The future of programmable logic
by Bob Zeidman
Before long, platform FPGAs containing fixed or configurable processors and custom hardware will dominate the field of hardware design. By then, hardware/software codesign will be the norm.

A wireless odyssey
by Larry Mittag
Once embedded systems designers can assume ubiquitous wireless communications, some really interesting things might happen. But ad hoc network architectures and increased public access to previously regulated bandwidth will be key.

Embedded processors of tomorrow
by Jim Turley
Goodbye binary arithmetic, instruction sets, and assembly language programming. Hello 4.5-billion transistor, 250GHz processors. O brave new embedded world!

MEMS: Amazing little machines
by Nick Tredennick and Brion Shimamoto
Developments in the field of semiconductors are leading to integrated circuits with three-dimensional features and even moving parts. Such devices, called microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), can resolve many problems that a microprocessor plus software or hardwired ASIC cannot.

#include
Ebb and flow
by Michael Barr
Although many technological advances have occurred along the way, much of what embedded systems designers do hasn’t changed since this magazine was launched fifteen years ago.

Programmer's Toolbox
It's only logical
by Jack Crenshaw
From Aristotle to George Boole, Jack traces a history of logic and then explains how to simplify Boolean equations.

Break Points
An embedded life
by Jack G. Ganssle
Jack takes a long, nostalgic, and very personal look back to the early days of embedded systems development.

Beginner's Corner
Introduction to direct memory access
by Stuart Ball
Implementing direct memory access is straightforward, once you know how it works and how to configure your DMA controller. Here's a primer on this most efficient means of moving data around in a system.

Programming Pointers
Abstract types using C
by Dan Saks
Classes are the most useful feature that C++ offers over C. This month Dan shows you why this is so and how to approximate classes in C.