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Pushing the envelope
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10/10/2008
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No matter which technology sector you look at, the demands from designers appear consistent. They are all looking for products which offer more performance while consuming less power. And if manufacturers can supply those parts at lower cost, all the better.
Data converters are no exception to this trend. The result is that manufacturers are developing product ranges that are, essentially, pushing the technology envelope. Device families are being developed to meet a wide range of application needs.
Medical imaging is one such end application which is demanding more from suppliers. Two particular markets are emerging in this sector; static and portable devices.
Manufacturers of the larger static machines used in hospitals are increasingly interested in improving the resolution of the images produced. They look to achieve this by increasing the number of channels which can be processed. Not only does this have power consumption implications, more channels also means larger machines. So data converter developers are looking to integrate more channels into a device. Ultrasound applications are therefore being served by octal devices.
Meanwhile, demand is growing for portable ultrasound devices. The main driver for these applications is power consumption in order to provide the longest battery operating life possible.
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Author
Graham Pitcher
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