USBwave12

12MHz USB pen-style Function Generator USBwave12 is a new concept in USB function generator products. PC based function generators offer many user benefits including flexibility, ease of use and economy.

The USB interface has developed into probably the best and most widely implemented PC peripheral connection method and is a natural choice for the function generator.

USBwave12 combines very small form factor with high performance normally associated with much larger bench type products. Power for the function generator is provided via the USB interface connector, further simplifying the user experience.

USBwave12 is small enough to be carried in a shirt pocket or laptop bag but uses a standard BNC connector.

Lately it has been all the rage to talk about the advent of USB 3.0, the first update to the USB specification in eight years, and one that promises tenfold transfer speed improvement.  And certainly that’s something worth talking about.  But what many authors are failing to mention is that the Apple to USB’s Microsoft, which is FireWire, is also working fervently on a specification update of their own called FireWire 3200.  Although USB 3.0 products are expected to be quicker off the production line, both standards have already been ratified, and we could see both USB 3.0 and FireWire 3200 merchandise in production sooner rather than later.  This naturally begs the question: So which is better?

USB 3.0 has the faster transfer rate at 4.8 Gigabits per second (Gbps), which is ten times greater than the transfer rate of USB 2.0. The updated interface also boasts greater power efficiency so that it shouldn’t be so draining on your power (this in particular affects laptops) as well as an increase in power output from 100milliamps to 900milliamps. The improved power output allows it to charge devices more quickly and power more devices directly through USB instead of through a power cord. USB 3.0 is also backwards compatible with older versions of USB. Although plugging your USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port will only net you USB 2.0 speeds (and vice versa), users will not have to purchase new hardware or wires to use their USB devices, old or new.

Although FireWire 3200 only promises a transfer rate of 3.2Gbps, the P2P architecture has been known to generate a higher percentage of the promised yield than the master/slave architecture of USB. This means that it may have a faster transfer rate in practical application even though it doesn’t in theoretical testing. FireWire already had a strong edge on USB for power output, and despite the improvements in USB 3.0 the difference remains. FireWire is able to produce about twice as much power as USB, and is therefore better able to charge and independently run hardware. FireWire 3200 is also backwards compatible with FireWire 800 as well as an intermediate standard, FireWire 1600 (which is just like 3200 but runs at 1.6Gbps). This means users will be able to use their old cables and devices just as before, but it should be noted that if you have a new FireWire 3200 cable/device you can use it with your old FireWire 800 port and still achieve 3.2Gpbs speeds.

USB 3.0 trying to compete with FireWire 3200 reminds me a lot of Vista trying to compete with Leopard last year. The jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista was tremendous in terms of design and OS features in comparison with the jump from OSX 10.4 (Tiger) to OSX 10.5 (Leopard), yet despite this Leopard maintained an edge over Vista because XP was so much further behind Tiger. Here, the jump from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 is similarly greater than the jump from FireWire 800 to FireWire 3200. But despite the improvements, FireWire still maintains a notable technical edge in power output, backwards compatibility, and possibly even applied transfer rate. So why choose USB? For the same reasons many choose PC over Macs – they’re cheaper, more readily available, and more widely used. People who chose USB 2.0 over FireWire 800 will find no compelling reason not to choose USB 3.0 over FireWire 3200. But despite the press that USB gets and the discouraging fact that Apple chose to omit FireWire from its new MacBooks, it is important to remember that the specification is still there, and still quite useful for the right people and jobs.

A few years ago, computers and peripherals used a mind-boggling collection of different connectors for linking to one another. It was hard (sometimes impossible) to use a certain computer with a particular printer and, if you bought a new printer, it was often touch-and-go whether it would work with your old computer. These days, virtually all computers and peripherals use a standard way of connecting together called USB. which stands for “universal serial bus.” What’s it all about—and how does it work?

Universal Serial Ports or USBs have become extremely common and are found on most modern computers. Not only do these allow the users to attach other external devices to the computer, but also the operating systems support it, hence making installations easier. The development of USB came at a time when connecting external devices such as printers and modems required a separate specific parallel port. These were not even fast and required a lot of work during installations. However, with the invention of USB, it gave the users an easy and standardized way to connect up to 127 devices to any computer! Beginning from printers, scanners, mouse, joysticks, flight yokes and digital cameras to webcams, modems, speakers, telephones, video phones, scientific data acquisition devices and network connections – USB has offered a single solution to them all!

 When the host is turned on, it detects all the devices connected to it through USB and assigns each device with a unique address. This is called the process of enumeration. This process occurs again once the devices are connected to the bus. Then the host seeks information from each device with regards to the kind of data transfer desired– interrupt, bulk or isochronous:

Interrupt mode is usually chosen by small devices requiring very little data sending. Bulk mode is used by devices which require bulk data transfer. For example, a Printer. Isochronous mode is chosen by the devices looking for streaming . The host can also control packets in terms of commands and query parameters.

Once the devices are enumerated, the host keeps track of the total bandwidth requirements of the isochronous and interrupt devices. The maximum they are allowed to consume is 90 percent of the 480 Mbps bandwidth. However, once the limit is reached, the host denies all further access. The rest 10 percent bandwidth is used by the bulk packets and control packets.

Following Space Bar and Spilt Stick, Quirky has come up yet another community-developed novelty USB gadget. This time, it’s the Contort, a USB 2.0 hub that gives you a net gain of three ports and that manages your USB cables at the same time. Most USB hubs (even the newer SuperSpeed USB models) can’t combat yawn factor, but the Quirky Contort is different. It’s stylish as it is functional.
For starter, the Quirky Contort has flexible TPE rubber neck with 360-degree mobility that allows you to point the hub in any direction. This gives easier access to the four USB ports. Its built-in four anchors can corral your USB cables; the hub’s base can also be expanded (max. 36mm height) to accommodate more cords if needed. Even though the feature list is somewhat short, $30 isn’t too much to ask for some desktop tidiness.

As we amass more and more flash drives, it gets to be harder and harder to tell them apart. Fun drives like this, 18 and Over drive, helps us keep our files sorted. This fun 2GB drive makes the distinction that the content is adult oriented or not to be put in children’s hands. No, this is not just a Pr0n drive, it can be for any sensitive content. Tax documents, controversial programs that might get you into trouble with system administrators or vacation photos that don’t need to end up on the company file server. More and more invasive system monitoring by corporations requires serious control of your personal files so that they stay personal.
Our flash drives are sorted by abilities and then by function. Fast drives are application drives or bulk data drives like iso’s and virtual disks. our sportier looking drives are for office documents, code libraries or reference materials. Then we have my special purpose drives from leather clad to bare circuit board on the outside. The insides vary from prank programs to forensics and password stealers. Plugging the wrong one in at the wrong time can be disastrous. Having unique cases and labels makes them easy to sort and keep track of. Check out some of our favorite stand-out flash drives from weeks past or pick up this one for about $35.

C-Star Technologies is releasing a phone management system that’s long overdue and may be a little too late, the UTR-Fi3001B. The migration to digital phone systems is well underway but if you are still using any sort of analog phone system personal or professional you’ll want to check these out. This box connects to your PC via USB and has a pass-through RJ-12 phone connectors for connecting to a wall plug and a phone. The software that comes with the UTR-Fi3001B can record caller-ID, pickups, hangups and every second of audio. Record all your conversations and take notes on the call and make address book entries with ease with built-in functions. C-Star doesn’t list a price but is ready to ship them in bulk and in multiple colors no less. A perfect complement for any salesperson, tech-support call monitoring or teleworker that needs quick recall of any detail of a any phone conversation. The UTR-Fi3001B is only for single line phones but the UTR-Fi3002B can handle 2 line phones. No hint on price or availability interested parties will need to hit them personally until retail units make it to the shelves.

Icron apparently has been busy with their secret USB projects. At upcoming CES 2010, the Vancouver-based company, which brought us the ExtremeUSB distance extension technology, will finally show us what their hardcore engineers have been working on.
The most exciting of all is the Wireless ExtremeLink PC-on-TV which supposedly serves as a Windows extension on your HDTV. Icron has confirmed the remote unit will connect to the host PC thru a dedicated 802.11n link, and the same box will have several USB ports for expansion. It remains to be seen whether there are some other technologies (e.g. DisplayLink USB video) behind this if the remote unit is going to pull video stream from the host. The company will also demo USB over DisplayPort using a standard, well, DisplayPort cable. If this works as expected, then we should be able to get rid of one more USB cable connecting between our PCs and HD monitors with built-in USB hub & webcam. Video demo of the Wireless ExtremeLink after the jump.

Digital self-serve kiosks are found all over the place for quick tasks like printing maps or pictures. You can create greeting cards and photo albums. These are well on their way to becoming the vending machines of the digital era. The next evolution of this trend is here with the vending machine dispensing data instead of physical goods like the MK3 Kiosk. Movies can be downloaded from these Redbox competitors straight to your portable hard drive. Nothing to return, nothing to rewind(how long until no one knows what that meant?). The content simply expires and won’t play in the player. This XIMD technology smacks of the original Divx expiring DVD’s that came in went in months around the dawn of DVDs.
USB 3.0 technology should be able to push a full DVD of content to your drive in under 10 seconds. Xona’s media distribution system will feed the MK3 Kiosk with current and obscure movies. Prices, peripherals and plans will have to come later as the devices roll into retail locations around the world.

Everyone knows that the key to faster-than-light (FTL) travel is in random number generation. Advances in Bistromathics just aren’t happening fast enough so folks like Peter Allan are racing to crack the random number puzzle. It isn’t the most interesting read for those not obsessed with number theory but it is an interesting project. This garage project uses an Arduino board as the base and a small motors and an optical sensor to measure sand through a tiny hourglass.
Computers have exceptionally poor imagination. This might seem obvious but the hurdle to programmers, cryptographers and lottery officials is a very major one. Many of technologies require very truly random numbers generated often. Any patterns that start to emerge from non random systems starts to emerge over time break those systems. The amount of sand that falls at any given time creates a reading on the device. This random amount of sand specks is sent via USB to the PC system. The PC can then use or incorporate this data where it’s needed. These aren’t for sale yet but production is being considered in the near future.