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Atmel Starter Kit Prevents Data Counterfeiting In Medical and Electronics Markets

Cryptographic authentication chip allows developers evaluation capabilities of CryptoAuthentication, While maintaining authenticity of end-product firmware and protecting sensitive transmitted data

San Jose, CA, October 21, 2009 – Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) today announced its CryptoAuthentication™ Starter Kit. The AT88CK109STK3 is a modular and versatile development kit for Atmel’s CryptoAuthentication™ AT88SA102S and AT88SA100S client security devices and AT88SA10HS host security companion IC. Atmel’s CryptoAuthentication devices are the industry’s most secure authentication ICs that include an embedded SHA-256 engine and 256-bit cryptographic key … Read More → "Atmel Starter Kit Prevents Data Counterfeiting In Medical and Electronics Markets"

Green Hills Software Announces Comprehensive Solution for ARM TrustZone Technology-based Devices

Techcon3 2009, Santa Clara, CA — October 21, 2009 — Green Hills Software, Inc., the largest independent vendor of embedded software solutions, today announced INTEGRITY Secure Virtualization for ARM® TrustZone® technology. INTEGRITY® Secure Virtualization (ISV) is built on Green Hills Software’s INTEGRITY RTOS, the first and only operating system technology to be certified by the NSA to EAL6+ High Robustness, the highest level of security ever achieved for any software product.

INTEGRITY Secure Virtualization reduces costs through processor consolidation, improves system security and reliability, and reduces the certification burden in mission critical applications such … Read More → "Green Hills Software Announces Comprehensive Solution for ARM TrustZone Technology-based Devices"

More ARMs Than a Hindu Goddess

After shipping 15 billion chips you’d think the cocky computer cowboys from Cambridge would be finished, right? Not on your life, pardner. They’ve got more tricks up their collective sleeve than a saloon gambler with a seat against the wall. They just keep dealin’ and we keep ante’ing up.

The newest ace in the hole is the Cortex-A5, announced today. The –A5 fills the enormous (not really) gap between the Cortex-A8 and ARM’s older designs in the ARM9 and ARM11 family. (For some background on ARM’s … Read More → "More ARMs Than a Hindu Goddess"

Don’t Touch Me There

“As our rivets rub together, flashing sparks into the night.” Anything for a Tubes reference. Actually, the headline is relevant to today’s embedded designers because touch-sensitive interfaces are becoming hugely popular, just as they have been for millions of years. But now they’re popular in electronic gadgets, too. (Just as they have been for…. oh, never mind.) 

Cypress Semiconductor and Atmel are among the microcontroller companies making noise about their touch-enabled chips. These devices include interface logic for capacitive touch screens (sold separately), making it much easier for the … Read More → "Don’t Touch Me There"

Is Open Source for Hardware a Possible Dream?

One of the great joys about today’s electronics industry is the way in which the same words are used by different people to mean different things. Take, for example, the phrase “embedded software.” For a long time it has meant the software that has run on an embedded system (although exactly how to define an embedded system is open to debate). Suddenly it also means the software running within a System on Chip (SoC). A perfectly valid use, and much of what is involved in developing and testing the software is similar, but it does … Read More → "Is Open Source for Hardware a Possible Dream?"

Floor Wax or Dessert Topping?

“Hi, we’re from Element CXI and we’re not an FPGA company.”

That’s essentially the sales pitch from this Silicon Valley startup with the intriguing new device. Element CXI has developed a beguilingly flexible and curiously powerful new chip that combines elements of multicore microprocessors, FPGAs, reconfigurable logic, and black magic. The result can be difficult to grok but promises delightful results for those who give it a try.

What Element CXI has developed is best described as… uh… a processor chip with flexible resources … Read More → "Floor Wax or Dessert Topping?"

Synopsys Enables Optimized High-Performance Energy-Efficient ARM Processor-based Designs

Optimized Implementation Methodology Enables 2GHz Fully Synthesizable ARM Cortex-A8 Processor for Advanced Mobile and Consumer Applications

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) , a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced that it has created an optimized reference implementation methodology for the ARM® Cortex(TM)-A8 processor that achieves greater than 2GHz (4000 DMIPS) at 540mW. This result was accomplished by combining optimized methodology, tools and ARM Physical IP to enable new classes of mobile and tethered devices requiring the combination of high-performance and energy efficiency.

< … Read More → "Synopsys Enables Optimized High-Performance Energy-Efficient ARM Processor-based Designs"

Industry’s Highest Capacity PCI Express 3.0 Controller IP Core From Denali Software Adopted by Cray

Best-in-Class Solutions Speed Design-to-Silicon Success of PCI Express Technology

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Denali Software, Inc., a world-leading provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software and intellectual property (IP), today announced that Cray has adopted Denali Databahn(TM) PCI Express (PCIe) controller core and PureSpec(TM) verification IP (VIP), which support the latest PCIe 3.0 specifications from the PCI-SIG. The 16-lane PCIe 3.0 controller from Denali can deliver 128 GT/s of raw bandwidth, surpassing a 100G Ethernet interface. This is equivalent to transferring a full 3-hour high-definition movie file in under one second.

“Our systems are … Read More → "Industry’s Highest Capacity PCI Express 3.0 Controller IP Core From Denali Software Adopted by Cray"

MIPS Technologies Licenses High-Performance, Power-Efficient Processor to Novatek for Next-Generation SoC Designs

MIPS32® 24KEc™ is Core of Choice for DTV, STB, DVD, Portable Media Applications

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – October 20, 2009 – MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NasdaqGS: MIPS), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for home entertainment, communications, networking and portable multimedia markets, today announced that Novatek Microelectronics Corp. has licensed the MIPS32® 24KEc™ processor core to power advanced chip designs for a variety of multimedia devices for the digital home. Based in Taiwan, Novatek is a world leader in the development of solutions for high-growth markets including flat panel displays, DTVs, … Read More → "MIPS Technologies Licenses High-Performance, Power-Efficient Processor to Novatek for Next-Generation SoC Designs"

Synchronous Step-Down LED Driver Delivers Over 20A of Continuous LED Current

MILPITAS, CA – October 20, 2009 – Linear Technology announces the LT3743, a synchronous step-down DC/DC converter designed to deliver constant current to drive high current LEDs. The device’s 5.5V to 36V input voltage range makes it ideal for a wide variety of applications, including industrial, DLP projection and architectural lighting. The LT3743 provides up to 20A of continuous LED current from a nominal 12V input, delivering in excess of 80 Watts. In pulsed LED applications, it can deliver up to 40A of LED current or 160 Watts from a 12V input. Efficiencies as high as 95% eliminate any need for external heat … Read More → "Synchronous Step-Down LED Driver Delivers Over 20A of Continuous LED Current"

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