12.07.2015 Views

201305.pdf 43279KB May 08 2013 11:07:04 PM

201305.pdf 43279KB May 08 2013 11:07:04 PM

201305.pdf 43279KB May 08 2013 11:07:04 PM

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

ACE AwArdsHageman seems to get as much out ofthe action of contributing and commentingas a member of the engineeringcommunity as those who read his workand interact with him online do.“It’s a hobby. I get enjoyment out ofit. It also helps me to learn,” he says.“I’m not one of those guys who can justsee something and remember it forever.Thinking about it and writing it downforces you to think about it sequentiallyand get all the steps in. It also helps toingrain it in my mind, so I learn fromthe process of writing, too.”Hageman, now an established engineer,still approaches engineering withthe same curiosity he found as a kid inthe library.“It’s the same thing since fifth grade.I just get interested in something, likea little project. Whether it comes toSomething aboutthe magic ofpulling radiowaveS out of theair. i got the bugto build radioS.fruition or not, I think about the designprocess and what you have to knowand how to put it together. That bringsyou down an alley and then down severalother alleys before you get to theend,” he says. “And somewhere alongthe way, you’ve collected quite a bitof information. It’s like training, constantlytraining. Certainly you haveto keep knowing skills and throwingaway skills.”As to why Hageman has not gottencomfortable, settling in with theextensive knowledge he’s amassed inhis career thus far, and instead continuallyseeks new ways to grow, share, andlearn through various avenues, includingmaking contributions to technicalWeb sites and communities, he sums itup nicely: “You get bored, otherwise.”EDN and UBM Tech congratulate SteveHageman, <strong>2013</strong> Jim Williams MemorialContributor of the Year Award winner.Shown are the Hillsboro, OR, design team, one of three geographically separateddesign groups that together formed a 21-member team—scattered from SiliconValley, to Hillsboro, to Bristol, England—that won Design Team of the Year for realizingthe MAX2173 digital audio broadcast tuner.Design Team of The Year: maxim inTegraTeD’s max2173Patrick Mannion, Brand DirectorThe Tao of Design should state officially somewhere that the smaller andeasier to use an IC, the bigger and more complex the thought and energyare that went into its design. Such was the case with the MAX2173direct-conversion digital audio broadcast (DAB) tuner, and the energy, skill,and design expertise of the 21-member design team that brought it to life.Spread out between Hillsboro, OR; San Jose, CA; and Bristol, England, theMAX2173 design team overcame several tough challenges. Not only were theydeveloping a cutting-edge RF product with demanding sensitivity and blockingperformance requirements, but they also needed to do so while meetingdemanding automotive-grade ESD and temperature standards and managingpower consumption and die size—all while collaborating across multiple regions.To deal with the geographic issue, each of the three design teams developedblocks in the overall design, but for any product to work, each team had toensure that its block fit into the design seamlessly, without any mistakes, whichcould add costly delays requiring redesign and time-consuming tape-out cycles.This demanded constant communication between team members.However, communication didn’t end with the design team. The productiontest team needed to be aware of the production schedule. Inspired by this communicationchallenge, the team leader ensured excellent, open communicationto keep everyone well informed of the specifics of each block and designschedule. The team pulled from their design know-how, available infrastructure,and proper forethought to align with the production test team efficiently. Alongwith strong design protocols, this communication among the team resulted inthe production of high-quality product samples on the first pass.The team delivered samples approximately one year after receiving theproduct definition. The product was ready for production approximately oneyear following the delivery of the first samples.Of course, a relatively small die size had to be achieved in concert with the6×6-mm TQFN package. As many designers are aware, suppliers of automotiveelectronics are under constant pressure to reduce size and power consumption.To overcome this challenge, the team creatively shrunk the baseband filter, a keycomponent in the design, and combined that with excellent layout planning.The resulting device is the first RF-to-bits DAB tuner on the market. Itsimplifies design and reduces design time, allows the DSP to support additionalfeatures, and reduces the cost and count of external components. Theintegrated ADCs reduce footprint, lower power consumption, and reduce cost.Digital filtering eliminates the need for filtering in the DSP while providinga programmable FIR, thereby saving MIPS in DSP and allowing support forother features or services. An integrated DCXO can digitally trim out crystalerror, saving the cost of a TCXO or more expensive crystal. On-chip LDOssave space and reduce cost.40 EDN | MAY <strong>2013</strong> [ www.edn.com ]

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!