Articles – Page 244

January 25, 2012

So it’s finally happened: an Intel PC that fits in the palm of your hand and costs less than $300.

Nobody’s calling it a PC, of course. It’s a smartphone, and it’s not due to appear for a couple of months, but it’s basically a PC. It’s got an Intel x86 processor, a bunch of RAM, a real live operating system, a network interface, a keyboard and a screen, and it runs third-party applications. If only the operating system were Windows instead of Android, it really … Read More → "The PC In Your Ear"

Texas Instruments’ solutions help developers create the next generation of breakthrough products for the Smart Grid market

by Bryon Moyer

January 25, 2012

San Antonio, TX (January 25, 2012) – A leading innovator in energy management, communication and control for the Smart Grid, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today announced it has expanded its portfolio in utility metering, home and building automation and Smart Grid infrastructure with technology and tools that help developers create secure, economical and future-proof solutions for the Smart Grid.

The world’s most accurate, flexible and robust energy metering ICs

Demonstrating its commitment to advancing the efficiency of utility metering, TI recently introduced 24 new energy meter integrated circuits (ICs) that … Read More → "Texas Instruments’ solutions help developers create the next generation of breakthrough products for the Smart Grid market"

Tools for the Gifted

Packet Plus Brings Debugging to Networking Engineers

by Kevin Morris

January 24, 2012

Networking engineers are some of the best and brightest among us. There are good reasons for this. Designing networking equipment is a demanding discipline, spanning a wide gamut of areas from analog and signal integrity to digital design to software – and integrating all of these elements at something near their maximum performance potential. In order to get a competitive piece of network hardware out the door, you are literally designing at the bleeding edge of everything.

One problem common to all bleeding-edge engineering domains is a lack of tools. While the B and … Read More → "Tools for the Gifted"

No end to the possibilities: x86 meets FPGA

by Dick Selwood

January 23, 2012

The Intel® Atom™ E6x5C processor series pairs an Intel® Atom™E6x5 series processor with an Altera Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in a single package. This is an entirely new approach to embedded x86 technologies with the potential to dramatically change the way in which embedded devices are designed in the future. It opens a new window for x86 technologies to become even more dedicated on a common technology platform.

… Read More →

Why Use an 8-bit Core When 32 Bits Are Better?

by Dick Selwood

January 23, 2012

You are designing a new product as an SoC and need some processing power – not a huge amount – and you have tight power and real estate budgets. So you drop in an 8051 core. Job done? Well, not according to the folks at Cortus. These guys, a multinational mix of people based in the Southern French town of Montpellier, whose backgrounds include working on processors for Intel, Bosch, Infineon, Siemens, and Synopsys, are likely to say that you may have made a poor move. Your real estate and power budgets can be achieved with a processor that … Read More → "Why Use an 8-bit Core When 32 Bits Are Better?"

New Power Semiconductor Module from Vincotech Combines MNPC Topology with SiC Switches

by Bryon Moyer

January 19, 2012

January 19th 2012 – Efficiency is becoming increasingly important in power electronics. Many applications are driven by the initiatives for reduced energy consumption. The technology leaders are inverter applications in the solar market, but also uninterruptible power supplies have new targets for improved efficiency.

Vincotech’s latest article compares and contrasts two types of modules, one with silicon switches and the other with SiC (silicon carbide) switches. This comparison indicates that modules with SiC JFETs achieve higher maximum efficiency, whereby the gains increase at … Read More → "New Power Semiconductor Module from Vincotech Combines MNPC Topology with SiC Switches"

Looking Back on Five Years

by Dick Selwood

January 18, 2012

During the Christmas break, I took time out from roasting an ox on the open fire, distributing presents to the assembled multitude of staff, chasing foxes across the rolling acres of Selwood Towers and feasting, wassailing and carousing to think about the past year and embedded technology stuff. I managed to overcome the urge and went back to roasting an ox etc, but, now the break is over, it seems worth having another think.

As I started working backwards through the articles I have written, I realised that it was just over five years ago (October 2006) that … Read More → "Looking Back on Five Years"

The Valley of FPGA

Where Green Pastures End

by Kevin Morris

January 17, 2012

Just about every electronic technology on the market today has alternatives. Between custom chips, ASSPs, pre-built modules, embedded processors, microcontrollers, FPGAs, and a host of other silicon-based goodies, there are always numerous ways to solve any given problem. As engineers, we make our choice based on any number of criteria – cost, power, size, reliability, our familiarity and experience with the technology, our company’s preferences… all of them weigh into our decision.

Some solutions – like full custom chips – occupy an “end” of the solution space. When you have enough budget, a … Read More → "The Valley of FPGA"

A Memristor By Any Other Name?

by Bryon Moyer

January 16, 2012

Perhaps you’re new to the US and you’re investigating some recipes to make. You’ve resigned yourself to the fact that, here, things are measured more by volume than by weight, and the measurement units have that peculiar non-metric feel about them that forces you to prove you can still do mental arithmetic. But the terms for things are sometimes different too, even if you come from another purported English-speaking country. We don’t do aubergines and courgettes; we do eggplants and zucchini.

But terms can vary even within the country. Perhaps there’s this … Read More → "A Memristor By Any Other Name?"

Signals and Swats

The Promise and Limitations of Gesture and Motion Technology

by Bryon Moyer

January 12, 2012

You can almost imagine an I Love Lucy caper. Lucy and Ricky are trying to catch someone in the act of something nefarious. They dress up in fake private-eye clothes with a PI hat, turned up collar (pre-bro), and a fake moustache for her. They’re on opposite sides of the room in stealth mode, with only hand gestures to communicate. They’ve worked out an intricate set of signals, including “right hand to the nose means we go in 3…2…1…” and “left hand to the nose means something’s not … Read More → "Signals and Swats"