Electronics For You - March 2009 (Malestrom) PDF

Salary Survey Results Tips for Buying
of Electronics Industry Personal Music Players
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South Asias Most Popular Electronics Magazine
march 2009 Vol. 41 No. 3
Stage All Set for
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Make A Versatile
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Flexible Circuits
Getting Better
Scatternets Rekindle
Hope in Bluetooth
A Smart Charger
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Vol. 41 No. 3
march 2009
41st Year
of Publication
Since January 1969

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Contents
28
Editor
: Ramesh Chopra
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Printed, published and owned by Ramesh Chopra. Printed at Nutech

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of each month and published from D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi
110020. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction of
any material from this magazine in any manner without the written permission of
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Qs&As.......................................................... 16
TECHNOLOGY NEWS..................................... 20
Circuit Ideas.............................................. 81
New Products......................................... 115
INDUSTRY NEWS......................................... 118
EFY Report
Salary Survey: Electronics Industry

Maintaining a Vigil
Electronics Mart................................... 130
48
Manufacture
ADVERTISERS INDEX ................................. 145
52
Construction
60
Construction
87
Software Section
92
Power Supply
Biz Ads...................................................... 123

Bookshelf............................................... 142
Subject & ORGANISATION INDEX............... 144
Flexible Circuits Getting Better
Microcontroller-based Ring Tone Player
Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries
107
Do-IT-Yourself
112
Wireless
m a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro ni c s f o r yo u
73
Buyers Guide

Worlds
First 200Hz LCD TV

Gen-next Keyboards and Pianos

Multimedia Projectors

Affordable Mobile Phones

Portable Music System

Portable DLP Projectors

Tabletop Desktops

Ultra-Short-Throw Projector

Airtel IPTV Service
Personal Music Players
Reading the Datasheets of

Electronic DevicesPart 1 of 3
A Versatile Frequency Counter
Bluetooth Scatternets: A Cost-Effective

Solution for Communication
Interview
*For anniversary offer, refer to page no. 75
First Look!
LAN-based Online Exam
100
140
68
PC-based Wireless Stepper

Motor Control
Design
Period
Domestic
Digital
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LETTERS ..................................................... 12
36
ISSN-0013-516X
Technology Focus
Thin-film modules reduce the cost

of energy generation Dr Randhir
Thakur, senior VP and gm of Applieds
SunFab Thin Film Solar and Display
Business Group, and Rajiv Arya,
CEO of Moser Baer Photovoltaic
(MBPV)
Technology Focus:
LED Lighting
Buyers Guide:
Which Watch?
Survey/EFY Report:
Embedded Systems
w w w. e f y m ag . co m
EFY-CD Page
In this Months
Focus on
Multimedia
TOP 4 software
MultiMedia Office
FreeMat
Scilab
Abiword 2.6.6
m a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
Video DVD Maker.
Video DVD
Maker is a flexible, easy-to-use and focused DVD maker. It allows you to get
high-quality output, even if you dont
know the subtleties of recording technology. The intuitive interface leads you
through a comprehensive set of logical
steps to capture and output DVDs.
Video DVD Maker enables you
to capture video from various video
devices, including TV tuners and Web
cameras, as well as import video from
any video file, including AVI, DivX,
XVID, MPEG-4, MPG, WMV, ASF and
MOV. You can easily play these videos
on your home DVD player after burning to a CD/DVD.
Avidemux. Avidemux is a free
video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It
supports many file types, including
AVI, DVD-compatible MPEG files,
MP4 and ASF, using a variety of
codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful
scripting capabilities. Avidemux is
available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X
and Microsoft Windows.
MultiMedia Office. MultiMedia Office is ideal for business,
home or educational use. Create or edit
documents, spreadsheets, drawings,
presentations, photos, databases, web-
pages, audio and video. And combine

these different elements into a single
file that meets the ISO standard open
document format.
FreeMat. FreeMat is a free environment for rapid engineering, scientific prototyping and data processing.
It is similar to commercial systems
such as MATLAB from MathWorks
and IDL from Research Systems. It is
open-source and runs on Windows,
Linux and Mac OS X.
Scilab. This open-source software provides a powerful computing
environment for engineering and
scientific applications. It includes
hundreds of mathematical functions
with the possibility to add interactively
programs from various languages (C,
C++, Fortran, etc). It has sophisticated
data structures (including lists, polynomials, rational functions and linear
systems), an interpreter and a highlevel programming language.
Abiword 2.6.6. AbiWord is a
free wordprocessing program similar
to Microsoft Word. It currently runs on
Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It has a comprehensive language
database with multiple languages, support for tables and footnotes, as well as
a spell checker and an advanced grammar checking system.
Letters
Invitation
Border Security Force Communication
and IT Directorate, CGO Complex,
New Delhi, is a subscriber to EFY magazine. The articles published in EFY are
very educative and these are passed on
to technical staff in the ranks of DIGs,
commandants and deputy commandants. On behalf of the directorate, we
invite writers of such topics as new
telecom services on the way, WiFi and
WiMAX, 3G audio management and
telemedicine to deliver lectures at our
headquarter.
B.S. Kushwah, DIG
Through e-mail
EFY-CD Content
Many thanks for providing Ubuntu operating system in the EFY-CD of January issue. Its a very good operating
system. Please publish some software
and circuit diagrams for programming the Atmel microcontroller under
Ubuntu operating system.
Subrat Kumar Mallik
Through e-mail
Please include:
1. Free software like OCR in the
EFY-CD.
2. Buyers guide on car stereos in
the magazine.
Jiji Abraham
Kochi
Test for Technocrats

I suggest EFY to conduct a technical
test for the technocrats nationally. This
will help those who are doing research
work in various fields of electronics.
Anshul C. Kansara
Navsari
Software Codes
The software codes of technical articles published in EFY magazine are
provided only in the accompanying
CD. I request EFY to provide all the
codes online. I have subscribed to EFY
magazine online, but could not find the
subscription number after login to this
site. Please tell me where can I find it.
Gerard Canekeratne
Oman
EFY: Thanks for pointing out an area
for improvement. We have taken up
this project, and it will be implemented
1 2 m a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
very soon. Subscription numbers are

currently not available on the website.
Designing Low-Power
Products
Thanks for publishing the article series
Designing Low-power Products Using
MSP430 Microcontrollers in January
and February issues. I request you to
publish a similar kind of article series
on Cypress CY3270 and Texas Instruments MSP430RF2500 microcontrollers.
I also suggest you to provide a
reference booklet on MSP430F2013,
CY3270, Atmega16 and MSP430RF2500
instruction sets and pin configurations
with EFY magazine every quarter.
It would be useful to hobbyists, students and professionals in working on
projects or preparing for interviews.
Maneesh Sharma
Navi Mumbai
Circuit Ideas of
Anniversary Issue
I have been a regular reader of EFY for
many years. In January issue, I have
noticed that:
1. In Running LED Lights circuit,
a 12V transformer has been used. I feel
a 7.5V or 9V transformer will be a better choice for logical and economical
reasons.
2. In Top 10 Circuits, two emergency light circuits and two 3-phase
application circuits have been included, which are electrical in nature. You
should publish a variety of circuits for
different readers.
Rakesh P.
Through e-mail
EFY: Thanks for your feedback and
interest in EFY magazine. As regards
your observations:
1. Use of a 12V transformer in the
Running LED Light circuit is alright
in a hobbyist circuit design. Optimisation can always be done by the users
for whatever reason they may think
appropriate.
2. The two emergency light circuits
are quite different and these were
chosen based on the readers feedback
on EFY website. The automatic phase
changer is designed for balancing the
loads on different phases and also for
DTH TV
The article titled Which DTH TV for
You? published in February issue, was
authored by Amit Goel, with some inputs from Uma Bansal. We are sorry, Mr
Goels name was inadvertently left out as
author of the article.
Mr Goel has several years experience in the field and runs his own blog,
which can be seen at http://amitslab.
com/blog
providing supply to essential loads

in the event of failure of a particular
phase, whereas the three-phase appliance protector provides supply to
the appliance only when all the three
phase are available. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, selection of these two
circuits was also based on the readers
feedback.
Heart Rate Meter

Regarding the Microcontroller-based
Heart Rate Meter project published in
May 2008 issue, I have the following
queries:
1. In the software program, it is
mentioned that time is noted down
after the end of three crossings. Are
these three crossings related to P, R, T
waves? In practice, while measuring
ECG, the ECG waveform also consists
of time period after T wave of the
first ECG and before P wave of the
second ECG waveform. Thus the time
should be read before P wave of the
next ECG.
2. The time taken from time-count
register is converted in terms of the
number of 4ms intervals. I dont understand why 4ms interval is taken?
3. How can I stop the ambient light
from interfering with the readings?
Ms Amruta Pise
Mumbai
The author Prof. K Padmanabhan
replies:
1. Do not confuse ECG with the blood
flow signal into the finger. It is just
the blood flow signal that is used for
counting here. Refer to the waveform
shown in the article.
2. You can use any unit for measuring time, provided you know the basic
unit; just as you can measure weight in
grams or kilograms, depending on the
measured value.
Letters
Here 4 ms is well-nigh sufficient.
If we measure in 1ms units, well get
a larger number for the time unit between two (blood) pulses, and we will
then be using a larger divisor to find
the rate of blood flow per minute.
3. The problem of ambient light has
been explained in the text. Please read
the article thoroughly and your doubts
will be cleared.
Speedometer-cumOdometer
I have constructed the Microcontroller-based Speedometer-cum-Odometer
project published in Nov. 2008 issue, as
per the instructions given in the text.
I have downloaded the hex file but
nothing was displayed on the LCD
screen. Also, the Assembly program is
not clear. Please help.
Anil Patil
Ulhasnagar
Regarding this project, I have the
following doubts:
1. How to make the LCD module
illuminate?
2. What is the name of the box
that encloses the LCD module and the
circuit board, and how to fix it in the
handle-bar?
3. Do I need to provide water-resistive coating for the reed switch?
4. What changes are to be made in
the program and the circuit, so that it can
be used in my Honda Unicorn bike?
Roshan George V.
Cochin
The author Arun Kumar Vadla replies
to Anil Patil:
If you are testing the project on a
simulator software, nothing will display on the LCD. You have to test
the project in real hardware after
programming the microcontroller,
first with init eeprom.hex program
and then with speedo.hex program.
The Assembly code is well commented.
Youll find explanation of each line of
the code. I have been using this speedometer since one-and-a-half years and it
is working well without any problem.
Reply to George Roshan:
1. Backlight connections are usually
made at pins 15 and 16 of the LCD
module. The anode (pin 15) should be
connected to +5V DC through a series
resistor. Connect the cathode (pin 16)

to GND.
2. There is no particular name for
the enclosure, but I have used the enclosure of an electronic choke and made a
slot according to LCD dimensions.
3. Since reed switch is encapsulated
in glass, it does not require any special
coating.
4. In the article, I have given the
formula for modifying the program for
any wheel dimensions. First, calculate
the radius of the wheel and then use
the formula given in the text to get the
constant. I have illustrated these steps
in the article, so please read carefully.
Mobile Bug
Regarding the Mobile Bug project
published in January 2008 issue, I have
the following queries:
1. It is mentioned in the article that
the circuit can sense the presence of an
activated mobile phone. Does it mean
a switched-on mobile phone without
call/SMS/data transmission?
2. Can we use an FM radios telescopic antenna in place of the 12.7cm
(5-inch) antenna shown in the circuit
diagram?
Prakash
New Delhi
The author D. Mohan Kumar replies:
1. The mentioned circuit senses an activated mobile phone. That is, switch on
the circuit and it will detect the signals
in response to a call, SMS or video recording in the mobile phone.
2. A small telescopic antenna can
be used. The antenna is not necessary
if the 0.22F capacitor is protruding
from the case.
Staircase Light
In the Staircase Light With Auto
Switch Off circuit published in January issue, the schematic diagram is
wrong. Pin 2 of IC 555 appears at two
locations.
Ramasamy
Mysore
EFY: Thanks for pointing out the printing error in the circuit diagram. In the
circuit tested, pins 6 and 7 of 555 timer
are shorted at the junction of resistor R7 and capacitor C4. Kindly read
wrongly-printed pin 2 as pin 7.
Qs&As
is the difference beQ1. What
tween condensers and capacitors?
Sunil Prasad
Through e-mail
From electrical engineering
point of view, condensers
and capacitors are the same. However,
you may often come across condensers also being referred to as devices
used to condense vapour into liquid, a
range of laboratory glassware used to
remove heat from fluids, heat exchangers installed in steam-electric power
stations to condense turbine exhaust
steam into water, air coils used in
HVAC refrigeration systems, a group
of lenses mounted below the stage of
an optical microscope to concentrate
light, and condenser microphones that
convert sound waves into an electrical
signal.
An ideal capacitor is characterised by a single constant value called
capacitance. This is defined as the
ratio of the amount of charge in each
conductor to the potential difference
between them. The unit of capacitance
is thus coulombs per volt, or farads.
Higher capacitance indicates that more
charge can be stored at a given voltage.
In practice, the insulator allows a small
amount of current through, called leakage current. The conductors add a series
resistance (specifically called equivalent
series resistance), and the insulator has
an electric field strength limit resulting
in a breakdown voltage.
The properties of capacitors in a
circuit may determine the resonant frequency and quality factor of a resonant
circuit, power dissipation and operating
frequency in a digital logic circuit, energy capacity in a high-power system,
and many other important aspects.
A1.
is the working principle

Q2. What
behind touchscreen mobiles?
How do they differ from ordinary mobiles? What are their drawbacks?
Anuja Wadatkar
Through e-mail
Mobile phones may use two
types of input devices. In reg-
A2.
ular mobile phones, a keypad type of

device is used, which is mounted separately from the screen of the cellphone.
Whereas in touchscreen cellphones,
a touch screen is a cellphone display
screen that also acts as an input device.
The touchscreens are sensitive to pressure; a user interacts with the mobile
applications by touching pictures or
words on the screen.
Most mobile phone keyboards are
basic in that they use a tactile surface
you are accustomed to touching, and
underneath is a basic rubber peg (black
dot) which travels some depth until it
encounters resistance in the form of
the actual keyboard surface which is
sometimes called a bubble board. This
is basically a semi-circle of aluminium
shaped in the form of a dome and
provides that springing effect of key
and feedback on your finger when you
press down and the button regains its
at-rest shape and normal position.
Touchscreen technologies used
in mobile phones include resistive,
capacitive and surface-wave based
system.
Resistive. The resistive system
consists of a normal glass panel that is
covered with conductive and resistive
metallic layers. These two layers are
held apart by spacers, and a scratchresistant layer is placed on top of the
whole setup. An electrical current runs
through the two layers while the monitor is operational.
When a user touches the screen,
the two layers make contact exactly at
that spot. The change in the electrical
field is noted and the coordinates of
the point of contact are calculated by
the processor. Once the coordinates are
known, a special driver translates the
touch into something that the operating system can understand, much as a
computer mouse driver translates the
movements of a mouse into a click or a
drag. The change in the electrical current is registered as a touch event and
sent to the controller for processing.
Resistive touchscreen panels are
generally more affordable but offer
only 75 per cent clarity and the layer
can be damaged by sharp objects. Resistive touchscreen panels are not

affected by outside elements such as
dust or water.
Capacitive. In the capacitive system, a layer of an electroconductive
material (most often indium tin-oxide)
that stores electrical charge is placed on
the glass panel of the monitor. When a
user touches the monitor with his finger, some of the charge is transferred
to the user, so the charge on the capacitive layer decreases. This decrease is
measured in circuits located at each
corner of the monitor. The computer
calculates, from the relative differences
in charge at each corner, exactly where
the touch event took place and then
relays that information to the touchscreen driver software.
One advantage of the capacitive
system over the resistive system is
that it transmits almost 92 per cent of
the light emitted from the monitor,
whereas the resistive system transmits
only about 75 per cent. This gives the
capacitive system a much clearer picture than the resistive system. Also,
the capacitive system has a very long
life (about 225 million clicks). The
bad news is that this touchscreen type
cannot be activated by contact with
inanimate objects (e.g., the gloves that
you might be wearing).
There are mainly two subtypes:
one cannot register more than one
touch at a time, while the other, called
MultiTouch (used in Apple iPhone
and iPod) does.
Surface wave. Surface-wave technology uses ultrasonic waves that pass over
the touchscreen panel. On the monitor
of a surface acoustic wave system, two
transducers (one sending and the other
receiving) are placed along the x and
y axes of the monitors glass plate.
Also placed on the glass are reflectorsthese reflect an electrical signal
sent from one transducer to the other.
The receiving transducer is able to tell
whether the wave has been disturbed
by a touch event at any instant, and can
locate it accordingly. When the panel
is touched, a portion of the wave is
Qs&As
+12V
C1
1
16V
XTAL
IC1
AT89
C2051
5
C2
33p
10
19
10
18
18
17
17
16
16
IC2
ULN
2803
LED2
20
15
15
14
13
12
12
11
14
RL1-RL5 = 12V, 1C/O RELAY

LED1-LED5 = 5mm RED LED
RL3
N/O
R4
N/C
RL4
N/O
R5
R2-R6 = 2.2K
XTAL = 11.052MHz
N/O
N/C
13
RL2
R3
LED3
C1
33p
4
BLUETOOTH
MODULE
N/O
N/C
LED4
1
2
R1
56K
RL1
R2
N/C
LED5
CELLULAR
PHONE
COMMUNICATION
ADAPTER
RNW-10K x 8
CTS-1
VCC
GND
TX-0
RX-1
RTS-0
BLUETOOTH
CELLULAR
PHONE
INTERNET
LED1
+5V
R6
RL5
N/O
N/C
DEVICE 1
230V
AC
50Hz
DEVICE 2
230V
AC
50Hz
DEVICE 3
230V
AC
50Hz
DEVICE 4
230V
AC
50Hz
DEVICE 5
230V
AC
50Hz
Circuit for home appliance control via Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone
absorbed. This change in the ultrasonic

waves registers the position of the touch
event and sends this information to the
controller for processing.
The wave setup has no metallic
layers on the screen, allowing for 100
per cent light throughput and perfect
image clarity. This makes the surface
acoustic wave system best for displaying detailed graphics (both the other
systems have significant degradation
in clarity). Surface-wave touchscreen
panels are the most advanced of the
three types, but these can be damaged
by outside elements.
Another area in which the systems
differ is the way stimuli is registered
as a touch event. A resistive system
registers a touch as long as the two layers make contact, which means that it
doesnt matter if you touch it with your
finger or a rubber ball. A capacitive
system, on the other hand, must have a
conductive input, usually your finger,
in order to register a touch. The surface
acoustic wave system works much like
the resistive system, allowing a touch
with almost any objectexcept hard
and small objects like a pen tip.
can we interface a blueQ3. How
tooth module with a microcontroller to control devices like door1 8 m a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
locks and lights from a cellphone?

Premrashan Nair
Bangaluru
The circuit of a simple cellphone-based device-control
system using bluetooth communication link and microcontroller is shown
above. It can be easily designed by engineering students and hobbyists. The
advantage of bluetooth technology is
that it doesnt require line-of-sight for
signal transmission from the transmitter to the receiver.
This device control system overcomes the problems of manual switching (on/off) of different devices
through bluetooth-enabled cellphone
communicating with the bluetooth
module interfaced with the microcontroller. It is a simple and cost-effective design to solve the problem of
remote control for whatever reason it
may be.
The circuit consists of a cellphone
attached to a bluetooth adaptor (one
could use a cellphone having inbuilt
bluetooth), a bluetooth module interfaced with microcontroller AT89C2051,
a driver IC ULN2803, five 12V relays,
LEDs and associated discrete components.
At the heart of the circuit is microcontroller IC AT89C2051 (IC1). It is
A3.
a 20-pin, 8-bit microcontroller with 2

kB of Flash programmable and erasable read-only memory (PEROM), 128
bytes of RAM, 15 input/output lines,
two 16-bit timers/counters, a five-vector two-level interrupt architecture, a
duplex serial port, a precision analogue
comparator, on-chip oscillator and
clock circuitry.
The ULN2803 (IC2) consists of
eight npn Darlington-connected transistors, which are ideally suitable for
interfacing between low-logic-level
digital circuitry and the higher current/voltage requirement circuits such
as lamps, fans or other similar loads for
a broad range of computer, industrial
and consumer applications. It is used
here for driving the devices through
relay contacts. You can write a simple
software program for the microcontroller of the bluetooth-enabled cellphone, employing simple coding and
decoding of remote signals to perform
switching of devices.
Answers compiled by Air Cmde (Retd) P.D. Badoni
Letters and questions for publication may be
addressed to Editor, Electronics For You,
D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi
110020 (E-mail: [email protected]) and should
include name and address of the sender.
Fact-filled AND the most happening current affairs from around the world
Technology News
Evolving robots
Taking cue from biological evolution,

the scientists have developed a robot
with a software brain that automatically grows in size and complexity as
its physical body develops. The only
but major difference is that it does this
trick in hours.
Existing robots cannot usually
cope with physical changesthe addition of a sensor or new type of limb,
saywithout a complete redesign of
their control software, which can be
time-consuming and expensive. So
artificial intelligence engineer Christopher MacLeod and his colleagues
at the Robert Gordon University in
Aberdeen, UK, created a robot that
adapts to such changes by mimicking
biological evolution. If we want to
make really complex humanoid robots
with ever more sensors and more complex behaviours, it is critical that they
are able to grow in complexity over
timejust like biological creatures
did, he says.
The brain of Macleods robot assigns new clusters of neurons to
adapt to new additions to its body.
The robot is controlled by a neural
networksoftware that mimics the
brains learning process. This comprises a set of interconnected processing
nodes which can be trained to produce desired actions. Such actions are
shaped by adjusting the importance, or
weighting, of the input signals to each
node. Certain combinations of these
sensor inputs cause the node to fire a
signalto drive a motor, for example.
If this action works, the combination is
kept. If it fails, and the robot falls over,
the robot will make adjustments and
try something different next time.
Flexible electronic books

Screen breakage is a common complaint about todays electronic books.
However, UK-based Plastic Logic
2 0 M a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
Worlds first flexible electronic book from Plastic Logic
claims to have developed the worlds

first flexible electronic book with a
bendy screen that can withstand a lot
of tumble.
Currently, the two most popular ebooks on the market, the Sony Reader
and Amazon Kindle, are paperback
book-sized devices that use B&W electronic ink displays. These consist of
a plastic sheet containing pixel-sized
voids, each filled with B&W ink particles. Electric fields attract the ink to
the top of these voids to display print.
The problem is, the transistors that apply these electric fields sit on a layer of
glass, making the displays fragile.
Plastic Logic has perfected a way
of printing polymer transistors onto
a layer of bendy plastic, allowing the
screens to flex and bounce. This device
will have wireless Internet connection
and a touch screen, allowing use of a
virtual keyboard for annotating text.
prerequisite for automated cars.

The new devices are known as
optical clocks because lasers measure
the frequency with which electrons in
atoms vibrate. This enables them to divide time into even tinier increments.
The most advanced clock, created
by researchers at the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) in
Boulder, Colorado, measures the vibrations of electrons in mercury ions and
can go 1.7 billion years without missing
a beat. A normal wristwatch, by contrast, loses about a second every week.
The most exciting developments
are likely to come in the field of global
positioning systems (GPS), which track
planes, ships and cars. GPS devices
receive microwave signals sent by
satellites and, by measuring the time
these take to arrive, can pinpoint the
location of an object on Earth to within
10 metres.
Optical clocks are the future
Universal charger
for mobile phones
A new generation of clocks, called optical clocks, can keep time without missing a beat in almost two billion years.
These clocks are so precise that they
will allow satellites to track moving
objects to within less than a metrea
We all need to buy a charger with

every new mobile phone. What if
you can charge your phone from any
available charger? This would not
only make life easier for mobile phone
consumers, but would be good for the

environment too.
The GSMA and 17 leading mobile
operators and manufacturers said at
the Mobile World Congress that they
are committed to implementing a
cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones.
The aim of the initiative, led by the
GSMA, is to ensure that the mobile
industry adopts a common format for
mobile phone charger connections and
energy-efficient chargers resulting in
an estimated 50 per cent reduction
in standby energy consumption; old
chargers currently generate more than
51,000 tonnes of waste a year.
The group plans to make a universal
charging solution widely available by
year 2012. It will use Micro-USB as the
common universal charging interface.
So by January 2012, the majority of all
new mobile phone models available will
support a universal charging connector
and the majority of chargers shipped
will meet the high-efficiency targets set
out by the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform)the industry body who
developed the technical requirements
for universal charging solution.
The free My Phone service will enable you to access, manage and back
up your personal information on your
device to a password-protected Webbased service. With automatic syncing
and backup, you can count on your
contacts, appointments, text messages
and other information being kept up to
date and easily restored should you lose
or upgrade your phone. You will also
be able to automatically upload photos
and video from your Windows phone
directly to the My Phone service.
The new Windows phones are
expected to be available in the second
half of 2009.
Solar-powered touch phone

Samsung Electronics has unveiled a
solar-powered, full-touch-screen phone
called Blue Earth. By charging with
the solar panel located on the back of
the phone, users can generate enough
power to call anytime anywhere.
Blue Earth is made from recycled
plastic called PCM, which is extracted
from water bottles, helping to reduce fuel
consumption and carbon emissions in
Next-gen Windows phones

Microsoft is working with partners
across the industry to deliver a new
generation of Windows phones. These
phones will be based on Windows
Mobile 6.5 and feature a new user
interface and a richer browsing experience. In addition, they will feature
two new services: My Phone, to sync
text messages, photos, video, contacts
and more to the Web; and Windows
Marketplace for Mobile, a new marketplace that will provide direct-tophone mobile applications and can
be accessed from both the phone and
the Web.
The Windows Mobile 6.5 home
screen will keep you up-to-date on
important information by providing
a dashboard-like experience to items
such as new e-mails, texts, missed
calls and calendar appointments. The
improved touch-screen interface makes
it easy to take action with a finger.
Samsung Blue Earth solar-powered phone


the manufacturing process. The device,

including charger, is free from harmful
substances such as brominated flame
retardants, beryllium and phthalate.
Simple to set the screen brightness,
backlight duration and Bluetooth to
an energy-efficient mode, the unique
user interface allows the user to be
energy-efficient with just one click of
Eco mode. Through the eco walk
function the user can count his steps
with an in-built pedometer, calculating
how much CO2 emissions have been
reduced by walking as opposed to
motor transport. This unique function
allows the user to calculate the value
of this footprint through the number
of trees that have been saved.
The phone comes with a five-star
energy-efficient charger which uses
standby power of less than 0.03W.
Power meter from Google

Google is developing a tool called PowerMeter that will show people their
electricity consumption in near real time
on a secure iGoogle gadget. The Internet
giant is partnering with a host of electric
utilities, device makers, regulators and
other technology companies to deliver
the data to consumers.
The Google PowerMeter is a piece
of software that people can view online
to see how much electricity they are using every time they leave an appliance
on overnight.
If 5.3 million people used the new
tool and cut back their electricity consumption by 10 per cent, they would
save the equivalent of a gigawatt of
powerenough to power a large city,
said Kirsten Olsen Cahill.
The electricity-monitoring project
is also consistent with Googles goal
of organising all the worlds information, Cahill said. Getting it to work,
of course, will require aligning the
interests of government, utilities and
manufacturers of things like sensors
for electricity meters.
Worlds smallest TV data card

ZTE claims to have developed the
worlds smallest TV data card and also
the worlds first plug-and-play data
CSRs 802.11n range of devices add Wi-Fi to mobile devices
card. This USB modem (MF645) will

enable you to watch digital television
on a computer or laptop over a 3G
connection. As the MF645 supports a
download rate of up to 7.2Mbps, it offers a user experience that is similar to
traditional TV sets.
Worlds smallest
802.11n devices
Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) claims
to have launched the worlds smallest
and lowest-cost range of 802.11n compatible devices to add to its Connectivity Centre line-up. At less than 16 mm2
of silicon, the UniFi UF6000 range of
Wi-Fi chips are designed as embedded
Wi-Fi products, making them a lowcost way of adding an 802.11n-enabled
Wi-Fi to mobile devices.
As more smart and feature-phones
start to include Wi-Fi, the UniFi UF6000
Wi-Fi range provides manufacturers
with a low-cost route to integrate Wi-Fi
into handsets without compromising
on performance or PCB space.
By combining the UF6000 with
the companys recently launched lowcost GPS and Bluetooth chip, BC7830,
CSR claims to offer customers Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, GPS and FM transmit and
receive at a combined silicon area of
27 mm2in comparison to competing
solutions that are 40 per cent bigger.
The UniFi UF6000 range is fully

compliant with IEEE802.11e QoS, WiFi Alliance WMM Power Save and
802.11n power saving, ensuring the
lowest possible power consumption.
3D graphics in HDTV devices

The graphical user interfaces offered
by todays set-top boxes (STBs) and
digital TVs are primarily static and
two-dimensional, and generally do
not provide the level of performance
demanded by the new Web-based
interactive services. These services require a new breed of STB and TV user
interfaces, based on advanced graphics
technologies.
STMicroelectronics offers broadcasters, operators and STB and digital
TV manufacturers advanced 3D graphics effects within its latest high-definition video consumer platforms. Based
on its latest generation of HD STB processors, including the STi7105, STi7111
and the recently announced STi7141,
together with advanced software
libraries, these digital consumer TV
platforms offer advanced 3D graphic
acceleration capabilities for a new generation of user interfaces, enabling 3D
dynamic effects, such as transparency,
mirroring, rotation and zoom-in and
zoom-out; graphical compositions, or
animations, combined with live HD
video pictures; and HD-resolution dynamic 3D-looking user

interfaces.
Share your whereabouts with friends

Google has launched a new service, Latitude, that lets cellphone users share their location with friends. The service is
part of Google Maps for Mobilethe companys mapping
software for mobile phonesbut can also be used through
a gadget loaded onto its iGoogle customised home page. It
will work in 27 countries.
Google Latitude
Latitude can be downloaded on the mobile phone and invitations can be sent to friends and family to join the service.
The location-based service only works with prior permission
from the other person. Privacy settings can be adjusted in
Latitude so that you share as much or as little about your
location as you want, with whom you want.
So for each person, you can choose to share your available location or your location when you travel to a different
city, or you can be completely unavailable. Everything is under your control and, of course, you can sign out of Latitude
at any time. The service also allows the user to communicate
with friends through text messaging, instant messaging or
a phone call.
The application is independent of mobile operators and
can be downloaded free from the Google website.
Futuristic transport system

The implementation of an intelligent transport system (ITS)
in India may now be postponed for some time.
ITS refers to the use of new technologies like mobile
phones and the worldwide web to guide traffic within a city.
Once the system is in place, you can get mobile alerts while
driving, indicating the routes with high traffic congestion
and suggesting alternative route.
It also means toll collection can be made electronically,
which can enable you to drive through toll gates without
facing a traffic snarl. In the case of an accident, an in-vehicle
emergency e-call can be generated to the nearest emergency
e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u M a r c h 2 0 0 9 2 5
point. The system can also provide information about parking space at any
location in the city.
The system is futuristic, but the fear
is that terrorists can access information each moment on traffic trends in
a city. They can know where the traffic
is most congested so as to cause maximum damage. Officials also fear that
the central control roomfrom where
the entire ITS facility of a city will be
coordinatedcan become the target
of a terror attack, exposing the city to
great risks.
Emergency alert via mobile
with access to branded news content

powered by Pressmart. By selecting
the WAP link Daily News on your
Motorola phone, you can receive free
news content and access your favourite
newspapers while on the go.
Newspapers offered on the service
include Indian Express, The Financial Express, The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle. A GPRS connection is required to
access the free news content.
New Internet technology

Atoall.com has launched a new Internet technology that uses keyboard
shortcuts to access Google, Orkut,
Yahoo!, Microsoft and similar such
popular sites. For example, if you want
to visit Google, you will have to type
the following three consecutive letters in the keyboard, gghhjj.com. To
visit Orkut, you will have to just type
ookkmm.com.
The technology makes it easier for
In an emergency you can register a

missed call on Softspins server. The
server, in turn, will send text messages
to the pre-saved numbers anywhere in
the world with details like the location
of the call, the mobile service provider
and the country. This way, the service
alerts your friends and family that you
need help.
Softspins server
number needs to
be saved under a
speed dial on a mobile or a landline to
enable a quick call.
A message also
reaches the caller
saying that help is
on its way. Even
if the network is
jammed, messages
do pass through as
they dont require
much bandwidth, Atoall.coms search engine
Vinay Sathe, manthe illiterate to use the Internet as in oraging director of Softspin, says.
der to access a Website, one has to type
The service, Saviour, is available for
three letters twice on the computer
a lifetime registration fee of Rs 200 and
Rs 120 as yearly subscription.
keyboard which are in a straight line;
e.g., C or inverted C, V or inverted
V, twice, followed by dot (.) com or
Motorola India and Pressmart Media,
ctrl+enter (for www. .com). Shortcut
a digital publisher, have announced
keys are located together on the keya live news-on-the-mobile service on
board, e.g., rrddcc.com, ccddrr.com,
MOTO VE66, MOTOSURF A3000 and
mmjjnn.com and nnjjmm.com.
MOTOROKR EM35 phones slated for
This technology search engine indistribution in India.
vention also allows users to access their
The service will provide you
favourite games sites, videos, etc.
Live news on the mobile
Check efytimes.com for more news, daily

Technology
focus
Stage All Set for
high-definition TV
Currently, HDTV broadcast does not take place in India, but the scene is hotting
up with broadcasters producing content for HDTV and consumer electronics
companies offering HD TV sets and set-top boxes
uma bansal
he highest form of digital television is all set to

storm India. The greatest
push has come from the
governments announcement that DD (Doordarshan) will
broadcast the Commonwealth Games
in high-definition (HD) format. HDTV
programming through cable/satellite
also is coming to India very soon, as
the film industry has geared into HD
production.
For the end users, HDTV sets
are already available in the market.
Direct-to-home (DTH) TV operators
are trying to switch consumers at a

premium for HDTV set-top boxes as
INX Media and STAR TV are already
producing content on HDTV. This is
expected to take off by mid 2009. With
so much of activity happening in this
space, it is good time to dwell on the
subject.
What is HDTV?
There are two modes of TV transmission: analogue and digital. Digital
TV comes in standard, enhanced and
high-definition formats. Standard has
a resolution of 480i, enhanced is 480p,
and high-definition is 720p, 1080i and
1080p. Therefore HDTV has the high-
est-level resolution offered within the

digital TV category. We can also infer
that HD is digital, but not all digital TV
is HD. HDTV has a 16:9 aspect ratio,
which is the same as that of a movie
theatre screen.
HD resolution is listed in two different forms: number of lines + type
of scan or number of pixels (vertical
by horizontal).
Tarun Jain, country head-India,
Hitachi Home Electronics, gives a
breakdown of the HD formats listed by
how manufacturers label them on their
product summaries:
720p or 7201280 - 720 lines, progressive scanned
HDTV LCD range by Samsung
Technology
focus
Bravia W-series HDTV by Sony
1080i or 10801920 - 1080 lines,

interlaced scanned
1080p or 10801920 - 1080 lines,
progressive scanned
The number of lines/pixels and
type of scan matter because more
lines/pixels and faster scan equal
a better picture. In ranking the HD
signal formats, 720p and 1080i are
virtually equal in overall resolution,
while 1080p is the best. HDTV also
provides a cinematic theatre experience with Dolby Digital surround
sound.
How does it differ from

conventional TV?
Jain explains that high-definition programmes are encoded with a type of
resolution: 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The
number stands for the amount of lines
embedded within the signal. The letter
describes the type of scan the television uses to display the picture. The
i means interlaced and the p means
progressive.
The number of lines on a television is important because it allows for
greater detail in the image. This is a
Analogue vs Digital TV
In the basic analogue TV, the signals are transmitted as continuously varying radio
waves. In fact, the video is transmitted in AM mode, while the audio is transmitted in
FM.
Like radio, analogue TV is subject to noise, interference (such as ghosting and
snow) and attenuation with distance. In addition, the analogue TV signals require a wide
bandwidth for their video and audio signals, which restricts the resolution and overall
quality of the image.
On the other hand, digital TV is transmitted as a series of binary numbers 0s and
1s (data bits of information). Computer processing is used to compress it, so it can be
transmitted in a fraction of the bandwidth taken by the equivalent analogue TV signal. The
freed-up extra space can be used for additional video, audio and text signals.
As the signal is basically on or off, the viewer either sees an image or nothing at all.
There is no signal loss due to attenuation as distance from the transmitter increases. In
case the viewer is too far from the transmitter, there is nothing to see.
Technology
focus
HDTV by Hitachi
essentially nearly doubles the quality

of picture.
R. Zutshi, deputy managing director of Samsung India, says that highdefinition TVs offer the best TV viewing possible. HD format contains more
and finer detail than other formats, so
images can have almost lifelike clarity.
The picture quality can be stunning,
especially on a large, wide-screen set.
In technical terms, HD images have
higher definition, meaning more picture elements (lines or pixels) make up
each image.
HDTV provides wide-screen picture
quality with compact disk (CD) sound
quality. It has over twice the sharpness
and clarity of analogue TV broadcasts
together with a far superior colour
resolution. With HDTV, problems such
as double images from ghosting or
multi-path, snow caused from a weak
signal and picture sparkles from impulse noise are a thing of the past. These
problems often seen on a conventional
television broadcast just do not occur on
high-definition TV. Also, the sound for
conventional TV is only stereo.
However, currently, HDTV broadcast does not take place in India, and
the usage of HD resolution is limited to
DVDs or other media only, so a high-
definition TV is effective if it is used for

viewing DVD titles, etc.
What all is required for

HDTV reception?
You may ask Do I need a special TV
to be able to see HDTV? The answer is
that only high-definition televisions can
display HD content in the HD resolution. Enhanced-definition televisions
can display HD content in a 480p resolution, which is DVD quality. All other
televisions that are analogue of standard
digital will not be able to display HD
content in an HD resolution because
they lack the technology to do so.
As is clear, anyone who owns
a high-definition television can get
high-definition content. One has three
options: over-the-air signals, cable or
satellite. Over-the-air high-definition
signals are those that a typical rooftop
antenna would receive. The signals are
digital and encoded in HD. Over-theair signals are free to receive. The only
cost out of pocket would be for the
equipment needed to receive them. To
receive HD programming from a cable
or satellite provider, you would need
to subscribe to their HD package if
they have any. This subscription may
not be free. The provider might require
Sources of HDTV Signals
similar concept to digital photos and

how dpi determines print quality.
In the conventional TV system,
waves are scanned at 480i. This means
that at a given point of time four hundred and eighty (480) lines of pictures
are sent by the broadcaster to the
television. The lines alternate between
odd and even in a succession that is too
fast for the human eye.
HDTV sends around a thousand
eighty (1080) or seven hundred and
twenty (720) lines, which is more
than double the conventional TV. By
almost doubling the amount of lines in
combination with the type of scan, HD
You can receive HD signals from the following sources:

1. Over the air with an antenna. Over-the-air signals are free to receive. However, to
receive these signals, you need an HD tuner. Latest HDTVs have an HD tuner built into them.
For HDTV televisions without a built-in HD tuner, a separate set-top HD tuner box can be
rented from a cable or satellite company, or purchased.
2. Cable or satellite service. To receive HD programming from a cable or satellite provider,
you would need to subscribe to their HD package if they have any. This subscription may not
be free. The provider might require a minimum length of service. You require a set-top box
issued by the cable company, to receive HD content. DishTV and Reliance Communications
(BIG TV) are among the satellite TV providers in India who plan to offer HDTV-ready set-top
boxes.
3. Blu-ray disk can store over nine hours of high-definition (HD) video on a 50GB disk.
4. A DVD-R can also store up to three hours of HD video content, readable by Blu-ray
player, PlayStation 3 video game console or Blu-ray drive installed in a PC, depending on
encoder settings.
5. Video game consoles. The latest generation of game consoles is more HD-friendly.
While Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 let you enjoy HD gaming, the Wii will not. The PlayStation
3 also doubles as a Blu-ray movie player.
6. If your computer graphics card supports the standard SVGA resolution, it can be used
to output video to an HDTVs PC input jack.
7. The DVI or HDMI interfaces of newer computer graphics cards can be used to output
video to an HDTV.
Technology
focus
Components of a typical satellite HDTV system; courtesy Wikipedia
a minimum length of service.

An integrated HDTV has an HDTV
tuner built into the TV. So you dont
have to purchase an external box to
receive HDTV. However, if you subscribe to a cable or satellite service,
you may have to purchase their box to
receive their HD channel service.
In comparison, an HD-upgradable,
HD-ready, or HD-compatible TV has
all that you need to watch HDTV, but
you must add a set-top box to receive
HDTV signals.
When you are not in a mood to
watch television shows, you can connect your HDTV to an upscaling DVD
player or a Blu-ray DVD player. In
order to take full advantage of this
viewing option, your HDTV needs to
have either an HDMI or DVI-HDCP
connection.
Jeremy Hang, division head-Bravia
Display, Sony India, explains that upscaling DVD players match the pixel
resolution of a standard DVD to that
of your HDTV. Although the quality is
not the same as watching your DVD in
true high-definition, there is a definite
improvement in the image quality of
your DVDs when played on an upscalw w w. e f y m ag . co m
ing DVD player through an HDTV.

In India, Samsung offers two HDDVD players. The Samsung 1080PK
is a full-HD DVD player with USB
host and HDMI cable included. The
Samsung F1080 is full-HD stylish DVD
player with HDMI cable included.
Kishalay Ray, general managermarketing, Sharp Business Systems
(India), says that not many Blu-ray titles
are currently available in the Indian
market, not making it worth buying at
this stage. However, DVDs can output
the video at 720p or 1080i resolution via
their HDMI jack if it is available in the
DVD player as well as in the TV set.
If one is a gaming freak, game
consoles have been making a slow but
steady conversion to high-definition.
The latest generation of game consoles
is even more HD-friendly. All of the
Xbox 360 game titles run at 720p or
1080i, meaning these can look just as
good as standard DVDs.
Programming other than

HD?
HDTV allows programming other than
the HD content to be displayed on the
screen. There is no drop in quality: On
e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u m a r c h 2 0 0 9 3 3
Technology
focus
HDTV sets, the native resolution is

higher, hence the lower resolution can
be easily accommodated without affecting the quality.
Types and cost of

HDTV sets
HDTVs are available in liquid-crystal
display (LCD), plasma, digital light
processing (DLP) and liquid-crystal-onsilicon (LCoS) technologies. However,
currently the mainstream technologies
are LCD and plasma.
The cost of HDTV sets varies according to the size and quality of technology. The comparatively high cost
of HDTV sets may be a turn off, but
HDTVs offer excellent picture quality
coupled with a big screen experience.
Plasma and LCD HDTVs are wallmountable and save space too.
Availability of HDTV sets

Most high-end plasma and LCD TVs
are HDTV-capable. Sonys Bravia LCD
TVs let you enjoy full advantages of
HDTV technology. With slim and stylish
designs, these can fit anywhere in your
home. Samsung too has a complete portfolio of HDTV and HD-ready LCD TVs:
the Full HD LCD Series 6 and 5 and the
HD ready Series 4 and 3. In the case of
plasma televisions, the Full HD Series 5
and the 3D Ready Series 4 have also been
launched in the Indian market.
Issues with HDTV

To be able to receive HD content, you
need to have an HD-ready TV set or TV
set with built-in HDTV tuner, which is
comparatively expensive. Also, tradi-
HDTVs are available in

liquid-crystal display
(LCD), plasma, digital
light processing (DLP)
and liquid-crystalon-silicon (LCoS)
technologies. However,
currently the mainstream
technologies are LCD
and plasma.
Major Contributors
to this Report
Tarun Jain, country head-India, Hitachi
Home Electronics
R. Zutshi, deputy managing director,
Samsung India
Jeremy Hang, division head-Bravia
Display, Sony India
Kishalay Ray, general managermarketing, Sharp Business Systems
(India)
tional SD programmes originally filmed
in the standard 4:3 ratio, when seen on
an HDTV monitor, will have empty
margins to the left and right of the image because 16:9 wide-screen aspect
ratio is the standard for digital HDTV.
You can choose to fill this unused display area by stretching the SD shows
horizontally to fill the screen, but this
will only distort the image.
Normally, the HDTV transmission
is provided through satellite and the
same may not be available on free basis. In such a case, you may be required
to subscribe to HDTV with the service
provider.
HDMI, or component video cables,
must be used to support high-definition
signals. HDMI is an all-digital connection
that allows both HD audio and video to
pass through a single cable. If you use
older video cabling standards like composite or S-Video for connections from
a cable box or satellite dish, you will get
only an SDTV-quality picture.
Another drawback of HDTV is that
most of the operators do not fully follow HDTV specifications. So the HD
picture quality is usually not as good
as promised. Operators tend to use
slower bitrates or lower resolution to
accommodate more channels within the
limited bandwidth, which reduces the
video quality.
While on an analogue TV, the
interference causes the picture to
slowly deteriorate from bad to worse,
interference in HDTV broadcast will
freeze, skip, or display garbage information.
The author is a deputy editor at EFY
careers
Empower Yourself with

Power Electronics
To continue its growth trajectory, India would need a lot more emphasis on
the power sector. So a career in power electronics could prove to be a good
take-off for you
Sudeshna das
ower is one of those sectors

which are showing a promise of
growth and expansion amidst
the economic slowdown clatter. It may
even benefit from the current recession.
Its steady rise can be attributed to the
immediate need for infrastructure.
As corporate majors look to cut
costs and increase productivity, the
one way they are likely to achieve
this is through introduction of a costeffective power solution. In fact, the
Target Mission of India Power for
All by 2012 would mean achieving
the target of 1000 kWh (units) of per
capita consumption of electricity by
this period. Hence, if you wish to
make your own contribution to the
growth story of emerging India, this
is one sector that will provide im3 6 M a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
mense scope and opportunity.
The power story

Lets first probe a little deep inside
Indias growth story. It is well known
that the growth of a country can be
sustained only if its infrastructure
keeps pace with it. Power is the most
prominent vertical amongst the infrastructural sectors. According to a midterm report released by Assocham, it
topped the list of the most preferred
investment sectors with 18.4 per cent of
the total infrastructural investment.
The current economic recession
doesnt seem to have had any significant impact on job opportunities
in the power sector. Commenting on
an upbeat employment scenario in
the power industry, Sunil Bhatnagar,
director, Parker Power System, says,
In times of an economic slowdown
the government looks to pump in more

with respect to public expenditure,
thus ensuring continuous job creation.
For this reason, the power sector has
the greatest element of anti-cyclical behaviour, thereby maintaining a healthy
growth rate.
Bhatnagar also outlines the new
recruitment plan for his organisation.
The recruitment trends of PSUs also
are in accordance with his comment.
NTPC itself has recruited about 1225
professionals last year and is planning
to hire more than 1000 engineering
and management professionals every
year over the coming years. Other
power companiesprivate- as well as
public-sectorwould also have high
manpower requirements in the coming
years in view of the growth opportunities present.
Large investments from privatesector players like Tata Power, Sterlite
Industries, Jindal India Thermal Power
and Lanco Group are increasing the
chances of new job creation. Moreover,
private players in energy management
sectors like Conzerv, Enercon and APC
are also in hiring mode. Bhatnagar
feels that power will be the highest
job-generating sector by 2012.
Be a part of the
power game
Since the power sector comprises a
wide range of firms from fairly large
and mature companies to the SMBs,
the manpower requirement also varies
accordingly. The skill requirements are
vast and there is room for professionals
in product design and development,
project engineering, product managew w w. e f y m ag . co m
careers
ment, marketing and sales. Professionals who have a superior understanding
of electronics, instrumentation, electrical, mechanical and power engineering
are required amongst others.
Most of the companies have ambitious expansion as well as diversification plans. Companies like NTPC have
taken a number of steps to emerge as an
integrated power company with presence in coal mining, hydel power generation, power trading and power distribution. Accordingly, there are huge
job opportunities for new entrants.
While there is still a shortage of
quality manpower in the power sector, this seems to be easing out with
changing preferences among the fresh
engineers from IT to core fields like
power and other heavy industries.
We do find that entry-level technical
graduates are still charmed by the IT
industry, however this trend is changing and bright youngsters are choosing
careers in the power industry looking
at the long-term growth perspective,
says Anil Kumar Challyil, technical
services manager, Arrow Electronics.
As an electronics professional you
may find your place in the power
circuit design section of a solutions
providing firm. But opportunities are
present even in the maintenance, instrumentation and control sections of
any power plant. Work opportunities
in the power sector primarily include
creation, expansion and enlarging of
existing units by utilising both renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
Upgradation of the existing capacity
through modernisation of equipment
and introduction of new technolo-
In the times of an economic

slowdown, the government looks
to pump in more with respect to
public expenditure, thus ensuring
continuous job creation. For this
reason, the power sector has the greatest
element of anti-cyclical behaviour, thereby
maintaining a healthy growth rate.
Sunil Bhatnagar, director, Parker Power System
gies and better instrumentation may
finally open up new job opportunities.
Adjunct systems operating with core
infrastructure, such as smart energy
management systems for commercial
and industrial units, may be a right
choice for your career.
You may ask How to get an entry
ticket? A decent technical background
(ITI, diploma or graduation) along with
fundamental knowledge can secure
your job ticket. However, for some
fields requiring specialised knowledge such as R&D, recruiters look for
postgraduates and doctorates. Many
employers take campus recruits and
train them directly in different areas
of power projects to prepare them for
various roles in the company. Thankfully, most of the big players in this
sector still believe in talent building
rather than raiding. This was further
confirmed by Neelam Kumar, executive director and head of the department-power electronics, Aplab, who
considers talent building as a part of
We do find that entry-level technical graduates

are still charmed by the IT industry. However,
this trend is changing and bright youngsters are
choosing careers in the power industry looking
at the long-term growth perspective.
Anil Kumar Challyil, technical services manager, Arrow Electronics
social responsibility.
Power in your pocket

Lets check whether this field is powerful enough to fill your pocket to a good
extent. You could be part of a major
project as a junior engineer and grow in
10-12 years time to head major projects.
Speaking of salary prospects, fresh
engineering graduates usually start
at Rs 200,000-Rs 350,000 per annum
and can grow into either generalist or
specialist roles. However, the scene is
a little daunting for diploma holders as
their starting salary range is usually Rs
150,000 to 200,000 per annum.
Even at this moment of economic
downturn, the power sector is offering
salaries in the range of Rs 500,000 to Rs
1 million per annum for professionals
with 5-7 years of experience. It should,
however, be noted that for design-related roles, the salary is usually closer
to the upper limit. Nonetheless, if you
grab an international opportunity,
the minimum salary may move up to
around Rs 2 million within five years.
Explore the power circuit

I believe, up to this point, you have got
enough boosters from the opportunities-to-be-grabbed in the power field.
So get ready now to explore the power
circuit. The power field is specifically
suitable for engineering professionals
with multidisciplinary interests, such
as magnetics and mechanics. Exciting
and technically satisfying careers can
careers
We believe in building our
talent pool by inducting young
professionals and grooming them
into competent power professionals
through various HR interventions.
We have developed a well-structured system
for recruiting fresh engineering graduates and
diploma holders at the executive level. We recruit
people not only on the basis of qualification and
skill repertoire but, more importantly, also for
their attitude and cultural fit with the company.
We even arrange training programmes for
students of different technical institutes.
Neelam Kumar, executive director and head of the department-power electronics, Aplab
be pursued in the fields of technical
marketing, design engineering, project
management, and integration and
servicing.
If you consider the application
of power electronics, I must say it is
present wherever there is a need for
control and conversion of electric
power. It may be the tiny converter of
your mobile phone in the range of some
milliwatts, or a giant one of hundreds
of megawatts in a high-voltage directcurrent (HVDC) transmission system.
The main metric of power electronics is
energy efficiency. And as a professional
you are expected to acquire knowledge
and skills needed to design practical
power electronics systems. If you can
achieve it, then control, instrumentation
and maintenance of power systems will
automatically be on your fingertips.
Largely, this is a technical field
and so domain expertise and process
knowledge are very important. Because
of the technology-driven nature of this
field, professionals must at all times
keep themselves abreast of the latest
improvements and technological upgradations that are taking place instead
of focusing only on their departmental
concerns. In addition to technical skills,

recruiters are also looking for competencies such as interpersonal skills
and drive for end results down the
ranks. Dont get nervous. You are not
expected to know everything but your
learning ability should be high as a lot
of training takes place on the job.
Powerful fundamentals
Keep in mind that power electronics is
primarily concerned with the processing of electrical power using electronic
devices. So the key element is the
switching converter. All other devices
are improved versions of it.
In general, a switching converter
comprises three portspower input
port, power output port and control.
Converters are even classified according to the nature of these ports. For
example, in a simple DC-DC converter,
the DC input voltage is converted into
a DC output voltage by changing its
magnitude. The device may perform
some additional functions like rectification and inversion of voltage, thereby
acquiring the names rectifier and
inverter, respectively. The third port,
i.e., control, is required to produce a
well-regulated output voltage in presence of variations in the input and load

currents.
I have already mentioned the metric of power process. High efficiency
is a must for any processing system.
The primary reason for this is not to
save money on ones electricity bill or
conserve energy. Rather, according to
power rule, it is impractical to design
a low-efficiency converter which can
produce high voltage output.
The next thing that you need to
know is the application of power electronics. A basic design is modified according to the need of the application.
Lets consider an aerospace application
of power electronics. In the power
system of an earth-orbiting spacecraft,
a solar array produces the main power
bus voltage. A DC-DC converter converts the bus voltage into the regulated
voltage required by the spacecraft
payloads. Battery charge controllers interface the main power bus to the batteries; this controller may also have a
DC-DC converter. The power systems
of almost all spacecrafts and aircrafts
follow this simple scheme.
On the other hand, in an electrically
driven vehicle, batteries are charged
by converters that draw high-factor
sinusoidal current from a single-phase
or a three-phase AC line. The batteries
supply power to the variable-speed
AC motors to propel the vehicle. The
speed of the AC motor is controlled
by the variation of the electrical input
frequency. The inverter produces
three-phase variable output to control
the speed of the motor as well as the
vehicle. In some applications, a DC-DC
converter steps down the original voltage to a lower level according to the
electronics need of the systems.
The list of examples may be endless. So instead of mugging up the
nitty-gritty of individual systems,
try to understand the function of the
individual elements, so that you can
use them to design the power system
of your choice. You may put special
emphasis on various common systems
to recheck your understanding. A
careers
general understanding of locomotives,
battery chargers for telecommunications, inverter systems for applications
involving renewable energy generation
such as wind and photovoltaic conversion, and also general power utility
systems may help you comprehend
any unknown power system that you
may come across.
Know the elements of

power electronics
Undoubtedly, one of the things that
makes power electronics interesting is
its incorporation of elemental concepts
from diverse set of fields. As a power
electronics professional, you may come
across the basics of analogue circuits,
electronic devices, control systems,
power systems, magnetics, electric machines and even numerical solutions.
Thus the practice of power electronics requires a broad understanding of electrical as well as electronics
engineering. In addition, there are fundamental concepts which are unique to
power electronics and require specialised study.
Lets start with the switching mode.
High-frequency switching makes converter modeling the central element of
your study. You need to know how
to put a converter in equilibrium. The
principles of steady-state converter
analysis including inductor-volt-second balance, capacitor charge balance
and small ripple approximation are of
great importance. Try to get a clear idea
of how these principles are applied
in boost (capable of voltage increase),
buck (capable of voltage decrease) and
cuk (capable of inverting the voltage
priority) converters. For example, ripple
approximation greatly simplifies the
analysis, especially in a well-designed
converter where the switching ripples in
inductor current and capacitor voltage
are comparatively small with respect to
the DC component.
Another important element is
circuit modeling. You are expected to
understand how the DC transformer
model is manipulated and solved
using conventional circuit analysis
In the IT/ITES segment, with

energy efficiency and reduction of
operational costs becoming critical
business goals, two major trends
in data centre infrastructure design
are notable today: power efficiency and power
distribution.
Pramod Agashe, COO of APW
techniques. How the models can be

refined to account for loss elements
such as inductor-winding resistance
and semiconductor on resistance and
voltage drops?
to AC and DC equivalent circuit modelling and resonant conversion and chalk

out possible solutions. Last but not the
least, update yourself on the latest technological advances in this field.
Realise the field
Prepare for the future

challenges
Now that you are aware of the basic

elements, its time to realise the modus
operandi of the actual devices. Switch
realisation would be a good starting
point. Knowledge about majority carrier devices like MOSFETs and minority carrier devices like BJTs, IGBTs and
thyristors is must. Additional knowledge like the operation of unidirectional switches to handle discontinuous conduction mode, may give you an
edge over your competitors.
Converter circuit is another important matter that needs thorough understanding. Basically, circuit manipulation, transformer isolation along with
circuit evaluation and design related
skill sets are in high demand. Try to get
familiar with converter dynamics and
control. The basic understanding of
modelling and averaging approaches
will be an added advantage.
In the next step, you have to perform the actual design job by applying all those techniques and concepts
discussed so far. Controller design and
input filter design are the two major
challenges in this field.
Your next challenge is to provide
a solution for real-life systems. Go beyond your textbook and enter your own
power electronics design laboratory.
Try to collect some problems pertaining
Bear in mind that technological advances are meant to increase energy

efficiency and reduce operational cost.
As a result, the present era is solely
dedicated to green energy and energysaving equipment. Understand this
hidden demand and keep pace with
it. Your final-year project may be on
the utilisation of solar energy or wind
energy to run a traditional power systema solar power fuel dispenser, for
example. In fact, there are many ingenious ways to improve power efficiency
through various innovations.
According to industry veterans like
Pramod Agashe, COO of APW, traditional power distribution units often
fail to cope with todays high-density
computing environments, so designing
of efficient power distribution system
for data centres may be a good challenge. Any of these real problems may
be your next food for thought.
Perhaps, at this moment the dilemma about your career prospect is
driving you nuts. Boost up your brain.
Dig down the power field. It will provide you not only a secure job but the
opportunity to be an active part of a
nation-building story.
The author is a research analyst cum journalist at EFY
EFY
REPORT
Salary Survey
electronics Industry Maintaining a vigil

has the current economic downturn affected the salaries in the Indian
electronics industry? Where does it leave employees, as far as prospects of
increments in april are concerned? While attempting to figure out the answers
to these questions, we surmised that, though employee wages are under the
highest scrutiny, its time to perform ones way to a healthy hike
SudeShna daS
f you are earning your bread and

butter by working for the Indian
electronics industry, its time to
take up more responsibilities and
heighten your performance. Returns
at the workplace will now be commensurate with your performance more
than ever.
On the salary front, it signifies
salary structures becoming more
performance-based, critical functions
taking centrestage and support functions witnessing marginal or no salary
Methodology
To assess compensation trends in the Indian
electronics industry, EFYs research bureau
collected data on salaries across a range of
sectors and companies. The survey covered
entry-level professionals, with an average
work experience of 0-2 years, to top-level
executives with more than 10 years of work
experience. The salary data was compiled
from 105 companies belonging to these
sectors.
Since salary data is confidential, names
of the companies have not been revealed.
The industry ver ticals covered under
the survey are consumer electronics,
industrial electronics, computer hardware,
communication and broadcasting, strategic
electronics, components and other specific
sectors. Information was collected from
small, medium as well as large companies.
However, most of the responses came from
medium-sized companies. The results of the
analysis are presented here.
of quarters of 2009, while 67 per cent

increase. This, however, should not be
foresaw either no imminent change in
a cause of concern for the cream of the
the numbers or were unsure.
crop. An EFY research bureau survey
As expected, cost cutting seemed
of 105 firms suggests that the huge doto be high on the
mestic need and savings-based econoagenda of
my of the country help position
electronics as one of the few
Consumer
industries poised for modOthers
Electronics
erate staffing growth
(Value-added 10%
in 2009 in spite of the
Resellers)
global slowdown. So
12%
job seekers in the InComponents
dian electronics inIndustrial
14%
dustry may heave
Electronics
%
a sigh of relief!
ics 5
ctron
e
l
32%
E
egic ace)
The birds
Strafet nce & Sp
eye view
(De
Communication
Has recession hit In& Broadcasting Computer

dian electronics pro15% Hardware
fessionals? Of course
12%
it has; though not as
Verticals
dramatically as it has imsurveyed
pacted professionals in some
most executives.
of the other sectors. As recruitment
With respect to human resource, this
budgets are stretched tighter, many
cost-consciousness implies doing
organisations are on the lookout for
more while paying less as companies
innovative and cost-effective ways for
raise the bar of expectation. They also
talent management. The cost head that
hinted that the top management was
has risen most rapidly in the recent
taking a salary cut to help companies
years is the pay package. Hence, it is
tide over.
also the one that is being met with the
Though India is one of the highest
highest level of scrutiny now.
paymasters in Asia, the same cannot be
The survey found that approxisaid for the electronics industry, parmately 18 per cent of current employticularly in the second half of the fiscal
ers in the industry planned to increase
year 2008-09. There is a salary freeze in
the number of full-time employees
most companies. However, the salary
in their firms within the first couple
EFY
REPORT
whats on offer?
80
70
Salary range for mid level

80
Entry Level, Tier-I (0-1 year)

Entry Level, Tier-II (1-2 years)
68
Responses in %
Responses in %
60
50
48
40
32
30
20
10
0
11
10
5
1-2
40
33
28
2-5
5-7
Salary range in the unit of Rs 100,000
0-2
2-5
5-7
7-10
10+
80
Hike pattern for mid level

80
Fiscal 08-09
Fiscal 07-08
70
50
40
32
30
31
26
12
11 9
14
10
1-5
30
25
20
2
0-
40
23
20
10
28
50
40
6-10 11-15 16-20 20+
Hike Pattern for Entry Level in %
Amt
Undecided
10
0-
Highest paying job functions

Highest Paying Job Functions
33
24
18
Administrative
37
6
Production
Fiscal 08-09
Fiscal 07-08
10
Sales & Marketing
41
24
2
Others*
10
*Other include HR and Finance
20
30
40
Responses in %
techno-commercial
jobs gain favour
R&D
11
50
13
16
10
0
1-5
6-10 11-15 16-20 20+
Hike Pattern for Mid Level in %
36
30
26
21
10
0
11
6
0-7
7-10
10-15
15-20
20+
Expected pay package
71
60
Responses in %
Responses in %
60
10
Fiscal 08-09
Fiscal 07-08
70
40
cases, firms, in fact, reported a decline

in salary levels. Availability of surplus
manpower as well as negligible profits
due to economic sluggishness were the
underlying reasons.
hike or freeze?
Hike pattern for entry level
50
20
10
7+
22
21
10
0-1
60
50
30
Senior Level (More than 10 years)
70
58
20
18
80
Mid Level, Tier-I (2-5 year)

Mid Level, Tier-II (5-10 years)
70
60
Salary range for senior level
Responses in %
Salary range for entry level
Amt
Undecided
bracket for middle- and senior-level managers has been

adjusted. This indicates that
companies are now gradually
getting their middle-management strategy right and using
salary as a tool to retain employees for better leadership
roles. Companies seem to
have become selective about
the kinds of employees they
need to retain and have accordingly adjusted the salary
quotient. The growth in an
average salary for a given
position has been nominal in
fiscal 2008-09 in comparison
to the previous year. In some
Pay packages offered to electronics

professionals are proportional to their
experience and hierarchy. These also
vary with the educational background
of the employee, with degree holders
attracting higher salary levels within
the same band than diploma holders
with similar experience.
In fiscal 2008-09, due to a dip in the
average salary growth, entry-level employees more or less remained in the
same salary bands. Take the youngest
group of employees, for instance, who
have less than one year of experience;
68 per cent of this group continued to
draw salaries under Rs 200,000 per annum and 18 per cent stayed within the
Rs 200,000-Rs 500,000 bracket. Very
few firms hired freshers, with most,
such as Cadence Design Systems, providing free internships at best.
However, at entry-level, candidates
with less than two years of experience
typically receive between Rs 100,000-Rs
500,000 per annum as CTC. Employees
receiving Rs 200,000-Rs 500,000 per annum get increments as their experience
levels increase. In a few cases, the CTC
EFY
REPORT
trends in training
Training
Duration
Training Duration
Training Provision
Training Provision
98
97
Yes
No
2
3
Fiscal 08-09
Fiscal 07-08
72
Upto 15 Days
15-30 Days
54
21
8
Fiscal 08-09
Fiscal 07-08
2 million range. This trend

reflected in the Rs 2 million+
salary bracket too. This was
indicative of the drop in
lateral hiring, especially for
higher roles.
Hike or freeze?
Considering the current circumstances, should the em38

33
ployees expect increments
0
12
in April, or is this word
Unpaid Training
90+ Days
62
5
irrelevant in todays con0
20
40
60
80
100
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
text? Its a mixed bag for the
Responses in %
Responses in %
industry. Although only 10
per cent of the respondents
reported no hike in the survey, only
Rs 1 million with 34 per cent
a few firms like LG Electronics India
people receiving more than
actually handed out a definite amount
Rs 500,000 a year. The most
Flexible
Work
Options
to employees of all levelsit handed
noticeable
shift
in
trend
was
Flexible Work Options
out an average increment of 14 per
visible in the group having
67
cent to its employees in January 2009.
over
five
years
of
experience.
Yes
58
Most firms were not certain about the
While 57 per cent of these
Fiscal 08-09
amount of increments they intended to
senior employees drew above
Fiscal 07-08
33
No
dole out to staff. For instance, around
Rs
500,000
a
year,
22
per
cent
42
80 per cent firms have decided to limit
of employees moved into the
the increment to 15 per cent; only 5 per
Rs
700,000-Rs
1
million
band
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Responses in %
cent have decided to provide a hike of
versus the 10 per cent in the
more than 20 per cent. The scene is a
2-5 years of work experience
daunting one if you compare
it with last years, when 28
per cent of the companies
were ready to provide more
Paternity
Duration
Paternity Leave Option
PaternityLeave
Leave Duration
than 21 per cent hike for the
87
Paternity Leave Option
same level.
Upto 15 Days
75
Things, however, pan out
63
Yes
differently
at the managerial
Fiscal 08-09
13
50
Fiscal 08-09
15-30 Days
19
Fiscal 07-08
level
with
around
71 per cent
Fiscal 07-08
of
the
respondents
stating
37
No
0
50
that
increments
at
this
level
30-90 Days
6
were more closely associated
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
with individual performanc0
Responses in %
90+ Days 0
es. In some companies, like
A.V. Systems, top-level ex0
20
40
60
80
100
Responses in %
ecutives voluntarily declined
to accept pay hikes and even
paid a cut from their bonuses to help
range. This is a clear indicator of the
may even rise to anywhere between Rs
their firms stay afloat.
efforts made by companies to retain
500,000-Rs 700,000 per annum, dependmiddle-management talent.
ing on the candidates qualification,
Techno-commercial jobs
However, the trend changed at
skill set, critical aspects of the job and
gain favour
the senior level, which comprises
payment practices of the company.
employees with more than ten years
For mid-level employees with
The existing human resource demand
of experience. Twenty-six per cent of
around 2-5 years of experience, the
in the electronics industry stems prithese employees stayed in the Rs 1.5pay packet ranged from Rs 200,000marily from the junior and middle
Paid Training
78
30-90 Days
more flexibility?
paternity leave
EFY
REPORT
management levels in sales and marketing functions. Given the present
economic scenario, firms have an acute
focus on conceiving new business as
well as capitalising on every possible
sales opportunity. The highest paid
job function in an organisation, once
again, has corresponded with this new
focus. Forty-one per cent of companies
reported sales and marketing as the
highest paid function in their organisations, compared to 24 per cent last
year (fiscal 2007-08)a huge increase
of 17 per cent.
Furthermore, new-age employers
prefer to perceive prospective employees as complete packages, endowed
with more than just one specific skill.
Even the requirements of a technical
job can no longer be satisfied solely by
technical competencies; economic and
business process knowledge as well
as requisite soft skills are heralded
as cardinal. Knowledge of enterprise
resource planning (ERP) systems, particularly in the field of sales automation, is deemed nice-to-have.
Surely, companies worldwide
are also looking for innovative products as well as new business models
to establish a niche for themselves
amidst the competitive clutter. In this
context, research and development
(R&D) is turning out to be a key area
where skilled professionals are getting
rewarded now more than ever. This
is confirmed by Mr Basavaraj, managing director of Neural Systems, when
he says, In a nutshell, it is an ideal
situation to invest in long-term plans
emphasising on R&D and IP with
adequate, talented manpower. This
fiscal, 33 per cent of the respondents
identified R&D as their highest paying
function, which is 9 per cent higher
than last year.
Among the sub-segments of the
electronics industry, telecom is showing the maximum promise of growth.
It doesnt come as a surprise therefore
that R&D and business development
activities in this sector offer the highest pay packets for almost all levels of
employees.
Training could be the key

A lull across the salary front could spell
out an opportunity elsewhere. According to 98 per cent of the respondents,
improvement in staff training is a
valuable way of proofing their businesses for the future. In fact, roughly
78 per cent of the surveyed firms provided paid trainings across all levels
to improve internal efficiencies and
processes, which is quite promising in
comparison with the 38 per cent figure
for 2007-08.
Apart from the usual expectations
pertaining to remuneration, there is
also the demand in some quarters,
especially from the design engineers,
for a flexible work environment. Presently, two-thirds (67 per cent) of the
firms surveyed, supported alternative
work schedules or flexible timings,
along with compressed hours of the
weekwork for the same number of
hours in lesser number of days. Last
year, the figure was 58 per cent. It
clearly indicates that flexibility is a
major strategy of the firms to retain
key talent.
The scenario may not be so cooperative in matters like paternity leave.
Though the proportion of firms (63
per cent) allowing paternity leave was
higher than last year (50 per cent),
companies seemed to be getting stringent about the number of days leave is
granted for. None of the firms allowed
more than one month of leave, with
more firms (12 per cent higher than
2007-08) stipulating around 15 days
only.
To sum up, the electronics industry in India appears to be marching
right ahead, unfazed by the turmoil
around it. While talented individuals
in other sectors may be struggling to
find stepping stones in times when
lay-offs and hiring freezes are the
order of the day, the employees in the
Indian electronics industry have more
than a bright chance to override the
recession and kickstart their careers
in this industry.
The author is a research analyst cum journalist at EFY
Manufacture
FLEXIBLE CIRCUITS
getting better
Circuits that stretch, fold or twist will improve numerous devices. One particular
application is biomedical sensors that can be comfortably implanted in the
human body
Dr S.S. Verma
lectronics circuits till now are fabricated mostly on hard substrates.

This rigidity imposes shape limitations for electronic equipment. Though
miniaturisation of integrated circuits has
helped to a large extent in giving the
desired shape to electronic equipment,
much more can be achieved with the
latest developments in the fabrication of
flexible circuits.
Flexible circuitry reduces the size
and weight of a finished product. It
allows increased circuit density and
eliminates bulky connections and
wiring. And the added ability to fold
the circuit expands the boundaries of
design and packaging.
boards, is a technology for assembling electronic circuits by mounting

electronic devices on flexible highperformance plastic substrates, such
as polyimide. Circuits can be designed
in configurations from simple, singlesided conductive paths to complex,
high-density, three-dimensional assemblies utilising a variety of fabrication materials from low-cost polyester
to mid-range PEN to high-density
adhesiveless polyimide Novaclad. Additionally, flex circuits can be screenprinted silver circuits on polyester.
Flexible electronic assemblies may be
shape, or to flex during its use.
Developments so far
The original method for flexible CMOS
circuits comprised a 2- to 3-micrometre circuit layer sitting atop a plastic
substrate as much as 100m thick.
It could curve around a small roll of
coins. But the new version has a total
thickness of only 1.7 m, including
the plastic, which gives it the ability to
wrap around a rod whose diameter is
roughly 85 m.
In LCD fabrication, glass is used as
the substrate. If a thin, flexible plastic
or metallic foil is used instead of glass,
the entire system can be flexible, as the
film deposited on top of the substrate
The underlying technology

Flexible electronics, also known
as flex circuits, or flex circuit
manufactured
using the same components as used for rigid
printed-circuit boards, allowing
the board to conform to a desired
is usually very thin

(of the order of a few
micrometres).
OLEDs are normally used instead of a backlight for flexible displays, making a flexible organic
light-emitting diode display. Flexible
solar cells have been developed for
powering satellites. These cells are
lightweight, can be rolled up for
launch and are easily deployable,
Manufacture
which makes them a good match for
the application.
Bendable, twistable electronic
circuits whose performance nearly
matches that of conventional CMOS
chips, have been reported. These
circuits, developed by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign (USA), are built
from ribbons of silicon only a few
nanometres thick that are mounted on
flexible plastic substrates. The same
group or researchers has developed an
improved plastic circuit that is not only
flexible but also stretchable and foldable. To make it foldable, they looked
at the behaviour of everyday objects
and decided to make the circuit much
thinner.
The researchers made plastic circuits by transferring thin ribbons of
silicon onto glue-coated plastic using a
patterned rubber stamp. But before the
ultra-thin silicon layer is applied to the
substrate, the plastic is heated, causing
it to expand. Once the circuit layer is
deposited and chemically bonded to
the expanded substrate, the plastic is
allowed to cool and contract. Relaxing

the strain causes the circuit layer to
buckle and form wavy patterns like
the bellows of an accordion. Its the
folds and wrinkles that give the circuit
the ability to stretch and bend without
breaking. The researchers said that in
laboratory tests, the circuits showed no
signs of fatigue even after a few hundred stretch-and-release cycles.
Applications abound
Flex circuits are often used as connectors in various applications where
flexibility, space savings or production
constraints limit the serviceability of
rigid circuit boards or hand wiring.
In addition to cameras, a common application of flex circuits is in computer
keyboard manufacturing; today, most
keyboards use flex circuits for the
switch matrix.
Flexible circuits are advantageous
in numerous applications:
1. Tightly assembled electronic
packages, where electrical connections
are required in three axes, such as cameras (static application)
2. Electrical connections where the

assembly is required to flex during its
normal use, such as folding cell phones
(dynamic application)
3. Electrical connections between
sub-assemblies to replace wire harnesses, which are heavier and bulkier,
such as in rockets and satellites
4. Electrical connections where
board thickness or space constraints
are driving factors
The researchers are entering into
partnerships with physicians for development of flexible biomedical devices
that can be implanted in the human
body in a more comfortable manner;
for example, an implantable sensor
that will monitor electrical activity in
the brain to help predict the onset of
epileptic seizures. The device may also
work in reverse, sending electric pulses
that head off the seizures. This requires
a device that will conform to the rippled geometry of the brain.
The author is from Department of Physics,
S.L.I.E.T. (deemed to be university), Longowal,
District Sangrur (Punjab)
cONSTRUCTION
Microcontroller-Based
Ring Tone Player
mar
sunil ku
Subhajit Roy
obile phone ring tones sound

like real audio recordings.
Its not because of the way
the melodies are composed, but the
protocol behind playing the melody.
The ring tone text transfer language
(RTTTL) is behind those wonderful
lullabies and songs you have on your
mobile phone.
Basically, a ring tone is the sound
made by a mobile phone to indicate an
incoming call or text message. Here we
present a microcontroller-based ring
tone generator.
The basics
The lowest resonant frequency of a vibrating object is called its fundamental
frequency. Most vibrating objects have
more than one resonant frequency and
those used in musical instruments
typically vibrate at harmonics of the
fundamental. A harmonic is defined as
an integer multiple of the fundamental
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1
- AT89C51 microcontroller
IC2
- 7805, 5V regulator
T1
- BC337 npn transistor
D1-D4
- 1N4007 rectifier diode
LED1
- 5mm LED
Resistors (all -watt, 5% carbon):
R1
- 330-ohm
R2
- 8.2-kilo-ohm
R3
- 10-kilo-ohm
R4
- 1-kilo-ohm
Capacitors:
C1
C2, C6
C3
C4, C5
- 1000F, 25V electrolytic

- 0.1F ceramic disk
- 22pF ceramic disk
Miscellaneous:
X1
- 220V AC primary to 9V,
500mA transformer
XTAL
- 11.0592MHz crystal
LS1
- 8-ohm, 1W speaker
frequency.
A cylindrical air column with both
ends open vibrates with a fundamental
frequency. Each end of the column
must be an antinode, with one node at
the centre for
the air motion.
Therefore if
is the wavelength of the
sound produced by an
open cylindrical air column,
its length L1
Fig. 1: Fundamental
will be:
frequency vibration in an
open air column
L1 = /2 (/4+
/4)
So =2L1
Frequency n1 = V/ (where V is
the velocity of sound)
By putting the value of , we get:
n1 = V/2L1
If length is half, then:
Frequency n2 = V/L1
n1/n2 = (V/2L1) (L1/V) = 1/2
or n1 = 2n2
Thus halving the length doubles
the frequency, i.e., frequency n1 is created with one octave higher (2n1).
If the length is made quarter of the
original, the frequency becomes 4n1,
i.e., two octaves higher.
If n1 is octave 1, then
n2 is octave 2,
then
n3 is octave 3,
and so on.
If the length is
doubled, the frequency is halved.
That is, the freFig. 2: PWM signal, where Ts1, ts1 and D1 are the time period, half time
quency becomes
period and duration of note 1, while Ts2, ts2 and D2 are the time period, half
time period and duration of note 2
n1/2, which is one
octave lower.
In music, freTable I
quency n1 is called a
Nokia RTTL Frequencies (Hz)
note. The pitch of a
(For Octave 4 to Octave 7)
piano key or guitar
No.
Octave=4
Octave=5 Octave=6
Octave=7 string is described
by the note.
1 A
220.000
440.000
880.000
1,760.000
According to
2 A# 233.082
466.164
932.328
1,864.655
musical frequency
3 B
246.942
493.883
987.767
1,975.533
conventions, there
4 C
261.626
523.251
1,046.502
2,093.005
are twelve notes in
5 C# 277.183
554.365
1,108.731
2,217.461
all, namely, A, A#,
6 D
293.665
587.330
1,174.659
2,349.318
B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F,
7 D# 311.127
622.254
1,244.508
2,489.016
F#, G and G#, where
8 E
329.628
659.255
1,318.510
2,637.020
# sign indicates a
9 F
349.228
698.456
1,396.913
2,793.826
sharp note.
10 F# 369.994
739.989
1,479.978
2,959.955
According to
11 G
391.995
783.991
1,567.982
3,135.963 Nokia RTTTL spec12 G# 415.305
830.609
1,661.219
3,322.438 ifications, note A
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Application notes
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cONSTRUCTION
Table II
Values in Hex to be Loaded to Timer 1 (Oscillator Frequency 11.0592 MHz)

Notes
a#
c#
d#
f#
g#
Octave 4: A4=220 Hz
F7D1
F847
F8B6
F91F
F982
F9DF
FA37
FA8A
FAD9
FB23
FB68
FBAA
Octave 5: A5=440 Hz
FBE9
FC23
FC58
FC8F
FCC1
FCEF
FD1B
FD45
FD6C
FD91
FDB4
FDD5
Octave 6: A6=880 Hz
FDF4
FE12
FE2D
FE48
FE60
FE78
FE8E
FEA3
FEB6
FEC9
FEDA
FEEB
Octave 7: A7=1.76 kHz
FEFA
FF09
FF17
FF24
FF30
FF3C
FF47
FF51
FF5B
FF64
FF6D
FF75
Octave 8: A8=3.52 kHz
FF7D
FF44
FF8B
FF92
FF98
FF9E
FFA3
FFA9
FFAE
FFB2
FFB7
FFBB
Fig. 3: Circuit of microcontroller-based ringtone generator
with octave 5 has a frequency of 440

Hz (refer Table I):
A5 = 440 Hz
So we get:
A6 = 880 Hz (A5x2)
A7 = 1760 Hz (A6x2)
The space between two consecutive
octaves like A5 and A6 is divided into
eleven equally spaced parts on the logarithmic scale. Thus there are twelve
equally spaced notes per octave: A5,
A#5, B5, C5, C#5, D5, D#5, E5, F5, F#5,
G5, G#5 and then A6 starts.
RTTTL is a simple text-based format that you can use to create ring
tones. An RTTTL file is made up of a
single string divided into three sections
separated by colons (:).
In the example of a Happy Birthday
song given below:
d=4, o=5, b=125:16c, 32p, 32c, 32p,
8d, 32p, 8c, 32p, 8f, 32p, e, 16p, 16c,
32p, 32c, 32p, 8d, 32p, 8c, 32p, 8g, 32p,

f, 8p, 16c, 32p, 32c, 32p, 8c6, 32p, 8a,
32p, 8f, 32p, 8e, 32p, 8d, 32p, 16a#, 32p,
32a#, 32p, 8a, 32p, 8f, 32p, 8g, 32p
1. The first section is the name of
the RTTTL melody, i.e., Happy Birthday Song.
2. The second section defines the
default values for the file. There are
three categories of default values: duration (d=4), octave (o=5) and beat per
minute (b=125).
3. The third section describes the
melody.
It is a set of notes separated by a
comma. The notes are given in the following format:
Duration (dn)
Note
Octave
8
c
6
where dn is the duration of the
present note.
If either the duration (dn) or octave
is not specified
for a particular note, the
default values
are assumed.
After getting the notes,
you
must
calculate the
duration for
which a note is
to be played:
Number
of notes per
second to be
played (N) =
60/beats per
minute (b)
=60/125
Net duration D in seconds for which
a note is to be played = No. of notes
per second (Default note duration)/
(Duration specified for the current
note)
= Nd/dn
= (60/125) (4/8)
= 30/125
So to play music, all you need to
do is to get the RTTTL ring tone of the
particular music, then read its note and
generate the frequency for the calculated duration (D).
If the note is dotted; for example,
2b (here b denotes note, not beats
per second), the duration is made 1.5
times, so that D=1.5D.
Generation of PWM frequency.
Since we are dealing with digital
systems, we need to generate PWM
(pulse-width-modulated) signals from
port pin P2.0 of the microcontroller. A PWM signal consists of high

cONSTRUCTION
period calculation as follows:
1. Timer 0 for calculating
the duration (D)
2. Timer 1 for calculating
the half time period (ts)
The CPU takes certain
number of clock cycles to execute an instruction. The simplest instruction takes a single
byte of code and executes in
one machine cycle. The standard 8051 machine cycle is equal
to twelve oscillator cycles.
We have used a 11.0592MHz
crystal.
Fig. 4: Actual-size, single-side PCB for the microcontrollerSo time period =
based ring tone generator
1/(11.0592106) = 0.0904 s
Time period of a machine
cycle = 0.090512 = 1.085 s
Timer 0. Timer 0 is a 16-bit
timer that is used for duration D. It is loaded with
value DC00H. Therefore the
number of machine cycles
taken by the timer before it is
reset=FFFFDC00+1=2400H=
9216 in decimal.
Therefore time taken t
= 92161.085 s
= 0.001 second
So after timer 0 is set, it will
take 0.001 second to reset.
For 1-second duration,
Fig. 5: Component layout for the PCB
the timer needs to be set
(P2.0 = 1) and low (P2.0 = 0), i.e., the
1/0.001=100 times.
bit remains high for a certain period
For duration D, timer 0 needs to
of time and low for the same period
be set Dx100 times.
of time (refer Fig. 2).
Timer 1. The half time period is
Time period of the note (Ts) =
ts.
1/frequency of note
Therefore the number of machine
Therefore,
cycles needed = ts/1.085 s
Duration of high bit (time for
If the value of the timer is x, then
which P2.0 is 1)= Ts/2 = ts1 (half-time
FFFFx+1 = ts/(1.085x10-6)
period)
From this equation, the value of x
Duration of low bit (time for
can be calculated.
which P2.0 is 0)= Ts/2 = ts1 (half-time
1s and 0s are continuously generperiod)
ated from port pin P2.0 at an interval
So you need to use two timers for
of ts seconds alternatively until duraduration D and half-time period ts.
tion D (in seconds) completes (refer
Use one timer to generate 1s and 0s
Table II).
at a time interval of ts and the other
Circuit description
timer to interrupt the PWM signal after
time interval D.
Fig. 3 shows the circuit of the microWe have used two timers for timecontroller-based ring tone generator.
cONSTRUCTION
At the heart of the circuit is microcontroller AT89C51. It is a low-power,
high-performance, 8-bit microcontroller with 4kB Flash programmable and
erasable read-only memory. It has 128
bytes of RAM, 32 input/output (I/O)
lines, two 16-bit timers/counters, a
five-vector two-level interrupt architecture, on-chip oscillator and clock
circuitry.
The 11.0592MHz crystal provides
the basic clock frequency to the microcontroller. Port pin P2.0 of the
microcontroller provides the ring
tone melody signal for speaker LS1.
Transistor BC337 is used for amplification. The power-on reset signal for
the microcontroller is generated by
the combination of capacitor C3 and
resistor R2. Switch S1 provides manual
reset to the microcontroller.
The 230V AC mains is stepped
down by transformer X1 to deliver
the secondary output of 9V, 500
mA. The transformer output is rectified by a full-wave bridge rectifier
comprising diodes D1 through D4,
filtered by capacitor C1 and regulated by IC 7805 (IC2). Capacitor C2

bypasses the ripples present in the
regulated power supply. LED1 acts
as the power-on indicator and resistor R1 limits the current through
LED1.
An actual-size, single-side PCB for
the microcontroller-based ring tone
generator is shown in Fig. 4 and its
component layout in Fig. 5.
$mod51
FLAG EQU 07FH
SPEAKER EQU P2.0
BEGIN:

ORG 0000H

AJMP MAIN

RET
PLAY_NOTE:
CONTINUE:

CLR A

MOVC A,@A+DPTR

MOV R0,A

INC DPTR

CLR A

MOVC A,@A+DPTR

MOV R1,A

INC DPTR

CLR A

MOVC A,@A+DPTR

MOV R2,A

INC DPTR

CLR A

MOVC A,@A+DPTR

MOV R3,A

INC DPTR

RET
ACTION:

CLR TR0

CJNE R1,#0,DO2

CLR FLAG

SJMP DO3
DO2: DEC R1
DO3:

MOV TH0,#0DCH

MOV TL0,#00H

SETB TR0

RET
SONG:
; HAPPY BIRTHDAY
;
R0 R1
R2
R3
Software
The program plays happy birthday
to you in RTTTL ring tone format
using the microcontroller AT89C51.
The source program, written in Assembly language and assembled using assembler ASM51, is self-explanatory and easy to understand.
Initialise timer 0 and timer 1 as
16-bit timers with predetermined
value. When you start timer 0, the data
pointer register is loaded with memory
address labeled as SONG. After playing the current note, the control jumps
to the next note and it starts playing.
This process continues until the end

of music data is reached. Thereafter,
it starts playing the music from the
beginning.
Nokia RTTTL ringtones can be
downloaded from the following websites:
1. http://www.2thumbswap.
com/members/tones/nokia/tones_
nokia_latest.html
2. http://nokiatone.ifrance.com/
nokiatone/rtttf.htm
3. http://ringtones.frostzone.com/
index.htm
4. http://arcadetones.emuunlim.
com/files.htm
RTTL ringtones can also be tested
on the computer, the software for
which can be downloaded from the
link http://arcadetones.emuunlim.
com/files/nokring_full.zip.
(Refer A Cell Phone Player Embedded in Microcontroller by Manoel
Gomes de Andrade for details.)
EFY note. The source code and other
relevant files of this article are included
in this months EFY-CD.
ringtones.asm
ISR:

ORG 000BH

LCALL ACTION

RETI

ORG 0050H
MAIN:

MOV TMOD,#00010001B
;

MOV IE,#82H
;

MOV TH0,#0DCH

MOV TL0,#00H

SETB TR0

MOV DPTR,#SONG

MOV R0,#02
LOOP1:

ACALL PLAY_NOTE

CJNE R0,#02,CARRY_ON

SJMP MAIN
;end of music has been detected so start again
CARRY_ON:

ACALL PLAY

SJMP LOOP1
PLAY:

CLR EA

SETB FLAG

SETB EA
RUN:
JNB FLAG,STOP
DO:
CJNE R0,#0,START

SJMP RUN
START: MOV TH1,R2

MOV TL1,R3

SETB TR1
HERE:
JNB TF1,HERE

CLR TF1

CLR TR1

CPL SPEAKER

SJMP RUN
STOP:
CLR SPEAKER

DB 1, 12, 0FCH, 08FH
;R0=1
indicates there is a note to played

DB 0,6,0,0
;R0=0
indicates there is no note to be played

DB 1,6,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FCH,0EFH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,06CH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,48,0FDH,045H

DB 0,12,0,0

DB 1,12,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,6,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FCH,0EFH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,0B4H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,48,0FDH,06CH

DB 0,24,0,0

DB 1,12,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,6,0FCH,08FH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FEH,048H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FBH,0E9H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,06CH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,045H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FCH,0EFH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,12,0FCH,023H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,6,0FCH,023H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FBH,0E9H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,06CH

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,24,0FDH,0B4H

DB 0,6,0,0

DB 1,48,0FDH,06CH

DB 2,0,0,0
;R0=2 indicates
end of music

END

cONSTRUCTION
PC-BASED WIRELESS
STEPPER MOTOR control
V. Mariyappan
tepper motors find lots of applications in process control,

machine tools and robotics. Especially in robotics and process control,
it is necessary to control the stepper
motor from a remote place.
Here we describe how to wirelessly
control a stepper motor from a remote
place by using RF modules. For this
wireless stepper-motor control system,
you need to design and develop the
required hardware and software. The
parallel port of the PC is used to control the direction of the stepper motor
at the transmitter side. RF interface is
used instead of IR to overcome all the
drawbacks of the IR interface. The PC
Table I
Output Power and Current

Drain w.r.t. VCC
VCC
O/P
Current
5V DC
0 dbm
1.0 mA
12V DC
+9 dbm
3 mA
Table II
Technical Specifications of
RF Receiver RX-433
Description
Working voltage
Value
4.5V-5.5V
Bandwidth
12 MHz
Sensitivity
103 dbm
Data rate
4800 bps
Max. data rate
9600 bps
Standby current
Antenna
1, 2 mA
Whip, strip line or helical
signals are transmitted from the RF

transmitter and received by the RF
receiver.
Circuit description
Fig. 1 shows the block diagram for
PC-based wireless control of a stepper
motor. The signals from the parallel
port of the PC are interfaced to the RF
transmitter through an encoder. The
encoder continuously reads the status
of the relay switches, passes the data
to the RF transmitter and the transmitter transmits the data. At the receiving
end, the RF receiver receives this data
and gives it to the decoder. The decoder converts the single-bit data into
four-bit data and presents to the stepper-motor driver. Now, the driver performs the corresponding
action, i.e., it rotates the
stepper motor clockwise
or anticlockwise.
Remote control.
For remote control, we
have used the Holtek
encoder-decoder pair
Fig. 2: Pin
configuration
of HT12E and HT12D.
of the rf
Both of these are 18-pin
transmitter
module
DIP ICs.
Operation of Holtek
HT12E and
H T 1 2 D .
HT12E and
HT12D are
CMOS ICs
with a working voltage
of
Fig. 3: Pin configuration of the r a n g e
rf receiver module
2.4V to 12V.
Fig. 1: Block diagram for PC-based wireless control of a stepper motor
mar
sunil ku
Parts List
Semiconductors:
IC1
- HT12E Holtek encoder
IC2
- 7806, 6V regulator
IC3
- HT12D Holtek decoder
IC4
- CD40106 hex inverter
IC5
- ULN2003 Darlington array
T1-T4
T5
D1-D4
- 1N4148 switching diode
D5-D10
- 1N4007 rectifier diode
TX1
- TX-433 RF transmitter
RX1
- RX-433 RF receiver
LED1
- 5mm LED
Resistors (all -watt, 5% carbon):
R1
- 1-mega-ohm
R2-R5
- 10-kilo-ohm
R6-R9
- 1.2-kilo-ohm
R10
- 1-kilo-ohm
R11
- 47-kilo-ohm
R12
- 3.9-kilo-ohm
R13
- 470-ohm
Capacitors:
C1, C3
C2
C4
Miscellaneous:
BATT.1
BATT.2
S1, S2
DIP-SW1,
DIP-SW2

- 0.1F ceramic disk
- 9V battery
- 6V, 4.5Ah battery
- On/off switch
- 8-way DIP switch

- 25-pin D-type male
connector
Encoder HT12E has eight address and

another four address/data lines. The
data set on these twelve lines (address
and address/data lines) is serially
transmitted when transmit-enable pin
TE is taken low. The data output appears serially on DOUT pin. It is transmitted four times in succession.
The data consists of differing
lengths of positive-going pulses for
1 and 0, the pulse width for 0 being twice the width of the pulse
for 1. The frequency of these
pulses may lie between 1.5 and 7
kHz depending on the resistance
value between OSC1 and OSC2
pins. The internal oscillator frequency of decoder HT12D is 50
times the oscillator frequency of
cONSTRUCTION
Fig. 4: Transmitter circuit for wireless stepper motor control
encoder HT12E. The values of timing

resistors connected between OSC1
and OSC2 pins of HT12E and HT12D,
for the given supply voltages, can be
found out from the graphs given in
the datasheets of the respective chips
(included in this months EFY-CD).
The resistance values used in the
circuits are chosen here for approximately 3kHz frequency of the encoder
(HT12E) at Vcc of 9V and 150 kHz of
the decoder (HT12D) at Vcc of 5V.
The HT12D receives the data from
the HT12E on its DIN pin serially. If
the address part of the data received
matches the levels on A0 through A7
Fig. 5: Actual-size, single-side PCB for the transmitter circuit

pins four times in succession, the valid

transmission pin (VT) is taken high.
The data on pins AD8 through AD11 of
the HT12E appear on pins D8 through
D11 of the HT12D. Thus the device acts
as a receiver of 4-bit data (16 possible
codes) with 8-bit addressing (256 possible channels).
Fig. 6: Component layout for the PCB shown in Fig. 5

cONSTRUCTION
Fig. 7: Receiver-cum-decoder circuit for wireless stepper motor control
Fig. 8: Actual-size, single-side PCB for the receiver-cumdecoder circuit
Fig. 9: Component layout for the PCB shown in Fig. 8

Once the frequency of the pair

is aligned, then on ground of any
data pin of the encoder, LED1 of
the decoder should glow. You can
also check the transfer of data on
pins AD8 through AD11, which
is latched to D8 through D11 pins
of the decoder once TE pin is momentarily taken low by grounding
it through diodes D1 through D4.
RF transmitter and receiver. RF
transmitter and receiver modules
from Alpus India, Mumbai, have
been used for RF remote control.
The RF transmitter TX-433 is
AM/ASK type. Its features include:
1. 5V-12V single-supply operation
2. On-off keying (OOK)/amplitude shift keying (ASK) data
format
3. Up to 9.6kbps data rate
4. +9dBm output power (about
200m range)
5. SAW-based architecture
6. A 45cm wire is adequate for
the antenna
The output power and current
drain for Vcc of 5V and 12V are
shown in Table I.
The pin configuration
of the transmitter module
is shown in Fig. 2.
The RF receiver RX433 is a 433MHz module.
Its pin configuration is
shown in Fig. 3, while the
technical specifications
are given in Table II.
Transmitter. Fig. 4
shows the circuit of the
transmitter for wireless
stepper motor control.
The receiver address to
be transmitted can be set
with the help of 8-way
DIP switch SW1. When
any of the switch contacts is open the respective pin will be at logic
1, and when any of the
switch contacts is closed
the respective pin will be
at logic 0. The data pins are pulled high
via resistors R2 through R5.
When pin 2 of the parallel port
goes high, transistor T1 is driven into
saturation and relay RL1 energises. Pin
10 (AD8) goes low through relay RL1
contacts and a 0 is sent at that data
position, while other data pins represent logic-1 state. The logic circuitry at
the receiver-decoder end decodes the
data appropriately for controlling the
stepper motor.
the transmitter circuit (Fig. 4) is shown
in Fig. 5 and its component layout in
Fig. 6.
Receiver and decoder. Fig. 7 shows
the circuit of the receiver-cum-decoder
for wireless stepper motor control.
Assuming that identical address is
selected on the encoder and decoder,
when any of the data pins of the PCs
parallel port on the transmitter side
is low, the corresponding data pin
of the decoder will go low. The data
outputs (D8 through D11) of HT12D
are fed to inverters N1 through N4,
which, in turn, are connected to driver
ULN2003. The low output of ULN2003
drives the stepper motor. When any
cONSTRUCTION
T5 into saturation and LED1 lights
up.
the receiver-cum-decoder circuit (Fig.
7) is shown in Fig. 8 and its component
layout in Fig. 9.
Software
Fig. 10: Main screen of wireless stepper motor

control
data is received, valid transmission

(VT) pin goes high to drive transistor
The software program for the user

interface to control the stepper motor
is written in C language. The signals
are generated by the outport( ) function. The speed of rotation of the stepper motor can be varied by changing
the argument of the delay( ) function.
Direction of rotation (clockwise or
anticlockwise) depends on the switch

function.
When the program (WSTEPPER.
C) is loaded and run, the screen shows
the welcome message. Pressing any key
will lead to the main screen shown in
Fig. 10. The main screen displays three
messages. Pressing c key rotates the
stepper motor in clockwise direction,
while pressing a key rotates the stepper motor in anti-clockwise direction.
The program can be terminated by
pressing q key.
EFY note. The source code and
other relevant files of this article are
included in this months EFY-CD.
WSTEPPER.C
/*PC BASED WIRELESS STEPPER MOTOR CONTROL*/
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#include<dos.h>
void main()
{
void dub(void);
char
ex[26]={Programmed
by
V.MARIYAPPAN};
int i;
char ex1[22]={Programming Language:
C};
int j;
char ex2[28]={Operating system: Windows 98};
int k;
char ex3[39]={PC BASED WIRELESS STEPPER
MOTOR CONTROL};
int l;
clrscr();
for(l=0;l<39;l++)
{
textcolor(14);gotoxy(21+l,9);
cprintf(%c,ex3[l]);
delay(50);
}
sound(1900);
delay(500);
nosound();
delay(100);
for(i=0;i<26;i++)
{
textcolor(11);gotoxy(27+i,16);
cprintf(%c,ex[i]);
delay(30);
}
for(k=0;k<28;k++)
{
textcolor(9);gotoxy(26+k,18);
cprintf(%c,ex2[k]);
delay(30);
}
for(j=0;j<22;j++)
{
textcolor(9);gotoxy(29+j,20);
cprintf(%c,ex1[j]);
delay(30);
}
sound(1800);
delay(500);
nosound();
getch();
dub();
}
void dub(void)
{
int i;
char ex[29]={For any clarification con-
tact};
int j;
char ex1[31]={[email protected]};
int k;
void clock(void);
void anty(void);
char ch;
clrscr();
textcolor(14);gotoxy(20,6);
cprintf(PC BASED WIRELESS STEPPER MOTOR CONTROL);
textcolor(11); gotoxy(24,14);
cprintf(FOR CLOCKWISE ROTATION PRESS
c);
cprintf(FOR ANTICLOCKWISE ROTATION
PRESS a);
cprintf(FOR EXIT PRESS q);
ch=getch();
switch(ch)
{
case c:clock();break;
case a:anty();break;
case q:
clrscr();
{
for(j=0;j<29;j++)
{
textcolor(9);gotoxy(27+j,14);
cprintf(%c,ex[j]);
delay(30);
}
for(k=0;k<31;k++)
{
textcolor(9);gotoxy(26+k,15);
cprintf(%c,ex1[k]);
delay(30);
}
outport(0x0378,0);
cprintf(Press any key);
getch();
exit(0);
}
default: clrscr();

textcolor(12);gotoxy(33,1
4);

cprintf(WRONG KEY
PRESSED);

for(i=0;i<5;i++)

{

sound(1000);

delay(100);

nosound();

delay(100);

}

dub();
}
getch();
}
void clock(void)
{
int p=0x0378;
char e;
clrscr();
cprintf(CLOCKWISE DIRECTION);
cprintf(Press any key to stop);
do
{
outport(p,1);
delay(200);
outport(p,2);
delay(200);
outport(p,4);
delay(200);
outport(p,8);
delay(200);
outport(p,0);
sound(1000);
delay(200);
nosound();
}
while(!kbhit());
getch();
dub();
}
void anty(void)
{
int p=0x0378;
char e;
clrscr();
cprintf(ANTI CLOCKWISE DIRECTION);
cprintf(Press any key to stop);
do
{
outport(p,8);
delay(200);
outport(p,4);
delay(200);
outport(p,2);
delay(200);
outport(p,1);
delay(200);
outport(p,0);
sound(2000);
delay(200);
nosound();
}
while(!kbhit());
getch();
dub();
first look!
the latest Home and office products
Worlds First 200Hz LCD TV

Watch action and sports without jerks on Sony BRAVIA Z450A
Price:
132cm: Rs. 359,900
117cm: Rs 243,900
102cm: Rs 183,900
Sony claims to have introduced the

worlds first LCD TV with MotionFlow
200Hz technology in India. With its
ultra-smooth picture enhancement, the
Bravia Z450A takes home entertain-
ment to the next level.

The advantages of this new
technology can be noticed especially in action scenes or sports
broadcasts as it reduces jerkiness by
creating an additional, transitional
picture that is inserted into fastmoving sequences. By increasing
the number of images, the Bravia
Z450A can display even the fastest
sports scene smoothly without a
blur. The transitional images are
created by examining the pictures that
immediately precede and follow the
next image in the sequence. For example, MotionFlow looks at the flight of
a cricket ball, to work out how it gets
from the players bat to the sky, and
inserts the relevant transitional images.
Gen-next Keyboards and Pianos

The new keyboards and pianos from Casio
come with Indian tones and rhythms
Price:
KEYBOARDS:
CTK-2000: Rs 6495
CTK-3000: Rs 7995
CTK-4000: Rs 9995
CTK-5000: Rs 13,995
WK-500: Rs 18,995
WK-200: Rs 13,995
PIANOS:
AP-200: Rs 49,995
PX-720/ PX-720C: Rs 44,995
CDP-200R: Rs 29,995
CDP-100: Rs 21,995
Casio India has launched a new range

of digital pianos and keyboards that
combine tradition with technology.
The multifunctional keyboards come
with special features. Audio-in terminal
lets you connect the MP3 player and
play your own music along with the
song. With the mike attachment, you
can karaoke, with live music played on
the keyboard. You can sample sound
from an audio device and use it while
playing.
The Privia pianos come with natural key touch and majestic sound quality, while the Celviano range of pianos
have an elegant design with rich resonance. GenNext digital pianos blend an
improved AIF sound source with 128note polyphony, which makes their
tone quality very similar to acoustic
pianos. Some pianos also have Indian
tones and rhythms, SD card slot, pitch
bender, audio-in terminal and rhythm
editor.
multimedia
Projectors
Give edge to your business
presentationswith Sharps PGF320W and PG-F255W
Price:
PG-F255W:Rs 75,000
PG-320W:Rs 99,000
Sharp Business Systems (India) has

expanded its multimedia projection
systems lineup with thelaunch of PG320W and PG-F255W. Designed for
business users, these projectors promise quality, flexibility, ease-of-use and
portability.
The projectors are WXGA
(1280800-pixel resolution) compatible
and provide 16:9 wide-screen viewing
area, which is 1.3 times wider than
standard XGA (1024768-pixel resolution). The advanced optoelectronics
technology maximises light output,
providing crystal-clear images in
high brightness. The 3X colour wheel
includes yellow and cyan, in addition
to red, green and blue, reproducing
highly realistic colourful pictures.
The PG-F255W andPG-320Wboast
of upwards of 2500 and 3000 ANSI
lumens with an impressive 2200:1
and 2000:1 contrast ratio, respectively.
Both the models areideal for use with
WXGA laptops,in small- to mediumsized venues.
first look!
Affordable
Mobile Phones
Say goodbye to headsets as LG
launches its first Intenna
FM radio phones
Price:
GB110: Rs 3100
GB106: Rs 2100
The LG GB110 and GB106 mobile

phones dont require you to attach a
headset while listening to FM radio.
So there are no hassles associated with
using a headphone. Equipped with
Intenna FM radio, the phones let you
listen to unlimited songs and tune into
favourite music shows, sport reports,
updates and other information without
adding headset to the phone.
Both the handsets are packed with
an extremely strong battery that gives
up to ten hours of talktime, 3.8cm
colour display, extensive phonebook
memory and a stylish leatherite
carry pouch to save the phones from
scratches. While the GB106 packs in
an anti-theft mobile tracker, the GB110
comes with additional features like a
1 GB VGA camera, a micro SD card
slot, an expandable memory of up to
2 GB and MP3 playback.
Portable Music System

Hear your iPod the Bose way
The Bose SoundDock portable
digital music system bring your
iPod tunes to life for all to hear.
Your iPod can be enjoyed out
loud in more locations, without
compromising sound quality.
The system is easy to
use: Just dock and
play your compatible iPod. It charges
while you enjoy music with no interruptions.
The system reproduces your favourite tunes with fullness and clarity
unusual for a portable system. And
its so compact that you can take it just
about anywhere, even outdoors.
A rechargeable lithium-ion battery (included) provides more power
and longer playing time than most
Price: Rs 23,513
rechargeable batteries. The rotating

iPod docking station disappears for
storage and protection during transit.
The moulded handle makes it easy to
carry this iPod accessory from place to
place. A custom remote easily controls
the system and basic iPod functions
including playlist navigation. The auxiliary input lets you play other portable
sources too.
Portable DLP Projectors

The BenQ CP270 and MP727 are good for business travelers
BenQs new projectors aim at

providing optimal solutions
for frequent traveling professionals.
The 1.5kg Commuter Series
CP270 is ideal for business travelers and small offices. It projects
at native XGA (1024x768) resolution
and features a high brightness of 2000
ANSI lumens with a high contrast ratio
of 1000:1. Further, its 30-second quickcool feature allows the projector to cool
fast even after long usage hours.
Targeted at the industrial sector,
the MP727 high-brightness projector is
equipped with a host of features that
suit the needs of small- and mediumsize businesses. This intelligent and
automatic projector gives high-quality
output in almost any condition. The
projector has a brilliant 4300 ANSI lu-
Price:
CP270: Price not available
MP727: Rs 168,000 plus tax
mens, which makes it perform in blackout conditions to well-lit environments.

Contrast ratio is as high as 3500:1.
For multimedia users, the MP727
projector has HDTV compatibility,
integrated 3-watt speaker and HDMI
1.3 (with HDCP). The universal audio
remote lets you easily adjust the volumes of all audio devices connected to
the projector, such as external speakers,
DVD player and notebook.
first look!
Tabletop Desktops
The HP CQ 2000 series desktops weigh only 3.5 kg and come loaded
with Compaq Bhasha vernacular interface
The Compaq Presario CQ 2000 series
of Hewlett Packard (HP) is a sleek, ecofriendly machine at an affordable price
of around Rs 18,990. Designed for the
modern households, this small device
can easily replace your music
system and DVD player as
you can attach it to your
LCD monitor and speakers or simply enjoy online
video clips on YouTube.
The CQ 2000 also comes
with the Compaq My Bhasha softwarea communication enabler providing
vernacular interface.
With a 6-in-1 digital
media reader and USB
drives, all you need to
do is plug-in, sit back
and do what you need to. The CQ

2000 is Energy Star certified for being
energy-efficient.
Price: Rs 18,990plus taxes
Ultra-Short-Throw Projector
Hitachis CP-A100 projector eliminates shadowing effects
The presenters shadow on the screen
during a presentation and the projector
glare which blinds the presenter, have
been the two major problems with the
projectors. Hitachi has developed an
ultra-short-throw projector that overcomes these
problems.
The dramatic reduction
in throw distance (capability to project
an image onto a
203cm screen
from a distance of
merely 24.8
cm) and the
introduction
of a high-angle proPrice: Rs 125,000
jection capability means that the

Hitachi CP-A100 projector can
be mounted very close to the
screen. This brings additional
convenience, viewing comfort and
safety while eliminating shadowing
effects common with conventional
projectors.
The high-quality 3LCD panel
provides crisp, flicker-free images
at XGA resolution. Brightness
level is 2000 lumens
in normal mode
and 2500 lumens
in bright mode. The
contrast ratio is 400:1.
In whisper mode the
projector has quietness of
28 dBthe same as that of
a guest room in a hotel!
Airtel IPTV
Service
Airtels digital TV interactive
offers telephone, broadband
and TV on a single line
Bharti Airtel has launched the digital
TV interactiveits Internet protocol
television (IPTV) service. With this,
Airtel delivers the triple-play advantage of telephony, broadband and entertainment
service to its customers. The
triple-play service will be
initially available to customers in Delhi, Gurgaon and
Noida.
Airtel digital TV interactive claims to bring many
firsts to the TV viewing
experience: Interactive 2.0
offers a completely interactive experience including
the freedom of ordering pizzas
and movie tickets from the
comfort of your TV set. Time-shift
TV transforms TV into a two-way experience, allowing you to pause and
Entry cost: Rs 3999
rewind live TV as well as auto-record

and store favourite programmes for
seven days. Movie-on-demand with
100 blockbuster titles means you can
view movie of your choice at any
time.
The entry cost for the Airtel digital TV interactive subscriber is Rs
3999 only. This includes a one-time
activation cost, Internet connection
with modem and landline, and settop box.
Buyers
Guide
Personal
Music Players
Personal music players are available in a multitude
of formats, sizes and feature sets. So you are
bound to get confused in selecting the right one.
Here are the guidelines for a smart buy
iPod touch
Uma Bansal
ersonal music players are

of two types: analogue and
digital. Analogue players
are long-play gramophone
record/cassette type, while
digital players can be uncompressed
(capable of CD playback) or compressed (capable of MP3/WMA/AAC
playback).
The quality of analogue music is
excellent to start with but deteriorates
over the usage period of time. Also,
mechanical devices are used for playback, which are bulky and prone to
wear and tear. Portability is lesser.
There is loss of quality with each subsequent copy. Storage becomes headache when collection grows bigger.
On the other hand, the quality of
digital music varies from average to
excellent depending upon the conversion format and compression technique
used, quality and the technological
advancement of replay device. Consistency of music quality is very high.
Playback devices are compact to ultracompact. And storage is no issue for
compressed music.
Whats available in digital?

When going for a personal music
player, you have a choice between
dedicated CD players, MP3-enabled

mobiles and portable MP3 players.
Of these, MP3 players are ubiquitous
today.
Portable MP3 players. These are
continually evolving from simple
audio players to complex multimedia
devices. Most can show digital photos
transferred from your computer, sometimes with accompanying music. Many
can also play movies and music videos
downloaded from the Web.
Among the flurry of models available, Apples iPods account for majority of MP3 players sold. Apples
success rests in part on its creation of
a self-contained digital entertainment
Buyers
Guide
system. Its online iTunes store offers

a large library of online video content,
supplementing its dominance over
online music sales.
MP3 players score high over mobiles on the following counts:
1. The sound clarity of portable
MP3 players is far superior to MP3enabled mobiles.
2. The battery life of MP3 players
can be up to 35 hours, without requiring recharging even for weeks.
3. Some MP3 players come with
very high ease of use while searching
for the songs or storing and retrieving
different album arts.
There are hundreds of MP3 players
to choose from, all with their own advantages. Major brands of MP3 players
include Apple, Creative Labs, iRiver,
Philips, RCA, Samsung, SanDisk, Sony
and Toshiba. Brands from smaller companies are also available in the market.
MP3 playback has also been incorporated into handheld products like
CD players, cell phones and personal
digital assistants (PDAs).
Digital MP3 players can be differentiated based on the type of memory
used: Flash and hard-disk.
Flash-memory type. Players that use
MP4 players, also known as personal video players,

let you view video clipping/video films apart from
listening to audio. These score over MP3 players
in that they have a larger display screen and can
support more formats.
flash memory are extremely sturdy
and robust for usage on the move. The
reason is these have no moving parts,
so you can take them for jogging and
your music wont skip. They are the
smallest and lightest players, measuring no bigger than a pack of playing
cards. Flash memory is available up
to 64 GB. In India, you can get up to
16GB only. Most users prefer flash
memory-based music players. MP3
players can also double as USB memory sticks. Some may have expansion
slots to add more memory via card
slots on the player.
However, MP3 players are little
expensive in terms of per GB cost compared to hard-disk type.
A good example of MP3 players is
Sonys Walkman. Catering to music
fanatics with countless CDs at home,
Sonys collection of MP3 Walkman is
able to shrink your multitude of CDs
into just one small device. The flash
memory digital music player range

does not only look good, it can accommodate unlimited music transfers or
even serve as a data storage device.
Some of the latest Walkman video
MP3 players include NWZ-E436F/P
and NWZ-E435F/B. Both of these are
compact and light-weight, come with
FM tuner, support high-quality video
playback and have a user-friendly
interface for easy operation. The 4GB
NWZ-E436F/P is available for Rs 6490,
while the 2GB NWZ-E435F/B is priced
at Rs 4990.
Hard-disk memory type. These players use mechanical parts and are prone
to usage issues when used while
skipping or dropped down. They are
larger and heavier than flash players.
The memory capacity cost per GB is
low. In India, you can get up to 160GB
hard-disk player. It can store up to
40,000 songs.
Hard-disk MP3 players like Apple
iPods lead the portable audio world
in terms of storage. The limiting factor is usually price. In general, buy
as large a memory as you can afford,
but if you only need the space to hold
a thousand tunes, there is no reason
to spend the extra money for a 40GB
player.
Portable MP3 players can be further
differentiated based on the formats:
1. MP3-only audio players. Branded
good-quality MP3-only players are
available for Rs 1500 to Rs 6000. Chinese unbranded versions can come for
as less as Rs 600-Rs 2000.
2. MP4 players. MP4 players, also
Philips personal audio player
rs
e
n
n
i
W
of Diwali Dhamaka
1st Prize
Plasma TV
Mrs Poonam Kapoor, Director, EFY Group,

presenting the Plasma TV to
Ms Deepalaxmi, the First Prize Winner
2nd Prize
MP4 Player
1. Mr Vilas Katke, Mumbai

2. Mr Earnest Selva Paul, Secunderabad
3. Mr Rishi Kumar, Delhi
4. Mr Vijay Kumar, Bangalore
5. Sarada Instt of Tech. & Science, Khammam
3 Prize
rd
Travel Bag
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Mr Viraj Patel, Mumbai

Ms Shruti Verma, New Delhi
Ranganathan Engineering, Coimbatore
SRA Systems Ltd, Chennai
Mr Sri Balaji M, Bangalore
Mr Ravinder Reddy Tumu, Bodhan
Mr Anuraj Anand, Pathanamthitta
Sloka Telecom Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
Akashganga AME India Pvt Ltd,
Chennai
10. Mr V Sundaresan, Chennai
11. Mr Darshan Kumar, Punjab
12. Mr Om Prakash Kanoongo, Mumbai
13. Mr Jaisingh Varma, Mumbai
14. Mr Niranjan Sahoo, Visakhapatnam
15. Mr K Parthiban, Tiruchirappalli
16. Mr N M Irshath, Kayalpatnam

17. Mr Vismay Buche, Hyderabad
18. VVM's Shree Damodar College, Goa
19. Mr P R Mantry, A P
20. Dr Bhagwati Prasad, Span, Mumbai
21. Mr Sivaji Mopidevi, EATON, Pune
22. Mr Kishor Narkhede, Secunderabad
23. Industrial Training Instt, Pune
24. St Mira's College For Girls, Pune
25. Dr P K P Mahamood, Kerala
26. Mr Steve Antony Sequeira, Karnataka
27. Indira Shiva Rao Polytechnic,
Karnataka
28. V N Krishnaswamy Naidu, Coimbatore
29. Mr Narendra K Sangame, Karnataka
30. Mr A Sudarshan, Virudhunagar
31. Mr Ramkumar R, Coimbatore
32. Government Industrial, Chittoor
33. Mr Biju Kumar J, Kerala
34. Mr T Vetrivel, Tamil Nadu
35. Fr Nijo, Principal, Kerala
36. Perfect Communications, Ludhiana

37. Rajeev Electronics Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
38. The Vazir Sultan College of Engg.,
Khammam
39. Mr R K Maharana, Orissa
40. Mr Sajith Kumar V R, Bangalore
41. Mr Pundalik Sutar, Mumbai
42. Siemens Enterprises Communications
Pvt Ltd, New Mumbai
43. Mr Sunil R, Kerala
44. Safa College Of Engg & Tech, Andhra
Pradesh
45. Mr B N V Prasad, Andhra Pradesh
46. Mr Venkatesh V, Chitradurga
47. Mr B L Desai, Karnataka
48. Mr Krishna Prasad Y Bhat, Karnataka
49. Mr Biswanath Das, Kolkata
50. Sivanandha Mills Ltd, Coimbatore
51. Shriram Instt of Engg Technology,
Maharashtra
52. Ms Lalita Bhardwaj, Sonepat
53. City Power Conversion, Secunderabad
54. Mr Syan Kumar R, Cochin
55. Mr Vinod Kumar P P, Kerala
56. Mr Pankaj Bhagat, Hyderabad
57. Mr Manoj Rakhyani, Madhya Pradesh
58. VLB Janakiammal Polytechnic College,
Tamil Nadu
6. Great Lakes Instt. of Management, Chennai

7. Mr Rahul Singh Kotesa, Goa
8. Collage of Engineering, Maharastra
9. Bharathiyar Centenary Memori, Tamil Nadu
10. Ms S Padhmalakshmi, Chennai
59. Mr A.M. Panduranga, Karnataka

60. Mr Manuvel Nadar M, Kerala
61. Mr Raghavendra C, Karnataka
62. Mr Bharat H Karani, Mumbai
63. Mr V R Aneesh, Kerala
64. Mr K Sathianarayanan, Chennai
65. Sri Sankara Arts & Science College,
Tamil Nadu
66. Mr Dinesh Malyiya, Rajasthan
67. Mr Labh Singh, Bathinda
68. Info Instt of Engg, Coimbatore
69. J R Communications & Power
Controls, Trichy
70. Al-Madina College of Computer
Science, Andhra Pradesh
71. Ms Vijayalakshmi K, Bangalore
72. Mr Deependra Kumar Rajput,
Bangalore
73. Mr Arvind Kumar, Kaithal
74. Mr Ramakrishna V, Bangalore
75. Centre for Environment Education,
Ahmedabad
76. Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Engineering
College, Tamil Nadu
77. Sandur Polytechnic, Karnataka
78. Mr Kirit P Budh, Gujarat
79. Mr Sadiq Hussain, Dibrugarh
80. Mr Kirit P Budh, Gujarat
81. Vimala College, Trichur

82. Rotary Midtown Library, Rajkot
83. Ms Snehal Joshi, Gujarat
84. Mr Komel Bhojani, Pune
85. The ICFAI Institute of Science &
Technology, Jaipur
86. Mr Sachin G. Gune, Pandharpur
87. Mr Z Jatin Shah, Mumbai
88. R P Gogate College of Arts &
Science, Maharashtra
89. St Edumund's College, Meghalaya
90. Amity Electronics Corporation,
Mathura
91. Mr Bhaskar N Chhibber, Pune
92. Sangamner Nagarpalika Arts,
Maharashtra
93. Mr Charan Jit Singh, New Delhi
94. Mr Sumanta Sarkar, Gwalior
95. Mr Sanjay V M, Bangalore
96. Sree Narayana College of
Technology, Kerala
97. Mr Satish Kumar Bidwaik,
Mumbai
98. Mr Suresh S, Kerala
99. Sri Venkata Ramaswamy,
Karnataka
100.Mr Tufan Sharma, Maharasthra
EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd, D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi 110 020 Ph: 011-26810601-03;
Fax: 011-26817563, E-mail: [email protected], website: www.efyindia.com
Buyers
Guide
known as personal video players,

let you view video clipping/video
films apart from listening to audio.
These score over MP3 players in that
they have a larger display screen and
can support more formats than MP3
players. Like MP3 players, these may
come in hard drive or flash memory
versions. Good-quality branded MP4
players are priced between Rs 2000
and Rs 18,000.
MP4 players from Humx are available in screen sizes ranging from 7.1
cm (2.8 inches) to 7.6 cm (3 inches),
with built-in capacity of 1 GB, 2 GB
or 4 GB. There are four models in all:
MP252, MP342, MP432 and MP522.
All are MLC flash memory-based and
support rechargeable Li-ion battery,
20 FM channels, numerous audio and
video formats (MP3, WMA, WAV,
DAT, VOB, MP4, MOV, ASF, ASX and
WMV), e-book and game function.
The MP252 and MP432 also support
RM/RMVB, AVI, FLV, 3GP and MPG
formats.
CD players with MP3 compatibility. Other than flash-memory and
hard-disk portable players, many of
todays portable CD players also let
you play digital music saved on disks.
But these dont support the copyrightprotected formats from online music
stores. Controls and displays are as
good as in portable MP3 players, and
Humx MP4 player
you can group songs on each disk

according to artist, genre and other
categories.
A CD, with its 650 to 800MB storage capacity (about 150 to 200 songs),
can hold more than ten hours of MP3format music at the standard CD-quality setting. You can create MP3 CDs
using the proper software and your
PCs CD burner.
Cell phones. An increasing number
of phones have built-in MP3 playerssome with controls and features
that rival standalone players. Some
cell-phone providers let subscribers
download music over their networks.
Song capacity is often determined by
the size of the external memory card,
as well as the phone manufacturer,
carrier or music provider.
What to look for in an

mP3 player?
Size, weight and design. Lets face it,
aesthetics go a long way. Just like mobile phones, MP3 players have become
fashion accessories. The player should
also be lightweight, compact and easy
to operate with one hand. Some MP3
players are so small that these can
hang off a keychain, while others will
barely fit in your hand.
Tomonori Moroda, division head,
personal audio, Sony India, says that
the smallest players are great for
workout routines, jogging or even

clipping to a shirt lapel for everyday
use. Larger MP3 players are fantastic
for playing video and enjoying music,
but these are typically much more expensive and can be considered niche
products with far fewer accessories.
Appearance aside, a players design
also goes hand in hand with its size
and weight. This can vary a lot between devices, the lightest weighing
around 20 gm.
Hard-disk players tend to be much
heavier than their flash counterparts
due to the weight of the hard disk
and the larger battery required. Lightweight and sleek flash-memory-based
players are the current style statement.
Whichever MP3 player you choose,
make sure youll be comfortable using
the device. Look for a display that is
easy to read. Also, the controls should
be easily accessible.
Audio format. MP3 (Moving Pictures Expert Group Audio Layer 3)
is just one of the many formats you
can play on digital audio players. It
is a digital audio format encoded on
computer from a source such as CD.
The files are compressed but retain
near-original sound quality. Most
MP3 players can play one or more
other compressed audio formats
too, such as Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Ogg Vorbis (OGG) and
Microsofts Windows Media Audio
(WMA). Make sure that your player
is compatible with MP3, WMA and
AAC at least.
Heres how these audio formats
differ:
WMA. A Windows Media Audio
file is about half the size of an MP3 file,
but offers similar sound quality.
If you want to fit as many songs
as possible onto your audio player,
look for WMA compatibility. A 60GB
WMA-compatible MP3 player can
store up to 30,000 songs in WMA formator just 15,000 in MP3.
MP3Pro. It has better audio quality
than MP3, but isnt widely popular
among manufacturers.
Buyers
Guide
Pros and cons of MP3 players
Pros
Most MP3 players are compact and light
With the lack of moving parts, unlike CD players, there is no chance of skip, whether
the user is jogging, on a bumpy car ride or cycling
These can store large collections of music, thus usually supporting your playlists on
a single device
Often contain extra features such as radio
Cons
More expensive than older-format devices
Some storage formats (such as MP3) could be superseded
Encoding files and transferring data can be time consuming and require other devices
such as PCs
Tomonori Moroda, division head, personal audio, Sony India
OGG. Ogg Vorbis format has excellent sound quality and is gaining
popularity.
AAC. Dolbys Advanced Audio
Coding format is used in Apple iPods
and can be downloaded from Apples
Internet music store iTunes.
WAV. Its uncompressed audio, just
as you would hear on a standard CD.
Storage capacity and format.
The storage capacity of an M3 player
depends on the memory used. As

mentioned earlier, in India you can
get up to 16GB flash player or up to
160GB hard disk player. A 1GB player
can store around 250 songs (16 hours
of music).
Hard disk-based players can store a
fairly large collection of songs, but are
expensive and not as sturdy as flash
memory-based players.
Some players may use memory
Sony NWZ-B130F series
Buyers
Guide
cards such as MultiMediaCard (MMC),

SecureDigital, CompactFlash and
MemoryStick (for Sony) for storage. In
case you have a handheld gadget like
cellphone or digicam using memory
card, make sure that you choose an
MP3 player that accepts that particular
card too.
Battery type, replaceability and
life. Most players come with an inbuilt
rechargeable battery. When you connect it to your computer or laptop, the
battery gets charged automatically.
After full charging, it can play audio
for up to 15-30 hours and video for up
to 2-6 hours depending upon the brand
and model of player you are using.
Battery life of no less than 12 hours
for music and four hours for video is
a good bet. Rechargeable batteries last
up to three years depending on the
usage.
A few players have battery bays
for AA or AAA batteries. Generally,
users dont prefer the recurring cost of
replaceable batteries.
Display. The display lets you easily select your music by artist, album
or genre. It is also useful when youre
looking for a particular radio station.
In audio formats, the displays available are 2.5cm black & white (capable
of one to three lines), 2.5cm colour and
3.8cm OLED.
In video formats, the screen size
varies from 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) to 8.9
cm (3.5 inches) with 262,000 colours.
The screen type varies from TFT to
QVGA/WQVGA. The resolution also
varies from 128x128 to 240x400.
Hard disk players may come with
a colour screen for song info and for
viewing your digital photos.
Music store. Online music buying
is not very prevalent in India but is a
normal practice in West. The benefits
of online music buying are:
1. Offers instant, legal access to
hundreds and thousands of songs
2. Allows you to preview/prelisten
and purchase individual songs instead
of the whole album
3. Legal source complies with copyright laws
4. More consistent and higher-quality metadata

Software bundled with the player.
Good bundled software is a great bonus as the quality of your recordings
depends on the quality of software
you use.
Media player is the software used
for playback of multimedia files. Typical features of such a software are:
1. Rips music from a CD and saves
it as an MP3 file
2. Burns MP3 file to CD or DVD
3. Organises MP3 files with ID3
data tags
4. Allows you to create your own
playlists
Its important that the media player
software is supported by the operating
system of your computer.
Some common software are iTunes,
Real Player, Windows Media Player,
Quick Time and KM player.
Other extra features (like FM tuner,
voice recording, games, etc). Most
MP3 players come with FM tuner. FM
comes very handy for current news
update and change in music entertainment. Lots of college students are
using voice recording feature very innovatively. They record lectures in the
classroom and prepare notes at leisure.
This helps them focus on the content at
the time of lectures. A 1GB MP3 player
can support voice recording of up to 65
hours, while a 2GB player can support
up to 135 hours.
FM tuner and voice recording are
standard features on all Philips digital
players. Also, high-end players from
Philips come with inbuilt noise cancellation feature.
Accessories. Flash-based MP3 players need speakers and amplifiers for
loud sound. Lots of docking systems
are available for these music players.
The small and sleek players can be
worn on the body as ornaments. The
related accessories are available in
various shapes and sizes. Philips provides high-definition earphones with
noise-isolation technique.
The author is a deputy editor at EFY
circuit
ideas
Triple Power Supply
Sandip Trivedi and P.D. Lele
his low-cost, multipurpose

power supply fulfils the requirements of almost all laboratory experiments. Nonetheless, it can
be easily fabricated by hobbyists.
A single transformer is used to
build this triple power supply. Regulator IC LM317 generates variable power
supply of 1.25 to 20V, 1A. The dual
12V, 1A power supply is generated
by regulators 7812 and 7912. Similarly,
dual 5V, 1A power supply is generated by regulators 7805 and 7905.
On/off switches (S2 through S4)
select the required power supply. Variable power supply is used to study the
characteristics of devices. Fixed +5V
power supply is used for all digital,
microprocessor and microcontroller
experiments. Dual 12V power supply
edi
s.c. dwiv
is used for op-amp-based analogue

circuit experiments.
Fig. 1 shows the circuit of the triple
power supply, while Fig. 2 shows the
pin configuration of the regulators
used in the circuit. Transformer X1
steps down the mains power to deliver
the secondary output of 18V-0-18V.
The transformer output is rectified by
full-wave bridge rectifier BR1, filtered
by capacitors C1, C2, C3, C7 and C8,
and regulated by IC1 through IC5.
Regulator IC1 (LM317) provides variable voltages (1.25 to 20V), while IC2
and IC4 provide regulated +12V and
12V, respectively. The output of IC2 is
fed to regulator IC3 (7805), which provides fixed +5V. Similarly, the output
of IC4 is fed to regulator IC5 (7905),
which provides fixed 5V. Capacitors
C4 through C6, and C9 through C11,
are used for further filtering of ripples
in positive and negative regulated

power supplies. LED1 glows to indicate that +5V is available, while LED2
indicates that 5V is available.
Switch S1 is used for mains on/
off. Using switches S2 through
S4, any of the three supplies can be
independently turned off when not
required in a particular experiment.
This reduces unnecessary power dissipation and increases the life and
reliability of the power supply. Since
the circuit uses three terminal regulators, only capacitors are required at
the input and output. The use of few
components makes the circuit very
simple. The three terminal regulators
have heat-sink provision to directly
deliver 1A output current. To ensure
the maximum output, do not forget to
HEAT SINK
IN
S2 = FOR VARIABLE VOLTAGE
IC1
LM317 2
S2
S3 = FOR +12V AND +5V
R1
120
ADJ.
S4 = FOR 12V AND 5V

C3
0.1
S1-S4 = ON/OFF SWITCH
+1.25 TO 20V
GND
VR1
2.2K
POT
S1
ON/OFF
SWITCH
+12V
HEAT SINK
IN
F1
1.5A
FUSE
OUT
X1
L
230V AC
50Hz
N
S3
IC2
7812
HEAT SINK
OUT
IN
IC3
7805
C1
1000
35V
OUT
GND
BR1
W04
GND
C2
0.1
R2
330
C5
10
16V
C4
100
25V
+5V
C6
0.1
BR1
W04
LED1
GND
X1 = 230V AC
PRIMARY TO 18V-0-18V,
1.5A SECONDARY
TRANSFORMER
C7
1000
35V
C10
10
16V
C9
100
25V
C8
0.1
GND
2
S4
IN
5V
GND
1
BR1-W04
1.5A, BRIDGE
RECTIFIER
C11
0.1
R3
330
IC4
7912
LED2
1
3
HEAT SINK
2
OUT
IN
IC5
7905
OUT
HEAT SINK
12V
GND
Fig. 1: Tripple power supply
circuit
ideas
Fig. 2: Pin configurations of regulators
use heat-sinks for the regulators.

The three-terminal regulators are
almost non-destructible. These have
inbuilt protection circuits including
the thermal shutdown protection. Even
if there is overload or shorting of the
output, the inbuilt overload protection
circuit will limit the current and slowly
reduce the output voltage to zero.
Similarly, if the temperature increases
beyond a certain value due to excessive
load and heat dissipation, the in-built
thermal shutdown circuit will reduce
the output current and the output voltage (gradually) to zero. Thus complete
protection is provided to the circuitry.
Assemble the circuit on a generalpurpose PCB and enclose in a box as
shown in Fig. 3.
The step-by-step procedure to build
the triple power supply for the laboratory follows:
Fig. 3: Proposed cabinet for power supply
1. Collect all the components shown

in the circuit diagram.
2. Connect switch S1, fuse, transformer and mains cord to the assembled PCB as well as the box.
3. Keep the multimeter in DC voltage range (more than 25V DC) and
measure the DC voltage across capacitors C1 and C7 (1000 F, 35V). This
voltage should be around 18V1.41=25
to 26V DC. Check both positive and
negative voltages with respect to
ground.
4. It is advisable to use three-wire
mains cable and plug. If you are using
any metallic box, earthing wire/pin of
the mains plug should be soldered to
the body of the metallic box using an
earthing tag.
5. If the 18V-0-18V
transformer is replaced
with 15V-0-15V transformer, the output
voltage of the variable
supply using LM317
will be correspondingly lower.
6. If proper voltages
are available, go to step
7. Otherwise, check the
connections.
7. Connect variable regulator
LM317 to the circuit and check 1.25V
to 20V output by varying the 2.2-kiloohm linear potentiometers.
8. Now connect ICs 7812, 7912, 7805
and 7905 to the circuit and check their
output voltage.
9. Connect terminals, potmeter,
switches and indicator LED on the
front panel of the box and complete
the connections. Close the box by using screws.
Precaution. At the primary side of
the transformer, 230V AC could give
lethal shocks. So be careful not to touch
this part. EFY will not be responsible
for any resulting loss or harm to the
user.
unique Water Pump Controller

edi
s.c. dwiv
R4
12K
S1
ON/OFF
SWITCH
B
3 +
D. Mohan Kumar
ere is a simple solution for

automatic pumping of water
to the overhead tank. Unlike
other water-level indicators, it does
not use probes to detect the water level
and hence there is no probe corrosion
problem. It has no direct contact with
water, so the chance of accidental leakage of electricity to the water tank is
also eliminated. Two important advantages of the circuit are that the water
IC1
A741
2
R6
220
T1
BC558
D1
1N4148
C1
220
25V
VR1
10K
PRESET
12V
DC
N/O
R5
12K
LED4
D2
1N4007
C2
470
25V
MOTOR
N/C
RL1
230V
L AC N
50Hz
RL1 = 12V, 1 C/O RELAY
Fig. 1: Water pump controller

circuit
ideas
Fig. 2: Sensor circuit
level never goes below a particular

level and no modification in the water
tank is required.
Fig. 1 shows the circuit of the waterpump controller. The circuit uses an
LDR-white LEDs assembly to sense the
water level. It forms a triggering switch
to energise the relay for controlling the
pump. The LDR-LEDs assembly (shown
in Fig. 2) is fixed on the inner side of the
cap of the water tank without making
contact with water. The light reflected
from the water tank is used to control
the resistance of LDR1.
When the water level is high
enough, light from the white LEDs
(LED1 through LED3) reflects to fall
on LDR1. This reduces the resistance
of LDR1, increasing the voltage at the
non-inverting input (pin 3) of IC1.
IC1 is used in the circuit as a voltage
comparator. Resistors R4 and R5 form
a potential divider to fix half of supply
voltage to the inverting input of IC1.
Normally, when the water tank is
full, LDR1 gets more of reflected light
because the distance between the water
Fig. 3: Sensor assembly
level and the face of LDR1 is minimal.

When white light falls on LDR1, the
voltage at the non-inverting input (pin
3) of IC1 increases and its output goes
high. This high output makes pnp
transistor T1 non-conducting and the
relay remains de-energised. LED1 also
remains off. Since the water-pump
power supply is connected to the normally-open (N/O) contacts of relay
RL1, pumping is stopped.
When water level falls, the amount
of light reflected to LDR1 decreases
and its resistance increases. This reduces the voltage at pin 3 of IC1 and
its output goes low. This low output
from IC1 makes transistor T1 conduct.
Relay RL1 energises to close the N/O
contacts and the motor starts pumping water. LED1 glows to indicate the
pumping of water.
Assemble the circuit on a generalpurpose PCB and enclose in a suitable
cabinet. Solder the white LEDs-LDR1
assembly on a separate PCB and use
a separate power supply for it. Mount
LEDs behind the LDR. Otherwise, light
from the LEDs will affect the working
of the circuit. Connect LDR1 to the main
circuit board at A and B points.
Fix the LEDs-LDR1 assembly on
the inner side of the water-tank cap as
shown in Fig. 3. Orient the LEDs and
the LDR such that when the water tank
is full, the light emitted from the LEDs
and reflected from the water surface
falls directly on LDR1. The distance
between the upper level of water and
the LEDs-LDR setup should be minimal, ensuring that water doesnt touch
LDR1. Otherwise, the circuit will not
function properly. By using more white
LEDs, this distance can be increased.
Cover the LDR with a black tube to
increase its sensitivity.
You can fix the main unit at a
convenient place and connect it to the
LEDs-LDR assembly through wire.
Select the relay according to the horsepower (HP) of the water pump. After
arranging the setup (with maximum
water in the tank), adjust VR1 until
LED1 stops glowing. In this state, the relay should de-energise. When the water
level decreases, the relay automatically
energises to connect mains to the motor
and it starts pumping water.
THREE-COMPONENT FLASHER
T.A. Babu
ince this flasher system uses

only three components, it is relatively easy to build and install.
It can be used for signal flashing, hazard warning and alternate flashing.
At the heart of this circuit is a
single-pole double-through (SPDT)
contacts relay (see Fig. 1). It is a 12V,
400-ohm, single-changeover (1C/O),
PCB-mounted relay with contacts curw w w. e f y m ag . co m
edi
s.c. dwiv
rent rating of 5A.

The working of the circuit is very
simple. Initially, bulk capacitor C1
charges through resistor R1 and the
bulb filament. When capacitor C1
charges, relay RL1 energises and
Fig. 1: Simple flasher circuit

circuit
ideas
Fig. 4: Circuit of alternate flasher

Fig. 2: Circuit of turn signal flasher
throws its contacts to the other position. Capacitor C1 holds the contacts
until there is enough charge to keep
the relay energised. Bulb L1 (12V, 5W)
glows for a while through the N/O
contacts of the relay. When the charge
in the capacitor ceases, the relay contacts return to their initial normallyclosed position.
The charging cycle repeats to give
a flashing effect in the bulb. The on
time of the flasher is controlled by the
Fig. 3: Circuit of hazard-warning flasher
charge stored in the capacitor. The off

time is controlled by the discharging
time of the capacitor.
The signal flasher is a four-bulb
system as shown in Fig. 2. Two bulbs
are used at the front of the vehicle and
the other two at the back of the vehicle.
The primary function of the turn signal flasher is to flash the lamps when
the turn signal switch is activated to
the left or right.

The circuit of the hazard-warning flasher is shown in Fig. 3. Used in
vehicle lighting systems, it flashes all
the four bulbs when hazard-warning
switch S3 is on. During hazard warning, switch S2 can be in the left or right
position.
The alternate flasher circuit is
shown in Fig. 4. It flashes the lamps
alternately when the system is activated. This type of flasher is typically
used in emergency vehicles and school
buses.
In-Car Food and Beverage Warmer

edi
s.c. dwiv
Ashok K. Doctor
his is a very useful

device for those
who are frequently
on the move. It will keep
your tea, coffee or food
warm while consuming
little power.
The circuit is simple.
The ubiquitous timer 555
is used as a free-running astable multivibrator. Diodes 1N4148 are con8 4 M a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
nected in reverse direction to facilitate

maximum variation of the duty cycles.
Power transistor T1 is Darlington type

with 5A capacity and output of more
circuit
ideas
than 60 watts. The chosen discrete

components assure fixed frequency of
1 Hz (approximately) at pin 3 of timer
IC1 (555). Resister R1 and potmeter VR1
(1-mega-ohm) allow adjustment of the
duty cycle. The higher the duty cycle,
the higher the output of the heater.
You can connect up to five 10W
heating elements in parallel, totaling 50
watts. The consumption of current will

be significantly less if fewer coil elements are connected in parallel through
toggle switches S2 through S4. Each of
these switches has a 6A rating.
Assemble the circuit on a generalpurpose PCB. Mount power transistor
TIP120 on a thick heat-sink. Isolate the
circuit from the heating elements using
only two wire connections. Use wires

that can carry more than 6A current.
Fix the coil elements below an aluminium or steel rectangular plate which
is at least 1mm thick. Do not forget
to insulate the heating plate from the
elements. Use the car battery for the
power supply with a proper currentcarrying-capacity wire.
WHITE LIGHT FOR REFRIGERATOR
Uday ShEnde
ormally, the refrigerator lights

are yellow in colour and go
bad very often. If you want
a long-lasting white light for your refrigerator, this circuit is especially for
you. The circuit is easy to install inside
the refrigerator. Also, it consumes very
little power compared to the traditional
yellow bulb.
The circuit is transformerless

and uses a capacitor for providing the power supply to the white
LEDs. Mains input is fed to capacitor C1 and resistor R1, rectified by a
bridge rectifier comprising diodes D1
through D4, and filtered by capacitor C2 to provide sufficient voltage
to drive the white LEDs. Resistor R2
limits the current flowing through
the LEDs. The circuit uses 16 bright
Smart Hearing Aid

Devrishi Khanna and
Rohit Modi
ormally, hearing aid circuits

consume battery power
continuously once they are
switched on. The circuit given here
saves battery power by switching
on the sound amplifier section only
when sound is detected. The sensitivity of the detection section and the
on time duration of the sound amplifier circuit can be set by the user.
Also the circuit uses only a single
condenser mic for sound detection
and amplification.
As is clear from the above, this
hearing aid consists of a condenser
edi
s.c. dwiv
white LEDs in 28 parallel-connection configuration.

Assemble the circuit on a general-purpose PCB along with 16 white
LEDs. Connect the LEDs in series with
resistor R2. Take out
the two wires from
the usual bulb connection and connect
to the circuit. After
connecting the supply
wires, wrap electrical
tape around the wires
properly. Enclose the
entire PCB (excluding LEDs) in a plastic
box and wrap the box
properly with tape to
seal it against moisture.
sani the
microphone, earphone, and sound

detection and amplification sections.
The sound detection section employs
a quad op-amp IC LM324 (IC1(A)) and
a timer NE555 (IC2). The sound signal
received at the mic is pre-amplified
by transistor BC549 (T1). The voltage
circuit
ideas
at its collector is fed to the inverting

terminal (pin 2) of op-amp IC1(A),
which is used as a comparator. The
reference voltage (Vref) at the noninverting terminal (pin 3) of IC1(A)
is set using preset VR1. The preset is
also used to control the sensitivity of
the sound signals received by the circuit. The output from pin 1 of IC1(A)
is fed to the trigger input (pin 2) of
timer NE555, which is configured in
monostable mode.
When sufficient sound signal
strength is detected at the base of transistor T1, the pulsating voltage at its
collector exceeds the reference voltage
at pin 3. As a result, output pin 1 of
IC1(A) goes low. The low output from
IC1(A) triggers the NE555 timer and its

output goes high for a preset duration.
R4 and C2 are the timing components
for setting the time duration. The high
output of the timer is directly used as
the power source for the sound amplifier section.
The sound amplifier section is built
around transistors T2 through T5. The
last amplifier stage T5 (pnp transistor
BC558) drives the earphone. The sound
signal received from the mic is fed to
the non-inverting pin of the second
op-amp of IC1(B) which is wired in
unity follower configuration. The unity
follower mode resolves the problem
of impedance mismatch which would
have occured if the output of the mic
is fed directly to amplifier stage. The

output from pin 7 of IC1(B) is fed to the
base of transistor T2. The weak signal
received at transistor stage T2 is further
amplified by transistors T3, T4 and T5.
An earphone to listen to the sound is
connected between the collector of T5
and ground. It is recommended to use
a mono earphone with volume control
attached.
With 9V DC supply, when sound is
detected through the mic, the amplifier
section is automatically triggered and
the current consumption of the circuit
is about 96 mA. When the amplifier circuit is off, the circuit draws a current
of about 6 mA only, thus saving considerable amount of battery power.
Software
section
LAN-based Online Exam
Rahul Bagai
sing this program, examinations can be conducted online

for students of various subjects in schools and colleges. The examination result along with solutions
to the questions is displayed at the end
of the exam.
The questions are randomly generated from a bank of questions stored
in a database maintained by the administrator. These are multiple-choice
with four possible answers. Each
question is worth one mark. The student has to select one subject at a time,
so the questions will be on that topic
only. For example, a subject may have
many chapters and multiple questions
related to that chapter are stored in
the database. From here, only 15
questions from selected chapter are
generated randomly for the test. The
software has the facility to store many
chapters under one particular subject.
The exam paper will be made up of
some questions taken from every
topic/chapter.
The administrator can change this
content by adding new topics and
changing the number of questions for
each topic. He can add any number of
questions and topics.
The student can answer each question by clicking a radio button, so from
four possible answers only one answer
is selected per question. After answering all the questions, the student
needs to click a button at the bottom.
All the answers by the student are
stored in the PC and the marks scored
displayed.
to the client. The question database

is stored at the server end. The client
accesses the database from the server
machine and displays the contents on
its output screen.
The project includes three Java
source code files: ServerOnline.java,
Fig. 1: First page on the client PC
ConnectDatabase1.java and ClientOnline.java. There is an Online

Exams.mdb Microsoft Access database file which contains the list of
questions and answers. The detailed
questions are saved in GIF (graphic
interchange format). The Questions
and Answers folder contains the
images of the multiple-choice questions. There are also some other images
and MP3 files included for the project.
All the image and MP3 files are linked
to the MS Access database through
configurations as explained under the
testing steps.
Operation of the program

Fig. 2: Instructions for the students
Fig. 3: Screenshot to select a chapter
Software program
The program is developed using J2SE
software development kit (JDK1.6) and
MS Access application on a Windows
XP machine. It is designed on a client-server architecture which operates
only when the server provides services
sani the
Fig. 4: Screenshot of the online question
1. As soon as the client program is

started, a Java applet page as shown
in Fig. 1 loads into its output screen.
Here the student can select his class
(10th or 12th) and the subject (physics,
chemistry, biology or mathematics) for
which he wants to give the exam. In
the database for this project, we have
included sample questions on biology and mathematics only. As soon
as a radio button corresponding to a
particular subject
is selected using
mouse, the client
machine needs
to connect to the
database stored
in the server machine. So click
Connect to Database button to
start the test.
2. Next, the
instruction page
is loaded. It displays some instructions to be
software
section
followed. Click Continue button

(refer Fig. 2).
3. Select a chapter of your choice
using a pull-down menu (refer Fig. 3).
4. Start attempting the questions
(refer Fig. 4). The questions here are
generated randomly from the database
stored in the server machine. You can
select the respective radio button for
your choice of answer.
5. As soon as you select an option,
click submit button to submit the answer and move to the next question.
Note that chapters stored in the
database can store any number of
questions but from those questions,
only 15 are displayed on the client side
for each test.
At the end of 15 questions, a test
report is generated (refer Fig. 5), where
you can view your performance.
To view the correct answers after
the test, just click Get Answers button
on the test report screen (refer Fig. 6).
Testing steps to run the

program on a PC
Using a single PC, server and client
programs can be run at the same time.
Here, the server program is under the
control of the administrator and the
client program is accessed by the student. To achieve this, first the server
program is made to run, followed
by the client program as explained
below:
1. Download Java SE Development Kit (JDK) 6 from http://java.
sun.com/javase/downloads/index.
jsp website.
2. Install JDK in your machine. By
default it is installed under c:\program files\java\jdk1.6.0\bin directory.
3. Install MS Access application
program and configure the data source
for accessing MS Access database from
Java as follows:
(a) Open Administrative Tools
from Control Panel.
(b) Now open Data Sources
(ODBC) and click Add button.
(c) Locate Microsoft Access Driver
(*.mdb) and click Finish.
Fig. 5: Test report
(d) Type Data Source Name as

OnlineExams while observing case
sensitivity.
(e) Assuming that all the relevant
programs of this project are stored
under D:\Rahul folder, locate
the database stored in D:\Rahul\
by using Select button of the same
window. When the database is selected, you will see the path of your
database under Database of the same
window.
(f) Click Ok to complete the configurations.
4. Run the server program. All the
questions are stored in Questions
And Answers file of Rahul folder.
Open the command prompt from
Start\Run... option and type cmd
from the keyboard. Open Rahul
folder from D drive. Type the appropriate path against the prompt as
given below:
Fig. 6: Solutions to the questions
go to the next step to run the client

program.
The steps for compiling and running the client program are the same as
mentioned above. That is, click Start/
Run option followed by cmd. Open
D:\Rahul folder and give the path of
the JDK files.
8. Now instead of ServerOnline.
java, type ClientOnline.java against
the prompt.
If you run the ClientOnline program successfully, you will see the
screen as shown in Fig. 1. A PC can
handle multiple clients, so you can
minimise the current client operation
and open another client program on
the same machine.
Path = c:\program files\java\
Testing steps to run on

two PCs
This is the path where the JDK files

like javac, java and appletviewer are
located.
5. Now type command javac ServerOnline.java to compile the ServerOnline.java program. If you have set the
path correctly, you will find class files
under d:\rahul. Else, you will find
error. Ignore warnings, if any.
6. Next type Java ServerOnline on
first command prompt to execute the
software. You will see Server Started
!!! in the next line.
7. Minimise the window and then
1. Make sure that the PCs used for the

project are connected on a local area
network (LAN).
2. Place Rahul folder in server and
client machines. This is mandatory.
Next, follow Steps 1 through 3 under
sub-heading Testing steps to run the
program on a single PC.
3. Provide an appropriate path
for JDK as mentioned in Step 4 of the
above sub-heading. Compile the ServerOnline.java program and run it on the
server machine.
4. On the client PC, the Connect-
jdk1.6.0\bin
Software
section
Database1.java file, which is located

under Rahul folder, requires the IP
address of the server. So open the
ConnectDatabase1.java source file and
replace localhost with the IP address
of the server wherever localhost appears. Save the file and close it.
5. Provide an appropriate path for
JDK as mentioned in Step 4 under the
previous sub-heading, and compile
both ConnectDatabase1.java and ClientOnline.java programs.

6. Run the ClientOnline.java program. You will see the program output
as shown in Fig. 1. Click the appropriate button to proceed for the online
exams.
EFY-CD. All the relevant files and
source codes of this article have been
included in this months EFY-CD.
serveronline.java
BufferedReader is = null;
PrintStream os = null;
Socket clientSocket = null;
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.sql.*;
public class ServerOnline
public static void
args[])
{
try
{
{
main(String
String chapterSelected = ,pass;
DriverManager.registerDriver(new
sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver());
}catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(Error occured : +e.getMessage());
}
new ServerClass();
}
}
class ServerClass
ble
{
implements
Runna-
Thread t;
ServerSocket echoServer = null;
Socket clientSocket = null;
ServerClass()
{
try
{
echoServer = new ServerSocket(1111);
}catch(IOException e)
{
System.out.println(Could not
start server. + e );
System.exit(1);
}
t = new Thread(this);
System.out.println(Server started
!!!);
t.start();
}
public void run()
try {
while(true)
{
clientSocket = echoServer.
accept();
connection con = new connec

tion(clientSocket);
}
{
System.err.println(Not listening. + e);
System.exit(1);
}
}
}
class connection implements Runnable
Thread t;
String tableName = ; //this gets
the name of the tablename from where
the question and options are to be retrieved
String requestQuestion = ;
Connection conn;
Statement stmt;
public connection(Socket clientSocket)

{
this.clientSocket = clientSocket;
try
{
is = new BufferedReader(new
InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream()));
os
=
new
PrintStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
{
try
{
clientSocket.close();
}catch(Exception ex)
{}
System.err.println(Unable to
setup stream +e);
return;
}
t = new Thread(this,);
t.start();
}
public void run()
try
conn = DriverManager.
getConnection(jdbc:odbc:OnlineExams);
stmt = conn.createStatement(Resu
ltSet.TYPE_SCROLL_INSENSITIVE,ResultSet.
CONCUR_READ_ONLY);
}catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(Error occured : +e.getMessage());
}
try
{
pass = is.readLine();
if(pass.equals(1))
is.readLine();
Selected
is.readLine();
lected
tableName =
//subjecttableName +=
//classSe-
ResultSet rset = stmt.

executeQuery(Select * from +tableName);
rset.last();
os.println(rset.getString(1));
//lastSNo
rset = stmt.
executeQuery(Select * from +tableNa-
software
section
me);
while(rset.next())
{
os.println(rset.get//chapterNos
os.println(rset.get//chapterNames
}
String(2));
String(3));
}
else if(pass.equals(2))
is.readLine();
chapterSelected =
//chapterSelected
requestQuestion =
(String)is.readLine();
ResultSet rset = stmt.
executeQuery(Select * from +chapterSe-
lected);
String(1));
rset.last();
os.println(rset.get-
rset = stmt.
executeQuery(Select * from +chapterSelected + where QNo = +requestQuestion);
if(rset.next())
{
//send question
//send Answer
//send hint
}
}
}catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(Error occured while sending/retrieving data:
+e);
}finally
{
try
{
clientSocket.close();
is.close();
os.close();
stmt.close();
conn.close();
}
}catch(Exception e)
{}
}
}
clientonline.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public
JFrame
class
{
ClientOnline
public ClientOnline()
Pane();
extends
JTabbedPane jtp = new JTabbed-
jtp.addTab(Class 10th,new
Class10th());
jtp.addTab(Class 12th,new
Class12th());
getContentPane().add(jtp);
addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter()
{
public void windowClosing(Wind
owEvent we)
{
dispose();
}
});
}
public static void main(String
args[])
{
ClientOnline clonlie = new ClientOnline();
clonlie.setSize(400,150);
clonlie.setVisible(true);
}
}
class Class10th extends JPanel implements ActionListener {
String subjectSelected = ;
String classSelected = 10;
String[] img = new String[15];
int[] randomQnoStored = new int[15];
public Class10th()
JRadioButton physics = new

JRadioButton(Physics);
physics.addActionListener(this);
add(physics);
JRadioButton chemistry = new JRadi
oButton(Chemistry);
chemistry.addActionListener(this);
add(chemistry);
JRadioButton biology = new
JRadioButton(Biology);
biology.addActionListener(this);
add(biology);
JRadioButton mathematics = new
JRadioButton(Mathematics);
mathematics.
addActionListener(this);
add(mathematics);
ButtonGroup
bg
new
Button-
Group();
bg.add(physics);
bg.add(chemistry);
bg.add(biology);
bg.add(mathematics);
JButton connect = new
JButton(Connect to DataBase);
connect.addActionListener(this);
add(connect);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionE
vent ae)
{
if(ae.getActionCommand().
equals(Connect to DataBase) && subjectSelected != )
{
try
{
new ConnectDatabase1(classS
elected,subjectSelected,1,1,0,img,img,r
andomQnoStored);
}catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(Could
not connect to the database Server
!!!+e);
}
}
else if(ae.getActionCommand().
equals(Physics))
{
subjectSelected = Physics;
}
equals(Chemistry))
{
subjectSelected = Chemistry;
}
equals(Biology))
{
subjectSelected = Biology;
}
equals(Mathematics))
{
subjectSelected = Mathematics;
}
}
}
class Class12th extends JPanel implements ActionListener {
String subjectSelected = ;
String classSelected = 12;
String[] img = new String[15];
int[] randomQnoStored = new int[15];
public Class12th()
JRadioButton physics = new

JRadioButton(Physics);
physics.addActionListener(this);
add(physics);
JRadioButton chemistry = new JRadi

oButton(Chemistry);
chemistry.addActionListener(this);
add(chemistry);
JRadioButton biology = new
JRadioButton(Biology);
biology.addActionListener(this);
add(biology);
JRadioButton mathematics = new
JRadioButton(Mathematics);
mathematics.
addActionListener(this);
add(mathematics);
ButtonGroup bg =
Group();
bg.add(physics);
bg.add(chemistry);
bg.add(biology);
bg.add(mathematics);
new
Button-
JButton connect = new

JButton(Connect to DataBase);
connect.addActionListener(this);
add(connect);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionE
vent ae)
{
if(ae.getActionCommand().
equals(Connect to DataBase) && subjectSelected != )
{
try
{
new ConnectDatabase1(classS
elected,subjectSelected,1,1,0,img,img,r
andomQnoStored);
}catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(Could
not connect to database !!!);
}
}
equals(Physics))
{
subjectSelected = Physics;
}
equals(Chemistry))
{
subjectSelected = Chemistry;
}
equals(Biology))
{
subjectSelected = Biology;
}
equals(Mathematics))
{
subjectSelected = Mathematics;
}
}
Power Supply
Charging Lithium-Ion
Batteries
Properly restoring energy using the latest battery technology for todays portable
products requires careful consideration. An understanding of the charging
characteristics of the battery and the applications requirements is essential in
order to design an appropriate and reliable battery charging system.
Linear and switch-mode charging solutions for Li-ion batteries are presented
here. Also given are the guidelines and considerations that should be taken into
account when developing any battery charging system
Each application is unique, but
one common theme rings through:
maximise battery capacity usage. This
theme directly relates to how energy is
properly restored to rechargeable batteries. No single method is ideal for all
applications. An understanding of the
charging characteristics of the battery
and the applications requirements is
essential in order to design an appropriate and reliable battery charging
system. Each method has its associated
advantages and disadvantages.
It is the particular application
with its individual requirements that
determines which method will be the
best to use.
Far too often, the charging system
is given low priority, especially in costsensitive applications. The quality of
the charging system, however, plays a
key role in the life and reliability of the
battery. In this article, the fundamentals of charging Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
batteries are explored. In particular,
linear charging solutions and a microcontroller-based, switch-mode solution
shall be explored.
Li-ion charging
Scott Dearborn
owering todays portable world

poses many challenges for
system designers. The use of
batteries as a prime power source is on

the rise. As a result, a burden has been
placed on the system designer to create
sophisticated systems utilising the batterys full potential.
The rate of charge or discharge is often

expressed in relation to the capacity of
the battery. This rate is known as the
C-rate. The C-rate equates to a charge
or discharge current and is defined as:
I = M Cn
where I is charge or discharge current
Power Supply
Fig. 1: Li-ion charge profile
Fig. 2: Capacity loss vs undercharge voltage
Fig. 3: Typical linear solution
in amperes, M is the multiple or fraction of C, C is the numerical value of

the rated capacity in

Ah and n is the time
in hours at which C
is declared.
A battery discharging at a C-rate
of 1 will deliver its
nominal rated capacity in one hour. For
example, if the rated
capacity is 1000 mAh,
a discharge rate of
1C corresponds to a
discharge current of 1000 mA. A rate
of C/10 corresponds to a discharge
current of 100 mA.

Typically, manufacturers specify
the capacity of a battery at a 5-hour
rate, n = 5. For example, the abovementioned battery would provide
five hours of operating time when
discharged at a constant current of
200 mA. In theory, the battery would
provide one hour of operating time
when discharged at a constant current
of 1000 mA. In practice, however, the
operating time will be less than one
hour due to inefficiencies in the discharge cycle.
So how is energy properly restored
to a Li-ion battery? The preferred
charge algorithm for Li-ion battery
chemistries is a constant-current, constant-voltage algorithm that can be
broken up into four stages, namely,
trickle charge, constant-current charge,
constant-voltage charge and charge
termination (refer to Fig. 1):
Stage 1 (trickle charge): Trickle
charge is employed to restore charge
to deeply depleted cells. When the cell
voltage is below approximately 3V, the
cell is charged with a constant current
of 0.1C maximum.
Stage 2 (constant-current charge):
After the cell voltage has risen above
the trickle-charge threshold, the charge
current is raised to perform constantcurrent charging. The constant-current
charge should be in the 0.2C to 1.0C
range. The constant current does not
need to be precise and semi-constant
current is allowed. Often, in linear
chargers, the current is ramped-up as
the cell voltage rises in order to minimise heat dissipation in the pass transistor.
Charging at constant current rates
above 1C does not reduce the overall
charge cycle time and should be avoided. When charging at higher currents,
the cell voltage rises more rapidly due
to over-voltage in the electrode reactions and the increased voltage across
the internal resistance of the cell. The
constant-current stage becomes shorter,
but the overall charge cycle time is not
reduced because the percentage of time
in the constant voltage stage increases
Power Supply
proportionately.
Stage 3 (constant voltage): Constant
current charge ends and the constantvoltage stage is invoked when the
cell voltage reaches 4.2V. In order to
maximise performance, the voltage
regulation tolerance should be better
than 1 per cent.
Stage 4 (charge termination): Unlike nickel-based batteries, it is not
recommended to continue to tricklecharge Li-ion batteries. Continuing
to trickle charge can cause plating
of metallic lithiuma condition that
makes the battery unstable. The result
can be sudden, automatic and rapid
disassembly.
Charging is typically terminated by
one of two methods: minimum charge
current or a timer (or a combination
of the two). The minimum current
approach monitors the charge current during the constant voltage stage
and terminates the charge when the
charge current diminishes in the range
of 0.02C to 0.07C. The second method
determines when the constant voltage
stage is invoked. Charging continues
for an additional two hours, and then
the charge is terminated.
Charging in this manner replenishes a deeply depleted battery in roughly
2.5 to 3 hours.
Advanced chargers employ additional safety features. For example,
the charge is suspended if the cell temperature is outside a specified window,
typically 0C to 45C.
Li-ion charging: system

considerations
A high-performance charging system
is required to recharge any battery
quickly and reliably. The following
system parameters should be considered in order to ensure a reliable, costeffective solution.
Input source. Many applications
use very inexpensive wall cubes for
the input supply. The output voltage
is highly dependent on the AC input
voltage and the load current being
drawn from the wall cube.
In the US, the AC mains input voltw w w. e f y m ag . co m
Fig. 4: Typical, fully integrated, linear solution
Fig. 5: MCP73843 charge cycle waveforms
age can vary from 90Vrms to 132Vrms

for a standard wall outlet. Assuming
a nominal input voltage of 120Vrms,
the tolerance is +10 per cent, 25 per
cent. The charger must provide proper
regulation to the battery independent
of its input voltage. The input voltage
to the charger will scale in accordance
to the AC mains voltage and the charge
current:
VO =2VINa1O (REQ+RPTC) 2VFD
REQ is the resistance of the secondary winding plus the reflected resistance of the primary winding (RP/a2),
RPTC is the resistance of the PTC and
VFD is the forward drop of the bridge
rectifiers. In addition, transformer-core
loss will slightly reduce the output
voltage.
Applications that charge from a
car adaptor can experience a similar
problem. The output voltage of a car
adaptor will be typically in the range
of 9V to 18V.
Constant-current charge rate and
accuracy. The choice of topology for a
given application may be determined
by the desired constant current. Many
high-constant-current, or multiple-cell,
applications rely on a switch-mode
charging solution for improved efficiency and less heat generation.
Linear solutions are desirable in
low to moderate fast-charge-current
applications for their superior size and
cost considerations. However, a linear
solution purposely dissipates excess
power in the form of heat.
The tolerance on the constantcurrent charge becomes extremely
important to a linear system. If the
regulation tolerance is loose, pass
transistors and other components
will need to be oversized adding size
and cost. In addition, if the constantcurrent charge is low, the complete
Fig. 6: Switch mode SEPIC charger
Power Supply
Power Supply
charge cycle will be extended.
Output-voltage regulation accuracy. The output-voltage regulation
accuracy is critical in order to obtain
the desired goal: maximise the battery
capacity usage. A small decrease in
output voltage accuracy results in a
large decrease in capacity. However,
the output voltage cannot be set arbitrarily high because of safety and reliability concerns.
Fig. 2 depicts the importance of
output-voltage regulation accuracy.
Charge termination method. It cannot be stressed enough that over-charging is the Achilles heal of Li-ion cells.
Accurate charge termination methods
are essential for a safe, reliable, charging system.
Cell temperature monitoring. The
temperature range over which a Li-ion
battery should be charged is 0C to
45C, typically. Charging the battery
at temperatures outside of this range
may cause the battery to become hot.
During a charge cycle, the pressure
inside the battery increases causing
the battery to swell. Temperature and
pressure are directly related. As the
temperature rises, the pressure can
become excessive. This can lead to
a mechanical breakdown inside the
battery or venting. Charging the battery outside of this temperature range
may also harm the performance of
the battery or reduce the batterys life
expectance.
Generally, thermistors are included
in Lithium-ion battery packs in order
to accurately measure the battery
temperature. The charger measures
the resistance value of the thermistor between the thermistor terminal
and the negative terminal. Charging
is inhibited when the resistance, and
therefore the temperature, is outside
the specified operating range.
Battery discharge current or reverse
leakage current. In many applications,
the charging system remains connected
to the battery in the absence of input
power. The charging system should
minimise the current drain from the
battery when input power is not
present. The maximum current drain

should be below a few microamperes
and, typically, below one microampere.
Application examples
Taking the above system considerations into account, an appropriate
charge management system can be
developed.
Linear solutions. Linear charging solutions are generally employed
when a well-regulated input source
is available. Linear solutions, in these
applications, offer advantages of ease
of use, size and cost.
Due to the low efficiency of a
linear charging solution, the most
important factor is the thermal design.
The thermal design is a direct function
of the input voltage, charge current
and thermal impedance between the
pass transistor and the ambient cooling air. The worst-case situation is
when the device transitions from the
trickle charge stage to the constantcurrent stage. In this situation, the
pass transistor has to dissipate the
maximum power. A trade-off must
be made between the charge current,
size, cost and thermal requirements of
the charging system.
Take, for example, an application
required to charge a 1000mAh, single
Li-Ion cell from a 5V5% input at a
constant-current charge rate of 0.5C
or 1C. Fig. 3 depicts a low-cost, standalone linear solution. With a few
external components, the preferred
charge algorithm is implemented.
The MCP73843 combines high-accuracy constant-current, constant-voltage regulation with automatic charge
termination.
In an effort to further reduce the
size, cost and complexity of linear
solutions, many of the external components can be integrated into the charge
management controller. Advanced
packaging and reduced flexibility
come along with higher integration.
These packages require advanced
equipment for manufacturing, and,
in many instances, preclude rework.
Power Supply
Fig. 7: Switch-mode charge cycles with and without PS700, 2200mAh
Typically, integration encompasses

charge-current sensing, the pass transistor and reverse-discharge protection.
In addition, these charge-management
controllers typically employ some type
of thermal regulation. Thermal regulation optimises the charge cycle time
while maintaining device reliability by
limiting the charge current based on
the device die temperature. Thermal
regulation greatly reduces the thermal
design effort.
Fig. 4 depicts a fully integrated,
linear solution utilising the MCP73861.
The MCP73861 incorporates all the
features of the MCP73843 along with
charge-current sensing, the pass transistor, reverse-discharge protection and
cell temperature monitoring.
Charge-cycle waveforms. Fig. 5 depicts complete charge cycles utilising
the MCP73843 with constant-current
charge rates of 1C ad 0.5C. Charging
at a rate of 0.5C instead of 1C takes
about one hour longer for the end of
charge to be reached. The MCP73843
scales the charge termination current
proportionately with the fast charge
current. The result is an increase of
36 per cent in charge time with the
benefit of a 2 per cent gain in capacity
and reduced power dissipation. The
change in termination current from
0.07C to 0.035C results in an increase
in final capacity from around 98
per cent to 100 per cent. The system
designer has to make a trade-off between charge time, power dissipation

and available capacity.
Switch-mode charging solutions.
Switch-mode charging solutions are
generally employed in applications
that have a wide-ranging input or a
high input-to-output voltage differential. In these applications, switch-mode
solutions have the advantage of improved efficiency. The disadvantages
are system complexity, size and cost.
Take, for example, an application
required to charge a 2200mAh, single
Li-ion cell from a car adaptor at a constant-current charge rate of 0.5C or 1C.
It would be extremely difficult to utilise
a linear solution in this application due
to the thermal issues involved. A linear
solution employing thermal regulation
could be utilised, but the charge cycle
times at the reduced charge currents
may be prohibitive.
The first step to designing a successful switch-mode charging solution
is to choose a topology: buck, boost,
buck-boost, flyback, single-ended primary inductive converter (SEPIC) or
other. Knowing the input and output
requirements, and experience, quickly
narrows the choices down to two for
this application: buck or SEPIC. A buck
converter has the advantage of requiring a single inductor. Disadvantages
of this topology include an additional
diode required for reverse-discharge
protection, high-side gate drive and

current sense, and pulsed input current
(EMI concern).
The SEPIC topology has advantages that include low-side gate drive and
current sense, continuous input current
and DC isolation from input to output.
The main disadvantage of the SEPIC
topology is the use of two inductors
and an energy transfer capacitor.
Fig. 6 depicts a schematic for a
switch-mode charger. A high-speed
pulse-width modulator (PWM),
MCP1630, has been utilised in a
pseudo smart battery charger application. The MCP1630 is a highspeed, microcontroller-adaptable,
pulse-width modulator. When used
in conjunction with a microcontroller,
the MCP1630 will control the power
system duty cycle to provide output
voltage or current regulation. The
microcontroller, PIC16F684, can be
used to regulate the output voltage
or current, switching frequency and
maximum duty cycle. The MCP1630
generates duty cycle, and provides
fast over-current protection based
on various external inputs. External
signals include the input oscillator,
the reference voltage, the feedback
voltage and the current sense. The
output signal is a square-wave pulse.
The power train used for the charger
is SEPIC.
The microcontroller provides an
enormous amount of design flexibility.
In addition, it can communicate with
a battery monitor inside the battery
pack to significantly reduce chargecycle times.
Charge-cycle waveforms. Fig. 7 shows
complete charge cycles utilising the
switch-mode charging solution. By
utilising a battery monitor in the
charging system, charge cycles can
be significantly reduced. The battery
monitor eliminates sensing the voltage
produced across the packs protection
circuitry and contact resistance by the
charging current.
The author is principal applications engineer at
Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, USA
design
Part 1 of 3
Reading the Datasheets of

Electronic Devices
A thorough understanding of datasheets allows the designers to select the right
device for their application and subsequently exploit the potential of the device
to the fullest. Beginning this month in a series of three articles, we would focus
on how to read a datasheet and then go on to discuss the datasheets of two of
the most commonly used electronics devices representing discrete devices and
integrated circuits
Anil Kumar Maini and
Varsha Agrawal
ost of the present-day electronics designers and application

engineers do not find it necessary to look beyond the first page of the
datasheets of the electronic components
or devices while selecting one for their
application. They consider the knowledge of a few major specifications of the
device sufficient for the design exercise
that they wish to undertake. Though
it may be adequate in some cases, the
design where the components are chosen
without giving due consideration to the
information contained in the datasheet
may not be the optimal one.
The datasheet of a device reveals its
true character and hence its suitability
for a given application. In addition to
listing down the device parameters, it
gives the electrical and environmental
conditions at which these parameters
have been measured and also contains
information on variation of important
parameters as a function of other
relevant electrical and environmental
parameters. It is vital information
particularly when you are designing a
circuit or a module that has to qualify
stringent environment standards. A
comprehensive datasheet almost invariably includes application circuits
recommended by the manufacturer.
Comprehensive and
condensed datasheets
Both comprehensive as well as condensed versions of datasheets are usu-
Fig. 1: First page of datasheet of power Mosfet type IRF250
ally available from manufacturers. The

word comprehensive is used here to
differentiate between the datasheet of a
device found in a short-form catalogue
and another datasheet of the same device available in the detailed version.
For example, a company manufacturing a range of semiconductor devices
may have one condensed catalogue
containing data on all categories of
devices like diodes, bipolar transistors,
MOSFETs and thyristors that it manufactures. It may also offer detailed
catalogues separately for each of these
categories.
1 0 0 M a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
Surely, the technical data of a given

device in the short-form catalogue will
not be as comprehensive as it would
be in the detailed catalogue. In the
condensed version, one is likely to find
salient features, major performance
specifications, package information
and electrical characteristics along with
the condition for which they are valid.
On the other hand, a detailed datasheet
offers a range of characteristic curves
showing variation of important parameters as a function of other relevant
parameters and typical application
circuits.
!

!"

! " # $% &'(&) *+'% ,- *&) *+'%

#
!
design
Fig. 2: Package styles of op-amp type LM741
Fig. 3: Internal schematic of op-amp type LM741
Common features
A study of the datasheets of a variety
of devices, be they discrete or integrated circuit (IC), reveals a commonality
in the type of data and characteristic
curves. These common features are
outlined in the following paragraphs.
Typical applications and outstand-
ing features. All datasheets begin with

typical applications as suggested by
the manufacturer and the outstanding
features of the device. This information appears on the first page of the
datasheet and is an essential part of
both condensed and detailed versions.
Statements like It has high dv/dt
capability and a low thermal resistance designed

primarily for half-wave AC
power control such as motor
controls, heating controls
(taken from the datasheet
of S2800 series SCR) high
photosensitivity, hermetically sealed fast optical
sensor of high-modulation
bandwidth... (taken from the
data sheet of PIN photodiode
type BPX-65) single-pulse
avalanche energy rated, nanosecond switching speeds,
linear transfer characteristics,
high input impedance well
suited for applications such
as switching regulators, motor drivers, relay drivers
(taken from the datasheet
of power MOSFET type
IRF250 shown in Fig. 1) are
representative of the first
page of the datasheet of the
device. This gives designers
a fair idea of the important
features and applications
without going through the
whole datasheet.
Device package outline.
A sketch with device dimensions and lead identification,
outline of the package styles
of the device and other mechanical information are included in this part. Quite often a given device is made in
more than one package style
either with no difference in
performance specifications
(such as medium-power silicon transistor type 2N6045/
MJE6045 made in TO220AB
and TO127 package styles),
or with a minor difference
(such as bipolar transistor 2N2222 in
TO-92 plastic and TO-18 metal can
packages), and occasionally with a
major difference (such as IC regulator
type 78-series in TO-92 plastic, TO-220
and TO-3 packages).
Fig. 2 shows the package options
for the operational amplifier LM741.
design
Absolute Maximum Ratings (Note 1)
If military/aerospace specified devices are required, contact the National Semiconductor Sales Office/Distributors
for availability and specifications.

LF155/6
LF256/7/LF356B LF355/6/7
Supply voltage
22V
22V
18V
Differential input voltage
40V
40V
30V
Input voltage range (Note 2)
20V
20V
16V
Output short circuit duration
Continuous
Continuous
Continuous
TJMAX

H-package
150C
115C
115C
N-package
100C
100C
M-package
100C
100C
Power dissipation at TA=25C (Notes 1, 8)

H-package (still air)
560 mW
400 mW
H-package (400 LF/min air flow)
1200 mW
1000 mW
400 mW
1000 mW
N-package
670 mW
670 mW
M-package
380 mW
380 mW
Thermal resistance (typical) JA

H-package (still air)
160C/W
160C/W
160C/W
H-package (400 LF/min air flow)
65C/W
65C/W
65C/W
N-package
130C/W
130C/W
M-package
195C/W
195C/W
(Typical) JC

H-package
Storage temperature range
23C/W
23C/W
23C/W
65C to +150C
65C to +150C
65C to +150C
300C
300C
260C
260C
Soldering information (lead temp.)

Metal can package

Soldering (10 sec.)
300C
Dual-in-line package
Soldering (10 sec.)
260C
Small outline package
Vapour phase (60 sec.)
215C
215C
Infrared (15 sec.)
220C
220C
See AN-450 Surface Mounting Methods and Their Effect on Product Reliability for other methods of soldering
surface mount devices.
ESD tolerance
(100 pF discharged through 1.5k)
1000V
1000V
1000V
Absolute maximum ratings tell the designer the conditions that will damage the device. Remember these are
not maximum operating limits
Fig. 4: Absolute maximum ratings for op-amp type LF156/256/356
As you can see from the figure, it is

available in three packages, namely,
the metal can package, dual-in-line
package and ceramic flatpak package.
Schematic diagram. Detailed schematic of the internal structure of the
device is also given in the datasheet.
Fig. 3 shows the internal schematic of
operational amplifier LM741. It helps
the designer to correlate the electrical
features of the device with its internal
architecture. This sometimes helps the

designer to explain the device behaviour that is otherwise not described in
the datasheet.
Absolute maximum ratings. Absolute maximum ratings (Fig. 4) contain
information on voltages, currents, powers and temperature range that should
never be exceeded. As is evident from
the figure, the maximum supply voltage for operational amplifier LF356 is
18V.
e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u M a r c h 2 0 0 9 1 0 3
design
Fig. 5: Performance curves of diodes 1N4001 to 1N4007
Performance curves. Performance curves of interest as a function

of voltage, current, temperature,
etc follow next. These include the
characteristics of the device, such

as drain current versus drain voltage (drain characteristics) or drain
current versus gate voltage (transfer
characteristics) in the case of FETs,

emitter voltage versus emitter current in the case of UJTs and forward
voltage versus forward current in the
design
case of diodes. Fig. 5 shows the characteristics curves for diodes 1N4001
to 1N4007.
It could also be variation of the cathode voltage vs cathode
current as a function of
temperature (Fig. 6) in
the case of a thyristor, or
dark current as a function of applied reverse
bias in the case of a PIN
photodiode, or transconductance versus drain
current as a function of
temperature in the case
of power MOSFET. The
curve in the first case
emphasises that the relationship between the
Fig. 6: Thyristor-cathode voltage vs. cathode current for different
temperatures
cathode voltage and cath-
ode current changes with temperature.

The curve in the second illustration
indicates critical dependence of the
dark current of the PIN photodiode
on the applied reverse bias voltage.
And the third demonstrates significant
reduction in the transconductance of the
MOSFET at a fixed drain current with
increase in temperature. These are all
very important aspects of design and
therefore should not be side-stepped.
Electrical characteristics. Electrical characteristics are usually given
in tabular form indicating spread
in parameter values that is likely to
occur in a batch of devices in terms
of minimum, typical and maximum
values. It is a vital design input as in
Fig. 7: Electrical characteristics of Mosfet type number IRF250
design
These are always
an asset to the
designers, more
so for those who
are a little short
of design experience. Quite often, expressions
used to calculate
different component values in a
given application
circuit are also
presented.
Fig. 8 shows
some of the application circuits for
operational amplifier LF356 given
in its datasheet.
The information
contained in Fig.
8 is reproduced
from the detailed
datasheet of LF
355/356/357 series of FET input
op-amps.
To sum up...
This part of the
article highlighted
the importance of
reading a datasheet and the host
of technical information contained
therein. In particular, it focused
Fig. 8: Some application circuits of op-amp type LF156/256/356
on salient features
that are common
to the datasheets of all categories of
some cases, spread in values could be
devices illustrating the significance of
as much as an order of magnitude.
different parameters with practical exTo substantiate the statement, the
amples. The next part of the article will
datasheet of C122-series of SCRs from
focus on semiconductor diodes.
RCA tells that its dv/dt rating could
To be continued
be anywhere between 10V/s and
100V/s. Similarly, the gate-source
threshold voltage of power MOSFET
Anil Kumar Maini is the head of EOCM and Optoelectronics Division and associate director at
type IRF250 could vary from 2V to
Laser Science and Technology Centre (Defence
4V (Fig. 7).
R&D Organisation) and Varsha Agrawal is a senior
Application circuits. Application
scientist in EOCM and Optoelectronics Division at
circuits are usually included only in
Laser Science and Technology Centre (Defence
the detailed version of the datasheet.
R&D Organisation)
do-it-yourself
A Versatile
Frequency Counter
Often, the need for a frequency counter is felt that operates in the LF, HF
and VHF ranges. The most common deterrents are the lack of programming
knowledge and the non-availability of VHF prescalers to bring down VHF to a
manageable HF range. Here we show how a commonly available low-cost radio
may be ripped apart and used as a frequency counter covering frequencies
from 500 kHz to 150 MHz
Vasuki Prasad
hinese radio company Kchibo

makes radios based on the CXA1619BM IC. This IC is a surface-mount version of the CXA1619BS,
which most designers are familiar
with; FM boards available in the market are built using this IC. Kchibo and
other companies went a step ahead
and thought of implementing a radio
frequency display, along with an alarm
clock, in their radios so that any station
can be tuned into, without doubting
the actual frequency which the radio
is tuned to (no blind or approximate
tuning). This is not a radio synthesiser;
its a conventional, mechanically tuned
radio that sports a frequency display.
As opposed to conventional radios
which use a single IC (the CXA1619BS/
BM), the so-called digital radio uses
two ICs: the radio receiver IC and the
UTC6610.
At the heart of this project is
UTC6610. It comes in many packages, but these radios use the chip-onboard variety. The UTC6610 comes
equipped with a frequency counter
circuitry, prescaler for VHF, clock circuitry (time), on-chip oscillator, simple
adder/subtractor or offset unit, and
LCD driver. As can be seen, this unit
is completely self-sufficient. The only
external components required are
crystal and LCD.
The frequency counter circuitry of
the IC measures the frequency of the
incoming RF wave by counting the
number of transitions (high-to-low or
this section. It is used

only to keep track of
COM1 1
36 VDD
time.
The on-chip oscilCOM2 2
IN
FM
35
lator
is a NOT gate
COM3 3
34 VSS
that requires an exterSEG0 4
33 AMIN
nal 32.768kHz crystal
SEG1 5
to generate the timing
32 AM/FM-SEL
base.
SEG2 6
31 RANGE
The adder/subtracSEG3 7
30 NC
tor unit works like this:
SEG4 8
29 IF70K
A super heterodyne
radio receiver requires
SEG5 9
28 AL-OUT
a local oscillator operatSEG6 10
27 AL-SIG
ing at a fixed frequency
SEG7 11
26 CLKFREQ-SEL
above the incoming
signals frequency. This
SEG8 12
NC
25
fixed frequency is called
SEG9 13
24 HR-SET
intermediate frequency,
SEG10 14
23 MIN-SET
or IF. For commercial
SEG11 15
22 AL DISP
FM radios, it is 10.7
MHz for FM and 455
SEG12 16
21 AL ON/OFF
kHz for AM/SW.
OSC IN 17
20 RST
Now, if the frequenOSC OUT 18
19 VLCD
cy counter was reading
the actual frequency of
the oscillator, the user
Fig. 1: Pin configuration of UTC6610
would have been put to
great trouble in determining the actual
low-to-high) within a set period.
receiving frequency. For example, for a
The prescaler for VHF is a divide100MHz signal to be detected, the local
by-ten block that probably uses highoscillator is made to run at 110.7 MHz
speed CMOS circuitry to divide the
(100+10.7=110.7 MHz). So to display
number of pulses. When a 150MHz
the intended receiving frequency, the
signal is fed to the prescalar, the output
UTC6610 subtracts 10.7 MHz from the
is 15 MHz. Datasheets specify 300mV
counted frequency. This means that if
peak-to-peak input; higher voltages will
you are to use the UTC6610 as a fredestroy the IC. The prescaler is activated
quency counter, always bear in mind
only in the FM mode of operation.
that the actual frequency is 10.7 MHz
As regards clock circuitry, were
higher than the displayed frequency
not interested in it and hence skipping
6610
e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u m a r c h 2 0 0 9 1 0 7
do-it-yourself
Modes of Operation

Function
FM mode
details
AM mode
details
Input frequency range

Prescaler
Input voltage
Frequency resolution

11 to 150 MHz
In operation
300mV pk-pk recommended
10 kHz: 11.00 to 99.99 MHz
100 kHz: 11.0 MHz to 149.9 MHz
Set in radio to 100kHz resolution

10.7 MHz
70 kHz also available
150 ohms
0.5 to 30 MHz
Not in operation
300mV pk-pk recommended
1 kHz: 500 to 9999 kHz
10 kHz: 0.50 to 29.99 MHz
Set in radio to 10kHz resolution for
SW and 1kHz resolution for MW
455 kHz
IF offset

Input resistance
COL
Fig. 5: The brown PCB with the metallic shield,

which is our target
2000 ohms
S1
AM
MHz
FM
PM
DP2
DP1
KHz
AL
(a)
Fig. 6: Opened up: The frequency counter

UTC6610 hidden away behind the LCD, while
the flip-flop circuitry (just to set FM, AM states) is
visible as the SMD transistors
Fig. 3: The radio
(b)
Fig. 2: (a) 4 digit-LCD and (b) image of the LCD
in the FM mode. In the AM mode, it is

455 kHz above the displayed frequency. 70kHz offsets are also available as
an option in the FM mode, but we are
skipping this for now as the radios
we rip these modules from have no
70kHz IF.
The LCD driver converts binary
data into voltages necessary to drive
the LCD unit.
Fig. 7: The back side: RF shield-cum-LCD

mechanical support. Notice the purple and black
wire for VHF and HF input, respectively
Opening up the radio

The best part about Kchibo KK-939B
radio is use of minimal external points.
Also, it is simple to understand and
operate, has an LED light to illuminate
the LCD, and looks good. I recommend
beginners to buy this radio and rip it
apart for a clean, high-performance
frequency counter.
To access the frequency counter
board, the radio (Kchibo KK-939B) has
to be opened up. In the close-up of the
Fig. 4: Opened up radio; note that the brown

PCB is the frequency counter and LCD section
and green PCB is the radio receiver
frequency counter PCB (Fig. 9), you

will notice the solder joints marked VH
input, HF input, points 1 through 5,
FM and AM. VHF input is to be connected to the RF source whose frequency you want to determine (from 11 to
150 MHz). HF input is to be connected
to the RF source whose frequency you
1 0 8 m a r c h 2 0 0 9 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u
Fig. 8: The purple line leads to the take-off point

for the VHF oscillator (FM section), while the
rightmost black wire leads to the take-off point
for the AM oscillator
want to determine (up to 30 MHz).

1 is an input point. It has to be
kept at 0V for FM (VHF) operation
and 10kHz resolution in the AM mode
do-it-yourself
PCB provided by the manufacturer of
the radio, so as to come up with a quick,
compact, cost-effective RF counter.
To have a look at the IC, lift the
LCD, and you will see that the chipon-board (COB) is the UTC 6610 (see
Fig. 10).
Making the RF counter

Fig. 12: Crude connection example
Fig. 9: Close-up of the frequency counter PCB
Fig. 10: The chip-on-board is the UTC6610
(HF operation). Setting

it to Vcc in HF
mode only sets
the display
resolution to
1 kHz. 2 is an
output point
Fig. 11: Connect a small
for the radio
switch between point 1
and GND and Vcc
which lets
the IC know
whether its the AM (SW/MW) mode
or FM mode. 3 is an input point at
Vcc (3V, do not exceed 3.3V). 4 is the
input point at GND. 5 is the output
point that controls power to the radio,
shutting off power to the IC when in
clock mode.
Pressing FM button activates the
VHF counter with a resolution of 100
kHz and frequency range of 11 MHz
to 150 MHz. The input is via the purple wire (shown in Fig. 9); the colour
may differ in your radio. You must set
point 1 to 0V for proper operation. The
display reading must be added to 10.7
MHz to get the actual frequency.
A flip-flop comprising SMD transistors on the PCB locks the UTC in this
mode until the AM button is pressed.
Default mode on startup is the FM
mode.
Pressing AM button activates the
HF counter with frequency range of 0.5
to 30 MHz. The input is via the black
wire (shown in Fig. 9); the colour may
differ in your radio. Set point 1 to Vcc
for 1kHz resolution and RF input of
0.5 to 9.999 MHz. Set point 1 to 0V for
10kHz resolution and 0.5 MHz to 29.99
MHz. Actual tests show it exceeds
75 MHz in this mode, which is good.
Reading on the display must be added
to 455 kHz to get the actual frequency.
A flip-flop comprising SMD transistors on the PCB locks the UTC in this
mode until the FM button is pressed.
Default mode on startup is the FM
mode. To activate the AM mode, this
button has to be pressed.
Notice the blob of solder above the
VHF input point. This is the ground.
Of course, the clock pushbuttons
are still working perfectly, so you may
use them to set the clock too. You will
have to shift the SPDT switch (the
switch which controls the radio on
and off) to off position in order to
activate the clock, and to on position
in order to activate the RF counter.
Please note that here were not trying to use the UTC6610 directly. Most
of the hard work of wiring up the 6610
IC, providing an LCD, making the PCB
and adding components has been done
by the radio manufacturer; in this case,
Kchibo. All we are attempting to do
here is to understand operation of the
UTC6610, and in turn operation of the
1. Cut out the 5-wire ribbon cable. Unsolder it from the counter board.
2. Cut the VHF and HF input wires
from the points on the radio PCB, not
the counter PCB.
3. The counter PCB is now separated from the radio receiver PCB.
4. Solder a red wire to point 3 of
the counter PCB. This is your positive
3V supply wire.
5. Solder a green wire to point 4 of
the PCB. This serves as ground.
6. Connect a small switch between
point 1 and GND and Vcc, as shown
in Fig. 11. Push the switch to 1kHz
position for 1kHz resolution in the
AM mode, and to 10kHz resolution for
10kHz in the AM mode. The switch has
to be kept in the 10kHz resolution mode
for proper VHF operation (FM mode).
With this, your crude-looking but
great-performance RF counter is set to
go. But bear a few things in mind:
1. Keep the VHF and HF wires as
short as possible. Their length will not
affect the performance of the counter,
but the circuit under test (for example,
the oscillator you might have built).
2. Couple the HF and VHF wires to
the RF sources via a 2pF capacitor.
3. Preferably, replace the VHF and
HF crude wires with easily available
75-ohm cable TV coax. This provides
RF shielding and noise immunity to a
good degree.
Fig. 12 shows a crude connection
example. Note how the green wire (HF
wire) is directly fed to the output of the
oscillator (very crude, do not attempt
this), without any capacitor or buffer.
(I admit this green wire belongs to a
different counter, but the operation
and concept are the same, as it too uses
the UTC6610.) Once I disconnected the
counter from the oscillator I had made,
do-it-yourself
the frequency moved up by 1 MHz.
What is important to understand
here is: If youre keeping the counter
connected to the output of a nonbuffered oscillator, the reading of the
counter plus 455/10.7 (as the case may
be, FM or AM mode, as shown on the
LCD) will be the true reading. Attempting to count the frequency and
then disconnecting the counter will set
the oscillator at a different frequency
after counting due to the capacitance
and loading effect of the counter. The
reading got then is invalid as the frequency changes on the removal of the
counter.
Keeping this effect in mind, it is
important to:
1. Use the 2pF capacitor. It causes
minimal frequency shift due to minimal capacitance effect, so that the
reading obtained, and the frequency
after removing the counter from your
oscillator, dont differ much.
2. Buffer your oscillator. Buffering of oscillators is very important to
prevent your oscillators from being
affected by external components.
Fig. 13: Suggested connection
Fig. 13 shows the suggested connection. Never connect the HF and

VHF counter pins together. Use separate ports and coax cables for both.
Why its good for

beginners?
There are other radio receiver models
available with more work to do (in
terms of points). Fig. 14 shows an
example: As you can see, the number
of lines is more, and more connections have to be made in order to get
it working. But for a beginner, the KK939B is a great radio with a great counter board. It has on-board flip-flops
that make the external connections
simple. In the case of the board shown
in Fig. 14, all the flip-flops are on the
radio PCB, so the number of connec-
Fig. 14: Another radio receiver example
tions is much more. Besides, separating

the counter PCB from the radio PCB
removes the luxury of pushbuttons
and flip-flops; which are present in the
KK-939B.
It took me two month to understand the operation of the counter
shown in Fig. 14. After all the UTC6610
learning and circuit decoding (extensive), the KK-939 took only 17 minutes
flat. Thats why its good for beginners.
Enjoy and have fun with your inexpensive counter. The radio should be available for Rs 250 or less. Have fun!
The author is from Manipal Institute of Technology
Statement about ownership and other particulars about

Electronics For You
FORM IV (See Rule 8)
1. Place of publication
New Delhi
2. Periodicity of its publication
Monthly
3. Printers Name
:
Nationality
:
Address
:

Ramesh Chopra
Indian
Electronics For You
D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase I, New Delhi 110020
4. Publishers Name
Nationality
and address
Same as (3) above
5.

Names and addresses of

:
individuals who own the
newspaper & partners or
shareholders holding more
than 1% of the total capital
EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd

D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase 1, New Delhi 110020
I, Ramesh Chopra, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of
my knowledge and belief.
Date: 28-2-2009
Ramesh Chopra
Publisher
wireless
Bluetooth Scatternets
A Cost-Effective Solution for Communication
The most popular application of Bluetooth is communication between
two directly paired devices. Here, we explore a less popular but powerful
application of Bluetooth which can help extend the range of Bluetooth
communication and provide a free infrastructure for communication
Scatternets: A set of
piconets
Ahzam Ali
luetooth is a low-power, lowcost and short-range wireless

technology. It was originally
developed by Ericsson for short-range
communication between personal
devices, e.g., data transfer between
a cellphone and a computer, or communication with a printer. Bluetooth
devices use the unlicensed ISM band
at 2.4 GHz.
Nowadays most of the mobile devices, including mobile phones, MP3
players, digital cameras, video cameras, PDAs, laptop PCs, tablet PCs and
so forth, are equipped with Bluetooth.
So you can exchange data between
these devices without requiring the
use of wires. Bluetooth is considered
to be a high-potential technology for
providing wireless communication in
a home-networking environment.
Bluetooth is an evolving technology. It has gone through three (standardised) revisions of the approved
standard by Bluetooth Special Interest
Group (SIG), the latest one being Bluetooth 2.1 EDR (enhanced data rate) in
early part of 2008. The latest standard
supports enhanced usability, i.e., pairing of devices by means of near-field
communication (NFC), enhanced
security and broader range of device
profiles.
When a number of Bluetooth devices communicate to each other in the
same vicinity, there is a high level of
interference. To combat interference,
Bluetooth technology applies a fast
frequency-hopping scheme which hops
over 79 channels 1600 times per second.
For devices to communicate to each
other using Bluetooth they need to be
paired with each other to have synchronised frequency-hopping sequence.
When there is a collection of devices

paired with each other, it forms a
small personal area network called
piconet. A piconet consists of a master and at most seven active slaves.
Each piconet has its own hopping sequence and the master and all slaves
share the same channel. In a piconet,
the master and slave devices transmit packets in even and odd slots,
respectively.
Two or more piconets connected
to each other by means of a device
(called bridge) participating in both
the piconets, form a scatternet. The role
of the bridge is to transmit data across
piconets. Fig. 1 shows a scatternet
structure in which devices a and c
play the master role and device b acts
as the bridge.
The scatternet formation has not
been formally defined in the Bluetooth
SIG specifications. As a result, numerous protocols have been proposed.
While modeling ad-hoc networking,
in general, is complex, the additional
restrictions imposed by the Bluetooth
specificationssuch as low cost of
the device, low power consumption
and network resilience while using
piconets that have a maximum of
seven active nodeshave created a
c
P1
a
P2
MASTER
SLAVE
BRIDGE
Fig. 1: Scatternet structure
wireless
significant challenge.
Formation of scatternets
There has been a comprehensive study
to propose an efficient formation of connected scatternet. One important problem that exists with scatternet as well
as piconet formation is to keep track of
the device that comes in and goes out of
the networksince these are low-power
handheld devices with limited communication range over Bluetooth. A device
connects to another device at random,
according to their 48-bit Bluetooth addresses and clocks, which control the
hopping behaviour in inquiry or inquiry
scan states. Most protocols seek to reduce the scatternet formation time and
form fast routing algorithms.
It turns out that a good scatternet
formation protocol should:
1. Be fully distributed and rely on
local information
2. Generate connected scatternets
3. Be resilient to the disconnection
of nodes anywhere in the scatternet
4. Provide multiple routes for robustness and be self-healing
5. Limit the number of bridges
6. Limit the number of roles a device can assume
7. Be aware of device resources
While forming a scatternet, keep
in mind that you are dealing with, in
general, small, energy- and processing-power-starved devices. The following points should be taken care of
while developing scatternet formation
protocols:
1. Minimise scatternet construction
time
2. Minimise the amount of control
data transmitted
3. Minimise the number of hops
required for communication between
devices, in order to improve response
times
4. Minimise power consumption.
Master-and-bridge mode of operation
requires more power than slave mode
5. Minimise the number of roles
assigned to nodes
6. Minimise the number of piconets
to provide faster routing and reduced
Fig. 2: Showing efficient network after role

switching
Fig. 3: Unnecessary bridge elimination
packet collisions
7. Maximise the amount of data
throughput
Given a scatternet, you can evaluate
its performance based on the number
of piconets, the number of nodes per
piconet, the number of bridge nodes,
the number of roles per node, average
traffic delay, throughput and maximum traffic delay.
Numerous models have been
proposed for constructing Bluetooth
scatternets, some of which may require
modifications to the existing Bluetooth
specifications.
Role switching
Role switching enables two devices
to exchange roles very rapidly, rather
than reconnecting by executing the
time-consuming inquiry and inquiry
scan processes. The role switching
operation involves fewer slots than the
inquiry/inquiry scan and page/page
scan operations in switching the roles
of the devices.
There are three major types of role
switching operations:
1. Combining. A situation where a
single node works both as slave in one
piconet and master in another.
2. Splitting. A piconet with a large
number of devices divided in two
piconets with smaller number of devices.
3. Take-over. When the existing
mast or a bridge is about to move out
of the scatternet, it transfers its responsibilities to another device in the

scatternet.
There is a switching delay (called
guard time) introduced by bridges
while they try to transmit packets
across the piconets. Eliminating the
unnecessary bridges from the network will improve the performance of the scatternet. There exist
various protocols and algorithms
to optimise the roles that a device
assumes in a scatternet.
We see in the following examples how effective role assignment
can reduce the hop count while
routing a packet, help reduce
the number of bridges in the network
and result in an efficient scatternet
structure.
In Fig. 2, the original network was
formed with c as a bridge node and a
and b as the masters on two different
piconets p1 and p2. Using role switching, with the help of c, improves the
structure of the scatternet (now formed
as a piconet), shortens the routing
path and eliminates the bridge delay
in the network.
Fig. 3 shows another example of
better role switching operation that
results in an improved network structure.
Scatternet applications
By now you might be wondering what
possible use these scatternets could be
put to. Well, there are papers proposing
voice communication between two mobile devices connected over a Bluetooth
scatternet, up to a distance of 100 metres
in an indoor environment. One of the
popular applications developed by Nokia, called sensor, works on somewhat
similar principles. It lets users communicate to each other, bypassing the service
providers network, over Bluetooth.
Sensor networks are another example where the Bluetooth scatternets
can be used. Since sensor networks are
generally ad-hoc, Bluetooth scatternet
can be used for communication of
sensors with each other and the base.
This will eliminate the requirement of
wireless
developing a special-purpose protocol
for sensor networks.
Problems to be addressed
The Bluetooth scatternet formation
devices are generally small, running on
batteries, with low-powered CPU and
low memory. At the same time, these are
highly mobile and may frequently move
in and out of the network. This leads us
to think about:
1. Topology and size of scatternets.
What is the optimal number of piconets
in the scatternet and how many nodes
are there? The number of bridge nodes
increases (proportionally) with the
increasing number of piconets. The increases, in turn, incur significant overhead: loss of one or more time slots to
readjust clocking when shifting from
one piconet to another, more traffic
than non-bridge nodes and increased
battery power consumption to perform
these tasks.
What is the optimal number of
piconets in which a bridge should participate? The more the piconets with
which a bridge communicates, the less
the time during which the bridge will
be available for dealing with traffic
from/to each individual piconet, thus
increasing the likelihood of bottlenecks,
at the bridge itself.
2. Formation delay and resilience.
How much time is required to construct, optimise and maintain the scatternet? The ad-hoc, dynamic nature of
a Bluetooth network requires constant
modifications to the scatternet topology to support devices that join and
leave. How to handle the nodes that
join or leave the scatternets?
3. Polling and scheduling. In what
order will the slaves be polled by the
master? Does the scatternet topology
impact the ability to handle scheduled
communications from slaves in sniff or
hold state?
4. Routing. Does the scatternet topology allow efficient routing of messages?
Work in the area

There are a number of papers discussing the effective routing protocols
for Bluetooth scatternets. Also, there

are quite a few papers which discuss
the point of organising the scatternet
in an efficient fashion, dealing with
disparate aspects of scatternet optimisation. A proposal in Bluetooth
Scatternet Formation for Supporting
Device Mobility, by Chorng-Horng
Yang and Yi- Sheng Chen, deals with
mobility support in a Bluetooth scatternet network, but relies on a Bluetooth backbone network consisting of
devices that are not mobile. Another
work done on similar lines is Tracking
the Optimal Configuration of a Bluetooth Scatternet by Csaba Kiss Kall
and Carla-Fabiana Chiasserini, which
deals with similar problem of redefining the role of nodes in scatternets but
concentrates on improving the energy
efficiency of the nodes. Also, there are
numerous proposals for routing protocols including MANET (mobile ad-hoc
network) protocols.
Future in Bluetooth
The new Bluetooth specification, called
the Bluetooth 2.1, is already published.
It is fully backward-compatible with
1.1. The specification includes many
new security and usability enhancements. The most interesting of these
is incorporation of the near-field
communication (NFC) device, which
helps in pairing of two Bluetooth devices equipped with NFC chip by just
bringing them close to each other. For
example, a headset can be paired with
a Bluetooth 2.1 phone having NFC
chip just by bringing the two devices
close to each other. Another example
is automatic uploading of photos from
a mobile phone to a digital picture
frame just by bringing the phone close
to the frame. Features like this and
other security enhancements will help
Bluetooth gain user confidence.
A lot of work is in progress in
the area of Bluetooth, to enhance and
widen the application of Bluetooth
protocol. In the future, we may expect
features like:
1. Broadcast channels. These will
enable Bluetooth information points
that broadcast information to all Bluetooth devices in the vicinity. So users

will be able to pull relevant information from the system.
2. Topology manger. It will enable
better configuration of piconets and
even scatternets.
3. Alternate media access physical
layer. It will enable use of some other
wireless technology for actual data
transfer at higher rate while maintaining the initial pairing on standard
Bluetooth.
4. QoS improvements. These will
enable audio and video data transmission at a higher quality.
Nokia and Bluetooth SIG have announced that Wibree (Nokias low power wireless communication protocol) will
be a part of the Bluetooth specification
as an ultra-low-power Bluetooth technology, to be used in caller ID watches,
sports sensors (used for monitoring the
wearers heart rate during exercise) as
well as medical devices. A medical devices profile and associated protocols are
being developed by the Medical Devices
Working Group (MDWG).
Bluetooth 3.0. The next version of
Bluetooth after v2.1, code-named Seattle, is proposed to adopt ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology. This
will allow Bluetooth use over UWB
radio, enabling very fast data transfers
of up to 480 Mbps, while taking the advantage of very low-power idle modes
of Bluetooth.
Extending the scope

Even though work on Bluetooth scatternet is going on for about a decade
now, it has failed to generate interest
amongst general consumer electronics
goods manufacturers. Bluetooth scatternets find most of their use in sensor
networks. When there is a limitation
on setting up the communication infrastructure, Bluetooth scatternet could
turn out to be a cost-effective solution.
In future, as the processing power of
electronic devices grows and they become more energy-efficient, Bluetooth
might see its way into already evolving
Bluetooth standards.
Recently introduced in India, From near and far
New Products
Storage
Stylish hard drive
Transcend Information, Inc. has announced a 6.4cm (2.5-inch) portable

hard drive. The elegant and sleek StoreJet 25F measures only 113.880.915.9
mm3. It is designed for business travel-
levels of system performance, capacity,

reliability and lower power consumption.
Built for 8.9cm Tier 1 storage applications, the 15K.7 and the NS.2
are said to be the largest-capacity,
mission-critical drives offered at 600
GB. The 15K.7 is claimed to deliver
the highest performance of any 8.9cm
drive, while the NS.2 features the lowest power requirement of any 8.9cm
Tier 1 drive.
Fortune Marketing (Seagate Distributor),
New Delhi
Phone: (011) 26414468, 26472491
ers and people who prefer an elegant

way to carry their data. Despite its
compact size, the StoreJet 25F has up
to 500 GB of storage space, so you can
easily transfer, store and share important files and data.
Supertron Electronics Limited, Kolkata
Phone: (033) 22131221-23
Enterprise-class hard drives
Seagate has announced two new members of its Cheetah enterprise-class

hard drive family: the 15K.7 and the
NS.2. For businesses that have an existing investment based on a standard
8.9cm (3.5-inch) enterprise infrastructure, the new Cheetah drives bolster
sustainability through easy drive/system integration, and provide improved
Test & measurement

Reference thermometers
Hart Scientific, a division of Fluke Corporation, has introduced the Fluke 1523
and Fluke 1524 handheld reference
thermometers for platinum resistance
thermometer
(PRT), thermocouple
and thermistor temperature measurement. The
single- and
dual-channel
models feature precision
components
and circuitry
to put lab-quality measurement in
easy reach of field technicians and
engineers.
These rugged and affordable thermometers offer accuracy of 0.002C
a level appropriate for high-precision
field work in oil, gas and other industries, where the current practice
is the use of toxic mercury-in-glass
thermometers. Fluke guarantees
the specifications in 10C to 60C
ambient temperatures, with the best

performance over the range of 13C
to 33C.
TTL Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
Fax: (080) 25291285
Phone: 25260646, 25251859
Website: ttlindia.com
Handheld digital
multimeters
Messals Overseas (India) has introduced high-performance, handheld

digital multimeters (model Nos 1061
and 1062) from Kyoritsu, Japan.
These 50,000-count, true-RMS
multimeters have basic DC accuracy of
0.025 per cent. They use high-performance, UL-standard fuses with user calibration function. Peak-hold response
time is 250 s. The multimeters can
measure AC/DC voltage up to 1000V,
current up to 10A and resistance up to
50 mega-ohms. Other functions include
temperature and capacitance measurements with diode test and continuity
check.
Messals Overseas (I) Pvt Ltd, Jaipur
Fax: (0141) 2706639
Phone: 2705361
Tools & Equipment

Energy saver
The Coolite energy saver by Conzerv

helps to save 10 to 20 per cent of
direct lighting energy consumption
and runs lamps cooler. It looks similar to a computers CPU and has to
be connected to the
lighting supply. Coolite
is suitable for stabilised lighting circuits in
commercial buildings
and complexes, hotels,
hospitals,BPOs, cinema
halls, auditoria, stadia
(indoor/outdoor), educational institutions, residential buildings and apartments and all industrial facilities. It
filters harmonics injected to the line by
electronic lighting ballasts and reduces
spikes in lighting circuits.
operation of logic signals, coil-winding

machines, photo lab equipment, sewing machines, packaging equipment,
conveyor belts, printing equipment
and CNC machines.
E Power Engineering, Chennai

Fax: (044) 24337599
Phone: 24337598
Teknic Electromeconics Pvt Ltd, Bangalore

Fax: (080) 28520254
Phone: 28520389, 28520714
Inductive proximity sensor
Air-dust cleaner
R.S. Electronics has introduced inductive proximity sensors that can detect
the presence of a wide range of metallic
targets. This detection is accomplished
without contacting the target and is
mechanically wear-free.
The sensors are available in DC
as well as AC, in various sizes ranging from M8 to M80, with various
configurations and sensing distances.

Inductive micro box sensors, slot
sensors or any other type of sensor
can be supplied as per the specific
requirement.
R.S. Electronics, Chennai
Cecon Pollutech Systems has introduced a high-efficiency, portable,

air-dust cleaner designed to create
dust-free atmosphere in conditioned
and non-conditioned areas. Cleaning efficiency of this system is 0.1
micron with power consumption of
150 watts.
The wall-hanging cleaner is easy
to install with low maintenance cost
and nil consumables required for operation. It is highly useful for places
like currency chest and sorting areas
in process control rooms of banks, telephone exchanges, research laboratories, operation theatres, and other
places requiring clean and dust-free
atmosphere.
Cecon Pollutech Systems (P) Ltd, Lucknow
Telefax: (0522) 2386331
Phone: 2700202, 2391709
Networking
Foot switch
Teknics foot switch (type FS-99) is

ideal for any light- to medium-duty
application, with an electrical rating
of 16A, HP,
250V AC. It
can serve as
a foot-operated, on/off
switch for a
wide range of
motor-driven
and electrical
devices. The switch is constructed with
a sturdy metal housing and can be
used as an independent product, but
can also be supplied with an additional
guard in different colours for certain
applications.
The switch can be used in
Broadband router
Edimaxs Ultra Range plus Wireless-N

broadband router is a 3-in-1 device.
First, theres the wireless access point,
which lets you
connect to the
network without
wires. Theres
also a built-in 4port, full-duplex
10/100 switch
to connect your
wired-Ethernet
devices together.
Finally, the router function ties it all
together and lets your whole network
share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection.
Edimax Technology Co. Ltd, New Delhi

Phone: (011) 41608180
Web: www.edimax.com
Components
IGBT for xenon flash
Sanyo Semiconductor claims to have

developed the industrys smallest
IGBT for xenon flash to be used in
portable camera phones and compact
digital cameras.
The new IGBT reduces its mounting area by 60 per cent compared
to Sanyos current products while
keeping the equivalent performance
required for light control of the xenon
flash. This new product is ideal for
portable camera cell phones as well as
compact digital cameras.
The IGBT contributes to environmental friendliness by incorporating
lead-free external terminals, halogenfree packaging and reduction of rare
metals used. Smaller, thinner, and
high-performance package leads to resource savings and energy efficiency.
Sanyo Semiconductor (S) Pte Ltd, India Liaison
Office, Noida
Fax: (0120) 4232108
Phone: 4232106-8, 4232109 (Direct)
Broadband signal amplifier IC
STMicroelectronics has introduced

a broadband signal amplifier IC that
supports higher frequencies and faster
response, as well as lower noise, than
amplifiers used in current equipment.
The TS617 supports up to 200MHz
operation, which will satisfy faster
broadband services such as 24Mbps
ADSL2+, and VDSL offering up to
100Mbps download and upload
speeds. It is also optimised for use
in broadband powerline networking
using standards such as HomePlug

1.0 and HomePlugAV. HomePlugAV
is a new standard developed by the
HomePlug Powerline Alliance which
will allow home entertainment devices
to share the Internet and TV, audio and
video using AC mains wiring instead
of dedicated network cables.
STMicroelectronics Marketing Pvt Ltd, Noida,
Uttar Pradesh
Fax: 0120-4243417
Phone: 4243400
Miscellaneous
TFT monitor
Moser Baer India has launched a sleek

and stylish LCD TFT monitor for those
who have a knack for gaming, video
editing and other multimedia applications. The monitor (MBI TFTL5C) is

priced at Rs 7000, thus making it ideal
for low-cost entertainment and gaming.
Its other features are 38cm (15-inch)
wide display with high resolution, fast
response time of six microseconds and
aspect ratio of 16:10.
Moser Baer India Ltd, New Delhi
Phone: 26911570-74
Fax: (011) 26911860
SDHC video cards
Kingston Technology Company, Inc.,

has released a line of SDHC video
cards for use in digital camcorders.
The SDHC video cards carry plenty of
recording time and are available in 60minute (4GB), 120-minute (8GB) and
240-minute (16GB) capacities.
The cards feature a Class-4 speed
rating, which guarantees a minimum
data transfer rate of 4 MB/s, making
them ideal for use in the latest digital
camcorders and for fast transfer from

the card to a PC.
Kingston Technology, Mumbai
Phone: (022) 26592961
Website: kingston.com/asia
Video encoder
Axis Communications has introduced

a highly compact and cost-effective
one-channel video encoder with H.264
video compression.
The M7001 video encoder is perfect
for integrating small or large numbers
of analogue CCTV surveillance cameras into an IP-based video surveillance
system. Installed close to an analogue
camera, it converts analogue video
signals from the analogue camera into
digital video streams that are then sent
over an IP-based network (LAN/intranet/Internet). The video encoder

also provides pan, tilt and zoom support to PTZ and PTZ dome cameras.
AXIS M7001 can deliver two simultaneous video streams, one in H.264
and another in Motion JPEG, at full
frame rate in all resolutions up to D1
(720x480 in NTSC, 720x576 in PAL).
It drastically reduces bandwidth and
storage requirements without compromising image quality.
Axis Video Systems India Private Limited,
Bangalore
Fax: (080) 40239111
Phone: 41571222
corporate news
new ventures
calendar
new appointments
Industry News
In Focus
Semiconductor market
continues to grow
Satoru Ito to retire as

Renesas chairman, CEO
The total revenues of the Indian semiconductor market are poised to grow
from $5.9 billion in 2008 to $7.59 billion
in 2010 at a CAGR of 13.4 per cent. The
total available market revenues are
anticipated to climb from $2.53 billion
in 2008 to $3.24 billion in 2010 with a
CAGR of 13.1 per cent, according to
a report by The India Semiconductor
Association (ISA) and Frost and Sullivan (F&S).
IT and office automation, wireless
handsets and communication segments
are going to define the semiconductor
market growth. The semiconductor market growth is expected to be
driven by such products and services
as set-top boxes, wireless handsets,
the 3G rollout, deployment of WiMAX,
notebooks and smart cards. Opportunities exist for semiconductors in LCD
TV, digital camera and storage Flash
memory markets.
Telecom too shows growth

Defying the economic slowdown, the
telecom sector has witnessed a robust
growth. The companies are adding
substantial number of subscribers
and this trend is persisting for the last
many quarters. For instance, the aggregate net subscriber addition during
the quarter ended December 2008 was
around 31.6 million resulting in a sequential growth of 10 per cent.
Indian telecom services providers
are at different phases of their growth
cycles and have adopted different
business models to attract new customers. Bharti Airtel, which is the market
leader with around 25 per cent market
share, is in a stable growth phase,
thanks to its pan-India GSM service.
The other two big playersReliance Communications (RCom) and
Ideaare launching their GSM serv-
Renesas Technology has announced

changes in its management team,
with effect from April 1, 2009. The
new appointments are subject to
approval of the general shareholders
meeting to be held before the end of
March 2009. Satoru Ito, chairman and
CEO since April 2006, will retire from
his position. Katsuhiro Tsukamoto,
currently president and COO, will be
appointed as the companys chairman
and board director. And, Yasushi Akao
will take up the post of president, while
continuing as board director.
NDS India, a provider of technology

solutions for digital pay-TV, has
appointed Alan Dishington as the
director of sales. Based out of New
Delhi, Dishington will be reporting to
Sue Taylor, senior vice president and
general manager, NDS Asia Pacific.
In his new position, he will oversee
all Indian business development,
sales and pre-sales activities. He
will be responsible for identifying
and developing new business
opportunities for NDS end-to-end payTV solutions in India in cable, satellite
(DTH) and IPTV.
Samsung appoints GM-IT

volume sales
Rathore is Videocons
chief marketing officer
Samsung India has appointed Gurpreet

Brar as the general manager for its IT
volume sales business. In this role,
Brar will handle the companys volume
business, comprising LCD monitor,
HDD, OMS and notebook PC product
categories along with the companys
retail business for both the volume and
printer business in India.
Jaideep Rathore has been appointed

as the chief marketing officer by
consumer durable firm Videocon.
Earlier, Rathore was heading the
companys Italy operations. Rathore
would be overseeing the marketing
functions of all the brands for
consumer electronics and appliances
of Videocon across the country.
ices in different circles of the country.

From aggressive marketing to very low
tariffs, these two companies are adopting every startegy to attract subscribers
in the circles they have launched their
services recently. Almost all companies
are increasing their network capacity,
setting up new equipment for technology adoption or spending more money
to acquire new subscribers.
Flat growth expected

in PC sales
Given the current macro-economic
conditions and conservative buying
sentiment in the market, the overall PC
sales in fiscal 2008-09 are expected to
remain at the same levels as in the last
fiscal at 7.3 million units.
As per the findings of The Manufacturers Association for Information
NDS appoints director-sales
Technology (MAIT), the total PC sales

between April and September 2008,
with desktop computers and notebooks
taken together, were 3.69 million units,
registering a growth of 12 per cent over
the same period last fiscal. The sales of
desktops stood at 2.91 million units,
registering a growth of 12 per cent.
Notebooks recorded a consumption of
770,000 units, growing 13 per cent over
the same period last year.
The desktop PC and notebook sales
in fiscal 2008-09 are expected to be 5.5
million units and 1.85 million units
almost the same as in fiscal 2007-08.
HDTV broadcast to start

soon in India
Doordarshan plans to broadcast next
years Commonwealth Games in highdefinition TV (HDTV) format. HDTV
will provide viewers a picture that is

16 times better than regular television.
The Information and Broadcasting
Ministry has asked for the Cabinets
approval for studios in four metros to
broadcast the games on HDTV, already
adopted by BBC and Sky Sports.
However, to get HDTV broadcast,
the end users TV should be HD-enabled. For that you can buy an HD-compatible TV or a set-to box to make your
existing TV HD-compatible.
Delhi to get its SEZ

The Delhi government plans to establish
a special economic zone (SEZ) in the
capital. The government has also identified sectors for the setting up of SEZs,
which include electronic hardware
and software, information technologyenabled services (ITeS), nanotechnology and biotechnology amongst others.
No polluting industries will be allowed
to set up inside SEZs, and environmental clearance is a must for all projects
except those dealing with ITeS.
The proposed SEZ should also conform to the land use pattern prescribed
in the overall Master Plan Delhi 2021,
and only those proposals where the applicants already have adequate land as
prescribed under the SEZ Act will be
considered by the government.
Videocon forays into power

backup business
Consumer durable major Videocon
has entered the power backup equipment space with the launch of a range
of devices. With this new venture, the
company aims to reach a revenue of Rs
5 billion by next year and further it to
Rs 10 billion by 2011.
The products will be available in
three variants (600VA, 800VA and
1400VA), in the price range of Rs 4990
to Rs 11,990. The company has also
introduced batteries in the market.
Samsung to launch
nine digicams
Samsung India is betting big on the
digital camera market and plans to
launch nine new models in the first
half of 2009.
This year, we expect the 7- and

8-megapixel resolution cameras to
continue to dominate the market. We
also expect to see the introduction of
full high-definition digital cameras in
the Indian market, shared R. Zutshi,
deputy managing director, Samsung
India.
Samsung closed 2008 with a market share of around 11 per cent in the
digital still camera market. It is now
looking at doubling its volumes this
year based on the introduction of nine
new digital still camera models in the
first half of this year.
ViewSonic remodeling its

distribution plans
ViewSonic has announced its expansion plan for India for the year 2009.
The company is planning to introduce
in India its high-end products such as
all-in-one PCs and netbooks. To unveil
these products, ViewSonic is remodelling its distribution plans for India.
Alan Chang, managing director of
ViewSonic International, said, Our
focus now is to scale up the Indian operations by launching unique concept
product lines suited specifically to the
Indian environment of operation that
not only provide innovative solutions
to the customers but also set a benchmark for the industry to follow.
In addition, the company would
be launching a demo drive through
its key channel partners in the metro
cities. This would be later followed by
a country-wide aggressive marketing
initiative to educate the customers on
the benefits of these concept products.
Dixon to set up LCD TV unit

Dixon Technologies, the owner of the
consumer durable brand Weston, will
set up a manufacturing unit for LCD
TV sets at Oragadam in Tamil Nadu.
According to Dixons managing director Sunil Vachini, The 200,000 units
per annum plant will service the Southern markets, while the companys other
LCD TV plant at Uttarakhand (having
annual capacity of 100,000 units) will
serve the remaining markets.
Once operational, the plant will
start making the 48.3cm (19-inch) LCD

TVs, which will be sold at Rs 10,000.
Philips Electronics India

moves to new office
Philips Electronics India has moved
to its new office in Gurgaon. Based on
the concept of work place innovation
(WPI), the new workplace is part of
the companys approach to integrate
business processes and leverage scale
and synergies across organisation. Previously, Philips had its offices spread
across Pune, New Delhi and Mumbai.
Working from one office, at one
location, will offer employees an opportunity to communicate and interact across divisional and functional
boundaries.
According to Gerard Kleisterlee,
president and CEO, Royal Philips
Electronics, The new Philips India office will be a trendsetter in work space
design and ways of working, supporting teams in their commitment to scale
up Philips presence in India.
Moser Baer to install

rooftop solar PV in Surat
Moser Baer Photovoltaic (MBPV) has
won a contract from roads and buildings department of Gujarat to set up
what the company calls one of Indias
largest rooftop solar photovoltaic (SPV)
installations in Surat. The SPV system, of
approximately 135 kilowatt-peak (kWp)
installed capacity, will run a 40kW load
for ten hours every day and charge a battery bank of 6000 ampere hours.
Work on the project has already
started, and the complete system will be
commissioned by April 2009. MBPV will
also manage the operations and maintenance of this site for seven years.
RCom adds five million

new subscribers
Reliance Communications has added
five million new wireless subscribers
on its network during January 2009.
With this achievement, the company
claims to have become Indias first and
worlds first (apart from China) to add
five million new subscribers in a span
of 30 days, on its fully-IP enabled, next-
generation wireless network.

The entry of Reliance Mobile in the
GSM segment has led to an expansion
of the market, with the company seeing
a 285 per cent rise in new subscriber
additions, within the first month of its
nationwide GSM rollout.
BEL signs MoU with Boeing

and Astra Microwave
Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with
Boeing to jointly develop an analysis
and experimentation centre in India to
offer customers the ability to make better informed decisions in modernising
Indias defence forces.
This joint facility will be staffed
with local personnel who, with an
inherent understanding of Indias challenges, will be most qualified to work
with the Ministry of Defence to explore
and identify the best ways to satisfy
their capability needs, said I.V. Sarma,
director-R&D, BEL.
Working together, BEL and Boeing will develop in-country processes
that allow for the development of local
intellectual property as well as integration of other non-US products into our
environment.
In another development, BEL and
Astra Microwave Products, a provider
of RF and microwave components
and sub-systems for critical defence
and civilian applications, have signed
a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) to form a joint venture company. The joint venture will design,
develop, prototype, manufacture, and
market RF and microwave products
for use in defense, space and telecommunications.
HP India partners with TERI

Hewlett Packard (HP) India, in partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has launched the
Hewlett PackardTERI Schools initiative to improve environment projects
in schools. As part of the project, HP
India has awarded a grant of $250,000
comprising cash and technology resources to TERI for the programme.
The primary objective of this partner-
Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics

Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars
Name, Date and Venue
Topics to be covered
Contact address for details
CeBIT 2009
March 3-8, 2009
Hannover, Germany

Worlds leading event for

software, IT and
communication

Geeta Bisht
Manager-International Fairs
Hannover Fairs India Pvt Ltd
B-303 Dynasty Business Park
Andheri-Kurla Road
Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai 400059
Fax: (022) 40050683; Phone: 40050681, 82
E-mail: [email protected]; Web: hf-india.com
Information Management
Technical conference on
Technical Conference 2009
IM software
(IMTC 2009)
March 4-6, 2009

Hotel Le Meridian, Bangalore

For registration, contact:

Bangalore: 09322302220; Chennai:
09381506258; Hyderabad: 09391351766;
Mumbai: 09373466010; Delhi: (011) 32921868
The 3rd World Mobile Summit &

Sourcing Fair
The 5th China Intl Mobile
Sci-Tech Exhibition
March 6-7, 2009
Shenzhen Convention &
Exhibition Center, China

Events on the worldwide

achievement of the mobile
phone industry supplier
chain

Rebecca Lee
Room 629, West Tower
Tianan High-Tech Plaza
Phase II, Futian Distt., Shenzhen, China
Fax: (86755) 83293923, 83297552
Phone: 82507486, 83293923
Web: smca.org.cn
Open Source India

Tech Days 2009
March 12-14, 2009
Chennai Trade Centre
Chennai
Indias biggest
open-source event

Abhay Kumar
D-87/1, Okhla Phase-1, New Delhi 110020
Fax: (011) 26817563; Phone: 26810601, -02, -03
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
17th Convergence India 2009

March 18-20, 2009
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

South Asias largest

ICT event

Bunny Sidhu, Vice President

Exhibitions India Pvt Ltd
217-B, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase III
New Delhi 110020
Fax: (011) 42795098/99
Phone: 42795000 (Board)/42795031 (Direct)
Web: convergenceindia.org
IT India Fair, New Delhi

March 26-29, 2009

Fair on computer hardware,

computer systems,
application software,
network management
and technologies, SAP
and ERP solutions,
computer peripherals,
consumables, etc
India Trade Promotion Organisation

Pragati Bhawan, Pragati Maidan
New Delhi 110001
Fax: (011) 23371492; Phone: 23371540
Web: indiatradefair.com
International CTIA Wireless 2009 Global showcase of the

April 1-3, 2009
latest products and
Las Vegas Convention Center
innovations in
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
wireless telecom

Tulika Sen
Phone: (022) 42300800
Jignesh Khamar
Phone: (022) 42300800 Ext: 801
Global Sources Electronics &

Electronics and
Components China Sourcing Fair components fair

April 12-15, 2009
AsiaWorld-Expo (next to the
Hong Kong Airport)
Register online: www.chinasourcingfair.com
GITEX Saudi Arabia 2009

April 19-23, 2009
Riyadh International Exhibition
Centre, Saudi Arabia

8th international information

technology exhibition

Vaishali Dua
India representativeGITEX Saudi Arabia 2009
Falcon Infocomm Pvt Ltd
1207, Kailash Building
K.G. Marg, New Delhi 110001
Fax: (011) 23323953; Phone: 23324288
Connect 2009
May 5-7, 2009
Karachi Expo Centre
Karachi, Pakistan

4th information and

communications technology
exhibition and conference

Pegasus Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd

2nd Floor, Business Centre
Mumtaz Hassan Road, Karachi, Pakistan
Fax: (9221) 2410723
Phone: 111734266 (Pegcon)
Web: pegasus.com.pk
Edutech Expo 2009

June 13-14, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi
Hundreds of educational
institutions offering
professional courses and
training under a single roof

D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1
New Delhi 110020
Fax: (011) 26817563; Phone: 26810601-03
Continued on page 121
Continued from page 120
Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics

Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars
Name, Date and Venue
Topics to be covered
Contact address for details
Global Sources Electronics

China Sourcing Fair
June 14-16, 2009
Dubai International Convention &
Exhibition Centre
Electronics fair
EnterpriseIT2009
June 16-19, 2009
Singapore Expo

CommunicAsia2009
June 16-19, 2009
Singapore Expo

The 6th international

information technology
for the enterprise

The 20th international
communications and
information technology

Agnes Leung
Senior Project Manager
(Communications Events)
No. 1, Jalan Kilang Timor
# 09-02 Pacific Tech Centre
Singapore 159303
Fax: +65 6233 6633
Phone: +65 6233 6638
Web: sesallworld.com
InteractiveOne
June 16-19, 2009
Singapore Expo

The 3rd international

interactive, digital media
and entertainment

Media Exposition & Events

112-A, Sant Nagar, (GF), East of Kailash
New Delhi 110065
Fax: (011) 41620861
Phone: 26445191/2
Robotics & Automations

World Expo 2009
Aug. 20-23, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi

Exhibition on automation
industry

KMG Business Technology

C-3/803, Anushruti Tower
Opp. New York Tower, New Thaltej Circle,
S.G. Road, Thaltej, Ahmedabad 380059
Fax: (079) 26463145; Phone: 32410602
Smartcards Expo 2009

Sep. 10-12, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi

Expo on smart-card
technology and
applications

Electronics Today
104, Andheri Industrial Estate
Off. Veera Desai Road, Andheri (W)
Mumbai 400053
Fax: (022) 26730547/48; Phone: 26730869-71
Expo Comm India 2009

Sep. 17-19, 2009
Pragati Maidan Exhibition Centre
New Delhi

Exhibition and conference

on ICT

Bimal Ghosh, Project Head

Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt Ltd
859, Phase-V, Udyog Vihar
Gurgaon 122016, Haryana
Fax: (0124) 4381162; Phone: 4524200, 4524106
Mobile Asia 2009

Oct. 2-5, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi
Platform for mobile handset

companies, mobile
accessories, VDS companies

International Venture Partners

A-20, Lajpat Nagar-II, New Delhi 110024
Phone: (011) 29840908
Global Sources Security

Products China Sourcing Fair
Oct. 12-15, 2009
AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong
Security products
fair
Electronics & Components

China Sourcing Fair
Nov. 20-22, 2009
Bombay Exhibition Centre
Electronics and
components fair
India Telecom 2009

Dec. 3-6, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi

Event on communication
arcade, customer premise
equipment, IT corridor

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and

Industry
Federation House, Tansen Marg
New Delhi 110001
Fax: (011) 23320714; Phone: 23738760
Energy Tech, New Delhi

Dec. 14-17, 2009
Pragati Maidan
New Delhi

Event on emerging power

technologies, sustainable
energy solutions, alternative
energy sources, energy
management and trends

India Trade Promotion Organisation

Pragati Bhawan, Pragati Maidan
New Delhi 110001
Fax: (011) 23371492; Phone: 23371540
Web: indiatradefair.com
International CES 2010

Jan. 7-10, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

International consumer
electronics fair

Registration Help (inside US): [email protected],

866-233-7968
Registration Help (outside US): [email protected],
301-694-5243
Look up under Events section in www.electronicsforu.com for a comprehensive list
Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised
to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.
ship is to create a motivated force

of studentsleading to cleaner and
greener school campusesand initiate
ecologically beneficial initiatives in the
areas of energy, e-waste management
and greening of neighbourhoods.
The initiative will help primary and
secondary schools in Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi to take practical action
to save energy and water while reducing their utility bills. It will support
the schools directly with ideation, as
well as in implementing their environmental initiatives. The initiative also
involves providing HP technology to
the schools, which will enable them to
network with other schools and share
best practices.
Kshitij 2009
Students from all over India and
neighbouring countries made their
presence felt at Kshitij 2009, the annual
techno-management symposium of IIT
Kharagpur.
Kshitij 2009 was host to a lot of
events in which the participants had a
chance to showcase their knowledge in
the fields of electronics, coding, hardware designing, aeronautics, robotics,
mechanical engineering, chemical
engineering and various other fields
of engineering, technology and also
management.
Of the forty odd events conducted
during Kshitij 2009, the following
events were a special attraction for the
students of the department of electronics and electrical engineering all over
the country: Anadigix (the electronics
circuit design competition) and Eureka
(the technical paper presentation competition).
LG may increase
R&D investment
LG Electronics has announced its
long-term business plan and strategy
to succeed in the current business environment. Yong Nam, CEO of LG
Electronics, confirmed that the company would not reduceand could
even increaseits investment in R&D,
marketing, branding and design.
The company has intensified its efe l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u m a r c h 2 0 0 9 1 2 1
Snippets
Mobile number portability by August!
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to start mobile number
portability (MNP) in major Indian cities by August and in the remaining cities by the end
of this year. Bids had already been invited for providing the MNP switches. The faster
penetration of 3G would enable people to use the services with greater accessibility.
BSNL rolls out 3G services

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched next-generation 3G mobile
services in the country even as the private operators are still waiting to get spectrum
through auction process. BSNL and public-sector unit MTNL (for Delhi and Mumbai)
were given 3G spectrum last year ahead of auction for private players keeping in
mind the cumbersome tendering process involved in the public-sector procurement
system.
By 2011, Kerala to get ten IT parks

It will be a matter of time when Kerala will develop as the preferred IT destination
in India, as the state would soon be equipped with over ten IT parks. According to
Ajay Kumar, secretary, Information Technology, Kerala, the hub-and-spoke model of
development being undertaken in Keralas information technology sector will enable the
state to equip itself with over ten IT parks at various destinations by 2011.
Samsung to invest in Chennai and Noida facilities

Samsung India is going to invest $20 million in its Chennai and Noida facilities this
year to expand operations. Last year, the company had invested $200 million as part
of its global expansion plans. It had reported a turnover of $1.7 billion last year and has
projected to grow 27 per cent approximately this year.
China Mobile considering acquisition in India

China Mobile, which has the worlds largest number of subscribers (457 million), is
considering an acquisition in India for expansion. The company, however, might face
hurdles in India over security issues, especially because it has operations in Pakistan.
forts to increase market share despite the

volatile economic situation. To achieve
this, LG has reorganised its business
portfolio to focus on areas with longerterm growth potential and profitability.
Partnerships will continue to be a key
element of the companys marketing
activities to elevate its brand position.
LG will continue to invest in future
growth engines such as solar power,
commercial air-conditioners and B2B
solutions.
discussions of how the two companies

can best deploy their resources and
expertise, continue to negotiate in good
faith and have set June 30, 2009 as the
target date by which to enter into a
definitive agreement to establish a joint
venture that will be mutually beneficial
for both companies.
Sharp plans to start operating its
new LCD panel factory in Sakai-City,
Osaka, by March 2010 as originally
scheduled.
Sharp, Sony postpone

LCD production
Faced with changes in the world
economy, Sharp and Sony have decided to postpone the establishment of
their joint venture to produce and sell
large-size LCD panels and modules,
until March 2010.
The duo will, through continued
LG may shut down PC

business, to focus on
low-cost handsets
LG is likely to shut down its PC business globally owing to lower market

response amidst economic slowdown.
The companys IT vertical contributes
only 10 per cent to its overall revenues,
and it will not have any impact on its
electronics consumer market.

The company, however, plans
to focus on low-end handset emerging markets this year with the aim of
boosting its global handset market
share to more than 10 per cent from 8.5
per cent last year.
The global handset market in
2009 is expected to shrink by about 5
per cent to 10 per cent led by weaker
demand in developed countries, said
Skott Ahn, president of LGs mobile
communications division. But emerging nations are expected to grow over
10 per cent (this year). Thus, we have
to focus on emerging markets to maintain our growth, Ahn said.
Ahn also said that the company is
targeting to increase the proportion of
low-end handsets it sells to more than
20 per cent this year, from around 5 per
cent in 2008.
Low-end handsets refer to mobile
phones that are typically sold to consumers for less than $100.
Forecast for PV cell and

module manufacturing
equipment
According to VLSI Research Inc., the

photovoltaic (PV) cell and module
manufacturing equipment market for
all cell technologies reached a value of
$4.4 billion in 2008. Growth in the market is expected to slow to 8 per cent in
2009 as demand for cells starts to cool
and smaller manufacturers struggle to
secure the financing necessary to fund
the next round of expansion.
However, the outlook for equipment suppliers this year varies by cell
technology. Providers of equipment
for thin-film cell technologies will
experience strong growth in revenues
in 2009 due to large order backlogs
and long customer acceptance times.
In contrast, suppliers of equipment for
silicon wafer cell manufacturing are
expected to see a decline from 2008 levels as customers with excess capacity
choose to fully ramp existing facilities
before committing to new equipment.
Overall, this results in growth of 8 per
cent for the year.
Check efytimes.com for more news, daily

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Interview
Thin-film modules reduce the

cost of energy generation
Dr Randhir Thakur
senior vp and gm of
Applieds SunFab Thin
Film Solar and Display
Business Group
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) is the global leader in

nanomanufacturing technology solutions with a broad portfolio
of innovative equipment, services and software products for
fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays, solar
photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy-efficient glass.
Dr Randhir Thakur, senior vice president and general manager
of Applieds SunFab Thin Film Solar and Display Business Group,
was recently in India to announce that Moser Baer India is their
first Indian customer that will start volume production of thin-film
photovoltaic (PV) modules. On this occasion, Dr Thakur, along
with Rajiv Arya, CEO of Moser Baer Photovoltaic (MBPV), spoke
to EFYs Uma Bansal about the solar energy market and Applied
Materials advanced SunFab solar technology as a cost-effective
option for clean renewable energy
What is the current state of the solar energy technology

market in India and globally?
RT: According to Solar Buzz, annual growth of the
global photovoltaic (PV) market has averaged a compound
rate of just over 47 per cent since 2003 and strong growth is
expected into the foreseeable future. In 2007, world PV cell
production was 3036 MW for crystalline silicon and 400 MW
for thin-film. Thin-film cell production now represents 12
per cent of global PV cell production and this percentage is
expected to increase.
India is regarded as one of Asias fastest growing economic powerhouses and, as a result of this growth, there
is increased demand for electricity. As a matter of fact,
India is the worlds third largest consumer of coal, which
accounts for more than half of Indias total energy generation. However, even the current consumption of coal is not
enough to meet Indias demands. Of the estimated 132 GW
of energy capacity in India, only 110 MW is derived from
solar.
Therefore the increased demand for electricity, coupled
with the dwindling supply of fossil fuels, represents significant opportunities for all sources of renewable energy,
especially solar.
What are the benefits of thin-film PV over crystalline

silicon cells?
RT: Each technology is well positioned to serve a unique
market segment. For space-constrained areas such as residential and small commercial rooftops, crystalline silicon
panels are ideal because of their higher efficiency.
For large commercial and utility-scale solar farms, thinfilm offers tremendous cost-saving benefits that will help
drive the cost of solar power generation toward grid parity
Rajiv Arya
CEO of Moser Baer
Photovoltaic (MBPV)
and beyond. Thin-film also has some technical advantages

for these types of deployments. For example, when a solar
cell is shaded, the output of the entire module decreases.
With the unique size of the SunFab produced panels, the cell
is as long as the moduleup to 2.6 metres in length. This
makes it very difficult for any shading to cover the entire cell
to the extent that it decreases power production. Additionally, solar panels overall can lose power output when they
reach extremely high temperature, like in very sunny places
on hot summer days. Thin-film modules retain more of their
power output than crystalline silicon under these conditions
because of differences in the materials that make the cell.
Which products use the thin-film PVs and what are the
market opportunities for these products?
RT: Any product can use thin-film PVs. From applications as small as calculators to utility-scale installations and
building integrated photovoltaics, the market opportunity
is virtually endless.
How does Applied Materials technology benefit Indian

customers?
RA: The thin-film line that we have established with Applied Materials is a fully-integrated PV module production
line that delivers leading-edge solar manufacturing capability using advanced engineering, process equipment, automation and other key supporting technologies. The technology
will provide innovative PV products that can significantly
reduce electric power and utility costs and provide a costeffective option for clean and renewable energy.
Thin-film modules can facilitate reduction in the cost
of energy generation for two reasons: thin-film amorphous
silicon is more appropriate for warm climates and large
Interview
modules (5.7 m2) reduce the overall balance of system costs.
The net effect is that the customer gets power cheaper.
The technology is expensive. How long will it take to

make it affordable?
RT: Solar technology has already achieved grid parity in
several areas today. For example, Californias peak summer
electricity rates hover above 35 cents/kWh in certain places,
which is more expensive than unsubsidised solar power
generated today at about 30 cents/kWh. In addition, solar
power can be distributed across the grid to relieve pressure
on critical substations or transmission lines without the time
or expense of re-wiring new transmission or distribution
facilities.
As a resource for energy generation, solar is incredibly
abundant. Every day, the sun provides more energy than
we need for the planet. What this means is that from a cost,
availability and rapid-deployment perspective, solar power
makes sense right now.
Additionally, thin-film technology dramatically reduces
the amount of silicon needed to produce a module, thereby
reducing costs. By applying our companys 40 years of
experience in driving down the cost of integrated circuits,
and more recently flat-panel displays, were also bringing
advances in deposition process, automation and factory
efficiency to the thin-film production environment. All of
these efforts further help to drive down the price of solar
power generation.
What are your future plans with Applied Materials?

RA: We have just started production at this 40MW capacity line, which is the largest thin-film solar line in India. This
single-junction line has demonstrated the highest production capacity to date for manufacturing the worlds largest
(2.22.6m2) solar modules.
Next, we are building the second plant in Greater Noida
with AMAT. This is a 65MW tandem junction plant with
the same large-footprint module. The full-size product will
generate greater than half-a-kilowatt per panel. We are also
in advance stages of discussions with AMAT on our 500MW
thin-film plant in Chennai.
What trends do you foresee in the Indian solar PV space?

RA: The technological landscape of solar power is
impressive: Crystalline silicon is the most mature technology and has the largest market share, but it is in short
supply. Thin-film is a maturing technology and poised
for high growth. Also, it has the potential to reduce costs
significantly.Concentration PV is being rapidly developed
for the market and it has significant cost-reduction potential as well.Finally, nanotechnology is in the R&D phase
and it has tremendous cost-reduction potential.
As a trend we see more installations of solar PV for
small, medium and large off-grid applications and large
solar farms for on-grid applications. Our effort is to work
diligently in all PV technologies and bring the solar dream
to fruition to meet Indias energy needs.
bookshelf
Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy

Decision Making
The fuzzy logic provides
an inference structure that
enables appropriate human
reasoning capabilities. On the
contrary, the traditional binary set theory describes events
that do or do not occur.
This book helps academicians, researchers and students in the fuzzy set theory
and fuzzy decision making.
It is written as a textbook for
the course in fuzzy logic and
its application at graduate,
By: Dr G. Kannan
postgraduate and doctorate Published by: Galgotia Publications
levels.
Pvt Ltd, 5, Ansari Road, Daryaganj,
New Delhi 110002
The book is divided into
Pages: 186; Price: Rs 200
two parts. The first contains
fuzzy sets, fuzzy relations,
membership function and fuzzy decision making. The
second part covers application of fuzzy logic, introduction to optimisation techniques and introduction to neural
network.
An Introduction to
Mixed-Signal IC Test
and Measurement
This textbook is useful for advanced undergraduate and
graduate-level students as well
as engineering professionals.
It assumes a solid background
in analogue and digital circuit
as well as working knowledge
of computers and computer
programming. A background in
digital signal processing and statistical analysis is also helpful.
The book covers the testing of
both analogue and mixed-signal
By: Mark Burns,
circuits including many examGordon W. Roberts
ples. Digital testing is covered, Published by: Oxford University
Press, YMCA Library Building,
but not extensively. Examples
Jai Singh Road,
and illustrations using state-ofNew Delhi 110001
the-art industrial technology
enrich the presentation throughout. In considering the applications of this technology, the
testing of large-scale mixed-signal circuits and individual
circuits is introduced.
Robot Programmers
The DSP Handbook:
Algorithms, Applications Bonanza
and Design Techniques This book is aimed at those
This book is a hands-on guide to
digital signal processing (DSP) and
its applications. It provides you
with the training, tools and building blocks necessary to assess and
unlock the potential of DSP in your
own products and services.
Mathematical analysis is provided as clearly and concisely as
possible and real-time examples
are liberally provided throughout the text. The book includes
By: Andrew Bateman,
Iain Paterson-Stephens
numerous design tips, describing
the tricks of the trade. Also given Published by: Dorling Kindersley
(India) Pvt Ltd, 482, F.I.E.,
are many written examples and
Patparganj, Delhi 110092
descriptions of devices for most
Pages: 664
Price: Not mentioned
mainstream DSP manufacturers.
Real-time audio and visual DSP examples enable you to
experience the power and application of DSP from the very
beginning. Four algorithm-packed toolboxes allow easy
access to particular algorithms/models of interest. The accompanying CD contains related applications.
who are ready to go beyond

just building robots and start
programming them to perform
useful tasks.
Using the versatile RobotBASIC programming language,
youll discover how to prototype
your creative ideas using the integrated mobile robot simulator
and then port your finished programs to nearly any hardware/
By: John Blankenship,
software configuration. You can
Samuel Mishal
even use the built-in wireless Published by: BPB Publications,
protocol to directly control realB-14, Connaught Place,
New Delhi 110001
world robots that can be built
from readily available sensors
and actuators.
The RobotBASIC program, along with all the programs
in this book, can be downloaded from www.RobotBASIC.
com. Adaptable and customisable programs help to solve
realistic problems. Appendices detail RobotBASICs extensive commands and functions as well as the integrated
programming environment.
subject & organisation index
Subjects Covered in This issue

Subject
Page No.
Subject
Page No.
Subject
Page No.
Subject
Page No.
3D Graphics ....................................................... 24
Hard Drives (NP) ...............................................115
Multimeters (NP) ...............................................115
Software ............................................................... 8
3G . ................................................................... 122
HDTV . ............................................... 28, 30, 32-34
Music System ..................................................... 70
Solar PV ....................................................119, 122
Amplifier IC (NP) ...............................................116
HDTV Broadcast ...............................................118
Optical Clocks .................................................... 20
Solar-powered Phones . ..................................... 22
Battery Charging ........................................... 92-98
Hearing Aid (CI) . ................................................ 85
PC Sales ...........................................................118
Telecom .............................................................118
Bluetooth ....................................................112-114
IGBT (NP) . ........................................................116
PC-based Wireless Stepper Motor
Thermometers (NP) . .........................................115
Broadband Router (NP) . ...................................116
In-car Food Warmer (CI) .................................... 84
Control (C) . ................................... 60, 62, 64, 66
Three-Component Flasher (CI) .......................... 83
Cameras, Digital . ..............................................119
Intelligent Transport System . ............................. 25
PCs . ................................................................. 122
Triple Power Supply (CI) .................................... 81
Capacitors .......................................................... 16
Internet ............................................................... 26
Personal Music Players . ................... 73, 74, 78-80
TV Data Card ..................................................... 24
Career, Power Electronics . .............. 36, 38, 40, 42
IPTV ................................................................... 72
Pianos ................................................................ 68
Video Cards (NP) ..............................................117
Charger, Mobile .................................................. 20
IT Parks ............................................................ 122
Power Backup ...................................................119
Video Encoder (NP) ..........................................117
Cleaner, Air-Dust (NP) . .....................................116
Keyboards .......................................................... 68
Power Meter ....................................................... 24
Water Pump Controller (CI) ................................ 82
Condensers ........................................................ 16
LAN-based Online Exam (SW) . .................... 87-90
Projector, Ultra-Short-Throw . ............................. 72
White Light for Refrigerators (CI) ....................... 85
Datasheets, Device ........................... 100, 102-106
LCD TV . ..............................................68, 119, 122
Projectors, DLP .................................................. 70
Wi-Fi ................................................................... 24
Desktop PCs ...................................................... 72
Microcontroller-based Ring Tone
Projectors, Multimedia . ...................................... 68
Windows Phones . .............................................. 22
DSPs ................................................................ 142
Player (C) ..................................... 52, 54, 56, 58
Robotics ........................................................... 142
e-books . ............................................................. 20
Mobile Number Portability ................................ 122
Robots ................................................................ 20
Energy Saver (NP) ............................................115
Mobile Phones . .................................................. 70
Salary Survey ................................................ 43-46
Flexible Circuits ............................................. 48-50
Mobiles ............................................................... 26
Semiconductor ..................................................118
Foot Switch (NP) ...............................................116
Mobiles, Touchscreen . ....................................... 16
Sensor (NP) . .....................................................116
Frequency Counter . .................................. 107-110
Monitor, TFT (NP) . ............................................117
SEZ ...................................................................119
Abbreviations
C=Construction........... CI=Circuit Idea
SS=Software Section NP=New Products
Organisations Covered in This issue

Organisation
Page No.
Organisation
Page No.
Organisation
Page No.
Organisation
Page No.
A.V. Systems ...................................................... 45
Dixon .................................................................119
Microchip ............................................................ 98
Samsung India ............................................. 32, 34
Airtel ................................................................... 72
Doordarshan . ....................................................118
Microsoft . .......................................................... 22
Sandisk . ............................................................. 74
Aplab ............................................................ 38, 40
E Power Engineering . .......................................116
Moser Baer . ..............................................117, 119
Sanyo Semiconductor .......................................116
Apple ............................................................ 73, 74
Edimax ..............................................................116
Moser Baer Photovoltaic .................................. 141
Seagate .............................................................115
Applied Material . .............................................. 140
Fortune Marketing .............................................115
Motorola ............................................................. 26
Sharp . .............................................................. 122
APW ................................................................... 42
Frost & Sullivan .................................................118
MTNL . .............................................................. 122
Sharp Business Systems (India) ............ 33, 34, 68
Arrow Electronics ............................................... 38
Google . ........................................................ 24, 25
NDS . .................................................................118
Softspin .............................................................. 26
Astra Microwave . ............................................. 120
GSMA ................................................................ 22
Neural Systems .................................................. 46
Sony ........................................................... 74, 122
Atoall.com . ......................................................... 26
Hart Scientific ....................................................115
NIST ................................................................... 20
Sony India ........................................ 30, 34, 68, 79
Axis Communications . ......................................117
Hewlett Packard (HP) . ....................................... 72
Nokia .................................................................114
STMicroelectronics . ....................................24, 116
BenQ .................................................................. 70
Hitachi ................................................................ 72
Parker Power Systems . ............................... 36, 38
Supertron Electronics ........................................115
Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) ............................ 120
Hitachi Home Electronics ............................ 28, 34
Philips . ......................................................... 74, 80
Teknic ................................................................116
Bharti Airtel ........................................................118
HP India . .......................................................... 120
Philips Electronics .............................................119
Toshiba ............................................................... 74
Boeing .............................................................. 120
Humx .................................................................. 78
Plastic Logic ....................................................... 20
Transcend . ........................................................115
Bose ................................................................... 70
Idea ...................................................................118
Pressmart ........................................................... 26
TTL Technologies ..............................................115
BSNL ................................................................ 122
iRiver .................................................................. 74
R.S. Electronics . ...............................................116
Videocon ...................................................118, 119
Cambridge Silicon ............................................. 24
ISA . ...................................................................118
Radio .................................................................. 24
ViewSonic . ........................................................119
Casio India ......................................................... 68
Kchiloo . ............................................................ 107
RCA .................................................................... 74
VLSI Research ................................................. 122
Cecon Pollutech ................................................116
Kingston ............................................................117
Reliance Communications . .......................118, 119
ZTE . ................................................................... 24
China Mobile .................................................... 122
LG . ..................................................................... 70
Renesas ............................................................118
Conzerv .............................................................115
LG Electronics .......................................... 121, 122
Robert Gorden Univ. . ......................................... 20
Creative Labs ..................................................... 74
MAIT ..................................................................118
Samsung ...............................22, 74, 118, 119, 122
Advertisers Index
Accord Communication (www.accordcom.com).............................69
Intron(www.intronresistors.com).......................................................127
Advance Tech Services Pvt Ltd(www.advancetechonline.in)........6
Kaku Enterprises(www.toroidalhouse.com)...................................128
Omron Electronic Components Pte Ltd

(http://ecb.omron.com.sg)................................................................143
Agilent Technologies India P Ltd(www.agilent.com)....................39
Keithley(www.keithley.com).................................................................14
Pantech Solutions Pvt Ltd(www.pantechsolutions.net)...............126
Bharat Electronics Ltd(www.bel-india.com)......................................63
Keptek Power Controls Pvt Ltd............................................................103
Penram Intl. Publishing (India)(www.penram.com)......................79
Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.binayLED.com)...............111
Kitek TechnologiesPvt Ltd(www.kitektechnologies.com)..........128
Pla Components(www.plarelays.com).............................................129
Chetan Cabletronics Pvt Ltd(www.chetancabletronics.com).....124
Kits.................................................................................................................141
Qmax Test Technologies P Ltd(www.qmaxtest.com)..................117
Deltronik Engineers..................................................................................128
Lattice Semiconductor.................................................................................9
Radhika Agencies.....................................................................................125
Dynalog (India) Ltd(www.dynalogindia.com)...................................5
Linkwell Telesystems Ltd (www.visiontek.co.in)..............................7
Rajmane Telectric P Ltd(www.rajmaneteletric.com).......................71
Edutech..........................................................................................................91
Live Wire Electronics(www.livewireinfo.com).................................21
Relaytronics/Insight Innovation(www.relaytronics.com)............37
ei-labz(www.emblitz.com)......................................................................23
Mac Net Technology................................................................................139
RS Components & Controls (I) Ltd(www.rsindia.com)...................3
Electromech (www.electromechindia.com)......................................128
Macroblock....................................................................................................49
S.M Semiconductors(www.aplusindia.com)...................................139
Electronic Annual Guide...........................................................................55
Mastech Delhi.............................................................................................127
Seoul Semiconductor(www.seoulsemicon.com)..............................11
Electronic India..........................................................................................138
Max Electronics(www.trontekindia.com)..........................................80
Siemens Ltd (www.siemens.com/enterprise)...................................51
Electronic Project.......................................................................................101
Max Electronics(www.trontekindia.com)..........................................97
Signet (www.signet-instruments.com).................................................10
Electronics Bazaar.......................................................................................99
Max Technology & Co.(www.maxtechnoloindia.com)...............148
Solar EnergieTekchnik Ltd(www.infinitsolar.in)...........................126
EnterpriseIT 2009(www.communicasia.com)...................................93
MDR Electronics(www.mdrelectronics.com)....................................33
Sparr Electronics Ltd(www.sparrl.com).............................................31
Falcon Electro-Tek Pvt Ltd (www.falconindia.biz)..........................29
Meco Instruments Pvt Ltd (www.mecoinst.com).............................35
Subscription Form ........................................................................75, 76, 77
Farnell Electronics India Pvt Ltd(www.farnell.in)...........................15
Millenium Technologies..........................................................................129
Sumitron Exports Pvt Ltd(www.sumitron.com)..............................19
Frontline Electronics Pvt Ltd(www.Frontline-Electronics.com)..10
Miracle Electronic Devices P Ltd (www.toroidal.com)..................101
Tadiran Batteries(www.tadiranbat.com)............................................61
Fujitsu Microelectronics Asia Pte Ltd(www.fujitsu.com)..............59
Mithra Electronics.......................................................................................57
Taiyo Yuden (S) PL(www.ty-top.com)..............................................101
Gunze Electronics USA Corp..................................................................89
Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Co., Ltd....................17
Tektronix (India) Ltd(www.tektronix.com/2170)..........................147
Hitachi India Trading Pvt Ltd(www.hitachi.co.in)..........................27
National Instruments India(www.ni.com)...........................................2
TTL Technologies Pvt Ltd(www.ttlindia.com).................................34
Inde Enterprises...........................................................................................13
National Semiconductor(www.national.com)..................................53
upsinverter.com.........................................................................................123
Indian Service Machine(www.ismbangalore.com).........................71
Neelam Import Pvt Ltd...........................................................................129
VPL Infotech & Consultants(www.vplinf.com)...............................47
Innovators and Simplifiers.......................................................................30
Open Source Tech Days............................................................................41
Xtend Technologies Pvt Ltd(www.xtendtech.com)........................65
Instt. of Mobile Phone Tech.(www.britco.co.in)................................71
Omniscient Electronics Pvt Ltd
Young India Appliances(www.youngindiaappliances.com).....139
Integrated Services & Consultancy(www.instek.com).................146
(www.omniscientelectronics.net).......................................................25
EFY Magazine Attractions

During 2009
MONTH
Tech Focus SURVEY/EFY REPORT
eStyle Buyers Guide
January
E-waste Management
Industry Forecasts
Which Camera Phone?
February
Artificial Space Satellites
Budget Memorenda
Which DTH?
March
High Definition Television
Salaries in Electronics Industry
Which Personal Music Player?
April
LED Lighting
Embedded Systems
Which Watch?
May
Electronic SMT Components
Chip, Circuit & Product Designers
Which UPS/Inverter?
Connect 2009, Karachi
June
New T&M Devices
Indias Top Training Institutes
Which Notebook?
Communic Asia 2009, Singapore

EduTech 2009, New Delhi
July
Mobile Entertainment
Automotive Electronics Industry
Which TV?
August
The Open Source: Hardware? SMT in India
Digital Camera/Camcorder?
September
IPTV
Industrial Automation
Home Security System
October
Whats New in Wireless
India's Top 100 Electronics Companies Which DVD Player?
November
Contract Manufacturing
T&M Manufacture in India
Which Home Theatre?
China Electronics Fair, Shanghai
December
Solar Cells: An Update
Indian Solar Energy Industry
Which New Gizmo?
India Telecom 2009, New Delhi
Trade Fair Participation
Componex Nepcon India, New Delhi, Jaipur Book Fair,

Lighting Asia, Mumbai, Automotive Electronics, Bengaluru
17th Convergence India, New Delhi, Infocomm India,
Mumbai, Mobile China Expo, Shenzen (China)
ElectronicIndia, Bangalore
Globaltronics, Singapore

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Salary Survey Results Tips for Buying

of Electronics Industry Personal Music Players

South Asias Most Popular Electronics Magazine

march 2009 Vol. 41 No. 3

Stage All Set for

Since January 1969

: Customer Care Officer, EFY

: India Book House Pvt Ltd

Printed, published and owned by Ramesh Chopra. Printed at Nutech

Stage All Set for High-definition TV

Empower Yourself with

Salary Survey: Electronics Industry

Electronics Mart................................... 130

ADVERTISERS INDEX ................................. 145

Biz Ads...................................................... 123

Flexible Circuits Getting Better

Microcontroller-based Ring Tone Player

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

First 200Hz LCD TV

Personal Music Players

Reading the Datasheets of

A Versatile Frequency Counter

Bluetooth Scatternets: A Cost-Effective

*For anniversary offer, refer to page no. 75

LAN-based Online Exam

PC-based Wireless Stepper

Thin-film modules reduce the cost

Video DVD Maker.

pages, audio and video. And combine

Test for Technocrats

very soon. Subscription numbers are

providing supply to essential loads

Heart Rate Meter

resistor. Connect the cathode (pin 16)

is the working principle

ular mobile phones, a keypad type of

can be damaged by sharp objects. Resistive touchscreen panels are not

RL1-RL5 = 12V, 1C/O RELAY

Circuit for home appliance control via Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone

absorbed. This change in the ultrasonic

locks and lights from a cellphone?

a 20-pin, 8-bit microcontroller with 2

Taking cue from biological evolution,

Flexible electronic books

Worlds first flexible electronic book from Plastic Logic

claims to have developed the worlds

prerequisite for automated cars.

Optical clocks are the future

We all need to buy a charger with

consumers, but would be good for the

Solar-powered touch phone

Next-gen Windows phones

Samsung Blue Earth solar-powered phone

the manufacturing process. The device,

Power meter from Google

Worlds smallest TV data card

CSRs 802.11n range of devices add Wi-Fi to mobile devices

card. This USB modem (MF645) will

The UniFi UF6000 range is fully