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January 2014 Global Edition Micro Digital smx Philosophy By Ralph Moore, smx Architect There are many factors which influence the design of an RTOS kernel. This paper explains what factors have influenced the recent evolution of smx® and discusses their relative importance. Since many factors are conflicting, designing a good RTOS kernel requires achieving a good balance for targeted applications. In the case of smx, these are hard real-time embedded systems. The smx Philosophy white paper is aimed at those who are interested in kernels and should be helpful to those engineers who are currently selecting an RTOS. Learn more… Critical Link MityARM-5CSXDual Cortex A9 and User Programmable FPGA SoM The MityARM-5CSX is a highly-configurable, small form-factor System on Module (SoM) designed for high-throughput applications requiring dual hard-core Cortex-A9 applications processors tightly integrated with FPGA fabric. The MityARM-5CSX combines the Altera Cyclone V System on Chip (SoC), memory subsystems and onboard power supplies. The MityARM-5CSX provides a complete and flexible CPU and FPGA infrastructure for highly-integrated embedded systems. Learn more… TI Engineering the World By Hagop Kozanian VP Texas Instruments We live connected lives in an analog world, and the opportunities for technology to make a significant impact on the way we live, learn and work are more promising today than ever. Innovative engineers create new applications and open new markets every day that improve existing products and, even more exciting, unlock new ways of interacting with the world around us. Semiconductor technology is the backbone of many of these inventions. More (PDF) An Interview with Kumaran Santhanam – CEO of Total Phase, Neat Software Tools You’ve Never Used, NXP’s Accurate and Reliable LCD Drivers, Total Phase’s Beagle USB Protocol Analyzers Neat Software, Development Tools That You’ve Never Used By Mike van Lammeren, Nuvation Software developer Michael van Lammeren reports on some innovative techniques his engineering team used for a recent project. Their approach for developing simple, robust code allowed them to meet difficult design requirements and avoid costly schedule delays. Read More NXP’s LCD Drivers Accurate, Reliable Solutions for VA Displays in Automotive, Medical and Consumer Applications By NXP Vertical alignment (VA) LCD displays have become very popular in automotive instrument clusters, climate controls and car radios as well as in home appliances, medical and other devices requiring a clear alpha-numeric display. VA is a display technology in which the liquid crystals naturally align vertically to the glass substrate between crossed polarizers (see Figure 1). When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystals remain perpendicular to the substrate creating a black state as light is completely blocked by the second polarizer set placed at 90 degrees to the first. Read More Total Integration By Kumaran Santhanam CEO of Total Phase Total Phase is a leading provider of embedded systems development tools. The company primarily makes powerful and affordable USB, I2C, SPI, and CAN development tools that feature Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X support. Founded in 2001 by current CEO Kumaran Santhanam, Total Phase began as a consulting services company, but slowly evolved into a product company after noticing common trends in the needs of its customers. A year later, the Total Phase team released its first version of its Aardvark host adapter product, making the full transition to a product company shortly after that. In the proceeding years, Total Phase went on to release a strong array of products—from host adapters and software, to protocol analyzers. Read More Total Phase USB Protocol Analyzers: Simplified and Streamlined Debugging By Rob Riemen EEWeb Contributing Author Due to the widespread integration of USB into embedded applications, many developers will be faced with the challenge of working with USB for the first time. New developers need to be aware that USB is a complicated protocol. From identifying itself through the enumeration process to sending data where directed, a USB device has many functions to perform. Due to the complexity of the protocol, it can be difficult to detect and isolate problems when a USB device misbehaves. Problems can originate from a variety of layers within the USB protocol: physical, electrical, protocol, and class level. Without visibility into the USB traffic, one can waste valuable time trying to determine the nature of the failure and how to fix it properly Read More NXP Combines Industry’s Lowest Power Logic and Engineer’s Design Skills in their 2014 Logic Design Contest NXP Semiconductors and Convergence Promotions, LLC, today launched the 2014 AXP Logic Design Contest. Open to engineers worldwide and featuring the AXP1G57, the contest is designed to showcase the AXP in high-performance, low-voltage and low-power applications. Contestants will be able to design solutions based on a free AXP1G57GM Evaluation Board provided by NXP. The evaluation board features four configurable logic devices, and allows the contestant to configure each of the devices into seven unique functions. Enter Contest Today! TQMa28 with Starter Kit This i.MX28 based TQ module will save you time and money in your next design. Our SOMs are the smallest in the industry without compromising quality and reliability, and bring out all the processor signals to the Tyco connectors. Need to get to market quickly? A TQ module can reduce your development time by up to 12 months. Then TQMa28 module is available as a Starter Kit with Linux and is ideal for building today’s most innovative applications such as media and smart energy gateways, handheld printers and scanners as well as portable medical devices. Buy Now Renesas Starter Kit for RX111 The Renesas Starter Kit for RX111 is intended as a user-friendly introductory and evaluation tool for the RX111 microcontroller. The board also provides a useful platform for evaluating the Renesas suite of development tools for coding and debugging, using e2studio. Buy Now MSP430 LaunchPad Value Line Dev. Kit LaunchPad is an easy-to-use development tool intended for beginners and experienced users alike for creating microcontroller-based applications. At $9.99 the MSP430 Value Line LaunchPad Design Kit offers everything you need to get started with your projects, and provides a complete hardware and software reference design for MSP430. Learn More PIC32MZ Embedded Connectivity Starter Kit with Crypto Engine This connectivity kit provides the easiest and lowest cost method to experience the high performance and advanced peripherals integrated in the PIC32MZ Embedded Connectivity MCUs. This starter kit features a socket that can accommodate 10/100 Ethernet transceiver (RJ-45) plug-in connectors from various vendors for prototyping and development. Buy Now HCC-Embedded USB Host Stack HCC’s USB Host stack is a scalable suite that enables an embedded host to control a variety of USB devices including pen-drives, printers, audio devices, joysticks, virtual serial ports and network interfaces. The embedded USB host stack supports EHCI, OHCI and non-standard USB controllers. Buy Now IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM IAR Embedded Workbench with its optimizing C/C++ compiler is an IDE for building and debugging ARM-based embedded applications. It provides extensive support for a wide range of ARM devices, hardware debug systems and RTOSs and generates very compact and efficient code. Download now