Let’s face it: multi-threading has created some pains in the… well, as Forrest would say, butt-tox. You used to be able to write code assuming you had your own nice little sandbox, especially in a more protective language like Java, which allows you to be reasonably sure that some other schmo’s pointer won’t come weaseling its way onto your turf. But now you can have multiple threads that may want to get to the same pieces of data, so the threads have to learn how to play nice together, and … Read More → "Shared Responsibility"

“OK people, can I have your attention please? I need you all to listen up. All right. Quiet… Now… I want you all to get in a line along that wall there. We’re going to be doing some recognition stuff this morning, so get in line and we’ll get you trained up on what you need to look for. We may not need all of you, but I need you here just in case. And if we need more than you guys, we may have to add another group of … Read More → "Special Recognition"

A few weeks ago we took a look at the new MCAPI standard that provides low-level, low-overhead message-passing capabilities for multicore and tightly-coupled multi-processor systems. But of course, standards are no good unless someone implements them, so here we take a look at the first commercially-available implementation of the MCAPI standard, built by Polycore. As MCAPI committee chair, Polycore’s Sven Brehmer has been well-positioned and motivated to bring to market a realization of the standards work.

The standard itself is simply an API, and it specifies no implementation details. An MCAPI … Read More → "Multicore Messaging Manifested"

This is a story that starts with the improbable topic of building controls – you know, those complex systems that ensure that no matter where you are in the building, it’s too damn cold. Way back in the last century, these controls were dominated by large companies with complete proprietary systems. OK, they sorta still are, but work with me here. The users of the systems were more or less captive to their controls company, and changes to the system needed by the users resulted in a nice high-profit source of consulting income to the controls company.</ … Read More → "Coming to a Home Near You?"