS), the ADC12D1800 from National Semiconductor is claimed to be 3.6 times faster than any other available 12-bit device. More..

EMI Robust Signal Path for Medical Diagnostic Equipment (29 March 2010)
Controlling EMI is critical in a medical environments, but becoming more tricky as more portable electronics finds its way into the hospitals. Carine Alberti discusses how to safely get round these issues, using the development of an ECG machine as an example. More..

Simple switchers mark new family (26 January 2010)
National Semiconductor has introduced the first three products in its Simple Switcher power module family. More..

No room for EMI around Medical Diagnostic Equipment (25 January 2010)
Due to the fact that increasing numbers of electronic devices in a hospital environment are transmitting data, the electromagnetic interference between the different pieces of equipment can cause malfunction. This article describes the general sources of EMI and the issues they are causing. Using the example of an electrocardiogram (ECG) system it will then be demonstrated how the new LMP2021 EMI hardened operational amplifier can be used to design a robust signal path. More..

Infotainment displays on the move (05 October 2009)
The industry’s first serializer and deserializer (SerDes) chipsets with a 65MHz clock. More..

Reducing energy consumption through efficient design (28 September 2009)
Richard Zarr examines several methods that can improve power consumption and reduce thermal requirements for devices. More..

Equal distribution (05 May 2009)
SDI cable equaliser simplifies design of equipment. More..

Fast conversion puts satellite in the picture (10 February 2009)
New fully space-qualified analogue solutions enable low-power, low-mass, high-performance satellite modules. Paul McCormack reports. More..

Simple selection for MOSFETs (19 December 2008)
National’s WEBENCH design environment enables novice as well as experienced power supply designers to easily ‘dial-in’ their size and efficiency requirements while also realising fast time to market. More..

Green designs (11 November 2008)
National Semiconductor has introduced six PowerWise energy-efficient subsystem reference designs. More..

Crosspoint switches reduce in-car power (16 September 2008)
Automotive grade LVDS 2 x 2 crosspoint switches reduce power consumption. More..

Tiny low power flyback converters (06 August 2008)
When challenged by the requirements for high input voltage capability, only a flyback solution using a simple controller and an off-the-shelf transformer will do More..

Solar technology boosts energy output (07 July 2008)
National Semiconductor claims that its SolarMagic photovoltaic technology increases energy output. More..

Thermopiles raise heat on gas detection (12 June 2008)
Thermopiles are favoured because they use infra-red, IR measurement technology, are not sensitive to temperature changes, and are economical to use. More..

Switching regulator provides up to 10A from a 3V to 75V input (04 June 2008)
An emulated current mode controlled buck-boost DC-DC regulator controller has been launched by National Semiconductor. More..

Low jitter generator simplifies video design (13 May 2008)
A multi-rate video clock generator delivers HD clock output jitter down to 40psec peak to peak. More..

Step-down switching regulators released (29 April 2008)
For handheld devices and automotive power adapters, National Semiconductor has launched two step-down switching regulators. More..

Driving forward LCDs in cars (14 January 2008)
While large panel LCDs (TV, desktop monitors, notebook monitors) exhibit standardisation and integration, automotive LCD architectures are still based on conventional concepts. More..

Amplifiers’ performance/power scales to tasks (01 November 2007)
Three amplifiers have been launched by National Semiconductor (www.nsc.com) and illustrate the company’s extension of the PowerWise, energy-efficiency initiative. More..

Why video can make engineers' eyes water (01 October 2007)
Everyone wants mobile video, delivered to PDAs, phones and media players, but it can make a grown design engineer cry, as it throws-up power management, display driver, form factor and audio integration horrors, writes CAROLINE HAYES More..

Simple Switcher adds six (01 March 2007)
Six high-frequency buck regulators have been added to its Simple Switcher range, by National Semiconductor (www.national.com) The company has also enhanced its Webench, its online design and prototyping environment, with a ‘dial-up’ adjustment to balance footprint and efficiency. More..

Next-generation SoC power management (01 March 2007)
The next-generation of SoCs will implement advanced forms of DVFS (dynamic voltage and frequency scaling) on the SoC. One way to achieve this is using National Semiconductor’s Advanced Power Controller IP More..