Downloadable firmware in a flash
by Bill Gatliff
Looking for a way to update flash-based firmware? This article describes a handy software architecture for doing just that. The approach is demonstrated with source code to help you avoid common mistakes

The message is the medium
by Girish Keshav Palshikar
One way to describe a real-time system is to enumerate its interactions with its environment. Message sequence charts are a simple, rigorous, graphical, and intuitive notation specifically tailored to capture such interactions. MSCs are popular in telecom and, owing to similarities to UML, are used increasingly in many other domains.

Optimal C constructs for the 8051
by Nigel Jones
A comprehensive examination of the assembly code produced by Keil's v8 C compiler for the 8051, this article offers a set of recommendations, with sample code for structuring C optimally.

#include
Let's go wireless
by Michael Barr

Murphy's Law
More prototyping tips
by Niall Murphy
Niall delves more deeply into the benefits of prototyping a user interface on a PC. He shares pointers on graphics, gotchas, and event scheduling.

Beginner's Corner
Introduction to JTAG
by Rob Oshana
Surface-mount technology rang the death knell for bed-of-nails testing. That's why a consortium of companies called the Joint Test Access Group came together to define a standard for boundary-scan testing of ICs and boards. Here's a primer.

Significant Bits
The death of ASICs
by Jim Turley
The days of custom logic are numbered. The history and evolution of microprocessors point the way.

Break Points
Electronic election day
by Jack G. Ganssle
Will electronic voting rule us or we it? Jack steps into the shoes of a futuristic reporter to spin a frightening-but all too possible-future.