AS THE FOUNDER OF ExploreAnywhere Software LLC in Plaistow, New Hampshire, Bryan Hammond is proving that wisdom doesn’t always come with age. At the ripe age of 21, he already helms a software company with 2005 sales projections of more than $1 million, and his computer-monitoring products have become a big hit among parents, employers and educators. How did he achieve all this, when most people his age are still finishing college?

Rewind to fifth grade, when Hammond’s father gave him a book on computer programming. The gift immediately sparked an interest and a thirst for more knowledge. At 16, Hammond put his skills to the test when he set out to develop computer-monitoring software superior to the bug-filled products on the market. Using the anonymity of the internet to keep his age a secret, Hammond launched his company in 2001 with $100.

Hammond admits he’s made difficult decisions along the way–like leaving college early–but he insists the sacrifices have been worth it: “I want to give this my all, because if I don’t, I’d feel like I’m passing up a really great opportunity.”

IS APPLE Computer’s iPod the greatest consumer product of our time? At minimum, it’s an undeniable success. Over 20 million units have been sold since its launch in 2001. It has managed to cross social and demographic barriers–with every one from soccer morns to Wall Street executives sporting white ear buds. The portable audio player has created an entire economy of accessories and imitators, single-handedly grabbing the music industry by the ear and pulling it into tomorrow. The iPod has become the icon of cool, and every entrepreneur should pay attention.

Jeremy Horwitz, editor in chief of iLounge, a leading online iPod authority, says entrepreneurs can take away three critical lessons from the iPod. First, he says, “Timing and execution are everything. Being first in an emerging market is neither as important nor as lucrative as designing the right products and services to cater to second- and third-stage growth.”

Michael Gartenberg, analyst at Jupitermedia Corp., says a lot of experts were initially skeptical of the iPod’s success because it was late into the market. Horwitz adds, however, that it was the first player to marry substantial storage capacity with great looks, small size and simple controls.

The second lesson, says Horwitz: “A smart company can command a premium for successfully blending off-the-shelf technologies into a new and useful product.” Essentially, the iPod is a portable hard drive (in the Shuffle and Nano models, a flash drive) hidden inside a simple and beautiful enclosure, accessed through intuitive menus, buttons and a scroll wheel. “Separately, these parts were forgettable, but together they became unforgettable,” says Horwitz.

The third lesson is Apple’s approach to pricing. “Instead of creating a good product and knocking down the price until everyone could afford it,” says Horwitz, ‘Apple has sold stripped-down versions at lower price points and hoped demand would follow.” This strategy helped create Apple’s bestselling music player, the iPod Mini.

While useful, these lessons don’t wholly explain the iPod phenomenon. Leading up to the release of the first iPod, audiophiles were cramming their PC hard drives full of music. This enabled listeners to develop long lists of songs, but once they stepped outside, the music stopped playing. Apple recognized the demand for complete portability and offered the first device that would put an entire music library into one’s pocket. This concept was much more revolutionary than the Walkman or Discman, which only made new formats portable. The iPod changed the rules, just how revolutionary was it? Well, if you were to change the engine in your car, you’d still drive it the same way. But if you could make it fly, you’d have a transportation revolution. Making music fly is no easy task, but as Gartenberg proclaims, “Apple is not afraid to be bold.”

It’s a boldness that even the most daring entrepreneur would hesitate to emulate. Would you dump your bestselling item? That’s what Apple did with the Mini, to make room for the Nano. Why drop the Mini? Because the Nano is smaller, offers better functionality (color screen and flash drive), and keeps what works. The same can be said about Apple’s latest venture, the video iPod–it’s a logical evolution.

What’s next? Apple, notoriously tight-lipped, refused to comment; however, Horwitz ventures a guess. He believes consumers can expect a redesign of the full-size iPod, optional Bluetooth add-on and an “iPod sport” model, which he says is long overdue.

Featuring dual-CPU processor core, Advanced PayloadPlus(TM) 2200 (APP2200) enables network equipment vendors to deliver multi-service business gateways that support converged voice and data functions such as VoIP, VPN, inspection firewalls, application-aware QOS, and print servers in single scalable architecture. It includes packet processor, integrated classifier, traffic manager, security engine, and dual-core control and services processor, and can accommodate from 5 to more than 500 users.

MILPITAS, Calif., May 21 - LSI Corporation (NYSE:LSI) today announced a new generation of advanced communication processors, the Advanced PayloadPlus(TM) 2200 (APP2200). The APP2200 portfolio extends the market for the LSI processor technology beyond its traditional core, edge, and access applications and into the multi-service business gateways. APP2200 enables networking providers with the most powerful multi-service business gateway solutions serving the small-and-medium business (SMB) and remote branch office (RBO) markets.

With increased demand for high-bandwidth and real-time services to businesses, networking providers are being forced to transition from older, general-purpose processor designs to more powerful communication processor-based systems. The APP2200 portfolio delivers the right features and performance to enable cost effective and scalable solutions for SMB and RBO gateways that meet the demands for reliable real-time voice, video and security services.

“The LSI APP2200 portfolio is the cornerstone for complete breakthrough multi-service business gateway solutions targeted at SMB and RBO market. LSI is setting a new industry benchmark for cost-performance and network convergence by bringing its carrier-class technology and expertise to this high-growth market,” said Ghassan Habelrih, vice president of marketing, Network and Storage Products Group, LSI.

Linley Gwennap, principal analyst, The Linley Group, noted, “The APP2200 combines a proven, fast-path architecture with a powerful dual-CPU processor core that can handle voice, security, and other applications. By integrating these features into a single chip, the APP2200 is well positioned to meet the needs of SMB and RBO gateways at an attractive price point.”

The total addressable market for multi-service business gateways in 2007 is expected to be $600 million and grow to more than $2 billion by 2010(1).

The APP2200 portfolio enables network equipment vendors to deliver multi-service business gateways that support converged voice and data functions such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), virtual private networks (VPN), state-full inspection firewalls, Gigabit Ethernet LAN switches, application-aware QOS, network-attached storage (NAS) and print servers in a single scalable architecture. This portfolio processes data at up to 3 Gigabits per second-approximately 10 times faster than alternative solutions.

Communication processors, which have been widely used in the carrier telecom infrastructure, are spawning new applications in the SMB and RBO gateway market. The APP2200 portfolio makes it possible for content and network service providers to deliver next-generation services over a single and unified service provider, business and home network with maximum reliability, higher quality, and higher bandwidth.

The APP2200 portfolio is built on a single architecture with a complete software solution for all applications, accommodating a user range from 5 to more than 500. The APP2200 portfolio offers an unprecedented level of integration including a dedicated packet processor, integrated classifier, traffic manager, security engine, voice processing, and a high-performance dual-core control and services processor.

As a part of the LSI TrueONE(TM) solution, the APP2200 portfolio enables a single hardware architecture to scale from low-end SMB to high-end enterprise gateway solutions. This high level of feature availability and integration combined with a complete application software package allows customers to deliver a higher level of gateway functionality at low Bill of Materials (BOM) costs.

ATLANTA–The field of established, smaller communications IC players around the world can only hope Intel and Infineon wipe each other out in their quest for communications dominance because, judging by their stated intentions during last week’s Supercomm show here, they are serious.

“We’re a quiet giant in communications,” said Thomas Seifert, senior VP and general manager of Infineon’s Communications business group. “We’ve got a different momentum than any other company in this space because we’ve aligned ourselves with the leaders … with Cisco, with Alcatel, with Huawei and ZTE in China. We’re a one-stop shop and our internal capacity is a very strong selling point. Once volume picks up,

Referring to Intel, Seifert said the microprocessor giant needs to watch out for Infineon. “We’re preparing a very serious move this year deeper into communications,” Seifert said. He and other executives, Cherie A. De Lacy and Christian Scherp, sat down with Electronic News at the show.

Infineon is manufacturing on 300mm wafers in Dresden, Germany, and Taiwan and is ready for 300mm in Richmond, Va., and Singapore, he said. This capacity will turn out CMOS and silicon germanium (SiGe) transceivers for speeds up to 40Gbits/sec. and reams and reams of xDSL silicon, he said.

De Lacy is Infineon’s new VP of business operations for communications products in North America. She has 22 years in the industry, most recently with Texas Instruments and with Mitsubishi, where she concentrated on Cisco. Scherp is VP of marketing at Infineon’s optical networking business unit and helps run Infineon’s optical network R&D in San Jose.

This year Intel got very serious about optics, too, with acquisitions and key venture investments. That put Infineon on notice. “We’re not dismissing Intel,” Seifert said. “They are a dangerous competitor, and we take them very seriously. Anybody with $50 billion in cash you have to take seriously.

“But are they established? Not yet,” he added. “We are watching PMC-Sierra, AMCC, Broadcom, Globespan, Agilent and, on the fiber optic side, Agere. Intel has what we call a ‘me too’ strategy, and that’s not going to work.”

Intel will tell you different. The company is definitely putting its considerable money where its marketing is. “It’s like a bike race,” said Anthony Ambrose, director of marketing for the Intel Communications group. “You gain position going up the hill. And Intel is going to do that. Now, we’ve got a couple of years of heavy climbing ahead of us; we’re clearly in a heavy-lifting phase in the industry right now, but we’ll pass the other riders,” he said. “We’re the guy in the yellow jersey. Watch him,” he added.

Intel is obviously intense in its determination to rule communications, even if it lags behind Infineon. Last week the company talked up its 90nm process technology and its plan to see that Intel can engineer-design and manufacture — all manner of communications-ready megachips of 50 million transistors and more.

The company sees this manufacturing node giving it the transistor budget for communications interfaces, essentially for free. “There are thousands and thousands of people touching this program,” said Eric Mentzer, VP and CTO of the Intel Communications group. “Ninety nanometer represents the merging of computing and communications ICs. This will be the unifying technology for us,” he said. R&D is working furiously, he added, to see that Intel can design and manufacture digital and analog, including their different voltage requirements, on the same huge single die.

The company estimates it has spent $20 billion on its current logic capacity, and it is loudly promising excellent return on investor capital from its devotion to communications. Communications accounted for 17 percent of 2001 revenue, which was an aweinspiring $27 billion dollars, or about three times the size of its next-largest competitor. There has been some question of whether the inclusion of Intel’s flash memory products in that figure makes for a fair comparison, but, still, the presence is substantial. Infineon’s sales figures totaled about $1.3 billion on communications products last year, or about a third of its overall revenue.

For companies that support numerous remote and home office locations, finding a cost-effective, reliable and flexible way to link all of their workers becomes a chief concern. In addition to cost-effectiveness, a good telecommunications soon needs to be simple to manage-making adds, moves and changes easy to maintain-and it must offer flexibility for future growth.

For inChord Communications in Columbus, Ohio, a leading marketing communications firm for the pharmaceutical industry, these considerations led it to choose an Internet pro(IP) communications solution to support its nine worldbranch offices, as well as its corporate headquarters.

“Our move from a traditional private branch exchange (PBX) to an IP telephony solution was set in motion,” says Sean Burke, director of network operations, “when we consolidated three offices into a single headquarters location, and then later expanded our Saratoga Springs, N.Y., branch office by 40%. Since expanding and managing the current PBX system be expensive and time consuming, we looked for alternative solutions, deciding on an Internet protocol communications option from Cisco Systems, the ICS 7750, because it offered a single, convenient telephony and services platform It specifically for the bandwidth and administrative needs of branch and midsize offices.”

The solution chosen by inChord offers call processing and voice applications, along with multiservice IP routing in a single integrated platform. It connects with switches situated throughout the office, which, in turn, connect via Ethernet to the LAN that links the desktop computers, servers and IP phones at the location. The switches are responsible for prioritizing the packets of information being transferred along the network, known as quality of service, so that voice packets quality. Outside the LAN, the system connects to an AT&T frame relay network via a fractional T-1 circuit to link with the wider communications network.

Communications systems linking numerous offices need to offers seamless networking, regardless of each location’s technology, Burke adds. IP technology, for instance, can be used at branch locations, but the headquarters location could opt to remain on a circuit-switched PBX system. Or, as in the case of the Cisco product, he says, the IP system can work alongside a PBX system at the same location.

“Additional considerations we examined include ease of maintenance, simple additions and moves for extensions, and cost effectiveness, Burke explains.

“VoIP systems feature telephone equipment that hooks into a personal computer, reducing the need for additional telephone cabling and exploiting the existing computer network,” he adds. “This feature has proven to be a bonus for future growth and expansion, since there is no need to add bays and cards as in a PBX system. In addition, our IP system is easy to roll out in new sites, allowing rapid deployment with ‘cookie-cutter’ configurations.”

Burke also cites easy maintenance of the VoIP system, with some recent system changes made by the company’s IT team using the system-management Web browser on a laptop computer by dialing up the network from a remote location.

“The equipment has proven to be cost-effective,” Burke says, “since it reduces the need for additional phone cabling and allows for fast expansion. For instance, adding extensions to a PBX system requires additional wiring, whereas the IP telephony system can just use the new network data ports for its phone ports.

“Changing extensions in a PBX system requires on-site personnel to punch down new wiring,” he continues, “whereas this IP telephony system allows the IT team to make changes remotely through a Web-driven interface. In addition, the platform allows simple system upgrades to add new features all in the original chassis.” Burke estimates that the IP system saves $100 each time an extension is changed, moved or added.

Designed to meet needs of Class 1 to Class 100,000 cleanroom operations, benches feature wire undershelf for storage of booties and other clothing articles. Users can choose from stainless steel or chrome plated wire benches featuring 3-sided channel frame and 62% laminar flow. Available in 5 standard lengths from 36-84 in., models are also offered with stainless steel perforated tops. Solid-seat gowning benches feature front-to-back crossbracing.

Clayton, Del, October 7, 2004 - Cleanroom gowning benches from Eagle MHC provide a wide range of functionality to meet the needs of Class 1 to Class 100,000 cleanroom operations. Among the designs offered by Eagle are gowning benches that feature a special wire undershelf for under-the-seat storage of booties and other clothing articles.
Related Results: Cleanroom Equipment

Eagle’s gowning bench designs allow for superior laminar flow, in addition to providing ample storage capacity. Choose from stainless steel or chrome plated wire benches featuring a three-sided channel frame and offering 62% laminar flow. Also available are models with stainless steel perforated tops. Other Eagle models - solid-seat gowning benches - feature front-to-back crossbracing for handling the daily rigors of employee donning and doffing activities.

The stainless steel construction of Eagle’s gowning benches provides corrosion-free performance in addition to long-life durability. Benches are available in five standard lengths ranging from 36″ to 84″, featuring either a brushed finish or electropolished stainless steel.

Kinetic Systems, Inc. (Boston, MA) has designed the 9600 Series Vibration Isolation Workstation for use in cleanrooms.

The 9600 Series is constructed of stainless steel using cylindrical welded braces for maximum rigidity, minimum flat surfaces, and easy wipedown. An enclosed isolation module, stainless steel valves, and vented exhaust keep the 9600 Series in full compliance with Class 1 and Class 10 cleanroom standards. The unit is available with a choice of finishes: electropolish for Class 1 compatibility or clear passivate for Class 10.

The 9600 Series Workstation features low natural frequencies and high isolation efficiencies. Under maximum load at 80 psi and 10 Hz, typical vibration isolation efficiencies are 93 percent with a vertical natural frequency of 1.5 Hz, and 95 percent with a horizontal natural frequency of 1.6 Hz. It can be ordered with an isolated weight capacity of either 800 or 1300 lbs.

Kinetic Systems 9600 Series Workstations feature the company’s Active-Air Suspension system, a dual-chamber compressedair system that provides vibration damping and maintains a preset “zero deflection” level to compensate for load changes.

Tables are available up to 36 in. deep and 60 in. wide. Accessories such as guard rails, fixed or sliding shelves, and monitor supports are available.

Kinetic Systems develops vibration isolation equipment, optical tables, and related components for a wide range of industries worldwide, including research and development, quality control, laboratories, and semiconductor manufacturing.

In the beginning, a cleanroom was just that–a large, decontaminated room where production operations could be performed in relative sterility. These original rooms were large, complex and costly to build and operate. They were used almost exclusively by the pharmaceutical and electronics industries, which needed them and could afford them.

“Cleanroom” today often refers to something much more practical–smaller, modular and often operated without intervention from personnel except for occasional maintenance and repair. Many full-sized cleanrooms still operate, especially in high-volume pharmaceutical operations. But the trend toward minimal cleanroom size is enabling many more manufacturers to use efficient clean filling systems. Some of the fastest growth is taking place in beverage and liquid food filling plants.

Reducing the containment

The main source of contamination in clean areas is people: the workers who have to enter a work area, and who are subject to the conditions within the cleanroom while at work. All else being equal, simply removing the people from a cleanroom causes contaminant levels to fall dramatically. Workers also have to be gowned and sanitized, a costly and time-consuming process. Eliminating workers from filling areas has been a major step forward in making cleanroom areas more practical in size and cost-effective to install and operate.

The removal took place by designing smaller clean containments with the filling operation inside and the workers and mechanical / actuating systems of the equipment outside. Not only did that change eliminate the need to decontaminate and gown workers; it also, in many cases, reduced the number of workers needed.

Bosch Packaging Technology has led in the development of barrier isolation technology in which the clean area is designed to surround and isolate only a filling operation, creating a Class 100 environment within a larger Class 100,000 external environment. All drives and motors are accessible for maintenance and repair from outside the containment; no personnel need enter the protected filling chamber. The Bosch MAFS[R] (Mini Aseptic Filling System) was introduced in 1992; there are now more than 170 MAFS operating in pharmaceutical facilities.

The benefits: a study conducted by Merck & Co. in 1997 indicated that adopting isolators like file MAFS could cut facility size in half, cut facility costs by up to 70%, reduce operating staff by 50% and double equipment utilization rates.

The newest Bosch Packaging Technology equipment, to be introduced formally in November at Pack Expo International, is the FLM aseptic filling system. Improved laminar airflow; easy access for operation, maintenance and cleaning; and a sleek, compact profile add up to a more secure and productive filling operation. The FLM is available in both isolator and non-isolator configurations and features built-in flexibility for 0.2 to 500 milliliter vials with output speeds of up to 600 units per minute. Automatic in-process checkweighing provides better sampling and streamlines the validation process.

TYCO ELECTRONICS HAS UNVEILED RAYCHEM Circuit Protection’s new PolySwitch SMD050-2018 resettable device for telecom and networking applications. The SMD050-2018 device helps provide resettable overcurrent protection for voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) and powered Ethernet equipment and is designed to meet the voltage and hold-current requirements of the IEEE802.3af Ethernet specification.

The SMD050-2018 resettable device is designed to help facilitate the development of reliable, carrier-grade VoIP systems. When installed between the power source and output of a powered Ethernet device, the SMD050-2018 device provides a second layer of defense in the power management circuit. Should any power control FET fail short, the PolySwitch device shuts down the individual port and helps prevent a system-wide power failure. Once the fault condition and power are removed, the device resets and allows the affected equipment to return to normal operating conditions. The SMD050-2018 device also helps overcome the fatigue failures, unrecoverable nuisance tripping and installation problems associated with the traditional single-use fuses.

“This device was developed in response to new circuit protection requirements as described in the IEEE802.3af powered Ethernet specification and plays a key role in the design of carrier-grade, reliable VoIP systems,” said Adrian Mikolajczak, multimedia market manager for Raychem Circuit Protection. “With an FIT of less than 0.01 when used at rated voltages, the PolySwitch SMD050-2018 device offers a new class of reliability and survivability in the field.”

The PolySwitch SMD050-2018 surface mount device is available in tape-and-reel packaging for compatibility with high-volume manufacturing. It is priced at 26 cents each in quantities of 100,000.

Beware of overselling the potential of universal fault interrupter (UFI) technology, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advises. In a critique offered in response to coverage of the UFI 3000 device touted by San Diego, Calif.-based TDG Aerospace, the FAA advises that the technology’s limitations need to be weighed against its benefits (see ASW, March 22). As an example, the FAA asserts that arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) devices will protect the entire length of a circuit, whereas the UFI will protect only what is “downstream” of the device. On the other hand, the FAA said AFCB and UFI devices, whether used separately or in combination, can enhance electrical system safety.

Below, the main points of contention offered by the FAA, with responses from TDG Aerospace:

FAA: If the AFCB is mounted in the distribution panel - and the vast majority of circuit breakers are [installed in this manner] - the entire feed to the load is protected. The UFI will only protect what is downstream of the device.

TDG Aerospace: Both AFCB and UFI are sensitive to series faults (opens) both upstream and downstream. Both AFCB and UFI are sensitive to parallel faults (line-to-line arcs and ground faults) downstream of their position. The decision on where a fault detection device should be located is highly application-dependent. For the fuel boost pump systems, it is understood that the critical portion of the circuit is the (Cont’d on p. pump itself and the local pump wiring. There is little room for de-rating protective devices for this critical application, which demands the highest levels of sensitivity and accuracy.

FAA: The UFI is applicable to three-phase circuits only. The vast majority of loads on a transport aircraft are single phase or DC powered.

TDG: While the UFI 3000 is designed specifically for the protection of the B737-300 center-tank fuel boost pumps, the UFI technology has no such limitation. It can be designed to protect two- and three-phase balanced loads, two- and three-phase unbalanced loads, three-phase loads with or without a neutral return line, single phase loads, or even DC circuits. The UFI can be tailored to operate anywhere there is current flowing in a circuit.

FAA: A UFI or AFCB device tailored for a particular load either will not function or will be prone to nuisance trips on other loads.

TDG: The UFI 3000 is application specific and is tailored to a specific load because the design application (fuel boost pumps) requires it. TDG’s proprietary technology is designed to prevent nuisance faults for each specific application. Additionally, the UFI technology allows for the detection and recording of all electrical faults - although only potentially dangerous events result in a latched condition that removes system power.

FAA: The broad applicability of AFCBs makes part inventory and selection no more problematic than conventional circuit breakers. This is not necessarily the case with UFIs.

TDG: Convenient inventory selection was not considered as a design criterion for the critical boost pump application. Rather, the UFI 3000 was designed in cooperation with both aircraft manufacturers and operators, based on their input of which capabilities would be beneficial in a fault detection device. Consequently, the UFI 3000 is enhanced with additional features such as fault phase identification and non-volatile memory that allows for downloading of relevant operating data that has been identified as beneficial for maintenance personnel.

FAA: Suggesting that UFI offers a single point solution for compliance with SFAR-88 [special federal aviation regulation on fuel system safety] is misleading and dangerous.

TDG: TDG yields to the FAA as to what is the appropriate level of protection for today’s commercial aircraft. TDG Aerospace does not seek to define the “comprehensive” solution to SFAR-88, only to provide the highest level of protection against possible electrical ignition sources.