February 2009 - Vitesse VScope Engineering Design Challenge
Whether it's Ethernet, USB interfaces, or Velcro, the real value of a technology can often be measured by the number of applications it finds that were never anticipated by its inventor. While only a few of us can aspire to entering a home-built spaceship or 100-mpg vehicle in an X-Prize competition, there are a whole lot more electronic engineers out there (yes, I mean you!) who can put their talents to work finding new and innovative ways to put existing technologies to work. That's why I'm so excited to have the opportunity to help judge Vitesse's VScope Engineering Design Challenge.
Vitesse has asked EN-Genius to help them organize a contest that unleashes your engineering talent on their new family of VScope devices. Intended for high-speed serial data applications, VScope’s scope-on-chip and signal integrity capabilities give designers a new, powerful tool for taming the unruly behavior of multi-Gigabit data streams in challenging real-world environments like backplanes, printed circuit boards and copper cables.
I've already reviewed one of Vitesse’s VScope devices (see my December 2008 review) and been impressed at its ability to give you a receiver's-eye-view of a high-speed SerDes signal that is not possible with an external probe. Knowing exactly what’s going on at the wire, PCB trace or fiber can greatly simplify the selection of transmit power and equalization settings, provide insights into channel characteristics, and even serve as a powerful built-in link diagnostic tool.
VScope has already begun to find lots of use in taming the high-speed links used by digital video systems, but I'm betting that some of the most innovative applications for this technology are still waiting to be discovered by engineers like you. Whether you deal with HD video electronics, digital radio or radar systems, high-speed IP traffic, or some other sort of specialized high-speed interconnect, there's a good chance that you’ve got an idea for a unique application that would work better with VScope technology, an application that could earn you up to $10,000 when you share it with us.
It's easy to enter your idea in our contest. Just follow the rules posted on the VScope Engineering Design Challenge main page and submit your design by April 10, 2009 at 4:00 PM EST.
We'll be announcing the winners here, and on the Vitesse web site by April 30, 2009.
I’m pleased at the opportunity to support an event like this that gives engineers some well-deserved recognition for their ingenuity and overall smarts. In a world where shows like Survivor and The Apprentice pander to the imagination-challenged, I really appreciate the chance to be a part of a contest like this that celebrates the creativity of engineers and the important contributions they make to society.
So, what are you waiting for? It's time to fire up your imagination and get to work: there's a whole lot of innovating to do!
Comments? Questions? Ideas for other Design Challenges? Write me at lhg at en-genius dot net.
The Fine Print – Terms, Conditions, and Disclaimers: NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE ODDS OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Contest open only to residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are engineers or engineering students 18 or older (or of majority in entrant's state). Contest starts 12:01 AM (ET) on February 3, 2009 and ends 11:59 PM (ET) on March 31, 2009. Winners will be notified by phone, e-mail, or mail by April 30, 2009. Three prizes will be awarded–Grand Prize: $10,000; Second Place Prize: $5,000; Third Place Prize: $2,500. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges comprised of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation employees and EN-Genius Network Ltd Editors. Entries will be judged on the following criteria: Originality, Technical Innovation, Practicality, and Commercial Potential. Odds of winning depend on the number and quality of eligible entries received. Contest subject to Official Rules. For full details, restrictions and Official Rules, and to enter, visit http://www.vitesse.com/vscope/designchallenge09. Contest sponsor: Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation, 741 Calle Plano, Camarillo, CA 93012 USA.
