Anadigm's Programmable Analog IC Sets the Course in Teleflex Canada Steering Application.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Anadigm(R), the programmable analog company, today announced that its field programmable analog arrays (FPAAs) are being used in watercraft steering modules manufactured by Teleflex Canada, where the configurable Anadigm(R) device helps to reduce component count while providing a high level of design flexibility.

In the Teleflex Canada Seastar steering system, Anadigm(R)'s AN121E04 FPAA interfaces to a linear variable distance transducer (LVDT) to sense the position of a hydraulic spool. Designed by Teleflex engineers using the drag-and-drop AnadigmDesigner(R)2 EDA software, the AN121E04 implementation provides a highly accurate synchronized demodulator for the steering application while performing offset and phase adjustments for which external components were previously needed.

"The AN121E04 helped us bring this new system to market very quickly by enabling true hardware and software concurrent engineering. The AnadigmDesigner(R)2 EDA software allowed us to create two totally different designs more rapidly than would have been possible with any other solution," said Ray Wong, design leader, electro-mechanical, at Teleflex Canada. "We were also very pleased with the in-depth, knowledgeable application support that Anadigm(R) provided."

Part of the Anadigmvortex product family, the AN121E04 FPAA works with AnadigmDesigner(R)2 and software Configurable Analog Modules (CAMs) to allow users to greatly reduce the time required to design, simulate, and implement complex analog functions.

"The traditional analog design methodology uses many discrete components, which can be difficult and time-consuming in both the design and debug phases of the project," said Bill McLean, president of Anadigm(R). "The savings in engineering development time that comes from working at the higher functional level provided by AnadigmDesigner(R)2 and the FPAAs can be dramatic, and this pays off doubly for these companies by getting their products to market sooner while spending less money in the development process."

Typical applications for which the AN121E04 is being used include signal conditioning, filtering, data acquisition and closed-loop control in RFID, audio, medical, industrial, communications, automatic test equipment and instrumentation systems.

FPAA technology has the ability to dynamically reprogram the analog functions while the end application is running. This gives the designer the flexibility to implement new features such as auto-ranging and auto-calibration, and also to have the device change functionality sequentially over time to support multiple operating modes, thus providing savings in the overall analog circuit cost. Another way this can benefit the designer is to use the FPAA to connect to multiple analog sensors and provide the appropriate interface circuit using one integrated device. In the Teleflex application, the FPAA provides a robust analog implementation that avoids the temperature and process drift common to discrete solutions and the up-front costs associated with ASICs.

The AN121E04 features include a 100-dB narrowband signal-to-noise ratio as well as an extended bandwidth of DC to 2 MHz, depending on the application. An advanced input/output structure, with four configurable I/O cells and two dedicated output cells, allows the AN121E04 to be programmed with up to six outputs. For I/O-intensive applications, this means a single FPAA can be used to process multiple channels of analog signals where two or more such devices were previously needed. In addition, the AN121E04 allows designers to implement an integrated 8-bit analog-to-digital converter on the FPAA, eliminating the potential need for an external converter. Using this new device, designers can route the digital output of the A/D converter off-chip using one of the dedicated output cells.

Designers program the AN121E04 using AnadigmDesigner(R)2, a drag-and-drop EDA tool that enables the design and implementation of complex analog circuits within a matter of minutes. CAMs provided with AnadigmDesigner(R)2 pre-package common analog functions for which the user sets the parameters. Simply by dragging and dropping CAMs, designers can create a complete analog system on the FPAA, simulate it immediately, and then download it to the FPAA chip for testing and validation.

Packaged in the 44-pin QFP, samples and production quantities of the AN121E04 are available now. Pricing in 10,000-piece quantities for U.S. delivery starts at $8.95.

A multimedia demonstration of the AnadigmDesigner(R)2 EDA tool can be viewed at the Anadigm(R) Web site at www.anadigm.com. A complete evaluation kit with a development board, entry-level software, and updated documentation is now available for $199.

About Anadigm(R)

Anadigm(R) brings platform-based design to the analog world with pre-qualified software and hardware components that allow complex analog circuits to be implemented in an analog equivalent to the FPGA. Designed to implement signal conditioning, filtering, data acquisition, closed-loop control, and other analog functions in a wide range of embedded systems, Anadigm(R) FPAAs are the first programmable analog ICs that can adapt on the fly to perform multiple functions, adjust to different environmental conditions, or compensate for aging equipment. Founded in January 2000 as a venture-backed technology spinoff from Motorola, Anadigm(R) maintains U.S. headquarters in Tempe, Ariz. and European headquarters in Crewe, United Kingdom. For further information, visit Anadigm on the Web at www.anadigm.com.

Anadigm(R) is a registered trademark of Anadigm(R). All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.