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Is the Internet of Things fully ARMed?

by Dick Selwood
May 15, 2014

You know something is probably reaching the stage of over-hype when politicians try to climb on the bandwagon. Earlier in the year, at the CeBIT exhibition in Hannover, Germany, while standing alongside the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the British Prime Minister David Cameron showed that he was ready to board the IoT bandwagon. In his speech, as well as boasting about British technology (and of course, the achievements of his government), Cameron suggested improved co-operation with Germany on, among other things, the IoT.  He … Read More → "Is the Internet of Things fully ARMed?"

Life Before Windows

Before We Knew What An “Operating System” Was
by Jim Turley
May 14, 2014

Gather ’round the campfire, children, as we talk about The Time Before Operating Systems. That was when all computers came with their own built-in software, indistinguishable from the hardware. You didn’t have an IBM computer and an IBM operating system, for example. You had just an IBM system. Yeah, it included software, but nobody thought much about where it came from or what it was called. It was simply part of the machine.

This was also the time of early microprocessors, home computers, and build-it-yourself kits. Again, all of these machines came with their own bundled … Read More → "Life Before Windows"

Dawn of a new Ara

What’s Google’s New Modular Smartphone Really About?
by Kevin Morris
May 13, 2014

It would be easy to blow off Google’s “Project Ara” modular smartphone concept as just another one of those Google science fair projects that will never come to anything. Remember “Google Wave” anyone? Yeah, we were all “waving” bye-bye to that one before it ever got off the ground. As engineers, we all know that only one out of every dozen or more cool technology ideas ever comes to anything interesting. But, Google’s propensity for over-funding lots of blue-sky projects just to see if anything sticks is well known, and it is a fertile breeding … Read More → "Dawn of a new Ara"

Viva Vivado!

Xilinx Tunes-Up Tools
by Kevin Morris
May 6, 2014

As we enter what will perhaps become the “long tail” of Moore’s Law, the traditional battlefield for FPGA companies is shifting dramatically. For most of the history of FPGAs, the main strategic goal was to be “first” on each new process node. If you had FPGAs ready to go on the newest, fastest, densest semiconductor process, you had a significant advantage over your competitor. With each new node, the cost dropped, the power efficiency improved, performance took a leap ahead, and functional density doubled. The combination of those advantages was so substantial that almost nothing your … Read More → "Viva Vivado!"

EDA for DSA

Not What You’re Expecting
by Bryon Moyer
May 4, 2014

They’d built up the sheep ranch over several decades. Starting small, they learned through experience how sheep thrive. They gradually diversified, experimenting with different breeds – this one for the smoothest wool, that one for higher quantities of milk to be used for feta and other cheeses – and, over time, they acquired solid confidence in their ability to manage the flocks.

But another similar animal started to gain popularity: goats – in particular for their milk, which they gave up in far greater quantities than sheep do. People often view sheep and goats as variations on a theme, … Read More → "EDA for DSA"

The Last Centimeter

LAVA Closes the Gap
by Bryon Moyer
May 4, 2014

The cool thing about connected devices is that… well, they’re connected. Which, these days, means that they have access to immeasurable amounts of… whatever is out there to be connected to. Word is that that stuff is pretty useful. Proof of that is playing out as the Internet of Things (IoT) rolls out.

Having electronics connected to the internet is nothing new. We’ve had connected computers for far longer than the internet has even been around. That was enabled by special hardware – a separate network card made by a different company – plugged into the computer.</ … Read More → "The Last Centimeter"

Would You Watch Robo-Sports?

When Engineering and Entertainment Intersect
by Jim Turley
May 1, 2014

“The only real sports are bullfighting, mountain climbing, and auto racing. All the others are merely games.” – Ernest Hemingway

So who d’ya like for the playoffs this year? Are you rooting for the Google Goliaths or the Microsoft Maulers? Me, I’m betting on the Intel Invaders over the Texas Instruments Titans. I heard the spread is 128 bits.

As embedded systems get smarter and more connected, the “Internet of Things” could easily become more than a marketing buzz phrase. We already have self-driving cars, auto-piloted drones, and robotic vacuum cleaners. How long … Read More → "Would You Watch Robo-Sports?"

New MIPS CPUs are Virtually Better

M5100 and M5150 Add Tasty Virtualization to the MIPS Recipe
by Jim Turley
April 30, 2014

If multiple CPUs aren’t enough for you, how about multiple operating systems on one CPU? That’s what virtualization is all about, and MIPS now offers it in its low-end range of embedded microprocessor cores.

The CPU company that’s part of Imagination Technologies recently rolled out two sibling processors for embedded designers who have the budget for SoC development. The new M5100 and M5150 CPU cores add virtualization to the already familiar MIPS 32-bit architecture.

The M in the product name tells you that these are comparatively low-end MIPS processor designs, as opposed … Read More → "New MIPS CPUs are Virtually Better"

Smaller, Cheaper SerDes

Lattice ECP5 Proves Less is More
by Kevin Morris
April 29, 2014

Over the past few years, Lattice Semiconductor has transformed itself from a struggling, distant third-place supplier of FPGAs to a scrappy, innovative competitor opening up new markets and challenging status-quo perceptions about the nature and role of programmable logic in system designs. Their latest press release proclaims they are “breaking the rules,” which would be easy to dismiss as marketing fluff, but it turns out those big ‘ol marketing boots are walking on some pretty solid footing in this case.

For years, we’ve talked about how FPGAs were trying to “replace ASICs.” … Read More → "Smaller, Cheaper SerDes"

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