July 24, 2008
[Technology In The News] LabVIEW-Based Systems Monitor Health Of Chinese Megastructures
The China Earthquake Administration has selected a structural health monitoring (SHM) system from CGM Engineering Inc. to help engineers conduct research on seven recently constructed megastructures. CGM, a National Instruments Alliance Partner, based the system on the NI LabVIEW graphical system design platform and NI CompactRIO programmable automation controllers.
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ED News Staff
July 24, 2008[Engineering Feature] The 2008 Technolympics
Everyone expects a good political demonstration or two at next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Maybe even a drug or doping scandal. There may also be complaints about the environment. And, you can count on some controversy surrounding all the advanced technology at the Games. Yeah, technology. Much of the attention—and tension—is expected to center on the “White Cube.” The drama in this spectacular swimming venue, which was designed and built for...
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Ron Schneiderman
July 17, 2008
[Web Exclusive] The Power Of The Portfolio Can Maximize Software Development
Today, most companies target the needs of their prospective customers by creating a product line rather than a single product. Yet due to multiple intertwined products with different features and production deadlines, developing software for a product line is extremely complex. These challenges can hinder your company’s ability to capture the window of opportunity, maximize quality, and expand the scope of your product-line portfolio, making it difficult to obtain a competitive edge.
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Martin Bakal
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July 10, 2008[Engineering Feature] Hardware/Software Co-Design Comes Of Age
There once was a time when system design was completely serial. Entire hardware platforms were designed, prototyped, debugged, and virtually completed before any software development began. Of course, such methodologies corresponded to the days of much broader market windows. The very idea of such a quaint approach is enough to make one snicker. Today, itâ??s quite different. Those market windows have narrowed to a sliver. Hardware development typically lags...
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David Maliniak
July 10, 2008[Ideas For Design] VHDL Code Offloads LED Blinking Task To A CPLD
An earlier Idea For Design (“Hardware-Based LED Blinking Control Eliminates Software Overhead,” Sept. 27, 2007, p. 52) described a very interesting way to offload the software overhead required for a microcontroller to drive LEDs that indicate operating states to the user. That article discussed the use of memory-mapped LED control registers, buffers, and a clock source, all used to blink an LED without burdening the microcontroller code with...
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Philip Warren
July 10, 2008[Ideas For Design] VHDL Code Listing
IFD2303code.txt library IEEE; use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_1164.ALL; use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_ARITH.ALL; use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED.ALL; entity LED_Driver is port ( clk: in std_logic; -- Clock input por: in std_logic; -- Power-On Reset a_bus: in std_logic_vector(3 downto 0); -- 4-Bit Address Bus d_bus: inout std_logic_vector(7 downto 0); -- 8-Bit Data Bus led_out: out std_logic); -- Output to...
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Philip Warren
July 10, 2008[Embedded in Electronic Design] Make Or Buy: Module Mania
Make it low-power. Buying off-the-shelf parts to meet these criteria is still a challenge, but the latest crop of modules makes the job easier. Modules let designers develop custom configurations with minimum moving the design of the critical aspects of the system to the module vendors. This includes the processor and memory subsystem and usually most, if not all, of the peripheral interface. A carrier board typically contains connectors and...
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William Wong
July 10, 2008[Editorial] Show Videos Take Center Stage On ElectronicDesign.com
Most of you have probably noticed the influx of videos to electronicdesign.com over the past year or so. For the most part, these videos were shot at trade shows. Typically, a staff member at the show who knows something about video cameras hooks up with an editor to do video interviews. We shoot with a handheld, harddisk- based camera. When we get back to the office, a member...
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Joseph Desposito
July 10, 2008[Embedded in Electronic Design] Platform Completes AdvancedTCA System
The Element/Accelerator Platform delivers full software support of AdvancedTCA systems that typically include DSP farms to handle multimedia chores. Enea’s highavailability platform addresses fault tolerance from the ground up, including protocol stacks through application and chassis management tools. Software management tools address the complete system, including in-service upgrades. Developers can build on a fully functional system instead...
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William Wong
July 10, 2008[Embedded in Electronic Design] Distributed Computing Augments Math Tool
The Parallel Computing Toolbox and matching Distributed Computing Server augment the MathWorks’ Matlab 2008a with parallel computing support that will be a boon to number-crunching developers. New features include parallel for (parfor) definitions as well as distributed arrays (darray) that allow data to be distributed across many servers. Users also can transition from serial Matlab programs to parallel Matlab programs without significant...
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William Wong
June 24, 2008
[Lab Bench Online] FTF 2008
You may have seen Embedded/Hardware/Software Editor Bill Wong scoping some out products and announcements at FTF 2008. If you missed out, check out his impressions from this year's event.
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William Wong
June 26, 2008[Lab Bench] Micros Find Their Way Into Blue-Ribbon Science Fair Projects
Held last month in Atlanta, the Intel ISEF 2008 brought together more than 1500 students from around the world as they presented their award-winning projects from state and regional science fairs. Individuals and teams competed in more than 17 categories, including a healthy showing in the Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical (EE) division. A number of students used development kits in their work. Chris King’s Electromagnetic Levitation: A Digital Control ...
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William Wong
June 26, 2008[Technology Report] FPGAs Pushing MCUs As The Platform Of Choice
Falling FPGA prices and ever-improving tools make FPGA development more palatable to designers who aren’t well versed in this arena. Likewise, the increased number of choices and improved sophistication of soft processor cores for FPGAs create new options for developers who would otherwise look only at stock, offthe- shelf microcontrollers. There are many reasons why designers should consider FPGAs as a development and deployment platform. Processors ...
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William Wong
June 19, 2008[Technology Report] Robots Finally Have That Personal Touch
Extending from the factory floor and into your living room, the personal robot’s time has arrived. These devices have pushed past uses as expensive and cute toys like Sony’s Aibo and into sophisticated and affordable products that perform a number of functions in and around the home. Allied Business Intelligence Research says that the personal robotics market, which includes robotic toys, educational robots, and task-based robots, will reach $15...
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Roger Allan
June 19, 2008[Technology Report] Get Ready For The Multimedia Mess
The setting sun is a pleasant sight while driving home. I’m listening to satellite radio and a call comes in. At my verbal request, the car’s media system switches off the music and answers the phone. I continue the conversation as I pull into the garage and switch the call to my home line as I exit the car. Continuing to chat, I move into a room with an HDTV and switch to video conferencing. The call ends and the radio program resumes from the point of...
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William Wong
June 19, 2008[Technology Report] Four-Wheeled Supercomputers
Smart phones. MP3 players. Notebooks. We can’t live without our portable gadgets. However, we probably drive our most computeintensive mobile electronics to work everyday. Today’s automobiles use a variety of networks, sensors, and computer platforms to deliver safer and more pleasant travel than ever. Most companies concentrate their development efforts on safety, efficiency, and performance. These features rank high with consumers, and the...
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William Wong
June 19, 2008[Technology Report] Megatrends Of The Future Will Feed Off Industry Hype
Afaltering economy hasn’t slowed the electronics industry. According to many independent market research organizations and other sources, most market sectors will experience strong growth over the next five to 10 years. In fact, what has become a digital universe is expanding more rapidly than any original estimates. Updated projections based on research by IDC suggests that with a compound annual growth rate of almost 60%, the digital...
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Ron Schneiderman
June 19, 2008[Technology Report] Robotics Give Doctors A Helping Hand
Advances in robotics technology are completely transforming today’s hospital operating rooms. With robot control and assistance, surgery for any kind of injury or ailment is faster, more accurate, and less invasive than ever before. Because robots help accelerate procedures, operations become safer. With conventional surgery, a surgeon performing an operation lasting several hours can become exhausted. As a result, the surgeon’s hand can be subject...
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Roger Allan
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