Automotive Mobile Audio Video

Infineon Technologies (FSE:IFX)(NYSE:IFX) and Trimble (Nasdaq:TRMB) today announced the smallest and lowest power integrated chipset and software solution for Global Positioning System (GPS) applications. The solution, based on Trimble's FirstGPS(TM) technology, allows high-volume manufacturers of consumer products to add GPS location with minimal impact on device size or battery life.

"Our combined efforts continue to lay the foundation for future generations of location-aware and communication-enabled consumer applications," said Steven W. Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble. "Infineon is a major player in several critical communication markets, such as GSM for the handset market. As the telematics market continues to emerge, the ability to combine Trimble GPS location and Infineon communication technologies at the integrated circuit and firmware levels will become even more important to the automotive industry."

"By combining our respective strengths, we can drive development in the GPS mass market," says Dr. Hermann Eul, general manager and vice president of the baseband ICs business unit at Infineon. "Our chipset is a vital part of this highly-integrated solution for high-volume, cost-effective GPS applications. This innovative hardware and software solution makes it possible to equip an even wider range of mobile devices with GPS functionality. We feel that the very small chip size and the ultra-low power consumption make our solution ideal for a range of applications, specifically mobile phone applications."

About the Product

The jointly developed 12-channel chipset and software solution is specifically designed for power-sensitive, wireless enabled, mobile information devices such as laptops, PDAs, digital cameras, smart phones, pagers and automobile navigation systems.

The technology offers the lowest power consumption of any GPS receiver on the market today. The chipset is comprised of one baseband ASIC and one RF ASIC. The baseband ASIC consumes less than 8 milliwatts and the RF ASIC less than 20 milliwatts. It is ideal for power-sensitive applications. For devices that only need location-on-demand, several sleep and low-power modes allow for further power savings and longer battery life. FirstGPS technology is also communication independent and capable of interfacing with a wide range of devices including AMPS, CDMA, TDMA, GSM, 3G, CDPD and others.

Infineon's implementation of the baseband and RF ASICs is extremely compact. The baseband chip is packed in a 28-pin TSSOP (9.7mm x 6.4mm) and the RF chip in a 24-pin TSSOP (7.9mm x 6.4mm). The high level of integration translates to lower component count and enables a tiny footprint that is approximately one-sixth of a square inch for the entire chipset solution. This tiny footprint facilitates the integration of GPS functionality into a variety of mobile devices without adversely affecting product form factor and size.

Consumers hungry for high-quality mobile video entertainment can look to Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) and Chips&Media for the optimal mobile video experience. The companies plan to combine Freescale's processor performance and battery life leadership with Chips&Media's MPEG audio and video technology, which is expected to enable a new class of high quality, low power mobile video entertainment devices.

As part of the long-term portfolio licensing agreement, Chips&Media and Freescale plan to work together to define multi-standard video codecs to drive very high resolution video applications in wireless and portable devices, such as next generation mobile TV devices, portable video players and digital camcorders.

"We sought a long-term agreement with Freescale because of their multimedia engineering expertise, low power innovation, market position and applications processors roadmap," said Dr. Joonho Jesse Lim, president and CEO of Chips&Media. "Our advanced video multi-codec technology integrated in i.MX processors gives customers a very compelling system solution to capitalize on the burgeoning mobile entertainment market."

Mobile TV is set to grow to a $1 billion worldwide market by 2009, with an annual growth rate of 12 percent to 17 percent, according Credit Suisse First Boston, May 2005. To address this high-growth market, the two companies plan to work together to develop next generation video IP blocks that are expected to be integrated into future Freescale i.MX multimedia applications processors. This is expected to enable high quality digital multimedia technology and highly integrated multi-codec technologies on MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264 standards with best-in-class digital video compression.

"Freescale's industry leading i.MX family of applications processors, combined with Chips&Media's expertise and video codec technology is a winning formula," said Berardino Baratta, general manager of Freescale's Multimedia Applications Division. "Chips&Media's MPEG-4 and H.264 codec adds real value to our considerable portfolio of video IP and gives us broad coverage for high performance video processing in low power, mobile handheld solutions."

The need for Smart Speed

The mobile entertainment market space is enjoying explosive growth, enabled in part by significant improvements in processor design and performance. Handheld devices available today provide equivalent performance to the laptop computers of three years ago -- although battery life is lagging behind performance demands.

To meet this challenge, Freescale's i.MX family is engineered to achieve a balance between performance and long, long battery life. Its Smart Speed processor architecture impels video acceleration to drive high performance video applications at very low power in mobile devices. The Smart Speed crossbar switch in the i.MX31 multimedia applications processors virtually eliminates wait states and enables the processor to attain equivalent performance to processors with clock speeds up to 3.5 GHz, but without the power consumption penalty that goes with higher operating frequencies.

austriamicrosystems has introduced its new AS1701/06 family of single-channel audio amplifiers delivering 1.6W output power. The amplifiers offer higher output power (1.6W) at comparable distortion levels, or lower distortion levels at comparable output power than similar products. This makes the AS1701 and AS1706 ideal for audio front-ends for battery powered audio devices, such as MP3, CD and DVD players, mobile phones, PDAs, portable speakers and other handheld battery-powered devices.

The AS1701/06 family contains a bridge-tied load (BTL) output stage to differentially drive 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm speakers. The amplifiers offer extremely low distortion with 0.05% THD+N at 1W output power into an 8 Ohm load. At THD+N of 1% they deliver 1.6W output power into a 4 Ohm load or 1.2W into an 8 Ohm load. Due to the wide input supply range of 2.7 - 5.5V the amplifiers can be used for 3V systems as well delivering 600mW continuous output power into 4 Ohm. With a low power-supply rejection ratio (PSRR) the AS1701/06 can be used without a linear regulator even with a noisy digital supply. Gain levels can be adjusted via external components offering utmost flexibility for system design.

Continuing austriamicrosystems' industry leadership in low power consumption, the integrated shutdown circuitry disables the bias generator and amplifiers, and reduces quiescent current consumption to less than 10nA. The power down mode can be entered via digital control signal.

Sophisticated click-and-pop suppression circuitry reduces audible clicks and pops during power-up and shutdown.

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is meeting the increasing demands to power new features in today's smart mobile devices with the introduction of the world's most highly integrated power management and user interface (PMUI) chip.

With this single-chip device, designers can optimize system power and drive a variety of powerful audio and multimedia features in products such as 3G phones, mobile gaming units and portable media players.

"Freescale's power management devices can reduce component count and board area by as much as 50% compared to many current implementations," said Mark Christensen, principal consultant at Prismark Partners. "This high level of integration is of particular importance in high-end 3G phones that must fit many features into a small form factor."

The MC13783 PMUI IC packs multiple systems into one device for unprecedented design freedom and part count reduction. Consolidated coordination of numerous system level modules simplifies design and helps to drive new levels of product sophistication at compelling price points.

The Freescale PMUI includes a full audio system, battery charger system, lighting system, five switching regulators, 18 linear regulators, USB transceiver, carkit interface, touchscreen interface and more. Additionally, the MC13783 gives OEMs a high degree of adaptability for feature scaling across tiered product families, accelerating products to market and cutting time to market and design costs.

"As the capabilities of mobile devices such as 3G handsets continue to expand, developers encounter more challenges with product size and battery life," said Franz Fink, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's Wireless and Mobile Systems Group. "This device addresses both issues with an unmatched level of integration and power control. We're enabling OEMs to push the envelope of product sophistication, form factor and function."

Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), formerly known as ScanSoft and a global leader in speech and imaging solutions, today announced it has named Craig Peddie as vice president and general manager of the embedded speech solutions business for the company's Speech Division. Mr. Peddie will be responsible for the continued growth of Nuance's speech applications in the mobile device and automotive markets. He will report to Steve Chambers, president of Nuance's Speech Solutions Division, and will be based out of Nuance's Menlo Park, California offices.

"Craig's success record and deep experience in the mobile device market will fuel our efforts to proliferate our speech technology and applications across a broad set of mobile devices worldwide," said Steve Chambers, president, Speech Solutions, Nuance. "We will rely heavily on Craig's expertise to precisely target our speech solutions for quick adoption by device manufacturers, and broad acceptance and usage by end-consumers who will interact with speech-powered mobile devices to dial their phones, search for directory listings, voice-navigate MP3 playlists, and much, much more."

Mr. Peddie brings more than two decades of international mobile and consumer electronics device experience to the company. Prior to his new role at Nuance, Mr. Peddie served as vice president and general manager of Tegic Communications, a leading provider of predictive text input software and a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc. Under Mr. Peddie's leadership, Tegic saw its revenues and profits double and the company experienced rapid growth as a result of several global design wins. During his time at Tegic, Mr. Peddie also negotiated a research partnership with Beijing University which led to the development of new methods of Chinese language entry for embedded products and the formation of several local strategic alliances for the company.

"Embedded speech is one of the most effective and efficient ways for people to interact with complex technology applications and devices and Nuance is clearly a leader in this market," said Peddie. "I look forward to building upon the many strategic relationships already in place and expanding the reach of the company to establish new relationships with customers and partners."

Previously Mr. Peddie also held management positions at Motorola, most recently serving as general manager of Motorola's Lexicus Division, focused on the development and licensing of user interface technology including embedded speech recognition applications. While managing the Lexicus Division, Mr. Peddie co-founded the Wireless Village (now part of the Open Mobile Alliance), an international standards organization created to design and promote universal specifications for mobile instant messaging and presence services. Mr. Peddie earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario.

AAA members have embraced a solution that the motor club now offers for a common roadside emergency.

Nearly one million AAA members who experienced starting trouble or complete battery failure have been greeted by a mobile battery service technician trained to solve the problem on the spot.

Once the technician has tested the vehicle's charging system, should a new battery be needed, a AAA-branded battery can be purchased and installed at the roadside, eliminating the need for a tow truck, a visit to the repair shop or a repeat call to AAA for battery service.

The immediate benefit from this on-the-spot service is that a motorist now experiences a convenient solution to a frustrating automotive breakdown.

"This service provides members with increased personalized attention from a certified battery technician," said Margaret Pittelkow, managing director of AAA's Emergency Road Service Network. The mobile battery service program covers most major metropolitan cities in the United States and Canada.

In July, AAA unveiled its own AAA-branded battery which comes with an industry-leading, three-year full replacement, plus a three-year pro-rated warranty through its mobile battery program. The typical life of a car battery is from three to five years.

This month, AAA proudly acknowledges the success of this program and the staff who helped the nation's largest motor club reach its millionth mobile battery benchmark.

"This achievement is the result of many dedicated AAA employees whose drive and commitment to customer service is evidenced by this milestone," affirmed Pittelkow.

AAA is the only motoring club nationwide currently providing members with mobile battery service assistance. This program is available in most metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada, and is provided seven days a week, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. AAA-branded batteries are only offered to members seeking mobile battery service.

The latest in automotive technology including car audio and video, navigation systems, satellite radio, security and telematics will be on display at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES(R)), the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, January 5-8, 2006, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"With more than 300 mobile electronics exhibitors, the International CES is the world's largest showcase for in-car technologies," said Karen Chupka, vice president of events and conferences at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA(R)), the producer of the International CES. "Everyone from top automotive executives and mobile electronics manufacturers to service providers and installers flocks to CES each year to see the latest developments in the $7 billion U.S. mobile electronics market. It's the only show that brings together all the major players in the industry and showcases how mobile electronics play into the overall CE market."

Some of the major mobile electronics exhibitors at CES include Alpine, Audiovox, Blaupunkt, Clarion, Delphi, Directed Electronics, iBiquity, JL Audio, Johnson Controls, Kenwood, Mitek, Pioneer, Rockford, Sony and XM Satellite Radio. The majority of mobile electronics exhibitors are located in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC).

Mobile technology is highlighted on the show floor at two specialized TechZones in the North Hall. The Automotive Aftermarket Showcase features the latest products and accessories in the automotive aftermarket industry, while the Digital Car/Telematics TechZone focuses on convergence, communications, entertainment, navigation and security technologies that make car travel easier and more enjoyable.

With partner programs and more than 40 conference sessions dedicated to mobile electronics, there is a compelling mix of educational opportunities for this market at the 2006 International CES. Attendees can learn industry trends and projections, investigate new technologies, improve installation techniques, enhance retail sales efforts and gain industry certification, all in one place.

The Car Technologies track covers new technologies and recent advances in the mobile electronics market. With sessions such as Opportunities in In-Vehicle Entertainment, Generation GPS and Automotive Telematics: Enabling Vehicles for Wireless Services, the Car Technologies track includes broadband communication, portable digital media, satellite, wireless connectivity and new uses for GPS technology.

3GSM World Congress-- Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL) and Global Locate Inc., plan to create a reference design, featuring the Global Locate Hammerhead® single-die CMOS Assisted GPS chip and Freescale's 3G MXC300 platform. This high performance, cost effective A-GPS reference design is expected to enable operators to comply with government regulations and meet consumer needs for safety and convenience.

Freescale's Mobile eXtreme Convergence (MXC) architecture is flexible, scalable, and easily adapted to the end customer needs. The fully integrated software stack, as part of Freescale's MXC platforms supports industry standard protocols including 3GPP and SUPL.

"Freescale's MXC platforms are designed to make almost anything a smart, mobile device," said Jim Berg, marketing director for Freescale's cellular platform division. "With Global Locate's single-die solution and end-to-end A-GPS expertise, this integrated reference design will give manufacturers the solutions they need to get to market quickly."

The Hammerhead is a highly integrated A-GPS receiver combining LNA, RF Tuner, PLL and baseband functions into a single 7mm x 7mm chip. Global Locate's unique signal processing techniques result in sensitivity to -160dBm, and fix times as fast as 1sec. exceeding industry standards. The result is faster and more robust performance for all location based applications and services. The novel design provides price/performance advantages that are protected by an expanding worldwide Global Locate patent portfolio including 35 issued and over 100 pending patents.

"Global Locate is excited to work with Freescale, a leader in 3G. We share many common design goals such as best-in-class performance, reduced component count, ultra-low stand-by power and fast time-to-market," remarked Donald Fuchs, Executive VP of Business Development for Global Locate.

Evaluation kits featuring Global Locate Hammerhead single-die A-GPS receiver and the Freescale MXC300 platform are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2006.

Microsemi Corp. (Nasdaq:MSCC) announced today that orders are accelerating for its patented RangeMAX(R) backlight inverter technology destined for multimedia display systems of next-generation automotive applications.

Orders received over the last 3 months have reached $1.5 million. The company previously expected RangeMAX revenues from this automotive application of $1 million this fiscal year.

The ramp in production orders confirms the acceleration of Microsemi display products in the automotive market, as well as acceptance of the company's patented technologies which provide proprietary dimming and temperature-resilient features for cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL).

The dominant portion of this business will be in support of navigation and Auto PC systems for the major German automakers.

Microsemi's RangeMAX product has wide market acceptance in the color PDA market where the company continues to provide efficient CCFL lighting solutions to Palm and Pocket PC manufacturers Compaq and Hewlett Packard as well as a number of notebook PC manufacturers. New applications in the Web pad and electronic book market are providing additional business growth for the RangeMAX line, Microsemi indicated.

"We are pleased with the rapid adoption of our lighting technologies for these mobile multimedia applications," commented Roger Holliday, vice president of product development for the Power Management Products Group that created the technology.

"Quite frankly, we did not expect orders for these applications to accelerate so quickly. In fact, the order rates we are receiving today are what we expected for next year!"

Commenting further on the acceptance of RangeMAX products, Holliday observed that high-end European automotive manufacturers like BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes plan to include these new multimedia display systems as standard features in their cars. A number of lower-priced vehicles will offer the navigation systems as options, he said.

Microsemi engineers have optimized RangeMAX inverters for automotive applications, providing wider-range dimming features (300:1), safety features, efficiency optimization as well as features designed to optimize performance in temperatures found in an automotive operating environment.

Microsemi also announced plans to introduce a new automotive backlight circuit, the LX1687, in the fall of 2001. The new circuit will add a number of "off-chip" functions to the current LX1686 chip, functions previously implemented using external discrete devices.

The LX1687 will provide a simpler solution that will sharply reduce the number components required to drive the lamps, again taking into account automotive safety requirements, and optimizing the full temperature operating properties of the patented product.

"We are pragmatically targeting and developing a complete set of product technologies for multimedia mobile and wireless applications," commented Manuel Lynch, Microsemi vice president of marketing and business development.

"Our ability to reapply intellectual property we developed for the laptop and PC marketplace to a virtually untapped market like automotive in-dash displays is typical of an emerging theme at Microsemi. We continue to be successful in identifying new applications and markets where we can be a market leader in providing system solutions.

"Our success in color PDAs is now being mirrored as leading automotive manufacturers begin to place initial production orders."

ENCIRQ Corporation, the leading provider of data-centric software for intelligent devices, announced today that John Smolucha will speak at Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley. ESC Silicon Valley runs April 3-7, 2006 at San Jose's McEnery Convention Center. ENCIRQ is also exhibiting at booth #1902.

Mr. Smolucha will host two 90-minute sessions entitled, "Software Performance Optimizations for Mobile Devices." The first session (ESC-343) is Wednesday, April 5, from 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. The second session (WIR-961) is Thursday, April 6, from 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Both sessions explore successful software development strategies for meeting challenging market requirements while optimizing device performance, resource usage, and shortening time-to-market.

The volume and complexity of data within mobile intelligent devices has grown tremendously, fueled by a new generation of content delivered over a variety of high-speed connections. Mobile device manufacturers are under increasing pressure to differentiate by delivering new data-driven features and functionality while optimizing device performance and resource usage to minimize electronic bill of materials costs. Session attendees will become better prepared to deal with these challenges by gaining insights into innovative, data-centric techniques for optimizing software performance in mobile devices.

The sessions will include a case study involving an award-winning mobile handset made by a leading Japanese OEM. The mobile handset featured high-end graphics, advanced user interface capabilities and exceptionally long battery life, and was developed with ENCIRQ technology.

Mr. Smolucha possesses an in-depth understanding of the challenges facing software developers in the mobile device industry. Prior to ENCIRQ, he was director of business development and strategy for the Wireless and Mobile Systems group at Freescale Semiconductor. He also has over a dozen years of first-hand experience as a developer of embedded, real-time systems.

About ENCIRQ

ENCIRQ Corporation, the pioneer in data-centric software for intelligent devices, is enabling a new era of data-driven capabilities and services. ENCIRQ offers a unique, data-centric application framework that provides device manufacturers and related software providers with a simpler, more efficient approach to building the software that powers award-winning products. Customers worldwide in the wireless, digital consumer electronics, automotive and networking industries use the ENCIRQ® Data Foundation(TM) Framework to accelerate innovation while reducing complexity, cost and time to market. Founded in 1998, ENCIRQ is headquartered in Burlingame, CA.

Distributed Speech Recognition (DSR) technology makes wireless-based

information and services more readily accessible from automobiles

L&H Automotive Solutions Group, a business unit of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV (Nasdaq Europe: LHSP; OTC: LHSPQ) (`L&H' or `the Company'), a world leader in speech and language technology, products and services, today announced that it has introduced Distributed Speech Recognition (DSR) technology to the automotive market. DSR greatly enhances the performance of mobile communications devices and primarily addresses the automotive market, giving drivers greater access to information and transaction services via wireless systems such as telematics.

L&H's client-server based DSR allows mobile devices themselves, such as vehicle-based GSM communications devices, to recognize spoken commands. These commands are then converted into digital data and transmitted via a wireless link to a server, where processing is completed or the desired information, such as email messages, is returned. DSR employs L&H's unique noise-robust data processing modules, which ensure a high level of accuracy in recognizing voice commands, and offers two distinct benefits:

- No loss of information as speech pre-processing and data compression occur at
the source;

- The processing of the user's request takes place on the server and
therefore requires less processing power from the mobile device

Both of these advantages give users of mobile devices access to a broader range of information and wireless-based services, with the added benefit of lower transmission costs due to the reduced airtime required when using DSR.

L&H's DSR technology can be supported by a vast array of today's mobile devices, including PDAs, hybrid PIM telephones, mobile phone handsets, telematic systems, as well as remote-controlled devices for the home and industry. With the introduction of DSR, a greater number of telematic-based services in particular, such as mobile commerce and enhanced emergency vehicle assistance, will be more readily available to consumers.

Commenting on DSR, Scott Pyles, vice president of sales and marketing at L&H Automotive Solutions Group, said: "Safety and convenience for the driver are the primary focus of automakers with respect to automotive products and services. Distributed Speech Recognition will allow more automakers, mobile device manufacturers, and service providers to offer drivers the safety and convenience of a speech recognition interface. DSR-based interfaces give greater access to the wireless information and services that today's drivers are increasingly demanding. In addition to lowering operating costs, DSR allows drivers to use their mobile devices without taking their eyes off the road or removing their hands from the steering wheel. Overall, DSR gives automobile owners a richer and safer driving experience." Mr. Pyles added, "DSR is one of many examples of L&H's ongoing commitment to deliver proven, progressive speech technologies to our automotive customers and further develop the global market for speech technology in the automotive sector."

About L&H Automotive Solutions Group

Focused on meeting the needs of the automotive industry and its customers, the Automotive Solutions Group is the largest provider of complete automotive solutions from the broadest array of technologies designed to be integrated onto one platform and serving one application. Speech recognition, speaker verification, information content management, and text-to-speech provide solutions to OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and aftermarket product manufacturers in the growing markets of navigation telematics, multi-media entertainment, and hands-free communication. In addition to providing custom engineering development, the Automotive Solutions Group is a valuable source of consulting for platform, architecture, audio circuit, and application development.

Barko's two newest forestry machines have sole sourced hydraulics from Parker Hannifin ... is it a system? ... the customer thinks so

The off-highway equipment industry in general, and the world of mobile hydraulics specifically, have each long been talking about the supply of complete systems as being part of the collective future. Certainly with Tier 1 thinking starting to drift down from automotive and heavy-duty on-highway, along with the ongoing reduction of suppliers, it seems only a matter of time before complete systems become part of at least some of the business.

In the meantime, the debate over exactly what is a system will continue. The jury is still out on the actual definition and thinking varies from manufacturer to manufacturer as to whether sourcing the major cost components of a machine, from one supplier, is a good idea or not.

However, while the debate continues, the newly introduced Barko 375 crawler, and the Barko 225 trailer/track mount loader, both have sourced their entire hydraulic system from a single supplier, Parker Hannifin's Mobile Sales Division, Mr. Prospect, Ill.

In this case, the customer certainly thinks of it as a system.

"We made the decision that with the 225 and 375, we would source the hydraulics as a system," said Dennis Healy, vice president sales & marketing, Barko Hydraulics, Duluth, Minn. "We've worked with everyone out there and we've always had a mix of components in our products. This time we went with a full system."

Barko President Bill Hanson echoed the sentiment, "We decided that we need to focus our efforts on developing specifications for our new machines. We will no longer try to be experts on all the different motion and control technologies, as in the past. Parker worked with us on a total system basis. It's their core business. Forestry equipment is ours."

Barko's 375 crawler and 225 trailer/truck mount loader were officially introduced in mid-1997, with production beginning later this year. Healy said both machines are "gap fillers," fitting into Barko's line where the company previously did not have a specific model.

The self-propelled model 375 crawler, Healy said, was developed for tially scrap handling, but will also find forestry use in mill wood yards. At 26,500 lb. maximum lift capacity at 15 ft. radius, the new crawler fits between the company's model 275, which has a maximum lift capacity of 20,000 lb. at 15 ft. radius, and the larger model 475 with 33,000 lb. max. lift capacity at 15 ft. radius. Engine power is a Cummins 6BTA5.9 diesel rated 166 hp.

Barko's new model 225 is a trailer/truck mount loader specifically for forestry use. "The 225 fills a range we've needed for a few years," Healy said. "It fits between our model 160 with a 20,000 lb. maximum lift capacity, and the model 275."

The model 225 has a maximum lift capacity of 28,000 lb. at 10 ft. radius, with a 32 ft. straight boom. Power is a 140 hp Cummins 6BT5.9 diesel. "The 225 also fits with an application change we've seen in the market, in that it needs a lot more swing torque than previous models, to operate pull-through delimbers. The new on-demand hydraulic system allows us to do that."

The process that resulted in Barko using a complete Parker Hannifin hydraulic system began largely because of electronics. According to Ian Keyworth, regional manager, Parker Hannifin, Mobile Sales Division, they had been talking with Barko about Parker's new IQAN electronic control system.

"The starting point was electronics," Keyworth said. "The upgraded, 'plug and play' electronic capabilities of our new system is what got all of us thinking about a complete system for the 375. And while the 225 is not electronically controlled, the discussion of a system was expanded to include that machine, as Barko was working on both models in parallel."

The IQAN, said Peter Stambro, Parker Hannifin mobile account manager, is an electronic control, can-bus system, developed by Parker. It controls all the hydraulic functions of the machine and includes a display, that also serves as the dashboard.

The display module allows the user to set all the parameters, as well as being able to monitor virtually every function of the machine including engine speed and hours, along with a variety of oil levels, pressures and temperatures. The system also has a number of alarms, both audible and on the display screen.

The operator can troubleshoot the machine via the display, as well as changing parameters to fit a specific application. Software updates can be done with a laptop computer and new software can be downloaded via the Internet. The electronics also work in reverse, allowing vehicle operating data to be collected, stored and analyzed. A separate electronic control module (ECM), the brains of the system, is generally located in or near the cab.

The hydraulic system for the 375 machine, Stambro said, is a 4500 psi load sensing system with power management. The system starts with a pair of Parker's model V30Z-95 variable displacement pumps, packaged in tandem back-to-back, and driven directly off the engine. These are two 95 cc pumps, giving the system 105 gpm total at 2000 rpm. Stambro said this is the first application of these new pumps in a forestry/material handling application.