Electronics For You February 2010 Issue Vol. 42 No. 2 Technology Focus Sneaky Sensors Know What You Did Today! Measuring, monitoring and controlling anything seem feasible with the current generation of wireless sensors that can match up to any of man’s five senses. But, our exclusive sixth sense rings an alarming gong—will not such widespread use of sensors lead to security and privacy issues?
Construction Vehicle Power Adaptor Here we present a DC-to-DC converter design that will allow you to operate your laptop from the 12V battery system of an automobile.	Construction Microcontroller-based Serial Data Transfer to PC Communication from or to a computer has become almost essential in our day-to-day lives. Though we can execute many programs within a computer itself, it will not be of much use without outside communication.

Circuit Ideas Numeric Water-level Indicator Here we present a digital version of the water-level indicator. It uses a 7-segment display to show the water level in numeric form from ‘0’ to ‘9.’	Circuit Ideas Versatile Probe You can use this versatile probe for continuity testing and identification of transistor type and transformer windings.

Circuit Ideas Room Sound Monitor With this simple circuit, you can secretly listen to conversations going on in a room. The circuit is very sensitive and powered by a 3V battery.	Test & Measurement Industry-grade Equipment For Academia Engineers are created in labs. Hence it is essential to keep the lab equipment current and close to the real world to create engineers ready for tomorrow!

Embedded Systems Hardware Tools Selection for Embedded Systems Although most tasks in the design and development of embedded systems have been taken over by software tools, electronic instruments and hardware-based development kits still play an important role in the process—whether as building blocks for the system or as a testing ground for the software and firmware components. What is more, these constantly evolving tools help deliver customer requirements faster and at a lower cost	Interview “India is Strategic Focus for Embedded Business”—Sanat Rao, Marketing Director, Emerging Markets, Intel Embedded and Communications Group Sanat Rao, marketing director of Intel’s embedded and communication group, talks to EFY’s Shweta Dhadiwal on Intel’s embedded business development in India. In this interaction, he explains the Indian embedded market, the kind of support that Intel provides to the embedded community and some design tips for the developers

EFY Report Suggestions for India’s Finance Minister On how he can shape the budget to give a boost to the Indian electronics industry	Buyers’ Guide Security Systems For Homes, Offices and Automobiles Today, there are a variety of electronic security systems available in the market. Here is what the buyers should look at before buying one for their home, office or automobile

Software Section Electronic Voting Machine in Visual Basic Here we present an EVM that is purely software based. The facility for ‘mock poll,’ which is usually conducted prior to the actual polling in order to check the accuracy of the EVM, is included in the program.	Technology Focus Cryptography Mechanisms For Access Control In Wireless Sensor Networks For secure communication among sensors, secret keys must be established between them. Many key establishment techniques have been designed to address the trade-off between limited memory and security, but which scheme is the most effective is still debatable

Circuit Ideas Doorbell-controlled Security Switch The circuit described here is a simple doorbell-controlled multipurpose security switch that instantly powers up a connected security device, say, a night-vision door camera, for functioning.	Circuit Ideas Battery-Low Indicator This simple circuit can be used for 12V batteries to give an indication of the battery voltage falling below the preset value. The indication is in the form of a flickering LED.

Circuit Ideas Power Resumption Alarm and Low-Voltage Protector The circuit described here protects your electrical appliances like AC motors from damage due to low voltage at power-on. It remains standby without giving power to the load after power resumes.	Do-it-Yourself Developing PCBs Using ExpressPCB Here’s a simple way to make your own PCBs. All the required components are readily available at electronics hardware shops

Career Get Embedded Right Away! Embedded systems are a teamwork of hardware engineers, software engineers and application domain experts. You can find a place in any of these three broad categories	What’s New Go For a Green Gadget This Valentine’s Day More interesting and exciting solar products are being introduced in the market—from a solar mobile to a solar shaver, solar candle or solar headphone. Take a look at these. You might just find what you are looking for and contribute to the common cause of preserving the environment

Celltech 3G: More Bandwidth, More Speed, More Applications 3G has tremendous potential in terms of content and services. It also provides enhanced voice quality. But penetration of 3G usage is influenced by a variety of factors	Manufacture Semiconductor ICs in the Making Job prospects for electronics engineering graduates are bright in IC manufacturing companies. Take a look at what it takes to manufacture an IC

Safety Are Your Computers Well Protected? Failure of the information network may severely paralyse a company’s working. You can prevent damage to your computer network due to lightening by following some simple recommendations given in this article	CD-Theme Compilers and Simulators For Programming of Microcontrollers Here in this article we discuss a few compilers and simulators that are available for programming of the microcontrollers.

First Look! • Ultra-portable Netbook • ‘Home Theatre in A Box’ projector • HD Media Player • Notebooks for All • Car Audio Systems • Feature-rich CDMA Phone • Slim QWERTY Mobile • Dual-SIM Phones for Professionals
Next Issue... Technology Focus: Muti-core Processors Buyers’ Guide: Latest Mobile Media Players For You Survey/EFY Report: Embedded & VLSI Training Institutes

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August 2010

Issue Vol. 42 No. 8