Embedded Systems articles from February 2002

Embedded Systems archives from February 2002

Cyan 16bit MCU cuts power requirements. (Microcontrollers).(Cyan Technology)
February 1, 2002... Cyan Technology, the Cambridge-based fabless developer of l6bit Flash-based microcontrollers has introduced its eCOGI device. It is a is a low power MCU based on a 16-bit Harvard architecture with a 24 bit word code address space (32Mbyte) and...

Internal upgrade provides improved efficiency. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... You will have received this issue of Embedded Systems in a different envelope than before--you mean you didn't notice. Since our last issue in November there have been a number of changes to the publishing of the magazine--however there is one...

CodeTEST for LynxOS. (In Brief).(Applied Microsystems Corp. development)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Applied Microsystems has released its CodeTEST 3.5 test and analysis teal suite for the LynuxWorks' LynxOS RTOs. The combination should provide a robust development platform for application developers.

PreQUAL for Bluetooth. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... PreQual 2.2 is for testing and qualifying Bluetooth protocols and application profiles. This version is now fully integrated within the IAR concept and contains test suites for additional application profiles.

Dy 4 joins with Force. (In Brief).(Dy 4 Systems becomes part of Force Computers after merger with C-MAC Industries)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Dy 4 Systems has became a business unit of Solectron subsidiary, Force Computers, following the merger of Solectron with C-MAC Industries. Dy 4, which makes ruggedised embedded computing products for the defence and aerospace markets. It will...

Migrating WindRiver. (In Brief).(Embedix BridgeWorks)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Embedix BridgeWorks VX and PS allows developers of applications initially built on WindRiver operating systems to migrate application code to run on the Linux operating system. They are said to be the first hard real-time solutions for porting...

Silicon for Siroyan. (In Brief).(Siroyan Ltd., SRU322 test chip )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... First design from Siroyan based on its OneDSP architecture is the SRU322 test chip which is a complete SoC design. The device provides a DSP performance of up to 800 MMACs at 200MHz. Peripherals include a 15K instruction cache, 16K data cache,...

MontaVista strengthens IBM links. (Linux).(MontaVista Software Inc., International Business Machines Corp. sign technology agreement )
February 1, 2002... IBM and MontaVista Software have signed a technology agreement under which MontaVista's embedded Linux platform will expand its support for the IBM PowerPC microprocessor. The agreement should ensure the IBM PowerPC microprocessors are...

NewLogic Bluetooth IP from Mentor. (Bluetooth).(NewLogic Technologies AG, intellectual property, Mentor Graphics Corp.; NewLogic Bluetooth BOOST IP family )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Mentor Graphics and NewLogic, a supplier of Bluetooth design solutions, have signed a marketing agreement that allows system-on-chip (SoC)designers to license Bluetooth silicon intellectual property (IP) from the Mentor Graphics(r) Inventra...

TI expands support for OMAP. (Technology).(Texas Instruments Inc., OMAP Developer Network, software developers creating wireless applications )
February 1, 2002... Texas Instruments recently hosted an OMAP developers conference and exhibition in Nice which saw twenty-five application developers demonstrate advanced wireless applications such as enhanced multimedia messaging, location-based services,...

IMEC looks to exploit its technology. (Technology).(IMEC, Leuven, Belgium)
February 1, 2002... MEC, the Leuven-based independent microelectronics research and development centre, recently presented the results from some of its research programs. Prototyping system for high data rates IMEC has developed a flexible hardware...

Motorola sees a great future for VME. (Technology).(Motorola Computer Group to launch Tempe chip; VMEbus bridge)
February 1, 2002... According to research from VITA - the VMEbus International Trade Association, sales of VME products this year will be around $1.4billion, continuing the small but steady growth of recent years. So contrary to popular belief the 21 year old bus...

Windows CE .NET released with expanded source code. (Technology).(Microsoft Corp.)
February 1, 2002... Windows CE .NET moved out of beta testing last month with an array of support coming from both inside Microsoft and from other companies. The real-time embedded operating system is designed for use with the next generation of small-footprint...

Primagraphics migrates to PMC. (Technology).(PCI Mezzanine Card format)
February 1, 2002... Hawkeye is a range of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sensor input and display cards in PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) format from Primagraphics. The Hawkeye range is compatible with both VME and Compact PCI host cards and provides flexibility...

Second generation's million gates. (Programmable Devices).(flash-based field-programmable gate arrays from Actel Corp.)
February 1, 2002... ProASICPlus is Actel's second-generation family of flash-based field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The in-system programmable family includes six devices ranging in density from 150,000 to 1-million system gates. They combine a...

Lattice completes 2nd generation CPLDs. (Programmable Devices).(Lattice Semiconductor Corp.)
February 1, 2002... Lattice Semiconductor has introduced the second, and smallest, member of its ispMACH 5000VG SuperBIG CPLD family. The ispMACH 5768VG, featuring 768 logic macrocells has been added to the 1024 macrocell ispMACH 51024VG device released last...

Altera ships largest APEX II. (Programmable Devices).
February 1, 2002... Altera has released the APEX II EP2A7O, its largest programmable logic device (PLD). It provides data transfer rates of up to 1Gbit/s True-LVDS on 36 channels and the ability to support data bandwidths up to 366 Gbits/s. The EP2A7O device...

Software upgrade boosts ESP and FPGA performance by around 40%. (Programmable Devices).(QuickLogic Corp.)
February 1, 2002... Version 9.1 of QuickLogic's QuickWorks development software has been upgraded through the addition of a series of architecture-specific algorithm and improvements. The tool increases embedded standard products (ESP) and FPGA programmable logic...

Software and kits aid development. (Programmable Devices).(Cypress Semiconductor Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Cypress Semiconductor has released the latest version of its Warp design tools and environment. Version 6.2 expands the support for the company's Programmable Serial Interface (PSI) devices, a family of communications chips which combine high...

CoolRunnerII uses FZP all-digital core. (Programming Devices).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Xilinx's CoolRunner-II RealDigital CPLDs have an all-digital core. They are available in densities ranging from 32 to 512 macrocells, and provides a performance up to 300MHz and pin-to-pin delays as fast as 3.5ns while providing a standby...

Sparten-IIE targets consumer digital designs. (Programming Devices).(Xilinx Inc.)
February 1, 2002... The SPARTAN-LIE FPGAS from Xilinx are designed for use in high-volume consumer applications. Available with up to 300,000 system gates the FPGAs have a high level of system integration and provide an in-system reprogrammable platform for...

CSoC kits bring modular approach. (Development Systems).(Triscend Corp.)
February 1, 2002... Triscend is a provider of configurable system-on-chip (CSoC) devices for the communications sector that include a dedicated microprocessor, embedded programmable logic, a dedicated system bus, and system memory. The CSoC device can be combined...

MoonLander-Lite cuts costs of using Moon1 native processor for Java. (Development Systems).(Vulcan Machines )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Vulcan Machines, a developer of processors for Java-based applications, has released a low-cost development system for use with its Moon1 32bit processor. The MoonLander-Lite development platform features an implementation of Moon1 on Alteras...

Partners develop programmer. (Development Systems).(Actel Corp., First Silicon Solutions Inc. release Flash Pro programmer)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Actel and First Silicon Solutions (FS2), a provider of silicon IP, have released the Flash Pro programmer, which provides in-system programmability (ISP) for Actel's flash-based ProASIC field-programmable gate array (FPGA) families, including...

Phillips and Atmel Flash MCUs receive support. (Development Systems).(Crossware adds support to 8051 Development Suite for Philips, Atmel 89C51Rx2 variant flash micro-controllers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Crossware has added support to its 8051 Development Suite for both the Philips and Atmel 89C51Rx2 variant flash micro-controllers. This will provide programmers using these chips with an accelerated development environment and removes the need...

Co-processing platform for re-configurable computing. (Development Systems).(Wind River Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Wind River Systems has released the single board computer (SBC) 405GP hardware reference design for prototyping and developing embedded applications that implement the latest field programmable gate array (FPGA) and CPU co-processing...

C++ IDE packages multiple tools together. (Development Systems).(Paradigm Systems Inc. releases enhanced Paradigm C++ Professional Integrated Development Environment)
February 1, 2002... Paradigm Systems has released its Paradigm C++ Professional Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with support for 32bit protected mode, 24bit extended address mode and 20bit real mode x86 embedded systems development. Initially...

Interface speeds debugging and programming of 68HC08 MPUs. (Development Systems).(Computer Solutions)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Computer Solutions is supplying the MON08 Cyclone is a stand-alone automated programming and debugging interface unit for use with the 68HC08 microprocessor family. The unit links a PC serial port to the processors MON08 monitor port for...

TRACE32-Fire and PowerProbe supports CAN. (Development Systems).(Lauterbach)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The TRACE32-PowerProbe analyser and the TRACE32-FIRE emulator port analyser from Lauterbach now support the CAN bus protocol. Both analysers have been updated to support the CAN-Bus 2.0 protocol. To do this one channel of the analyser is...

Hitex adds support for the Atmel 8xC5121. (Development Systems).(Hitex Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Hitex's DProbeHS in-circuit emulator now includes support for the 8xC5121 from Atmel. This MCU has an 8051 core and a multi-protocol smart card interface. The modular design concept of the DProbeHS has enabled faster support for this...

Kits for Windows CE .Net and Windows XP Embedded. (Development Systems).
February 1, 2002... Ready-to-run implementations of Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded are now available on Arcom's medium and high end Windows Embedded PC platforms. The SBC-GX1 development kit for Windows CE .NET provides the software pre-loaded on the...

Debug probe for StarCore. (Development Systems).(Green Hills Software develops intelligent hardware debug probe )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Green Hills Software has developed an intelligent hardware debug probe for Motorola's StarCore-based MSG810x DSPs and StarCore-based SoC embedded systems. Used with the Green Hills MULTI 2000 source-level debugger and IDE, the probe simplifies...

TargetLink 1.3 supports MATLAB Release 12.1. (Development Systems).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... dSPACE has released a version of its TargetLink automatic code generation software, which is now compatible with MATLAB Release 12.1. It now includes the added blacks from the MATLAB block library, such as flip-flop blocks, control flow blocks,...

Using a USB port to in-system programme flash-based MCUs. (Programming).
February 1, 2002... Ernest Bron of National Semiconductor describes how Flash-based microcontrollers can be programmed in-circuit without being restricted by the speed of the PC used for control. The current canonical method of programming Flash-based...

Embedded XML eases networking and comms. (Embedded XML).
February 1, 2002... Charles Gordon, principal engineer at NetSilicon, explains how XML and its associated technologies, UPnP and SOAP can form the basis of intercommunications, interterop[erabilty and control. In the world of embedded systems, the work being...

How uClinux provides MMU-less processors with an alternative. (uClinux).
February 1, 2002... Many software developers in recent years have turned to Linux as their operating system of choice. Until the advent of uClinux developers of smaller embedded systems, usually incorporating microprocessors with no memory management unit could...

Efficient development of mixed-core designs. (Multi-Core).
February 1, 2002... Modern communication infrastructure systems employ multiple, heterogeneous processors to implement the functions required. One of the fastest growing trends in silicon is the appearance on the market of single die multicore DSPs and mixed core...

An OSEK-compliant RTOS for the C16x. (Automotive).
February 1, 2002... Dr Andrew Coombes describes the challenge in using the Realogy Real-Time Architect real-time kernel and development tools to provide a fully OSEK compatible environment. OSEK/VDX is a set of standards for operating systems (OS) and related...