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What a Difference
EDITOR’S
INK
Curtis Franklin, Jr.
I
n CIRCLTIT C
ELLAR
INK #18, my editorial was about
the changes and trends I saw at the Embedded Systems
Programming Conference. Since then, I’ve seen a lot of
new technology, including what seemed like several Sa-
gans of new computers at COMDEX in Las Vegas. On the
whole, I’m impressed by a lot of the engineering I’ve seen.
There were a few major trends that ran through most
of the engineering and marketing: GUIs, laptop comput-
ers, networks, and (relatively) inexpensive personal work-
stations. All the trends point in one direction: Personal
computers are becoming more personal every day.
Graphical
User
Interfaces
(GU1.s) are supposed to make
computers much easier to use. Instead of having to remem-
ber the different commands and software switches, you
just have to remember what each of those blasted little
hieroglyphics means. Now, we use Macintosh computers
to put C
IRCUIT
C
ELLAR
INK together, and I’m trying very
hard to get Windows to run on the 80286 machine at home,
but I’m still not convinced that every icon is worth a
thousand words. Part of the problem is maturity (the
system’s, not mine). MS-DOS, CP/M, Unix, and most of
the o ther “classic” small-computer operating systems have
had many years to develop utility programs, secret tips,
and masterful techniques. The Mac has much of the arcana
required to make a comfortable operating system, but it
just doesn’t feel like a computer. Whether I like it or not,
windows and other graphical elements are going to show
up in more applications, regardless of the underlying sys-
tem. I just wish that someone would teach the interface
designers a bit about color theory...
Whatever the operating system, it appears likely that
many folks will be running it on a portable ‘laptop”
computer. Even people who never plan to take the com-
puter off their desks are buying the little machines because
they don’t look like computers. Personally, I rather like the
look of a desk covered with several computers, but my
interior design aesthetic is not shared by all. Having said
that, I do think that the laptop trend will continue to grow.
I feel that way because I simply love my laptop computer.
I have a Toshiba Tl
000
that is an important part of my work
routine. Quite apart from being a useful tool, it’s the
epitome of a nonthreatening computer. I react to it almost
more as a pet than as a machine, and that’s the sort of
reaction that sells lots of laptops to computer-phobic man-
agers. Whether you program, engineer, or write, I recom-
mend a laptop computer-as your second machine. If
you’rea technical professional, you won’t want to miss the
sort of power that you’ll soon be able to put on your
desktop.
COMDEX featured the (by now) standard array of
80386- and 80486-based computers. Enhanced video, big
fast disks (BFDs), and network connections with enough
bandwidth to download a Peterbilt were de rigueur, but
the real new has nothing to do with these. The big news
was SPARC. Sun designed a RISC processor and gave
away the design, hoping that it would become a standard.
If the early machines shown at COMDEX are any indica-
tion, they may get their wish. Just as important, many
people are pushing PARC as an embedded control en-
gine. We plan to have more on that in a future issue.
We’ve claimed, in this magazine, that the microcom-
puter revolution is over, won by the power and conven-
ience of embedded controllers. It remains for more people
to consciously use computers. IBM, Apple, and Tandy are
all making specific plans for this to happen, but in a real
way, all of the trends are moving events in the direction of
greater use and acceptance. It’s good to know that CIRCUIT
C
ELLAR
INK readers will be leading the way with applica-
tions that bring microprocessing power to more people.
. ..FOR SOMETHING COMPLE’KELY DIFFERENT
There’s no better way to understand how and why a
computer works than to put it together yourself. If you
know someone who would like to roll up their sleeves and
get into a computer, you might try giving them a copy of
a “How to Build a PC/AT Clone” video. That’s right, the
same medium that shows folks how to bathe their cat and
firm their tushie can now teach them how to build a clone
AT. Give JVF Distributors a call at (415) 4884179 and ask
for more details. The existence of a video like this says a lot
about how far we’ve come towards accepting high-tech
help with our daily chores.
February/March 199
1
1
I
FOUNDER/
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Steve
Ciarcia
PUBLISHER
Daniel Rodrigues
EDITOR-in-CHIEF
Curtis Franklin, Jr.
MANAGING
EDlTOR
Ken Davidson
PUBLISHING
CONSULTANT
John Hayes
ENGINEERING STAFF
Jeff Bachloch/
Edward
N&/e y
CONTRIBUTING
EDITORS
?homas
Cantrell
Christopher C/arc/a
NEW
PRODUCTS
EDITOR
Harv Weiner
CONSULTING
EDITORS
Mark Dahmke
Larry Loeb
CIRCULATION
COORDINATOR
Rose Manse/la
ClRCULATlON
CONSULTANT
Gregory Spitzfaden
ART & PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR
Tr/cla Fabish
PRODUCTION
ARTIST/ILLUSTRATOR
Lisa Ferry
BUSINESS
MANAGER
Jeannette Walters
ADVERTISING
COORDINATOR
Dan Gorsky
THE COMPUTER
APPLICATIONS
JOURNAL
DSP Architectures for Signal Processing Applications
Matching the Tools to the Job
by Bill Schweber
Differences in DSP architectures have a major Impact on application suitability.
Improve your DSP IQ wlth a tutorial on the archltectural differences.
22
A PC Stopwatch
Improved Timing for Acquisition and Control
by DavM P. Schulze
Are PC timing limitations standing between you and a successful application?
Here’s a way to beat the PC timing blues.
Digital Image Processing
Software-based Digital Signal Processing
by Chris Cicrrcia
You
don’t need hardware for DSP. This hands-on software article shows software
techniques for digital Image enhancement.
Mini-DSP
A
Digital Signal Processor Experimentation Unit
by Steven E. Reyer
There’s no better way to learn DSP techniques than by diving into a project. This
Circuit Cellar INK Design Contest winner is a perfect first step.
Analog Circuit Design
Stripping Away the Mystery for Digital Designers
by Mark
E. Nurczyk
It’s an analog world-and this article shows you the top techniques for designing
circuits for this very real world.
STAFF RESEARCHERS
Northeast
Eric
Albert
William Cur/e w
Richard Sawyer
Robert
Stek
Midwest
Jon
Eison
Tim McDonough
West Coast
Frank
Kuechmann
Mark Voorhees
Cover Illustration
by RobertTinney
Oh Say, Can You C?
Circuit Cellar INK Evaluates Three C Compilers for the 805
1
by h4. Scoff Martin, lim Mcllonough, h Curtis Franklin, Jr.
Circuit Cellar INK looks at three PC-based cross compilers for the Intel SO51 family.
High-Level Languages for Microcontrollers
Don’t Believe the Hype
by Ed Nisley
Using High-Level Languages on Embedded Controllers
by Ken Davidson
Are high-level languages for microcontrollers
truly
the greatest invention since sliced
bread? Circuit Cellar INK looks at the issue from two different directions.
2
CIRCUff CELLAR INK
Editor’s INK
What a Difference
by Curtis Franklin, Jr.
Circuit
Cellar BBS-24 Hrs.
300/1200/2400bps,8bik,no
parity, 1 stop bit, (203) 871-
1988.
The schematics provided
in Circuit Cellar INK are
drawn using Schema from
Omation Inc. All programs
and schematics In Circuit
Cellar INK have been cam-
fuliyreviewedtoensurethat
their performance is in ac-
cordance with the specifii
cations described, and pro-
gramsarepc&dontheCir-
cuit Celbr BBS for electronic
transfer by subscribers.
Circuit Celbr INK makes
no warranties and assumes
no responsibility or liibility of
any kind for errors in these
programs or schematics or
fortheconsequencesofany
such emon. Furthermore, be-
cause of the possible vari-
ation in the quality and con-
dition of materials and work-
manship of reader-as-
sembled projeck. Circuit
Cellor INK disclaims any re-
sponsiblity for the safe and
proper function of reader-
assembled projeck based
upon or from plans, descrip-
tions, or inforrfation pub
lbhed In Circuit Cellar INK.
1
Reader’s
INK-Letters to the Editor
5
NEWroductNews
It’s
Just You and the CPU: Intel 80x86 Instruction Timings
by Ed Nisley
From the Bench
Multidrop A/D and D/A Network
Using your PC’s Printer Port and Four-Conductor Phone Cable
by Jelf Bachiochl
Silicon Update
Hot Chips In The Summertime
A Report From “Hot Chips II’
by Tam Cantrell
ClRCUlT CELLAR INK (6%
08968985) is published bC
twnthiy by Circuit Cellar In-
corporated, 4 Park Street.
Suite 20, Vernon, CT 06066
(203) 875-2751. Second-
class postage paid at Ver-
non, CT and additional of-
fices. One-year (6 issues)
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POSTMASTER: Please
sendaddresschangestoCir-
cuit Cellar INK. Circulation
Dept., P.O. Box 3050-C,
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Entire contents copyriiht
8 1991 by Circuit Cellar In-
corporated. All tights re-
served. Repmductionof this
publication in whole or in
partwithoutwritten consent
from Circuit Cellar Inc. is
prohibited.
Practical Algorithms
Making Hash
A Table Buitt for Speed
by koil Robed Ladd
Domestic Automation
CEBus Gets Physical
The Standard Takes Two More
Steps
to Maturity
by Ken Davidson
ConnecTime-Excerpts
from the Circuit Cellar BBS
Conducted by Ken Davidson
The
Sophomore Slump
by Steve Ciurciu
Advertiser’s Index
February/March 199
1
3
Firmware Furnace
Steve’s Own INK
Letters to the Editor
READER’S
INK
READER TO READER
when photographing deep-space objects would be a proj-
ect I would be interested in tackling. Then there is the area
of radio-telescopes with a wide variety of related topics
which would make interesting projects.
I became interested in Steve’s “Ciarcia’s Circuit Cel-
lar” when I ran across his three-part article for performing
Mandelbrot calculations that appeared in BYTE. Except
for the disappointing resolution available on VGA dis-
plays, I probably would have built one. I enjoy going
through each issue of CIRCUIT C
ELLAR
INK because of the
ideas I see implemented using small single-board comput-
ers of modest capacities.
I am interested in computing and have recently begun
to reacquaint myself with astronomy. I’m itching to ‘build
something” that I will get a lot of use and pleasure from.
I hope my input has been of some help. I look forward
to seeing some astronomy topics in future issues.
This letter is a follow-up to a recent letter asking about
receiving faxes by shortwave and displaying the informa-
tion on an Amiga. There is now a commercial program
called Amiga Video Terminal by Advanced Electronic Ap-
plications that can handle just about any form of visual
radio communication short of fast-scan television. It in-
cludes image processing features for correcting individual
lines or entire pictures and an AREXX port. The price is
$349.95 including hardware interface.
As long as I’m writing about Amiga products, there is
now X-R&compatible software for the Amiga. Ami-XlOby
Digital Dynamics works with the X-10 Powerhouse com-
puter interface and provides for unlimited event sched-
ules. It multitasks quite well under the Amiga’s operating
system and costs $49.95.
The companies may be contacted at:
Advanced Electronic Applications
P.O. Box C2160
Lynnwood, WA 98036
(206) 775-7373
Thomas Duprex
Madison, NJ
Astronomy is high on the interest list around CIRCUIT
C
ELLAR
INK,
too. Unfortunately, the
engineering
staff has
been
too busy with ofher projects to get around to designing good
astronomy applications.
If
any readers have
put
fogefher good
astronomy applications, we’d lik to see them and, possibly, run
them in the magazine. Send us your best!
Digital Dynamics
739 Navy Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(213) 396-9771
Roy G. Clay III
New Orleans, LA
INDEX PLEA
FUTURE TOPICS
I
recently received my file of back issues of Cr~curr
C
ELLAR
INK: Wow! Wonderful assortment..
.
How about an index for CIRCUS C
ELLAR
INK? Either
on-disk or off-, as
long
as
there’s an index. One of my great
disappointments in computer magazines all these years
has been that they don’t have good indexing. They deal
with machines that are particularly good for this purpose
and for coping with huge amounts of data.
Anyhow, I hope you’ll give serious consideration to
publishing an index to your magazine. Given that you
have all the text files in magnetic media and that it’s not
very hard to search for keywords amongst these files...if
This letter is in response to your request for input on
future themes. I cast my vote for an issue on astronomy. In
particular,
the
advent of robotics has made available
motors
of the type useful in building computerized optical tele-
scope equatorial drives. Chargecoupled devices
are
avail-
able for capturing images in minutes as opposed to hours
for photographic techniques.
A computerized tracking mechanism for keeping an
optical telescope aligned for extended periods of time
February/March 199
1 5
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