Technical Features

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Technical Features

Hardware Scheduling Cuts Power On 12-core, 24-thread SoC

By William Wong, February 08, 2012

Freescale has finally taken off the wrapping around the 12-core, 24-thread T4240 QorIQ processor with hardware power scheduling support.
Hands-on SuperMicro's 32-core A+ Server

By William Wong, February 07, 2012

Technology Editor Bill Wong takes a hands-on look at SuperMicro's AS-4022G-6F A+ Server that runs a pair of AMD 16-core, Opteron 6000 Series.
When Heat Is On, Thermal Characterization Keeps Things Cool

By David Maliniak, February 07, 2012

Accurate thermal management depends on accurate simulation models. Mentor Graphics' thermal characterization and analysis methodology builds thermal models of IC packages and LEDs for use in FloTHERM thermal simulations.
48-core MIPS64 Chip Accelerates Enterprise Networks

By William Wong, February 07, 2012

Cavium's OCTEON III is built around 48 MIPS64 cores along with major hardware accelerators to handle everything from RAID to packet processing.
Embedded PCI Express Still Emerging

By William Wong, February 07, 2012

PCI Express has been dominant in PCs and servers but some embedded areas have been slower to adopt it until now.
If Your Power Supply Needs Fast Rise And Fall Times, Try A Down-Programmer

By Bob Zollo, February 07, 2012

When your bench supply's capacitors are all charged up with nowhere for that charge to go, an active down-programmer is a handy technique that brings rise and fall times back into a viable range.
Essentials Of The Hadoop Open Source Project

By William Wong, February 02, 2012

Apache's open source, Java-based Hadoop project implements the Map/Reduce paradigm. It is designed to be highly scalable.
Waveform Analyzer Module Characterizes 32-Gbit/s Designs

By David Maliniak, February 02, 2012

Agilent's 86108B waveform analyzer module combines with its 86100C/D mainframe to comprise a sampling capable of characterizing high-speed designs out to 32 Gb/s.
MEMS Design Tool Continues To Evolve

By David Maliniak, February 02, 2012

Enhancements to CoventorWare, a MEMS design and simulation tool, enable creation of more efficient 3D simulation meshes.
FPGA Kits Support FMC Mezzanine Card Development

By William Wong, February 02, 2012

Xilinx's Series 7 Kintex and Virtex FPGA development boards sport dual FMC expansion support.
Avoiding Enemies and Making Friends Using Embedded Open Source Software

By Mahshad Koohgoli, February 01, 2012

Over 40% of embedded projects use open source. A structured Open Source Software Adoption Process (OSSAP) allows organizations to take advantage of open source software in a controlled and managed fashion.
Microcontroller Sports Complementary ADCs

By William Wong, January 31, 2012

Texas Instrument's 25MHz MSP430F6736 sports three 24-bit Sigma-Delta ADCs and a fast, 8-channel SAR ADC.
Microserver Has 64 Sandy Bridge Xeons In 10U Rack

By William Wong, January 31, 2012

SeaMicro's SM10000-XE microserver platform packs 64 quad core Sandy Bridge Xeons in 10U rack.
Reduce EMI In Your Class D Amplifiers

By Bill Llewellyn , January 31, 2012

Emitted EMI is a drawback to the switching topology of the Class D amplifier. Passive filtering can moderate EMI but adds cost and complexity to the end product. What other internal circuit design methods can be employed to mitigate EMI?
Versatile DCRx Fits Almost Any Radio Application

By Louis E. Frenzel, January 31, 2012

Single-chip zero IF receiver covers wide frequency range for SDR applications.