a techfocus media publication :: April 15, 2008 :: volume XI, no. 03

FROM THE EDITOR

This week, Bryon Moyer brings us back a report from the Multicore expo.  Multicore and multi-processing in general have been a focus topic for us recently (and will continue to be for a several more weeks).  This time, Bryon brings us the latest from a comfy little conference focused just on this topic.

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Kevin Morris – Editor-in-Chief
Techfocus Media, Inc.

EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Actel’s new IGLOO® PLUS family of FPGAs delivers unrivaled low-power at 5µW with enhanced I/O capabilities in a feature-rich programmable device, offering up to 64% more I/Os than Actel’s award-winning IGLOO family of FPGAs. Learn more about Actel’s IGLOO PLUS FPGA.


Powering FPGA-Based Systems … Simply
DC/DC µModuleTM regulators are complete system-in-package power supplies, ready to power your FPGA-based systems. These powerful DC/DC circuits include the inductor and MOSFETs and are simplified to resemble an IC. From low to high power, these DC/DC µModule systems are backed by Linear Technology’s rigorous testing.
Click here for more


High Efficiency Power Supply Design for FPGA-Based Systems. Performance of FPGA-based systems depends on the electrical and thermal performance of DC/DC regulators. A properly packaged power management device improves regulation accuracy and stability while removing heat quickly. DC/DC µModuleTM regulators from Linear Technology are complete system-in-package power supplies in an IC form-factor with optimum layout and very low thermal impedance.
Click here for more


Xilinx Virtex(r) -5 FPGA Development kit for PCIe(r)
Cut design time, power and cost with built-in PCIe block.
Get started now with this PCI-SIG compliant solution from Xilinx.
Buy kit


Mixed-Signal ASICs from ChipX

  1. USB 2.0 & PCI Express ASIC Designs and FPGA conversion
  2. USB-IF & PCI-SIG certified ASICs
  3. Standard Cell, Hybrid ASIC and Structured ASIC solutions
  4. Low NRE, fast Time to Market, USB & PCIe ASIC platforms

Win a PCIe Development Board click here


NEW!! IC Journal - Do you love Embedded Tech Journal? We're happy to announce our new IC Design and Verification Journal.  It'll be just like Embedded Tech Journal except, you know, about ASICs and stuff. 
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CURRENT FEATURE ARTICLES

Multicore Momentum
The Multicore Expo Bulks Up
(Bryon Moyer)
Java Earning Its Wings
Aonix Makes Real Time Almost Safety Critical

(Bryon Moyer)
MIPS Moves on Multi-Core
MIPS32 1004K (Kevin Morris)
As Easy As Pie
(Bryon Moyer)

Embedded World
(Dick Selwood)
Bringing Reality to PCB Design
by Rob Irwin, Altium Limited

JOURNAL WEBCASTS

CHALK TALK Low Cost FPGA with Serdes Lattice ECP2M Amelia Dalton talks with Bertrand Leigh of Lattice Semiconductor about low-cost FPGAs with multi-gigabit SerDes interface capability. (Lattice Semiconductor)

CHALK TALK Crossing the Gap between Algorithm and Hardware Implementation. Join Amelia Dalton as she learns how C++ and Catapult C Synthesis can accelerate the design, implementation, and verification of complex system-level algorithms. (Mentor Graphics)

Approaching Yield in the Nanometer Age-DFM Methodology. As we dive deeper into the nanometer era, we must rethink the way we design. Tools, techniques, and methods that once worked without fail cannot hold up at the 65 and 45nm depths, making it more challenging than ever to achieve yield. This tutorial explores these challenges within both the business and historical context of the IC design and manufacturing process. (Mentor Graphics)

CHALK TALK CES 2008. Did you miss CES? Amelia Dalton didn't! Watch Journal Webcasts coverage of the event now.

CHALK TALK Meeting The Challenges of FPGA Design With Synplify Premier. Join Amelia Dalton as she investigates several new design technologies that address the top challenges faced by FPGA designers today. (Synplicity)

CHALK TALK Accelerate SoC and ASIC Verification Using FPGA Prototypes. Join Amelia Dalton as she explores methods of ASIC verification available today and why FPGA-based prototypes offer the most affordable and most powerful solution. (Synplicity)


CHALK
TALK
Advancing SoC Verification Methods.
Join Amelia Dalton as she talks with experts from Mentor Graphics on processor-driven test and other techniques for solving your system-on-chip verification problems. (Mentor Graphics)


Multicore Momentum
The Multicore Expo Bulks Up

(Bryon Moyer)


A couple years ago a small ragtag conference took place in Santa Clara just before the relative behemoth Embedded Systems Conference. “Ragtag” might be a bit unfair, but it seemed that way only when compared to the much larger and better-funded conferences; perhaps “scrappy” is a better characterization. This was just a start, the first edition of the Multicore Expo, and at the time, many in multicore seemed to be grasping for relevance. The participants were all sure multicore was guaranteed in the future, but there was no swagger in the strut. Would multicore go mainstream this year? Next year?

The 2008 edition just finished, and one step into the presentation room provided a very different feel. According to organizer Markus Levy, this year’s conference was about double the size of last year’s. And the atmosphere was much more confident; this is the real deal. They had to add chairs to some of the conference rooms to accommodate the number of people in attendance. [more]

LATEST NEWS

April 15, 2008

Zensys Picks Kilopass XPM Memory for Wireless Remote Control Applications, The Next Generation of Home Control and Automation

Renesas Technology Continues to Lead the Embedded Microcontroller Market and Now Aims to Increase its Global Market Share to 30 Percent

Mentor Graphics Accelerates ''Smart'' User Interface Innovation with Nucleus Software Platform for Atmel Microcontrollers

ADLINK Announces Powerful COM Express Module for Advanced Computation and Graphics

NEC Electronics Europe Announces New High Temperature Optocoupler Devices

Express Logic Announces ThreadX® RTOS and USBX™ USB Support for Luminary Micro’s New Stellaris® LM3S3000/LM3S5000 Series Microcontrollers

ARM Joins Synplicity’s ReadyIP Program

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms Announces NETernity™ RM981RC Gigabit Ethernet Switch

MontaVista Mobilinux for Texas Instruments OMAP3430 Processor Unveiled at Embedded Systems Conference

Eclipse Expands Open Source Technologies for Embedded and Mobile Developers

Micrium Extends Support to Luminary Micro’s New USB-Enabled Stellaris® Microcontrollers

Microchip Technology Debuts World’s Lowest Power Large-memory 16-bit USB Microcontroller Family - Only 16-bit MCU With OTG

VirtualLogix Unveils VLX Support for Power Architectures™

Netrino Launches Embedded Software Boot Camp: Hands-on Training Program to Improve Embedded Skills

Freescale i.MX27 IP Camera Reference Design Delivers High Resolution H.264 Compression Technology

April 14, 2008

ARM Enhances Feature Set of Popular Cortex-M3 Processor for Extreme Low-Power Functionality

Atmel and TimeSys Announce Embedded Linux Support for AT91CAP Customizable Microcontrollers

ARM and Express Logic Enhance Out-Of-Box Experience for ThreadX Development With RealView Tools

MIPS Technologies to Showcase Digital Entertainment, Networking and Microcontroller Innovations at ESC 2008

MontaVista Provides Embedded Linux® Commercialization for New AMCC PowerPC 460EX and 460GT Processors

Freescale ColdFire® LCD Devices Enable Developers to “Add Touch” to Industrial HMI Applications

Renesas Technology Introduces Industrys First Interactive Software and Hardware Demonstration Platforms, the Sub-Atomic Particle Boards for Microcontrollers

Aonix Speeds PERC® Ultra with Performance Boosting Features

AMCC Introduces Low-Cost Evaluation Kits for High-Performance PowerPC 460EX and 460GT Processors

Freescale Dual-Core Processor Simplifies Embedded Linux® OS-Based Design

April 14, 2008 (continued)

Renesas Technology Expands R32C/100 Series With 50 New MCUs With Fast On-chip Flash and Peripheral Sets for Automotive Applications, Among Others

AMCC’s PowerPC 440EPx Embedded Processor Selected By Continuous Computing for its Fully-Integrated FlexTCA System

MontaVista Software Supports Embedded Linux Commercialization for New Xilinx Virtex-5 FXT FPGAs

Renesas Technology Announces SH-MobileR2, Multimedia Host Processor With Integrated H.264/MPEG-4 Video Engine for Next Generation Multimedia Applications

Parasoft Embedded Debuts the Next-Generation of Embedded and Real-Time Systems Quality Solution at Embedded Systems Conference

Corelis’ CodeSymphony™, an Eclipse-Based Development Environment, is extended to support AMCC’s latest platforms, the PowerPC 460EX Canyonlands and the 460GT Glacier

April 11, 2008

congatec AG Expands to Address U.S. Market

Ampro Promoted to Silver-level Windows Embedded Partner

Freescale Presents Solutions for a Greener, Healthier and Better Connected World at Embedded Systems Conference

April 10, 2008

Corsair Receives 80 PLUS® "Green" Certification On All Power Supply Units

Horizon Semiconductors Announces Industry's Smallest Form-Factor, Stand-Alone High Definition Multi-Standard Transcoder Reference Platform

Jungo Unveils USBHOST Tester™ Solution For Comprhensive Embedded USB Host Testing

April 9, 2008

IAR Systems announces native hardware debug and C++ compiler support for Microchip Technology’s 16-bit PIC24 MCUs and dsPIC33F DSCs

Texas Instruments showcases leading technologies and solutions at Embedded Systems Conference, Silicon Valley

Actel Discusses Low Power and Power Management at ESC Silicon Valley

Lattice FPGA Enables Lost Cost Programmable SDI Solution At NAB

eCosCentric Bundles eXtremeDB™ with eCosPro® Developer's Kit, Helps eCos Users Kick 'Homegrown' Database Habit

Datakey Electronics, Inc. releases Immersion-Rated Portable Data Carrier System

Ambric to Showcase the New aDesigner Tool Suite and the Am2045 MPPA and Development Board; and Participate in the Multicore Technical Track at ESC 2008

ZeroG Wireless Announces Innovation in Embedded Wi-Fi Design

SMSC Expands Its Ethernet Product Portfolio with High-Performance Switch, PCI Ethernet and USB to Ethernet Solution


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