Design
Embedded Databases in Defence
McObject, whose eXtremeDB embedded database systems are distributed in the UK by Phaedrus Systems, has announced two major design wins in the military and aerospace area. BAE Systems is using McObject's eXtremeDB as part of an avionics upgrade for the Panavia Tornado GR4 multi-role combat jet and leading Turkish defence contractor STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade is using the eXtremeDB High Availability (HA) embedded database within a new Tank Command and Control Information System (TCCIS).
Altera Delivers Industry's First Serial RapidIO 2.1 IP Solution
Altera Corporation today announced the immediate availability of the industry's first intellectual property (IP) core supporting the RapidIO 2.1 specification. Altera's Serial RapidIO IP core supports up to four lanes at 5.0 GBaud per lane, addressing the increased bandwidth and reliability needs of the wireless and military markets. The IP core is optimized for Stratix® IV FPGAs with embedded transceivers and is supported within Quartus® II software v9.1.
New eTools 8.0 Software Simplifies 45nm ASIC Design
eASIC Corporation, a provider of NEW ASIC devices, today announced the immediate availability of its eTools 8.0 software suite for implementing 45nm Nextreme-2 designs. The eTools 8.0 tool suite delivers a robust ASIC grade design flow with the simplicity, ease of design, and a cost point that is normally associated with FPGA design tools. By focusing on ease-of-use, and low cost of entry, eASIC is now enabling designers to make a seamless transition to adopting Nextreme-2 devices as a lower cost and lower power alternative to FPGAs and a lower NRE alternative to traditional ASICs.
Xilinx Simplifies Serial Digital Interface Development for High Performance Professional Broadcast Audio and Video Systems
Xilinx today introduced the industry's first Broadcast Connectivity Targeted Design Platform with Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs to simplify development of serial digital interface (SDI) solutions for high-performance broadcast audio and video systems. The broadcast connectivity platform accelerates time to market and differentiation of professional broadcast audio, video and network connectivity products, including cameras, switchers, routers, encoders, professional monitors, and cinema projectors.
One less custom PCB to design for prototypes
Altium has released a new prototyping peripheral add-on board for its NanoBoard FPGA-based development boards.
Polar adds Speedflex flex-rigid PCB capability to the Speedstack layer stackup design system
Polar Instruments has added a new flex-rigid PCB design option to Speedstack, the industry's best-selling PCB layer stackup design system. The addition of Speedflex flex-rigid design to Speedstack allows PCB fabricators and OEM designers to create and accurately document PCB stackups, combining rigid and flex-rigid PCBs, and to reduce manufacturing costs through fast evaluation of a wide range of alternative materials and suppliers.
IAR Systems introduces global volume license program (VLP)
IAR Systems today announced a global volume license program. With its support for more than 20 different 8-, 16-, and 32-bit MCU architectures, IAR Systems is the world's leading provider of software tools for embedded systems and this new program is tailored to benefit both new and existing customers.
TowerJazz and Tanner EDA Announce Process Design Kit (PDK) Collaboration for Power Management Device Design
TowerJazz and Tanner EDA today announced a joint initiative to develop Process Design Kits (PDKs) for analog/mixed-signal (A/MS) designers using Tanner EDA's HiPer Silicon(TM) software. This collaboration gives Tanner EDA customers access to TowerJazz's innovative 0.18- and 0.35-micron power management process platform and TowerJazz customers access to Tanner EDA's A/MS tools for a complete IC design solution.
Tanner EDA Announces Strategic Alliance With SoftMEMS, Companies Work With Trident Techlabs to Support A/MS and MEMS Design in India
Tanner EDA, a leading provider of analog, mixed-signal (A/MS) and MEMS electronic design automation (EDA) tools, announced today that it has formed a strategic alliance with SoftMEMS. The two companies are working together with Tanner EDA's distributor in India, Trident Techlabs Pvt. Ltd., to support customers in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune seeking proven solutions for A/MS and MEMS design.
Zuken Announces Expansion of CADSTAR Sales Agents Network in North America
Zuken has announced that CADSTAR has now become significantly more accessible in North America, with the appointment of five new Sales Agents spanning across the continent. This expansion which comes as part of a recent recruitment effort enables Zuken to serve the massive market opportunities while providing current and potential users of the software more localized support.
IC Plus Standardizes Verification Process with Cadence Incisive Solution
Cadence Design Systems today announced that IC Plus, a communication and networking IC design company in Taiwan, has adopted the Cadence Incisive verification solution with the Open Verification Methodology (OVM) and Cadence verification IP (VIP) to optimize development time while simplifying and standardizing its verification process.
Altium sets December deadline for illegal users
Altium has set a December 2009 deadline for illegal users of its electronics design software to become legal. Under the new scheme, companies doing electronics design can legalize their illegal copies of Altium's Protel and Altium Designer software by buying the latest version of Altium Designer at a price of € 3.200 that includes half a year amnesty for each legalized seat.
Synopsys expands DesignWare Data Converter IP portfolio with 40nm solutions
Synopsys, Inc. today announced the release of a broad range of data converter IP solutions for 40 nanometer (nm) process technologies. The IP is targeted at broadband wireless communications, wired communications and video designs requiring high-performance, ultra-low power consumption and very compact area. With this latest addition, Synopsys' DesignWare Data Converter IP portfolio now offers more than 100 data converter IP products comprised of analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) supporting Oversampling, Pipeline, Sigma-Delta, SAR and Current Steering architectures.
Altium announces deployment enclosures for its NanoBoard 3000 FPGA-based development board
Altium has added an instant deployment option to its new NanoBoard 3000 FPGA development board. Designers can now take their FPGA-based designs from concept right through to deployment without the need to create a custom PCB.
APIX starter kit for the development of robust and inexpensive control units
congatec AG has introduced a starter kit for APIX technology at SPS/IPC/Drives. APIX was originally developed for transferring image data in vehicles and, thanks to the new APIX starter kit, can now also be quickly and easily put to use in industrial applications. The APIX transfer process enables the use of standard Ethernet cables and makes it possible to simultaneously transmit video data and bi-directional control data as well as the power supply for the control or display units used.
TI's eZ430-Chronos revolutionises design of wireless networking applications
Texas Instruments today announced the eZ430-Chronos, the world's first customizable development environment within a sports watch. Taking the popular line of eZ430 development tools to the next level, the kit allows developers to easily harness the leading integration, ultra-low power and wireless capabilities of TI's CC430 microcontroller (MCU).
Aonix Adds VxWorks/Intel Architecture Target Support to ObjectAda Product Line
Aonix, a provider of solutions for safety and mission-critical applications, today announced the release of ObjectAda Real-Time 8.4 for Windows, targeting Intel x86 architecture embedded and real-time systems running the Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS). Following the release of ObjectAda Real-Time for VxWorks targeting PowerPC architectures earlier this year, this is the second ObjectAda Real-Time release supporting full Ada tasking atop VxWorks via Real-Time Processes (RTP).
Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS Selected for Avidyne Digital Flight Control System
Express Logic, Inc., the leader in royalty-free real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced that its popular ThreadX RTOS drives Avidyne Corporation's new DFC90 attitude-based Digital Flight Control System. The DFC90 is an integrated flight computer and control panel designed as a slide-in replacement for existing rate-based STEC 55X flight computers. Avidyne's DFC90 specifically targets Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft with Avidyne's Entegra Flight Deck Systems.
Wittenstein - OpenRTOS adds integrated memory protection support for Cortex-M3
WITTENSTEIN High Integrity Systems has announced integrated Memory Protection Unit (MPU) support for Cortex-M3 microcontrollers in its OpenRTOS kernel. The MPU protects applications from undetected programming errors as well as those caused by system failure.
ChipWrights Releases Software Development Kit with VMware Support
Developers now have the flexibility to develop code for ChipWrights' CWvX CW5631 SoC processor using any host operating system supported by VMware, such as Windows-based and various Linux®-based versions.
ChipWrights' Latest Software Release is Prime for IP Camera Market
ChipWrights stacks its latest software release with major improvements to its DSP libraries and Linux support, making it possible to implement a dome fish-eye (360 degree) camera with dewarping and filtering functionality using ChipWrights' CW5631 System-on-Chip.
GUI Software Speeds PCB Assembly Design Verification
Saelig Company, Inc. announces the availability of GTO, - an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool, expressly designed to help rework technicians, assembly technicians, and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly contract manufacturers to easily locate single or multiple components on a PCB.
Aptina Picks Silicon Frontline’s Post-Layout Verification EDA Software to Eliminate Costly Prototype Builds, Improve Manufacturing Quality
Silicon Frontline Technology, an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) company in the post-layout verification market, announced today that Aptina, the world's foremost image sensor provider, is using Silicon Frontline's F3D (Fast 3D) software for post-layout verification and for fast 3D extraction to improve Aptina's image sensor design accuracy and manufacturing quality.
Cypress Kits Showcase Simplicity of LCD Segment Drive Design with Flexible New PSoC® 3 Architecture
Cypress Semiconductor has introduced two evaluation kits showing the ease-of-use, fast development time and flexibility of its new PSoC® 3 architecture for LCD segment drive applications. The new CY8CKIT-006 PSoC 3 LCD Segment Drive Evaluation Kit and the CY8CKIT-029 PSoC LCD Segment Drive Expansion Board Kit demonstrate how a single PSoC 3 device can drive up to 736 LCD segments, more than any microcontroller-based solution. With the kits, designers can leverage the drag-and-drop LCD Drive component in the PSoC Creator™ Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to quickly and easily design products with an LCD screen for the consumer electronics, handheld, medical, industrial, white goods, automotive and other markets.
EnSilica boosts front-end IC design services with launch of new eSi-RISC configurable processor cores
EnSilica, a leading independent provider of front-end IC design services, has significantly enhanced its design service capability with the addition of three new, highly configurable and low-power soft processor cores – the eSi-1600, eSi-3200 and eSi-3250 - to its customer IP portfolio. The new processor cores are available immediately for deployment as part of EnSilica's full specification-to-silicon design service through a number of leading foundries and an FPGA integration service utilising devices from all the leading vendors.
ARM's Solution Center for Android Drives Innovation in Developments on the Platform
As part of its continued work to foster innovation and openness in connected devices, ARM today announced the Solution Center for Android, a resource for designers and developers of ARM technology-based products running on Android, the open source platform from the Open Handset Alliance. More than 35 members of the ARM Connected Community have joined this initiative, once again demonstrating the strength of the ARM ecosystem.
Silicon Frontline - Post-Layout Verification Products Stand Out for Semiconductor Power Device, Nanometer and A/MS Design
Silicon Frontline Technology announced today that since the May introduction of the company and its first products, F3D (Fast 3D) for fast 3D extraction and R3D (Resistive 3D) for 3D extraction and analysis of large resistive structures, the company has achieved success and validated its position as a player in the post-layout verification and 3D extraction markets.
Digital Imaging Systems achieves first-pass silicon success with Synopsys Galaxy Custom Designer
Synopsys has announced that Digital Imaging Systems GmbH (DIS) has achieved first-pass silicon success using Synopsys' Galaxy Custom Designer implementation solution and its unified suite of circuit simulation, extraction and physical verification tools for a custom integrated circuit (IC) used in DIS' high performance, multi-megapixel camera modules. The productivity enhancements afforded by Custom Designer, combined with its interoperable and open environment, enabled DIS to completely replace its existing flow and tape out a new IC design in under one month.
XMOS USB Audio 2.0 reference design provides highest quality audio solution
XMOS has announced the industry's first reference design for USB Audio 2.0. The solution enables standard computer-based systems to deliver bit-perfect prosumer quality sound. Implemented entirely in software, using the XMOS XS1-L1 event driven processor(TM), the design supports hi-speed USB Audio 2.0 connectivity and up to 6 input and 6 output audio channels at 24-bit resolution and a sample rate of 192 kHz. Higher audio channel counts are also supported using the XMOS L2 and G4 devices.
Crossware Joins ARM Connected Community
Crossware today announced it is a new member in the ARM Connected Community, the industry's largest ecosystem of ARM technology-based products and services. As part of the ARM Connected Community, Crossware will gain access to a full range of resources to help it market and deploy innovative solutions that will enable developers to get their ARM Powered products to market faster.
Nuvoton Technology Provides the ISP Programmer for Flash-based 8051 MCU
Nuvoton Technology Corp. launches a new low-cost ISP(In-System Programming) tool, 8051 ISP Programmer, for the Flash-based 8051 MCU products. Nuvoton Flash-based 8051 MCU has the built-in advanced ISP (In-System Programming) function. Through the ISP interface, users can re-program the MCU's program memory without removing the mounted MCU chip from the fabricated product. It will be more easy for users updating the MCU's firmware.
National Instruments - LabVIEW Education Edition Graphical Software will Inspire Hands-On Learning
National Instruments today introduced LabVIEW Education Edition, a high school-focused version of its industry-standard LabVIEW graphical programming software. The new edition is designed to help educators implement project-based, hands-on learning for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. The software was developed in collaboration with the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), a leader in integrating engineering into K-12 education. Working with Dr. Chris Rogers, Tufts CEEO director and professor of controls and mechatronics, National Instruments developed the software to help high-school teachers give their engineering students hands-on experience with the same graphical system design technology used by engineers and scientists throughout industry and academia.
National Instruments Expands HIL Simulation Platform to Optimize Embedded Control Systems
National Instruments today announced the expansion of its hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation platform, which includes numerous products that optimize embedded system validation. During the past six months alone, NI has released nearly 40 new products targeted at delivering flexible HIL solutions to embedded control system developers within a variety of industries. The portfolio of NI HIL simulation tools helps engineers maintain reliability and time-to-market requirements while reducing costs, even as their products become more complex.
Third generation programming architecture supports largest flash devices
The new FlashPAK III is the third generation programming architecture specifically designed to support the largest flash devices while keeping your production processes running at maximum speed. The FlashPAK III Networked Programming System supports the latest high-density Flash memory, NAND Flash, Managed NAND Flash, Microcontroller and EEPROM devices at maximum programming speeds and highest quality per device. FlashPAK III is the third generation programming architecture specifically designed to support the largest flash devices while keeping your production processes running at maximum velocity.
TenAsys Announces Multi-RTOS Support for Windows Systems
TenAsys Corporation has announced that embedded system developers can now run multiple instances of the INtime real-time operating systems along side Windows on the same multi-core processor platform. The 4.0 release of the company's INtime real-time OS for Windows allows for this advanced functionality.
Accelerated Designs Inc. has embedded Premier Farnell’s DesignLink into Ultra Librarian software
Accelerated Designs Inc. (ADI), a PCB Library Software and Services firm headquartered in Huntsville, AL has completed a project to link their Ultra Librarian ( UL ) tool to the Premier Farnell DesignLink system. The DesignLink system is an electronic interface to the Premier Farnell electronics parts databases of Newark, Farnell, and Premier Electronics spanning Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific.
SynaptiCAD offers a Free High Performance Verilog 2001 simulator
For a limited time, SynaptiCAD will be giving away free "no strings attached" 6 month licenses for VeriLogger Extreme, a high-performance compiled-code Verilog 2001 simulator that significantly reduces simulation debug time. Free licenses will be available for both Linux and Windows versions of the simulator.
BI Technologies' Voltage Divider Sample Kit
Providing design engineers with increased flexibility in circuit layout, TT Electronics BI Technologies now offers a passive voltage divider engineering sample kit. Designated SFN06VDKIT, the sample kits contain several different versions of the company's SFN Series voltage dividers, which feature two ultra-stable precision thin film resistors. Connected in series, the resistors are packaged in a SON (QFN) 6-pad package measuring 2mm2 with a 0.65mm pitch – 40% smaller than voltage dividers in three-lead SOT23 packages.
Bloor publishes in-depth Research Report on Artisan Studio
Artisan Software Tools has announced that Bloor Research has published one of its "InDetail" research reports on Artisan Studio. The Report analyzes Artisan Studio's capabilities and its importance as a standards-based, graphical systems and software engineering tool which, in their view, caters well for large, distributed teams working on mission and safety-critical projects involving the integration of software, hardware and human processes.
Renesas launches easy-to-use HMI platform for lowest-cost, high-quality TFT user interfaces
Renesas Technology Europe has announcesd the immediate availability of a new turn-key reference platform for lowest-cost Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) solutions, based on Renesas' H8S/2456F high performance 16-bit Flash microcontroller. The kit enables engineers to develop HMI's using colour TFT LCD quickly and easily. It targets a Bill-Of-Material (BOM) for a finished HMI module, including a QVGA TFT with 16-bit colour-depth, of under 20 € for volume orders.
