« July 2008 | Main | September 2008 »

August 2008 Archives

August 12, 2008

The alpha and omega of electronics industry interviews

robin%20saxby.jpg ARM chairman, Sir Robin Saxby, begins our list of interviews


Read all the Electronics Weekly Q5 interviews

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 12, 2008 8:28 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 4, 2008

An Engineer in Wonderland - Roller clutches

roller clutch.jpgI am currently driving to work as my bicycle has a fault which is in danger of becoming a saga.

A long long time ago far far away, I bought a back wheel.

And within the back wheel was a novel freewheel mechanism based on a roller clutch rather than the standard pawl system that has served cycling well for a century.

A roller clutch is a bit like a roller bearing: It has two concentric cylinders, one inside the other, and between them are metal rollers.

The cunning bit is that, unlike a roller bearing, ramps cut into the surface of one of the cylinders - one ramp per roller- make the gap between the cylinders vary slightly above and below the diameter of a roller.

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - Roller clutches" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 4, 2008 4:45 PM | | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

The A - Z of wireless comms

Nokia phones.jpgTo help guide you through the mist of wireless network information, we have broken down the best of our coverage into bite-sized, manageable morsels for you to digest at your leisure - namely, an easy to use A - Z guide of wireless communications.

Of course, feel free to read more about wireless networks, with the link provided to Wireless networks: Your Electronics Weekly guide.

A - Z of Wireless Comms
A Antenova
B Bluetooth
C CSR
D DAB radio
E EDGE
F Frequencies
G GPS
H Hotspots
I iPhone
J Japan
K Ku band
L Last 25 metres
M MIMO
N Near Field Comms
O Ofcom
P Penguin
Q Qualcomm
R RF
S Samsung
T Texas Instruments
U ULP Bluetooth
W WiMax
X 802.11x
Z ZigBee
Slicing and dicing the
spectrum of wireless
technology

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 4, 2008 11:59 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 8, 2008

An Engineer in Wonderland - Big Science

cern icon-velo-2008-001.gifI admire the search of knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

And I particularly admire it when lots of engineers get paid to design interesting and challenging stuff to support the science.

Which is why I was particularly impressed when a friend drew my attention to some pictures from the Large Hadron Collider under the boarders of Switzerland and France.

Wow - to the scale of the thing, and the courage of the vision that made it possible.

'Alice'

Reply below, or to alice@electronicsweekly.com

(Pictured: Three modules of the LHCb Vertex Locator in the H8 test beam in the North Area)

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 8, 2008 1:58 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

August 13, 2008

Q5 interview - Ian Bell, National Instruments

13aug08Ian Bell.jpg Just a reminder - the latest Q5 interview with Ian Bell, technical marketing manager at National Instruments is live online.

He talks to Electronics Weekly about how graphical test and development tools can address the challenges of programming multicore processor systems.

The five questions this week are:

What is the biggest challenge for computing system developers in the move to parallel systems and multicore processors?

What are the new programming methods and tools, and application models needed to make this happen?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Ian Bell, National Instruments" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 13, 2008 8:53 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

IET seminar: Designs on the Games

stadium.jpgDesigners of technology systems for major sports events will come under the spotlight at a seminar, which is sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

It will highlight accessibility issues, especially for disabled and older people.

The event is based on a background report by Dr John Gill, Chief Scientist of the RNIB, which calls upon Government departments, standard-setting organisations, commercial companies and user bodies to help make life easier for people with disabilities, by employing a range of the latest technologies from radio frequency identification devices to biometric systems.

Continue reading "IET seminar: Designs on the Games" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 13, 2008 1:14 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 19, 2008

Summer holidays - you can't beat them

visit korea.jpgSummer holidays. You can't beat them, so I'm going to join them...

It's just a quick post to say I'm off on my summer hols for a couple of weeks.

There'll be plenty of activity going on around the rest of the site from the Electronics Weekly team, so don't give EW.com a holiday, but this old web editor will be resting his well-deserved bones, for a fortnight.

Continue reading "Summer holidays - you can't beat them" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 19, 2008 9:30 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 14, 2008

The best semiconductor investment ever?

TSMC fab 14.jpgOne of the best investments ever made in the semiconductor industry. That's how David Manners covers the story of Philips selling its last shares in TSMC, the dedicated semiconductor foundry.

Philips started TSMC in partnership with the Taiwan government 22 years ago (Fab 14 is pictured).

In 1986, the Taiwan authorities were floating the idea of a silicon foundry in which the world's existing chip firms could invest in return for capacity. The offer was open to all, but only Philips took it up, writes David Manners.

It is believed that Philips made no financial investment in the project, contributing instead its process technology, chip design capability, and its fab-building and manufacturing expertise. Now TSMC is worth over NT$1.5trn, or $50bn, on the stock market.

Continue reading "The best semiconductor investment ever?" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 14, 2008 2:19 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 15, 2008

An Engineer in Wonderland - LCDs get 'greener'

Fujitsu screen.jpgI have been agonising over buying a new computer monitor for ages.

There is a bewildering array available and the questions that need answering include:
  • 22" 1280x1024 or 24" 1680x1050?
  • Twisted nematic, in-plane switched, or some other technology?
  • A brand or a cheapie?
  • HD-ready just in case I ever watch DVDs?
So many questions, and so little decisiveness.

But I may have a way to cut the choice down - Alice's Razor is to be energy consumption. 

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - LCDs get 'greener'" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 15, 2008 8:04 AM | | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Pushing the boundaries of electronics and technology

20aug08Metamaterial2 full small.jpgMake sure you bookmark our Research section if you want to keep up with the very latest developments, pushing the boundaries of electronics and technology.


For example, recent Research & Development stories include:

* Not quite the "cloak of invisibility", but metamaterials that bend visible and infra-red light backwards

* Bucky gel enables stretchable conductors made carbon nanotubes and polymer material

* Surrey University unveils nanotransistor theory for polycrystalline silicon

Continue reading "Pushing the boundaries of electronics and technology" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 15, 2008 3:12 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 18, 2008

An Engineer in Wonderland - The Syphon of Eden

eden project.jpgA few years ago I went to the Eden Project in Cornwall.

It is a huge garden with enormous geodesic greenhouses (the largest in the world) in an old quarry.

It is great, go there, take the kids

However, for a place which wraps itself in the 'green' flag, it does consume a lot of stand-by power - several kW in fact.

Why?

Well, like most old quarries, it would quite like to have a lake in the bottom.

Continue reading "An Engineer in Wonderland - The Syphon of Eden" »

Tags:

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 18, 2008 3:42 PM | | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

About August 2008

This page contains all entries posted to Electro-ramblings in August 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.

July 2008 is the previous archive.

September 2008 is the next archive.

More posts can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Subscribe to this blog's feed
[What is this?]

Search


Powered by
Movable Type 4.37