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Remove Redundancy In Your Compression Designs
All compression algorithms utilize two basic functions. The first removes redundant or irrelevant information. Redundancy removal can be lossless or lossy. The second function, bit packing, packs the redundancy remover’s outpt bits together in a lossless manner. Redundancy occurs when a signal stream contains more bits than required to represent the inherent information it carries. For instance, telephone calls could transmit the full 2-kHz bandwidth...
Low-Energy Microcontroller Takes It To The Limit
What do you get when you don’t run Energy Micro’s 32-bit Cortex-M3 processor (Fig. 1) at full speed (mode 0)? A very low energy bill. In most instances, this 32-bit microcontroller sips less power than ultra-low-power 8-bit microcontrollers, so why not take advantage of 32-bit performance? Extensive clock gating within the chip design is a major factor in reducing power requirements, but so is...
Will Android Open The Set-Top Box?
Comcast’s final move to all-digital transmission in my area means I need a set-top box (STB) for all of my devices. This puts Comcast on par with other HDTV service providers such as Verizon and Dish Networks. Viewers can still get local channels via Comcast cable with a TV or HDTV tuner, but they’re just a fraction of all of the available channels. This doesn’t make much of a difference for viewers with one or two televisions. But I have a few more, ...
2D Communications Sheet Challenges 3D Trends
Last month, Teijin Fibers unveiled a 2D communication sheet that it says provides simple, secure wireless local-area network (WLAN) connections. According to the company, communications are rapidly migrating from 1D cable to 3D wireless topologies, while it forges development in the 2D domain. With the growing trend toward 3D communications, this 2D approach may seem like a step backward. But Teijin Fibers, which primarily designs and creates unique...
Science Fiction Meets Science Fact In Today's Robot Research
Real robots have capturedthe imagination of young and old engineers, designers, and programmers alike. For example, techies can get their hands dirty with iRobot’s Roomba Create or take part in competitions like FIRST Robotics. Robots also are changing how war is waged and how we protect people on and off the battlefield. And, they’re working with doctors and patients. Though we’re far from the intelligent androids found in science fiction, robot deployment and...
Taking A Hand At Robot Control
Tele-operated and semi-autonomous robots are often handled by conventional joysticks and mice. This is fine for rolling robots with two degrees of freedom. But higher-complexity robots capable of more varied movements have led to everything from 3D mice to thought control (brainwaves), though that has yet to be used for precise control. The AcceleGlove from AnthroTronix uses Freescale’s 3D microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers (...
DSF Targets Complex Debugging Chores
The open-source Eclipse project has turned into one of the primary software development platforms for Web services, embedded systems, and other applications. Embedded developers typically take advantage of the Java-based Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) using the C/ C++ Development Tool (CDT). Embedded tool vendors quickly adopted the CDT because it enabled incorporation of the GNU toolchain as well as proprietary toolchains including...
Hard Drive Delivers SATA-III 6-Gbit/s Transfer Rate
Peripheral transfer rate is the typical bottleneck for many applications, especially as processors split into multiple cores. SATA-III’s 6-Gbit/s transfer rate provides significantly more bandwidth, assuming the hard drives and motherboards can keep up. Seagate’s 2-Tbyte ST32000641AS Barracuda XT hard drive delivers on the peripheral side. This is enough space for up to 45 hours of 1080i HD DVCPRO-encoded video (see the...
Rambus And SPMT Offer A Memory Of Things To Come
Memory is more than double data rate (DDR), as any embedded designer will attest. Memory technology is also one of the arenas where there is an ongoing conflict between standards and innovation. Volume keeps memory costs down, but it also means standards need to exist so parts are interchangeable. Plenty of memory technologies are out now, with more on the drawing board. Two new possibilities, multithreaded DDR RAM from Rambus and serial port memory from the...
Developers Can Expect To See Everyware Everywhere
Building a system from the ground up including all the software can be rewarding, but it’s a timeconsuming process that’s prone to errors. That’s why developers utilize off-the-shelf processor boards, operating systems, and run-time systems. Systems that aren’t built with a significant amount of off-theshelf hardware and software are rare. On the software side, C remains the dominant programming language of choice, with C++ bringing up the rear. C++ has...
Playing The Board Game: Stack' em, Pack 'em, And Rack 'em
Stacking architectures such as PC/104 and computer-on-module (COM) rule when it comes to customizing compact, rugged systems. With standardization, boards from one vendor can plug into another, providing a host of options. As a result, developers can seize processing power from vendors with single-board computers (SBCs) and I/O boards from another vendor. The typical stacking system, such as PC/104, paves the way for simple expansion and offers ruggedization...
STT Technology Puts A New Spin On MRAM
MRAM’s full potential has been one of the electronics industry’s holy grails—until now. Maybe. Its promise includes nonvolatility, fast read and write times, and unlimited endurance. Power requirements and density have been limitations in the past, though current MRAM technology has succeeded in a number of niche applications. MRAM is complementary with technologies it may replace, including SRAM, DRAM, and flash memory. Crocus...
Break Through The TCP/IP Bottleneck With iWARP
T he online economy, particularly e-business, entertainment, and collaboration, continues to dramatically and rapidly increase the amount of Internet traffic to and from enterprise servers. Most of this data is going through the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) stack and Ethernet controllers. As a result, Ethernet controllers are experiencing heavy network traffic, which requires more system resources to process network packets. The...
Robot Athletes Have A Kick At Robocup 2009
Held this summer in Graz, Austria, Robocup 2009 hosted an array of robots, from Aldebaran’s Standard Platform Nao to the custom-built Middle Size Robot League, where Team T’n’T took first place with its BlackFin-based robot. Multiple robots hit the field in a variety of soccer team competitions. For example, the Middle Size Robot League uses a 70-cm ball and a field that’s 18 by 12 m. The teams have five autonomous robots. One is usually the...
Field-Programmable I/O Augments 8- And 32-Bit Microcontrollers
T hanks to its reconfigurable peripherals, the original programmable system-ona- chip (PSoC) from Cypress Semiconductor is one of the major microcontroller advances of the past decade. However, its proprietary 8-bit microcontroller limited its use in many higher-end applications. The release of the PSoC 3 (based on the 8051) and the PSoC 5 (based on the Cortex-M3), along with some major changes in the reconfigurable peripherals, revises the equation...
I/O-Rich Form Factors Enable Innovation-Rich Designs
Developers can’ t get enough processing power, memory, and I/O ports. Of course, having them on-chip is just the start. Getting them connected to do useful work is another matter. Modular techniques have led to a range of form factors, from board-level systems such as VME to modules like COM Express. The VIA Technologies Em-ITX form factor is designed to bring lots of I/O ports to the outside world with dual I/O port coast lines. The EITX-3000,...
A Plethora Of Board Form Factors Gives Designers A Range Of Options
Designing a new system from scratch? You can probably find a board form factor that can speed delivery time with expansion and enhancement options that a custom solution would lack. Board-level products are commonly used in a range of embedded systems, including rugged applications such as avionics and military (“Military And Avionics Applications Demand Rugged...
VoIP BlackFin DIMM—Enough Said
Arcturus Networks’ uCBF54x system is a somewhat large small-outline dual-inline memory module (SODIMM) based on a 533- MHz Analog Devices ADSP-BF548 BlackFin processor. Able to handle up to six voice channels, the processor targets Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications. The matching kit includes a host board plus the open-source uClinux and Arcturus Voice and Management Middleware, which includes a complete session initiation protocol...
Low-Power ZigBee Modules Reach 4 km
Jennic’s JN5148 wireless microcontroller modules bring low-power operation with a large available memory footprint for embedded applications running on the 32-bit MIPS processor. A 128-kbyte ROM includes the ZigBee stack. An optional uFI connector and power amplifier can extend 802.15.4 connections up to 4 km. All of the modules operate from –40°C to 85°C. JENNIC ...
Homeplug AV Module Does 200 Mbits/s Over Powerlines
Bell Fuse has delivered its Powerline Communications (PLC) transceiver modules based on Intellon’s INT 6400. It’s designed to deliver data, voice, and video over powerlines at speeds up to 200 Mbits/s based on the HomePlug AV standard. The session initiation protocol (SIP) module supports 1024/256/64/16/8QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), and remote office/branch office (ROBO) modulation...
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