Circuit Cellar Ink 193
August 2006

Table of Contents

4


Jennifer Huber

HTML Task Manager

Let the Sparks Fly

8


John Gorsky

New Product News

  • AS/SIST high-speed digital circuit simulator from What-If Design Software, LLC
  • VRS51L3074 FRAM-enhanced 8051 MCU from Ramtron International Corp.
  • MC9RS08KA family of 6-pin MCUs from Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
  • SMARTSWITCH development kits from NKK Switches
  • MCB58 industrial microcontroller board with CAN from Micro/sys, Inc.

12


Jason Wu
Kiran Kanukurthy
David Andersen

Portable Power

A Power Supply for Embedded Applications

This team of designers built an inductively charged power supply for embedded applications. The portable system provides 100-mA, 3.3-V continuous power.

Download: Wu_Andersen_Kanukurthy-193.zip

20


Chris Cantrell

Java Utility for Assembly Programmers

Chris's Blend tool enables you to blend assembly language and C-like program flow constructs to create an assembly file. Written in Java language, the tool is easy to customize.

Download: C_Cantrell-193.zip

28


Lane Hauck

Windows Volume Control

Lane's Windows Volume Control enables him to control the volume of applications running in Windows without having to use his mouse. The system plugs into his PC's USB port.

Download: Hauck-193.zip

34


Miguel Sanchez

Beam Up That Serial Port

Send Serial Communications Via the 'Net

Miguel recently needed remote access to a device designed to use a serial connection. Read on to learn about his unique solution to "teleport" serial communications via the Internet.

Download: Sanchez-193.zip

43


Brian Millier

Battery-Free Nonvolatile RAM

Do you have a RAM-hungry design in the works? If so, check out what Brian has to say about Ramtron International's integrated processor companions. They may be the perfect solution for your memory problems.

From the Bench

48


Jeff Bachiochi

Light Therapy

AC Phase Control for Changing Power Outputs

Jeff explains a high-tech lighting technique. You can use AC phase control to create slow-changing power outputs. Now you can truly control both the look and feel of your environment.

Download: Bachiochi-193.zip

52


Massimo Manca

Finite Machines and Microthreads

Massimo shows you how to simplify finite state machine design and implementation with only a C preprocessor. Now you can translate UML state charts and activity diagrams in C code. With Massimo's macros, the work is a snap.

Download: Manca-193.zip

56


Nicholas Clark
Adam Liechty

Preemptive OS for AVRs

Are you frustrated with the operating systems for Atmel AVR microcontrollers that you've been using? Try Nicholas and Adam's kaOS, which is a real-time preemptive operating system that loads and runs applications from Secure Digital media cards.

Download: Clark_Liechty-193.zip

Applied PCs

62


Fred Eady

Microcontroller-Free Design

A GP-22050 Plays the Role of MCU

Fred recently directed a GP-22050 waveform generator to play the role of microcontroller in a simple mechanical design. Read on to learn how he put a mechanical design in "microcontroller mode" without the help a microcontroller.

Download: Eady-193.zip

Above the Ground Plane

70


Ed Nisley

Voltage References

Ed provides some tips for choosing the right voltage reference. The measurements he covers should enable you to bring some additional accuracy to your next project.

76


Monte Dalrymple

Cyclic Redundancy Check

Understanding CRC Without Math

Do cyclic redundancy check (CRC) algorithms confuse you? Monte takes the complicated math out of the picture and uses the 32-bit polynomial used for Ethernet to show you how they work. As you'll see, CRC hardware is fairly straightforward.

Silicon Update

80


Tom Cantrell

Turning the Core-ner

Parallax is poised to bring multicore to the masses with its Propeller microcontroller. It looks like a mild-mannered microcontroller, but wait until you see what's under the hood.

Download: Cantrell-193.zip

93

Crossword Puzzle

94

Advertiser's Index / September Preview

96


Steve Ciarcia

HTML Priority Interrupt

Net Neutrality

FTP Directory for INK 193
Follow this link to order a copy of INK 193

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