My setup bears the tell-tale tattoos of early-adopter syndrome.  Each signal source plumbed into the cable jungle on the back of the receiver has no fewer than five separate strands – three for component video and two for analog audio.  An S/PDIF might add to the bundle with optional digital audio.  One input source – … Read More → "HDMI To Go"

IP07 was the tenth meeting in Grenoble of IP providers and users under the umbrella of Design and Reuse (www.designandreuse.com), the IP portal. Europe editor Dick Selwood compares facts and marketing-speak. It sounds like the start of a joke. “There were three processor manufacturers at a conference….” And when the three processor manufacturers were asked, … Read More → "IP – European Style"

The Embedded Technology game is one of those rare sports where the grand finale comes right at the beginning of the year.  Like NASCAR, where the premiere event, the Daytona 500, is the first race of the season… OK, sorry.  Really.  We promise to never use another NASCAR analogy again.  Anyway, each January, our electronics … Read More → "Embedded Everything"

He doesn’t just slip quietly into the back of the classroom.  He sits sideways in his desk, fidgets nervously, and makes the other kids ill-at-ease.  His classmates eye him cautiously.  He looks different, has a strange accent – maybe he even smells funny.  Back in his old school, he ruled the roost, but here, he’s … Read More → "New Kid in Class"

Embedded Technology Journal turns a terrific two years old today.  What does this mean?  For us, two years of your loyal patronage means that we’re doing something right.  It means that we were right about you, our readers – that engineers are intelligent, worldly, interesting people who want more than a datasheet, a press release, … Read More → "Happy Birthday"

Bricks and Mortar acquisitions are simple to conceptualize.  When Ford buys a smaller car company, we assume that the other company will carry on producing basically the same products they’ve been making for years, only under the new banner.  In many cases, the product line is not even re-branded, and many customers will not even … Read More → "Expanding IP Horizons"

Move over SoCs, ASICs, ASSPs and FPGAs, there is a new acronym on the block: SDS. If the inventors deliver on the claims, then Software Designed Silicon will give consumer electronics designers the power and cost advantages of an SoC, the flexibility of an FPGA, and ease of design like nothing else. And if you … Read More → "Software Defined Silicon"

My hobbies and my work are starting to overlap. I’ve been flying small planes all my life, and I’ve owned one for the past 17 years – a rare, mint condition, 1970 Aero Commander Lark.  It’s a cute and sturdy little plane – carries four people for real (lots of “four place” airplanes really only … Read More → "Flying Embedded Technology"

USB is moving up in the world. Specifically, it’s going vertical. There are plenty of board-level standards out there and even more companies that support them. PCI Express, VMEbus, PC/104, S-bus (remember that one?), ATCA… the list goes on. Board-level standards are as ubiquitous as they are useful, and the healthy board-level market enables a … Read More → "USB Goes Vertical"

The San Jose version of the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in this year began with Al Gore throwing down the gauntlet.  Socially and environmentally conscious companies need not sacrifice the environment for profit.  In fact, the bottom line and the ozone layer may have mutual allies as emphasis on more efficient systems makes sense for … Read More → "Smaller is Bigger"