Each week, the editor of Planet Analog finds items of interest and then features them in two sections, entitled “Also of Interest” and “Elementals”. Each cites items from publications outside the Planet Analog and EETimes portfolios.

“Also of Interest” and “Elementals” is an extension of our belief that engineers are interested in on-going tutorial on obviously relevant topics, as well as the serendipity of exploring topics which are not directly related to their jobs, but which will broaden their knowledge and sometimes spurs innovative and creative approaches. The first box highlights a items of general interest to the engineer, while the second highlights basic and tutorial electronic-engineering material.

Among the publications we check are IEEE Spectrum , Machine Design , Design News , Laser Focus World , EDN , Electronic Design , NASA Tech Briefs , Portable Design , and Physics Today , plus others.

Consider these items as “online-only” extras, and worth a look! (Please note: there are also links to the previous weeks' editions, at the bottom).

Also of Interest:

• TCP–the way we share bandwidth–needs a makeover:
  “A Fairer, Faster Internet Protocol,”
  IEEE Spectrum , December 2008
• Their geometry, mechanical flexibility, and unique charge-transport properties make carbon nanotubes ideally suited to supplant silicon in the next generation of FETs:
  “Carbon nanotube electronics and photonics,”
  Physics Today , February 2009
• Human and technical factors are the key to making sure early-phase CFD gets designers the results they need:
  “Putting CFD To Work Upfront,”
  Desktop Engineering , December 2008
• No longer simply used for presentation, visualization has moved to the front of the product-development process:
  “Visualization and the Desktop Engineer,”
  Desktop Engineering , January 2009
• Amphibious assault is one of the U.S. Marine Corps major missions:
  “Marines Get a New Assault Vehicle,”
  Machine Design , December 11, 2008

Elementals:

• While jitter and phase noise are related, they are not precisely equivalent; there are no closed-form mathematical expressions that describe the conversion between them:
  “Jitter and Phase Noise Relationships,”
  High Frequency Electronics , November 2008
• Case histories show how the pieces of the energy-harvesting puzzle fit together:
  “The Field Of Energy Harvesting Begins To Ripen,”
  Electronic Design , December 11, 2008
• Description of a new vertical silicon MOSFET developed for high power radio frequency amplifier applications:
  “The Virtual Outer Conductor for Linear Antennas,”
  Microwave Journal , January 2009
• An emulation-based approach can test 3GPP Enhanced Observable Time Difference capability in GSM/GPRS and W-CDMA handsets:
  “Testing E-OTD,”
  Test & Measurement World , December 2008

Previous Editions:

• February 2, 2009
• January 26, 2009
• January 19, 2009
• January 12, 2009
• January 5, 2009