Embedded Technology Journal Update

a techfocus media publication :: October 16, 2007 :: volume IX, no. 03

FROM THE EDITOR

This week, we delve into the den of industrial automation where off-the-shelf protocols like Ethernet are rapidly replacing aging proprietary and domain-specific standards – reducing cost and improving reliability. Our latest feature takes a look at the expanding ecosystem for Freescale’s new MPC8360E-RDK development kit which now supports EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet protocols with ready-to-roll optimized binary stacks to support those protocols.

Thanks for reading! If there's anything we can do to make our publications more useful to you, please let us know at: comments@embeddedtechjournal.com. If you'd rather sound off in public, please post your comments or questions in our new Journal Forums.

Kevin Morris – Editor
Embedded Technology Journal

EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Configurable PMCs put an FPGA to work

Download a free whitepaper from VMETRO about using configurable FPGA-based PMCs with swappable I/O adapter modules.

Click here to download.

Introducing Precision RTL Plus
Precision RTL Plus is the latest addition to the Precision Synthesis family of products which builds on Precision RTL by delivering a vendor-independent solution for breakthrough productivity. Precision RTL Plus provides three industry-first capabilities for every designer, regardless of level of expertise, to reach timing closure faster, minimize the impact of late cycle design changes and make efficient use of FPGA architectural blocks.
Learn more about Precision RTL Plus!

Did you miss the ARM Developers' Conference?
Join Amelia Dalton, host of Journal Webcasts for Journal Webcasts' coverage of the ARM Developers' Conference. Journal Webcasts brings you interviews with key participants, booth visits, and quite a few other surprises from from the ARM Developers' Conference & Design Pavilion.
Click here to register

Free Job Postings on Journaljobs.com
JournalJobs.com – the job board for FPGA Journal and Embedded Technology Journal is now re-launching with a host of new features and capabilities. In celebration of JournalJobs.com grand re-opening, we’re offering free job postings through October 31, 2007. Go online, post a job, pay nothing, and watch for those qualified resumes to come knocking on your inbox.
Click here to post your job listing on Journaljobs.com

CURRENT FEATURE ARTICLES

Industrial Revolution
Freescale Helps Consolidate Control
From Servers to Smartphones
Virtualization Invades Embedded
Happy Birthday
Embedded Tech Journal Turns Two
Breaking New Ground
ARM Dev Con and Stuff
Ritual Ring
Behind the Canadian Engineering Obligation
Simplifying Storage
Freescale Family Targets SMB, SOHO, Consumer
Expanding IP Horizons
MIPS Acquires Chipidea
Mediocre Embedded Systems?
by Dick Selwood, Embedded Technology Journal

JOURNAL WEBCASTS

Did you miss the ARM Developers' Conference? Join Amelia Dalton for Journal Webcasts' coverage of the event - it'll be just like you were there! (Journal Webcasts)

Video Processing: Making the Picture Clear
(Texas Instruments)

Tips to Avoid Simultaneous Switching Output (SSO) Noise Problems (Lattice)

Leverage the best performance and debug features with the latest release of ModelSim (Mentor Graphics)

LatticeXP2 FPGAs: SRAM + Embedded Flash = No Compromise, Full-Featured Non-Volatile FPGA Design Solutions (Lattice)

Learn to Design with Stratix III FPGAs’ Programmable Power Technology & Selectable Core Voltage (Altera)

Industrial Revolution
Freescale Helps Consolidate Control

The industrial automation and control field is an ever-changing mish-mash of protocols, standards, and conventions. Recently, there has been a wave of replacement sweeping the networking standards space as proprietary and legacy standards give way to more cost-effective off-the-shelf solutions such as Ethernet. The advantages of Ethernet-based networking are probably obvious – high availability of low-cost, high-reliability infrastructure, built-in future-proofing, very high bandwidth by industrial control standards, and the ability to integrate more smoothly with other types of equipment that are not part of the traditional industrial automation ecosystem.

As these standards shift, however, we transition through one of those normal, painful states where a mixture of standards is deployed in many large systems as new devices are added and replaced incrementally and combined with still-in-service legacy gear. Given that industrial controls tend to be safety-critical, there are also myriad certifications that must be completed before bringing a new product to market.

If you’re designing a new industrial control product, and you want to stay one step ahead of your competitors, you’re probably not counting on a proprietary network standard or the excellent job you’ll do getting certification as the big differentiators that will put you ahead of the pack. Chances are, those aspects of your design are mostly busywork tasks that cost you money, slow you down, and don’t gain you any ground on the field. What you’d like is to spend your time and energy on the parts of your project that make it cool, and let someone else manage the mundane. [more]