New on Embedded.com
Exclusives
Bill Boldt and Allen Watkins
Layout & bypass guidelines for high performance video amp/filter boards
Pushkar Nandkar and Bala Satish Gurlinka
Performance versus power in capacitive touch sensing designs
Highlights
Internet Protocol infiltrates low-power machine-to-machine networks
What belongs in a header file
Editor's Note
The big news in the closing days of ESC was Intel Corp’s move to a 22 nm trigate vertical 3D FinFET CMOS structure for use in nextgen CPUs. That news is still reverberating in the embedded systems community this week. For the first time the company may be a jump ahead of ARM Ltd. and its licensees in many embedded and mobile apps, and may also be able to cut off a move by ARM into PCs and servers .
The move is a big gamble. As noted in “ Leakage power – its worse than you think,” the primary limiter of scaling in nanometer CMOS processes is leakage, which gets worse as you go vertical. Perhaps Intel is hoping that the new FinFET (Fin-Shaped Field Effect Transistor) CMOS structure will give it a big lead – maybe as much as a year or more – on its competitors. But ARM and its partners are not far behind, with several ARM test chips implemented with FinFETs, and the semiconductor foundries they use readying the necessary tooling.
Also of interest this week: optimizing data flow video apps with ARM/FPGA combos, Google’s plans to unify the Android platforms, moving MEMS into embedded apps, and balancing power versus performance in capacitive touch sensor designs.
(Postscript: To get more visibility on Embedded.com for your new hardware and software product introductions, send your press releases to Embedded.com Products Editor Toni McConnel at toni@techrite-associates.com. To submit ideas for design articles and product how-to’s, contact me at bccole@acm.org. }
Design How Tos
Layout & bypass guidelines for high performance video amp/filter boards
The authors provide some basic layout and bypassing guidelines when designing high performance video amplifier/filter boards
Performance versus power in capacitive touch sensing designs
This article discusses some standard capacitive sensing elements and applications with a focus on balancing power consumption and response time in the design of capacitive sensing interfaces.
MOST150 optimizes data bus efficiency
The MOST150 infotainment bus system is about to take the place of earlier MOST systems. With its high bandwidth which can be utilized up to nearly 100%, MOST150 is a viable platform for advanced next-gen infotainment systems. Daimler already has gathered experience with the new bus.
Observing the universe in the submillimeter spectral region
In this article, CEA-Leti takes us to the heart of Herschel, ESA's giant infrared observatory Herschel in space.
Electric hub motor improves EV range: Part 1—Technology basics
“Electronic gearbox” control circuitry requires less power, boosting range.
Self-adaptive RF digital signal processing enables wireless network spectral efficiency
Although radio access technologies have made remarkable advancements in the last decade, the predominant methods for dealing with interference remain mired in the 1950s
Optimize data flow video apps by tightly coupling ARM-based CPUs to FPGA fabrics
In this Product How-To, iVeia's Michael Fawcett describes how combining an ARM-based TI OMAP CPU and Xilinx FPGAs can be used to design a system for handling rich data-flow video processing apps via the inherent parallel structure of an FPGA fabric.
How to build a fast, custom FFT from C
How C-to-FPGA tools enable software developers to push FFT algorithms into the body of an FPGA…
Aircraft structures take advantage of energy harvesting implementations
In an aircraft environment there are a number of “free” energy sources available to power such sensors. Two obvious methods are thermal energy harvesting and piezoelectric energy harvesting. Each has pros and cons and will be discussed in more detail.
Agile embedded software development
Developers flee engineering for marketing and management. Why? Big processes are not delivering, and neither is coding chaos. This author says Agile helps address the problems of late projects, high defect levels, and stressed teams.
Design optimization of flip-chip packages integrating USB 3.0
USB 3.0 is rapidly being adopted by a growing number of system level companies, spawning many integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) to develop new chips to address this need. USB 3.0 supports data transfer rates up to 4.2 Gbits/sec, creating new challenges for IC package designers and signal integrity engineers that must be addressed as part of the high-speed SERDES design process.
Differentiating your Android-based embedded device
In this Product How-To article, Mentor Graphics' Philip Burr provides a few tips to developers who want the low development cost that the Android standard provides, but want to differentiate their designs from competitive devices using the same platform.
Embedded Systems Conference Chicago
Register today for the Embedded Systems Conference Chicago in June for the most complete embedded conference this summer!
Attend and be part of the most valuable and efficient professional development you will experience all year. See, learn and get hands-on training on emerging embedded products and technologies.
In-depth conference tracks: • Designing for embedded Linux or Android • Graphics, displays, and lighting • Medical systems • Networking and connectivity • Open-source software • Project management • Real-time system development • Robotics and motion control • Safety and security in a Stuxnet world • Software debugging techniques
This year, ESC Chicago is bigger, better and more exciting than ever with 3 days of comprehensive training and an expansive expo floor.
Highlights include:
For more information on ESC Chicago 2011, including registration, please visit our web site: esc.eetimes.com/chicago
Product News
Microchip rolls Accessory Development Kits for Android
Microchip Technology Inc.'s Accessory Development Starter Kits for Android enable accessory development for Google's Android platform.
Wind River accelerates OpenSAF-based high availability systems development
Wind River and GoAhead Software have partnered to provide a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution for an open source platform integrating industry standards-based high availability and Linux.
DTI rolls Intel Westmere-based AdvancedTCA processor blade
The ATC7000 from Diversified Technology, Inc. (DTI) is a dual socket node blade supporting 12 cores (24 simultaneous threads with HyperThreading enabled) of processing performance by way of dual Intel Xeon 5600 series Westmere processors.
Parade houses USB 3.0 dual repeater in tiny package
Housed in a 32-pin 3x6mm TQFN, Parade claims its latest device is the smallest dual port USB 3.0 redriver available.
Eurotech's CPU-1440 low power PC/104+ board includes ISA and DOS Support
Eurotech has launched the CPU-1440, a new low power PC/104+ module based on the Vortex86DX processor. Consuming less than 4W of power and featuring fanless operation, the CPU-1440 provides x86 compatibility for legacy applications using DOS as well as for more current PC/104+ embedded applications using Linux and Windows CE.
ORBexpress for Android connects Android apps to any platform, anywhere
ORBexpress for Android from Objective Interface Systems, Inc. (OIS) enables application developers to connect their Android apps to any platform, anywhere. Developers also can use ORBexpress to solve the Android device fragmentation problem by using a standard interface on all platforms.
Embedded MPU integrates 2x ARM Cortex A9 cores
STMicroelectronics introduced its new embedded microprocessor with advanced multimedia capabilities.
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