Circuit Cellar Ink 69
April 1996

Table of Contents

2


Ken Davidson

Task Manager

Political Arachnids

6

Reader I/O

Letters to the Editor

8


Harv Weiner

New Product News

12


Richard Pedreau

SPARC Telco Applications

In telecommunications, controllers are traditionally hardware based. However, Temic proposes a judicious mix of hardware and software. You gain the same performance for a fraction of the cost.

18


Richard Newman

Caller ID Fundamentals

As Caller ID has become popular, people want to know how to make the data available to computing devices. This introduction describes how information is transmitted, formatted, and decoded.

22


Willard Dickerson

Vehicular Control Multiplexing with CAN and J1850

Part 1: Vehicular Multiplexing Fundamentals

In this article, Willard lets engineers in on what vehicular multiplexing is, how systems interact, and how protocol is established. Why? So your automatic windows don't take precedence over your ABS.

28


Anindya Ray
Lee Hanson

The Embedded Sun

Part 1: Introduction to the Hardware

Although renowned as a workstation giant, Sun has be rather quiet in the embedded field -- until now. With microSPARClite, Sun hopes to make major inroads into high-end embedded applications.

33


Richard Pedreau

DSP in RISC Embedded Processors

35


John Burns

Fujitsu's SPARClite Alternatives

38


Pat Baird

Embedding a Message-Based System

Adding event-driven messaging code to embedded projects offers flexibility for evolving products. Pat shows how easy it is to implement such a scheme.

Download: MESSAGE.C

Embedded PC

44


Harv Weiner

Nouveau PC

Embedded PC

49


David L. Feldman

Embedded Computer Design

Rethinking Embedded PC System Integration

Is there room for a new form factor in the embedded systems market? New chip-based plug-in modules with ISA compatibility offer designers another way to speed embedded designs to market.

Embedded PC

55


Vinit Nijhawan

Designing and Building PCs for Harsh Environments

For computers to work in harsh environments, extra care must go into the design and manufacturing of the systems. Vinit characterizes harsh environments, examining what design criteria are needed for specific stresses.

Embedded PC

63


Rick Lehrbaum

PC/104 Quarter

The Soft Side of PC/104

Rick takes a step away from hardware to zero in on what's available on the software side of PC/104. After a brief overview on embedded DOS applications, he focuses on real-time software, Windows, and the BIOS.

Embedded PC

72


Russ Reiss

Applied PCs

Packaging Embedded PCs

Far too often, packaging is left to the end of the design phase. However, it can make the difference between a design being a kludge and a reliable product. Russ categorizes design types, suggesting which type is best to use when.

78


Ed Nisley

Firmware Furnace

80x86 Performance: Cache Craziness Redux

The ads boast a 133-MHz Pentium with L1 and L2 cache. What does it all mean and how does it affect your final productivity? Ed begins taking a look at how memory cache helps (and sometimes hinders) system performance.

84


Jeff Bachiochi

From the Bench

LEDs Finally Fill the Rainbow

The last hurdle preventing full-color LEDs is now being cleared. After reviewing how the eye and color LEDs work, Jeff hooks the LEDs up to a PIC-controlled circuit which manages current to produce all the colors of the rainbow.

Download: FTB69.ZIP

90


Tom Cantrell

Silicon Update

Fuzzy PID-Pong

In INK 67, Tom introduced Adaptive Logic's fuzzy logic chip, the AL220. This month, he puts the chip through its paces using the PID-Pong machine. His goal: to automatically control the fan to levitate a ping-pong ball.

81

Advertiser's Index

98


Ken Davidson

ConnecTime -- Excerpts from the Circuit Cellar BBS

112


Steve Ciarcia

Priority Interrupt

Not Just Ferengi Values

FTP Directory for INK 69
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