Today's Feature

Design Help at Embedded World
By Colin Holland.Toshiba Electronics is to hold a forum during Embedded World 2003 for developers of system-on-chip (SoC) multimedia applications. The MeP User Forum will be based on Toshiba's open and scalable Media embedded Processor (MeP), an embedded RISC platform that enables designers to develop a variety of optimised SoCs.

Introduction to On-Chip Debug
By Arnold Berger and Michael Barr. Motorola's Background Debug Mode is one of a variety of on-chip debug technologies. Collectively, they offer some of the best features of debug monitors and in-circuit emulators-with far less headache and cost.

RISCy Business
By Jim Turley.Despite the hype over RISC, CISC processors live on. In fact, they dominate. Sometimes slow and steady really does win the race.

PROFInet Guide Aims for Standardization
By Colin Holland.Profibus International has released an installation guideline for use with PROFInet, the standard for advanced automation.Built on the common standards IEC 11801 and EN 50173 that cover the office area, the new PROFInet guideline specifies the network topology, cabling types and methods, connection technology, and network components for use in industrial areas requiring protection to IP67.

Trio Work to Boost InfiniBand in Embedded
By Colin Holland.Three companies are to lead a new embedded subgroup within the InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) and have developed a special interest group for embedded InfiniBand within the VMEbus International Trade Association (VITA).

Embedded RTOS Suppliers Offer One-Stop Shopping
by Charles J. Murray.Wind River Systems Inc. and Green Hills Software Inc. have taken a first step toward what may be a sweeping change in the way embedded-software companies do business. Instead of selling a variety of point products under perpetual, project-based or royalty-based licenses, they're offering a simpler and perhaps cheaper solution: fully integrated development suites priced at around $15,000 annually per seat.

Introduction to JTAG
by Rob Oshana, Embedded Systems Programming.Surface-mount technology rang the death knell for bed-of-nails testing. That's why a consortium of companies called the Joint Test Access Group came together to define a standard for boundary-scan testing of ICs and boards. Here's a primer on the technology.

Xilinx Pitches Kit to Embedded, Software Engineers
by Michael Santarini.Xilinx Inc. is cozying up to the embedded- and software-engineering communities. The company has rolled out an embedded-developer's kit for users of its Virtex-II and Spartan FPGAs, and says it is "alpha testing" a new hardware/software co-design tool.

Pending Smart Sensor Standard Gains Support
by Stephan Ohr. At least a dozen sensor makers have thrown their support behind a proposed IEEE standard that describes an analog interface for smart sensors.

Applied Microsystems Bails
by Jack Ganssle. Long-time ICE supplier Applied Microsystems (AMC) was one of the first to provide third-party in-circuit emulators. For many years they were one of the most dominant forces in the embedded tool business. But the market has changed, demand for their products slowed, and their stock price has collapsed, declining to 20 cents per share from the $5 to over $20 they commanded in the '90s. Jack reflects on what AMC's misfortune says about the ICE business.

Short-Range Wireless Design
by Karl H. Torvmark. Wireless systems differ from wired systems in some crucial ways. Error handling and bandwidth sharing are two major issues for engineers working on wireless projects. Here's a guide to designing short-range wireless devices that covers these and other concerns.

Wind River rolls out safety-critical software
Wind River Systems plans to launch a safety-critical software product for use in avionics, medical systems, nuclear plants and military defense systems. The platform will provide an off-the-shelf solution for embedded-systems designers who need bug-free software and absolute predictability in the performance of their operating systems.

Shifting opinion shakes footing of embedded Linux
The embedded Linux waters grow murkier, as analysts disagree over the future of the upstart operating system and one vendor, Lineo Inc., fights for its life.

Toshiba develops configurable processor core
Toshiba Corp. will take the wraps off a configurable processor core that can be customized according to application at the Embedded Processor Forum this week in San Jose, Calif. The company plans to promote the MeP - for "media embedded processor" - as a de facto standard embedded solution for multimedia use. Toshiba will offer MeP in two forms: as a family of system-on-chip ICs; and as licensable intellectual property (IP).

Boards

PicoChip Samples Device for 3G infrastructure
PicoChip Designs has sampled its first device, the PC101, which -- the company claims -- delivers a computational power of 30Giga-MACs per second, twenty times more than traditional devices despite needing only a fraction of the clock rate (160MHz). Shipped with a toolchain and a UMTS systems library, the PC101 SSoC enables in-the-field flexibility in the form of a reprogrammable basestation.

Ziatech Sale Puts CompactPCI Under the Scope
Intel's impending sale of its Ziatech unit for less than one-fiftieth of the unit's purchase price has sent jaws dropping as industry players and analysts divine whether the move signals a telecom migration away from the CompactPCI platform Ziatech pioneered.

PCI-SIG Releases First PCI Upgrade in 3 Years
The PCI Special Interest Group upgrades its local bus specification to v2.3, the first major upgrade to conventional PCI since December 1998. Its release represents a transition from the bus's original 5-V signaling to 3.3-V signaling. Like its predecessor, the new spec supports two system board add-in card connectors for both the 3.3-V and 5-V signaling. However, the new version does not support 5-V keyed add-in cards, although it does continue to support the universal-keyed and 3.3-V keyed add-in cards. (Electronic News)

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Chips

Elixent and Toshiba Deal on SoC
Elixent, based in Bristol, UK, has agreed with Toshiba to jointly develop a platform system-on-chip (SoC) that integrates its D-Fabrix reconfigurable algorithm-processing array with Toshiba's MeP configurable processor core. This SoC will be used as a reconfigurable evaluation and development platform by both companies.

Intel Announces Q1 Shipment of 802.11a/11b Module
Intel Corp. representatives sketched a world in which devices roam seamlessly through different networks in and outside the home, and they announced baby steps toward that goal: near-term shipment of a device with 802.11a and .11b wireless LAN functionality.

Motorola Re-Enters Low-End 8-bit MCU Market
Motorola Inc. today unveiled a new microcontroller here that marks the company's return to the low end 8-bit market. Based on an embedded flash technology as opposed to EEPROM memory, Motorola's Nitron HC08 family of 8-bit MCUs is priced at 70 cents, almost half that of competitive devices.

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Embedded Internet

Standard will Give Broadband Connectivity to Mobile UsersThe IEEE 802 standards committee said it will create an air-interface to deliver wireless services to mobile users traveling at speeds up to 250 kilometers/hour (155 mph) at rates comparable to current broadband connections, such as cable or DSL.

The IEEE P802.20 standard will seek to boost real-time data-transmission rates in wireless metropolitan-area networks from current dial-up speeds to at least 1 Mbit/second. NetSilicon rolls Net-centric Operating EnvironmentNetSilicon Inc. next week will announce the first of what it believes will be an emerging breed of "Net-centric operating environments" that could replace traditional, hardware-specific, platform-oriented operating systems. The move reflects the still-evolving nature of control-oriented embedded hardware and software as Internet-centric connectivity forces them into new forms.

Comms Bust May Damn Viable Technology
One casualty of the wreckage surrounding the burst comms bubble will be good technical ideas, including some related to Internet Protocol, that never see the light of day. That was one of several glum points discussed by analysts and venture capitalists in a Communications Design Conference panel session.

Technophobes May Be Right After All
Recently published conclusions from a study in social informatics--an emerging body of research and study that examines the social aspects of computerization--offer some surprising insights into information and communication technology (ICT). (MARATHON Digital Publishing {scan via})

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Software

Nucleus RTOS Integrates with USB Package
Accelerated Technology, the embedded systems division of Mentor Graphics, and MCCI have integrated the Nucleus real-time operating system and protocol stacks from Mentor Graphics with MCCI's USB Data Pump, a firmware package for multi-function USB peripherals such as keyboards, joysticks, and printers.

Embedded RTOS Suppliers Offer One-Stop Shopping
by Charles J. Murray.Wind River Systems Inc. and Green Hills Software Inc. have taken a first step toward what may be a sweeping change in the way embedded-software companies do business. Instead of selling a variety of point products under perpetual, project-based or royalty-based licenses, they're offering a simpler and perhaps cheaper solution: fully integrated development suites priced at around $15,000 annually per seat.

Software That Travels
by Steven A. Stolper. Embedded developers often have to write code that can execute on more than one hardware platform. One of the most creative ways to approach multiplatform development is through abstraction. This article gives a quick summary of the most common abstractions (OS, physical interfaces, communication channels, and system services) and how to apply them successfully.

Critics Say Embedded Linux Stalling in Standards Race
Lineo is making its voice heard against the Embedded Linux Consortium, saying that the organization has done little to promote the development of a common platform specification for embedded Linux over the last year and a half since it began to champion that goal. The development of an Intellectual Property Agreement, a precursor to specification development, has been held up at length, mainly because ELC board members have disagreed over issues of openness. (EE Times)

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Resources

Web Site for Windows Embedded Developers
WindowForDevices.com, an independent online technical community and information site targeted at developers using Microsoftıs Windows Embedded operating systems, goes live on October 15.

ESC's Next Round
Sign on for the next Embedded Systems Conference near you. The show is celebrating Spring in California at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, then it's off to China. Course offerings and exhibits span the spectrum of embedded systems development, from Internet appliances to DSP, automotive, wireless and Java.

ChipCenter Reference Library
This is your access point for lots of good information covering applications, design tools, consultants, intellectual property, trade shows and standards.

Standards Watch
Here is your access point to the standards world.

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