Articles – Page 542

The Need for Safe and Secure Software… It’s About Time!

January 15, 2008

Not too long ago, secure software was the sole domain of the military and a few select governmental and financial agencies. Safe software was the sole domain of industries such as aerospace, medicine, and transportation. Software was either safe or secure, but in most cases, there was never a need to have both safe and securesoftware. But the times they are a changing. As digital devices become more ubiquitous and the convergence of multiple applications on a single device continues, safe and secure software now has a place in automotive, aerospace, and in industrial applications to name … Read More → "The Need for Safe and Secure Software… It’s About Time!"

What’s a CSSP

QuickLogic Reshapes Mobile Options

by Kevin Morris

January 15, 2008

If you’re designing portable or battery-powered devices for medium- to high-volume production, you’ve already run into the problem. You need to control a hard disk, re-format the output of a video driver for a special LCD display, connect to some emerging and possibly obtuse I/O standard – or maybe do all three. There is no standard part that cuts the mustard. You may take an off-the-shelf ASSP and try to fix it with a programmable device like a CPLD, but the CPLD may not have enough capability, and you’re still … Read More → "What’s a CSSP"

Burning the Secret Sauce

When Paranoia Impedes Progress

by Kevin Morris

January 15, 2008

“Our new RuleBuster DRC tool has successfully verified a one billion transistor 65nm design for… uh… a very large semiconductor company.” The presenter blushes a bit, looks annoyed, and then continues with his next PowerPoint slide. The six people in the audience all know who he’s talking about, and they’re dutifully impressed. He’s met the letter of the law on the agreement his company signed, although he is now far from the spirit of it.

When you make your living designing and selling electronic … Read More → "Burning the Secret Sauce"

Spreading the Span

ChipX Rolls Hybrid ASIC

by Kevin Morris

January 8, 2008

ChipX has long spanned the gap between FPGA and ASIC. Their range of products includes everything from structured ASIC through standard cell, and they’re often called into service when FPGAs can’t cut the mustard because of cost, power, or performance, but a full-blown minimum-geometry ASIC project is beyond the means of the project.

Now, they’re rolling out something they call “Hybrid ASICs” to make their span even more continuous. Before we get into specifics, let’s have a brief review of terminology. FPGAs are … Read More → "Spreading the Span"

Embedded Everything

Reverse Engineering CES

by Kevin Morris

January 8, 2008

The Embedded Technology game is one of those rare sports where the grand finale comes right at the beginning of the year. Like NASCAR, where the premiere event, the Daytona 500, is the first race of the season… OK, sorry. Really. We promise to never use another NASCAR analogy again.

Anyway, each January, our electronics season is kicked off with the world’s most spectacular display of the final fruits of our engineering efforts – the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. With over 140,000 attendees, CES is one of the … Read More → "Embedded Everything"

Spreading the Span

ChipX Rolls Hybrid ASIC

by Kevin Morris

January 8, 2008

Endangered Elite

The Forgotten Foundation of Electronics

by Kevin Morris

January 8, 2008

Custom IC design has always been the extreme sport of electronic engineering. The design teams that could successfully put together a complex ASIC system-on-chip (SoC) design on the smallest available process geometry tend to be made up of the best and the brightest – the elite talent of the engineering crowd. IC designers have always blazed new trails, making the rules rather than following them, and constantly cutting their technological teeth on the sharpest edge of advancing technology.

During the forty-plus years that we’ve watched Mr. Moore’s self-perpetuating prognostication run its … Read More → "Endangered Elite"

New Approach to FPGA Physical Synthesis for Ease-of-Use and Wide Device Support

by Kevin Morris

December 18, 2007

In the past, physical synthesis tools for FPGA design were targeted to the advanced user and provided support for only a limited subset of devices. This has largely restricted the wide adoption of the technology. As a result, the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools have been inadequate in supporting the performance capabilities of the FPGA fabric. This article will examine the currently available FPGA physical synthesis tools and how a new generation of physical synthesis technology can help achieve timing closure faster, easier, and for a wider range of FPGA devices.

Why care about … Read More → "New Approach to FPGA Physical Synthesis for Ease-of-Use and Wide Device Support"

Auld Langxiety

Bracing for 2008

by Kevin Morris

December 18, 2007

Bonnnngggg…

Two thousand and seven creeps quietly toward a dignified death, trailing tales of victory and woe in the vast vortex of its widening wake.

Bonnnngggg…

Two thousand and eight eases expectantly into view, its perils and possibilities awaiting their unwitting victims and victors with equal voracity.

Bonnnngggg…

Mister Moore is a maddening mistress.

Naught seven was a year of hunker down and deliver. In terms of new product announcements in the FPGA sphere, it was a year of bolster and boost, respond … Read More → "Auld Langxiety"

The Countess, the Moon and a Barbecue

Ada Comes to Eclipse

by Dick Selwood

December 18, 2007

You want an audio system to provide you with very high quality sound, and also perhaps to take sound from your TV/video system. You can buy a complete integrated package; it is easiest but, depending on your requirements, it may not meet your expectations for quality. Also, when a new source appears, like MP3 for example, you may have difficulty integrating it.

Instead, you research the different components: tuner, amplifier, CD player, speakers, even cables and connectors, and assemble your own system with what may be best of breed units. Some years ago one of the … Read More → "The Countess, the Moon and a Barbecue"