Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
tober
1st-2nd c
O
October 2008 Vol 16.6
w!
Register neod.co.uk
edd
www.emb
Art Manager
Jean-Paul Speliers
ESS 2008
Subscriptions 16 Teardowns and free kits
Circulation Manager:
Luc Desimpel 16 Conference update
E-mail: luc.desimpel@eetimes.be
Free Subscriptions:
Embedded System Engineering
is available on free subscription Technology Focus
to UK readers qualifying under
the publisher’s terms of control. System Development – Power
See www.esemagazine.com/register 18 Super-capacitors lead the charge
ESE is published by:
TechInsights Europe
System Development – Power
144 Avenue Plasky 22 It’s every designer’s responsibility
1030 Brussels, Belgium
oth! This year, the Embedded Systems Show If that isn’t enough to entice you to the NEC, take a
Optimising
Hardware The Leader in Embedded
Compilers
Debug
Probes
Software Development
FREE 30-Day Product Evaluation
register now at www.ghs.com/eval
Integrated Real-Time
Development Operating
Environments Systems
www.qualisystems.com/ess
8 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1FW, UK Tel: +44-203-178-4095 Fax: +44-203-178-4097 info@qualisystems.com
W
e’re in the midst of a revolution; a continues to be buoyed by the upgrade path and enabled greatly by digital signal processors (DSPs).
technical revolution in the way we emerging markets. The same may become true for It is these devices that invariably enable the access
access live and recorded media. HD devices, but perhaps not for some time yet. devices used in cellular communications today.
Digital broadcasting is enabling This highlights an interesting difference be- However, it seems HD presents its own unique
this revolution and, to a lesser but growing extent, tween – and potentially convergent path for – mo- challenges, that aren’t easily solved using DSPs
it is supported by the market for (home) digital re- bile communications and HD, which is only just and software alone. Convergence in digital broad-
cording. The revolution is High Definition (HD) in all being addressed; the choice in access devices and casting is creating demand for a new generation in
its forms; terrestrial and satellite television broad- the services they enable. Mobile broadband is a processing solutions.
casting, streaming video and audio over IP, home relatively recent ‘evolution’ in cellular communica-
audio/video recording, and portable A/V devices. tions, one that is giving rise to a host of new ac- HD Video
The justification for calling this a revolution is cess devices, such as 3G dongles or handsets with One of the leading companies in digital signal
because it impacts so many aspects of our lives, HSDPA. processing, indeed the company credited with
requiring new equipment at multiple points. Argu- Since the introduction of digital broadcasting inventing the DSP is, not too surprisingly, a large
ably, the last technical revolution came with the there have been many attempts to make it also player in digital communications. Texas Instru-
introduction of mobile telecommunications, in its more portable, by integrating digital receivers in ments’ DSPs are present in the majority of cellular
analogue form. While this only required change at to a variety of devices, but with little success. This handsets, as well as having a strong presence in
a single point – the mobile handset – it impacted may be because the transport media used by hand- basestations. It could, therefore, be seen as one
our lives to such an extent that it caused revolution- held or portable devices – over the air terrestrial of the biggest protagonists for all things software
ary change in the way we live. UHF – is still relatively unreliable for digitally en- defined. However, the latest devices from TI show
However, since its introduction, everything that coded video. Other, packet based transport mecha- that the real-time processing requirements for HD
has happened since has been evolutionary – even nisms, such as cellular broadcast or even satellite decode are too great for DSPs alone.
the migration to digital cellular technology; the broadcast, is arguably more reliable in this applica- Through a combination of integrated processor
revolutionary change happened when we started tion, particularly in built up areas. cores and hardware acceleration, TI is addressing
using mobile telephones. Even the latest acronym This abundance of choice in transport media, as the need for HD capability in low power and low
for mobile communications – LTE, which stands used already by a variety of devices, is giving rise cost platforms.
for long term evolution – acknowledges this fun- to demand for convergence; the ability to receive It recently introduced the latest generation of
damental shift. digital broadcasts – including HD – using a greater OMAP devices; the OMAP 3. There are currently
It can be expected, therefore, that at some range of access devices. four devices available, one of which combines the
point ‘HD’ will move from being revolutionary to In turn, this is fuelling demand for more sophis- ARM Cortex-A8 processor core with one of TI’s own
evolutionary, but not until it has reached a level of ticated silicon solutions, which has some surpris- TMS320C6x+ DSP cores and dedicated hardware
saturation. Today the market for mobile telephones ing consequences. The use of software defined acceleration blocks for both HD decode and 2D/3D
has reached that level in the developed world but platforms for wireless devices is well established, graphics. The first commercial application for the
OMAP 3 platform was unveiled recently by Archos,
which is using the OMAP 3 in its newest portfo-
lio of personal entertainment devices; the Internet
Media Tablet.
“TI is committed to helping Archos develop high
quality products that take advantage of the world’s
first implementation of the superscalar ARM Cor-
tex-A8 processor. Coupled with a TI C64x+ DSP
core, the OMAP 3 processors provide the necessary
performance and multimedia features for enhanced
functionality on the Archos devices,” said Suman
Narayan, General Manager, Catalogue Processors
and Emerging End Equipment, TI. “As consumers
demand HD video, media rich data and connectivity
anytime and anywhere, Archos pushes the bounda-
ries as a leading innovator with its new IMTs.”
The ARM Cortex-A8 core delivers over four
times the performance of the ARM9, the core inte-
grated in previous OMAP platforms and still used in
Time-critical calculations
Good DSP allocation is half the battle when developing real-time and computationally complex applications.
By Christian Harders, an application engineer, marketing industrial with Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe
A
lthough digital signal processing is Many of today’s filters and algorithms could case with motor control which is why it developed
ubiquitous it is not always visible, hardly be implemented using analogue circuits, at its MB91470/480 32bit MCU series with a power-
as with digital cameras and mobile least not without creating unjustifiable expense. ful peripheral in the form of the µDSP alias MAC
phones. A growing amount of func- Today developers have to decide whether to use (multiply-accumulate) unit.
tions that are traditionally implemented using an MCU, DSP or even both. Especially in applica- The µDSP has its own program and data mem-
analogue circuits, are now contained in software tions where signal processing is only one task ory enabling it to perform longer calculations as a
on a microcontroller unit (MCU) or a digital signal among others, this question is not always easy to coprocessor independent from the main processor
processor (DSP), saving printed circuit board space answer. Controls and operating devices are classic (CPU), as shown in figure 1. This allows the CPU to
and components and therefore lowering costs. The to MCUs, whereas digital filters and regulators are react quickly to interrupts also during filter calcula-
drift and tolerances common to analogue devices typical of DSPs. tion, a feature that is necessary to industrial control
can also be avoided. The advantages of an inte- However, such a clear difference is not always tasks, without changing the execution time for the
grated DSP unit for these software algorithms are so apparent with control units often resorting to filter.
demonstrated by Fujitsu’s MB91470/480 series of digital filters in order to evaluate system states and The structure of the µDSP is optimised for multi-
microcontrollers. carry out fast loops. Fujitsu recognised this as the ply-accumulate instructions typical for digital filters
and many other algorithms, which it carries out at
full processor clock speed (up to 80MHz) in just one
cycle. A 72bit wide accumulator adds up the val-
ues, with the number format selected from various
32bit fixed-point formats.
Especially for digital filters the µDSP is able to
transfer input variables through filter stages with-
out the assistance of the CPU. As long as the µDSP
is idle, the CPU has full access to all configuration
and memory addresses of the µDSP, so that data
transfer to and from the CPU is possible. Once the
calculations are started, a few status and control
registers will remain accessible to indicate their
operation status. When the µDSP has executed the
program, it can generate an interrupt or trigger a
DMA (direct memory access) transfer.
www.nohau.co.uk
With this much choice, how Use BFi’s expertise to find it for you.
do you find the optimal solution Finding your optimal wireless solution has never been so easy.
BFi OPTiLAS offer the most comprehensive range of
for your wireless application? components, modules and antennae and also have the expertise
to find the right products for your design.
GSM, GPS, EDGE, GPRS, Bluetooth, ZigBee™, or ISM,
BFi OPTiLAS can find the right module, with the right antennae…
right now.
nometric transformations of the vector control and simultaneously and synchronised to the PWM, giv- are necessary for nearly every AD transformation
the application itself. ing each control a time-slot of its own to use the as a matter of principle, but digital filtering can flat-
If the time intervals for such a control are taken peripherals. ten the requirements for the analogue pre-filters
into account, some of the sub tasks can be per- After all currents have been sampled, the µDSP by over-sampling. This utilises a greater sampling
formed in parallel. For example, the time between is triggered and performs the PID calculations. frequency than that which is necessary according
scanning the actual current values and the next- Because of the short execution time, the control to Nyquist’s theorem (the minimum sampling rate
possible update of the PWM register with the new outputs are updated early enough before the first required to avoid aliasing, which is equal to twice
target values is typically a PWM period. PWM needs the values, so that the PWM can be the highest signal frequency) in order to achieve the
As a result of parallel calculation by the CPU updated to the new output voltage with minimum necessary bandwidth. As a result a simpler filter,
and µDSP additional functions can easily be imple- delay. In other words, the response time of the first with low edge steepness, can be used where the
mented without increasing the effective CPU load. motor control is not influenced by adding a second; limitation to the target frequency range together
The execution of a typical PID algorithm by the MAC both can still be served with the full PWM frequen- with a reduction of the sampling rate is digital, thus
unit requires far less than a microsecond, which is cy of 20kHz. avoiding extra circuit complexity.
why the µDSP can take on further duties such as In order to map control loops efficiently on
filtering input signals between two PWM updates. DSP-like structures, certain requirements must Commonly used filters
Together with the MCU’s flexible timers, very dy- be fulfilled. First of all, most microcontrollers and The FIR (finite impulse response) or IIR are the most
namic three-phase drives can be implemented. DSPs are not equipped with a floating point unit, so commonly used filters. FIR filters are non-recursive
The MB91480 series can even achieve this for fixed-point arithmetic is used instead. However, the as there is no feedback of output to input. There-
two motors. In this case, the MAC unit can take structure of the regulator can also be optimised. fore they are always stable, generating finitely long
over all six PID control loops of both motors (the po- With some reforming, typical discrete PID regu- output signals. In contrast, IIR filters can resonate
sition loops often have additional functionality such lators can be transferred to an IIR (infinite impulse and become unstable, but often need fewer filter
as anti-hunt etc., which are easier to implement on response) filter-like structure. This implementation stages in order to achieve a specified behaviour.
the CPU), so that the benefit, in terms of execution also avoids the summation of the integral term. It Because the µDSP carries out filter calculations on
time becomes even more apparent. features a ‘sum of products’ form, typical to digital its own, an easy-to-use FIR filter can often be used
Together with the flexible motor timer and ADC filters and for which the µDSP is optimised. without increasing the CPU load – see figure 2.
functionality of the MB91480 Series MCU, the tim- The ‘moving average’ filter is a typical simple
ing for both motor controls can be optimised in a µDSP instead of RC FIR filter. It is commonly used as a simple low-pass
way that minimises interference of peripheral us- In many applications it is necessary to evalu- filter providing smooth measured readings. All filter
age. To reach this, the PWMs for both motors are ate analogue readings, but interference such as coefficients have the same value and are usually
shifted against each other by approximately one- noise can prove a problem. This is often reduced scaled (normalised) in such a way that the sum of
fourth PWM period. By this, the ADC units can be with analogue low-pass filters, but can also be the filter coefficients, representing the DC gain of
used to sample the phase currents of each motor achieved digitally. Analogue anti-aliasing filters the filter, equals unity. The µDSP of the MB91470
can calculate such a filter with 64 stages
in approximately 1.2µs. Therefore the full
sampling rate of both 12bit ADCs in the
MB91F479 can be used with this filter, or
several shorter filters can be calculated at
the same time.
The possibility of processing data with
the µDSP in parallel to the CPU enables an
effective method of digital signal process-
ing with the MB91470/480 series of micro-
controllers. As a result, although originally
optimised for motor control applications,
they are also well suited for other measur-
ing, regulation and control technology ap-
plications and offer the flexibility of a mi-
crocontroller and the computing power of a
DSP literally at the same time. <Ends>
www.fujitsu.com/emea/services/
Figure 3: Block diagram of the MB91470 microelectronics/
T
he embedded Systems for the full conference can take part in this
Show 2008 – the leading enable both beginners and expe- truly hands-on educational experience at
international exhibition rienced pilots to enjoy the thrill of
for the electronics systems and steering a helicopter with just a tilt
software development commu- of the wrist.
nities in Europe – will feature The wireless Microsoft Xbox 360
live teardowns of the Estes Mi- Steering Wheel simulates all the
cro-Tiger RC Helicopter and the resistance and force of driving,
X-Box Steering Wheel. featuring dual rumble motors
In addition, pre-registered and realistic force feedback. By
conference delegates will have the opportunity to stripping away these cutting edge toys into their
build and take home a fully configured embedded individual components, the teardown experts
system based on the recently launched Beagleboard. will reveal the techniques and technologies
The live teardowns, first introduced and made that bring these products to life.
popular by exhibition organisers TechInsights, will of-
fer visitors unrivalled access to two of the latest and Free development kits
most popular consumer electronics gadgets. This year, the Embedded Systems Show also features no extra
The Estes Micro-Tiger Helicopter is an indoor a Build Your Own Embedded System (BYOES) pro- charge, building and taking away
helicopter that uses Motion Automatic Sensing Con- gramme. On October 1, fifty pre-registered visitors their own embedded system, using the USB-powered
place directly after this morning session in the cof- Almost without exception, all the software on aircraft
More conference highlights... fee breakout area, is essential to have access to the by manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing has to
Details of presentations not featured in last hands-on material which is strictly limited. be written to satisfy the objectives of DO-178B/ED-
months issue - full details of all sessions are 12B. During Tutorial 2.5 (Wednesday 1, 14.45)
available online at: www.embedded.co.uk.
An introduction to time- Dewi Daniels, Deputy Head of Consultancy, Silver
Software will explain that here have been many ad-
Introduction to multi-core triggered architectures vances in software engineering since DO-178B/ED-
In a time-triggered embedded system, we have one 12B was published in 1992. DO-178B/ED-12B is
programming (and only one) interrupt enabled. This interrupt is being updated to DO-178C/ED-12C to fix ambiguities
With the emergence of multi-core embedded CPUs usually linked to a timer, which will generate “ticks”: that have been found in DO-178B/ED-12B, as well as
and microcontrollers, comes the new challenge of these ticks will, in turn, drive an appropriate (often to address these new technologies. This presenta-
how to program these devices to take advantage very simple) operating system. tion will update you on the progress being made in
of the extra cores. In Tutorial 1.2 (Wednesday 1, Time-triggered architectures are widely used in preparing DO-178C/ED-12C, will let you know what
10.45) Stephen Blair-Chappell, Technical Consulting safety-related systems because they are known to kind of changes to expect, and explain how DO-
Engineer at Intel will show how existing programs provide highly predictable behaviour, which in turn 178C/ED-12C will affect your airborne software de-
can be modified to take advantage of the new multi- reduces testing, maintenance and (where relevant) velopment processes.
core architecture; he will show how to use different certification costs. During this talk (Tutorial 2.2
programming paradigms to implement multithread-
ing in a program; he explain some of the common
Wednesday 1, 10.45) Dr. Michael J. Pont, CEO, TTE
Systems will argue that TT architectures can be (and
Implementing low-power,
pitfalls that occur when writing for multi-core, and should be) used more widely. Numerous examples high-speed, serial buses
how best to avoid and detect these pitfalls; he will of the use of TT architectures will be presented. Media convergence is technically demanding and
also show how to tune and optimise multi-core Strengths and weaknesses of the TT approach will poses many design and implementation challenges;
programs. be considered. The talk will not try to argue that a parallel computing with multiple core processors
The presentation will contain real code examples, TT approach is a perfect match for all embedded is subject to Amdahl’s Law and high-performance
and a ‘live’ demo of the complete development cycle systems. However it will conclude by suggesting portability is dependent on reducing the watts per
showing how to spot the best place to insert parallel- that – as you start your next project – you should instruction. What is more, the buses remain the
ism; how to implement the parallelism; how to check ask yourself: “Should we use a TT architecture this principal factor in determining the performance of
for correctness, and how to tune a parallel program. time?” By the end of this talk, you may be surprised embedded systems.
An article from this presenter is on page 24 of how often the answer is: “Yes”. During Tutorial 3.3 (Thursday 2, 12 noon) Geoff
this issue of ESE. Lawday, Tektronix Professorial Chair in Measure-
■Special Note: Delegates will also have the oppor-
tunity to attend the hands-on class in the afternoon,
RTCA DO-178C / EUROCAE ment, Buckinghamshire New University will explain
that while delivering orders of magnitude in im-
where they can try out some of the techniques pre- ED-12C – a progress report proved bandwidth per pin the new high-speed serial
sented on multi-core target boards. Pre-registration DO-178B/ED-12B provides guidance for the produc- buses are not transparent and require expert design
for the afternoon hands-on class, which will take tion of software for airborne systems and equipment. if a low-power, high-speed, interconnect is to be
uper-capacitors are emerging as a lost, and more energy makes it into the capacitor. the voltage feedback as the means of determining
Taking part in ess will help you achieve this and much more.
Pre-Register Online
www.embedded.co.uk
ESS Ad i dd 1 12/9/08 12 26 35
P19_ESEOct08.indd 1 12/09/08 17:16:43
< Technology Focus >
maintain a reasonably constant output voltage. eliminates the leakage-current problem, but at the The super-capacitor boost circuit does not need
There are, however, three possible solutions. The cost of a more complex system for monitoring the a fixed-current limit. Instead, what is needed, is a
first is to stack super-capacitors together, to extend voltages across all the capacitors. This additional current limit that decreases as the capacitor voltage
the usable range of the retrieval circuitry, so that circuitry also burns some of the charge current to drops. This will correspondingly drop the maximum
the lost capacity is a smaller percentage of the power itself during the charging cycle, reducing inductor current and maintain a reasonable ramp-
capacitor’s total storage capacity. Alternatively, the charging efficiency of the system. up time. To do this, the circuit can be modified so
declare a minimum operating charge voltage The second problem with a series-stacked that the current-limit input is driven with feedback
for the super-capacitor and shut down when the super-capacitors is the total voltage of the from the super-capacitor. This will reduce the
charge drops below this level, which effectively capacitor string. Initially, the stacked voltage maximum current linearly, with the reduction in
discards part of the super-capacitor’s capacity as will typically be higher than the required load voltage. This keeps the equation balanced and the
unusable. The third option is to limit the inductor voltage, necessitating a buck topology SMPS maximum charge time reasonably constant, as the
current, so that the output of the retrieval circuit design. However, as the charge in the capacitors is capacitor voltage drops to zero.
becomes increasingly current-limited as the charge depleted, the stacked voltage will eventually drop
diminishes. below the load voltage, as it ramps down to zero. Adding intelligence
Unfortunately, there are two problems with This means that, at some point in the discharge There is a certain similarity between the buck
the series-stacked approach: First, there is the curve, the SMPS design will have to switch gears topology circuit used to charge the super-capacitor,
problem of balancing the charge in the capacitors, and become a boost topology SMPS design. and the boost topology circuit used to retrieve
and the second concerns the SMPS design of the An alternative solution is to put multiple super- energy: Replacing the Flyback diode in the buck
circuit retrieving energy from the capacitor. There capacitors in parallel, reducing the slope of the circuit with a synchronously switched MOSFET,
are charge-balancing techniques that shunt charge discharge line. There are several advantages to this creates the same power-chain circuit as replacing
current around the individual capacitors, based method, including the fact that the capacitors will the Flyback diode in the boost circuit.
upon their charge voltage. One such technique automatically charge-balance to a common voltage. Figure 2 shows what can be achieved with
uses a Zener diode in parallel with each capacitor. The charge will then route to those capacitors with a little embedded intelligence. Re-routing the
The second technique uses voltage comparators greater capacitance without active direction, and PWM signals to both MOSFETs, and re-routing
and MOSFET transistors to shunt the current, the total voltage for the banked system remains the feedback and current-sense signals, creates a
based upon a monitoring circuit. low. This allows the use of a simple boost SMPS circuit that can, with some embedded intelligence,
The Zener diode circuit is by far the simplest to retrieve power from the capacitors. The boost handle buck charging as well as boost retrieval. The
solution. The problem is that Zener diodes do not SMPS retrieval circuit can also pull more current intelligence can also be tasked with monitoring the
have a perfectly sharp turn-on knee and actually from a parallel configuration, while reducing the capacitor, output and source voltages for charging,
start conducting below their Zener voltage. As a I2R losses in the individual capacitors, because the to determine which topology is required.
result, even when the capacitors are balanced, current load is shared by all the devices. This circuit can either use a microcontroller
there will still be some conduction around the While banking multiple super-capacitors in with the necessary mixed-signal peripherals
capacitors that is bleeding-off charge. parallel reduces the slope of the capacitor voltage, to build the conversion circuitry, or a simple
The active MOSFET charge balancer solves it does not eliminate the basic problem, but microcontroller combined with an array of
this problem through a more complex switching merely delays it. When the capacitor voltage falls, sufficiently programmable external mixed-signal
system. It monitors the voltage across the the time to charge a fixed inductance increases. devices to allow the required switching and
various capacitors in the string and when any The only two solutions that are both simple and control. Microchip’s PIC family of microcontrollers
capacitor reaches its maximum working voltage, practical are to shut down the boost when the includes both low-cost controllers, as well as
the monitoring logic disconnects the capacitor super-capacitor voltage drops below a reasonable versions which integrate mixed-signal peripherals
from the string and shunts the charging current minimum voltage, or to limit the inductor current optimised for power applications.
to the other capacitors to continue charging. This as the charge in the super-capacitor is depleted. The use of super-capacitors for energy storage
does have significant advantages, as well as
disadvantages, compared to chemical, battery
storage. Its extended life and immunity from
temperature effects can make the super-capacitor
the preferred storage medium, despite its cost and
limited energy-density. The challenges associated
with charging and retrieving energy from a super-
capacitor system, however, also have to be
factored into the cost/benefit analysis.
These challenges can be significant, but
they can be handled with careful design and the
inclusion of some simple embedded intelligence.
Recent developments in the PIC microcontroller
family include controllers which integrate many of
the mixed-signal peripherals needed to implement
SMPS-style charging and retrieval.
The addition of embedded intelligence can,
therefore, help to reduce the size and cost of
using super-capacitor storage as an alternative to
conventional batteries. <Ends>
Figure 2: Composite charge-retrieval SMPS circuit www.microchip.com
esigners of portable systems are very technologies we’re dealing with today increase, According to Booth, “Every industrialised
Components: Digital
Halving the pain through parallelism
Seven tips to help get you started with multi-core processors.
By Stephen Blair-Chappell, Technical Consulting Engineer, Intel Compiler Labs.
ulti-core processors are of the product, then maybe there is no point in An example is the Intel Atom, a low power IA
Get to market faster with graphical system design, an approach that combines open, graphical software and off-the-
shelf hardware to help you quickly iterate on designs and easily implement them on an NI embedded platform. The
NI CompactRIO system offers an ideal prototyping and deployment platform with a built-in microcontroller, RTOS,
programmable FPGA, integrated signal conditioning and modular I/O, as well as tight integration with intuitive NI
LabVIEW software.
01635 523545
>> Learn how to simplify your embedded designs at ni.com/embedded ni.com/uk
info.uk@ni.com
©2008 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, and ni.com are trademarks
of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Y Supercool
3,5“ plus PCI-104
Upd@ted
For instant access to over
80,000 price reductions,
visit our electronics range
online today!
PCI-104 bus-compatible
AMD LX 800-CPU 500 MHz
LVDS and TTL LCD support
2 x SATA, GBit LAN JRexplus-LX
Components: Digital
Your flexible friend
To what extent can hardware be designed-out in order to expedite development of embedded systems?
By Jon Pearson, Product Marketing Director, Cypress Semiconductor Corp.
ll embedded systems eventually look at your current project (or favourite past one) temperature, and try to walk through the design
least significant bit represents 0.125°Celsius) to sample the inputs would change and the counts- what the application requires, and can be added
our previously chosen temperature representation to-temperature conversion might change. or removed from the design as requirements
(fixed point value temperature with the resolution Since these were all tucked neatly into change. Abstraction can be carried to a higher
of 0.1°Celsius). rectangles (representing functions and/or macro level, however, by using a mixed signal array. For
Because we isolated our control software, definitions and calls) simply replacing the contents example, with the PSoC Mixed-Signal Array devices
the control application software has not been of the rectangles with the new instructions and visual embedded design tools, the software by
impacted at all by this hardware change; and any required by the new microcontroller changed the default employs a hardware abstraction method
peculiarities associated with the LM75 can be hardware but not the software. and generates all the layers automatically.
tucked into one of the blue rectangles of figure 3, Our specific example purposely changed the Referring to the example above, in order to
exposed to scrutiny and verification without having hardware outside of the microcontroller to make a modify the thermistor, the user selects ‘Thermistor’
to disturb the control software. more universal point, but the same process applies from a catalogue in the PSoC Express design tool,
For instance some of these devices start a if the microcontroller hardware changes. defines the ‘Compute Desired Speed’ control
new conversion each time the I2C master reads algorithm, and the development tool presents
the temperature value/register and if this access Technologies enabling design-out which devices are available with the necessary
occurs too fast or too often, the LM75 will not finish When it comes to making it easier to design-out resources for the application. Upon selecting
a conversion. The control algorithm, therefore, hardware, microcontroller companies are striving a device, the tools generate the necessary
doesn’t need to care about these details. to simplify the process a few steps further by firmware to read, convert and store the thermistor
If we started with the thermistor design of employing hardware abstraction within their temperature in fixed-point format into a data
figure 2 and changed our microcontroller, the software development tools. The peripheral structure and make it available to the “Compute
commands to configure and access the ADC would functions of microcontrollers are selected by users Desired Speed” algorithm. If the specifications
change, the register sequence to multiplex and from a catalogue of choices, depending upon of the thermistor change, the user can select a
different PSoC device with only those devices with
the necessary resources for the application shown,
and the hardware abstraction layers regenerated
without impacting the control algorithm.
When it comes to making it easier to design-
out hardware, microcontroller companies are
striving to simplify the process a few steps further
by employing hardware abstraction within their
software development tools. Until the day comes
when no unexpected design changes occur, or
everyone can set their own deadlines, it is worth
considering these developments and a greater level
of hardware design-out methodology. <Ends>
Figure 3: I2C digital temperature sensor details www.cypress.com
V-7_2008-GROS-4070
MSC-Gleichmann, Distributor of
M
onitoring and accurate ac- ter for central heating and washing – has been free as modems. The Telegesis command layer for the
counting of utility consumtion of charge. To introduce a levy based system and to ETRX2 firmware forms a powerful software prod-
– whether electricity, gas, monitor usage of hot and cold water a metering uct providing comprehensive access to the mesh
or water – is a strategically scheme has been introduced. networking technology of Ember silicon and of-
important task, affecting the economy of every TBN Energoservice delivers its energy service fering a simple and fast way to develop a ZigBee
country. TBN Energoservice is a Russian company via its own back end information system – dubbed wireless system. The ETRX2 firmware is based on
that has specialised in metering and analysis of GIS TBN ENERGO – which differs from many AMR the EmberZnet stack and performs all mesh-net-
energy resource consumption for the past decade. systems in the market in that it offers a compre- working functions such as network forming, data
its offers its energy services to utility companies hensive approach. re-transmission, self-healing and route discovery.
enabling their consumers to take an active role in The TBN system includes the AMR subsystem, One advantage of Telegesis products is that
energy saving programs by developing solutions. the dispatcher control subsystem – responsible for two versions of the module are delivered with the
TBN Energoservice has invested considerable control of equipment states and failure detection same form factor – a low cost base ETRX2 mod-
funds in the development of automatic meter read- – the data saving subsystem, and the analytic sub- ule and an ETRX2-PA module with an additional
ing (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure system. From initial concept stage the GIS TBN EN- 100mW amplifier allowing designers to optimise
(AMI) systems using the latest technical develop- ERGO system has been designed to be truly scal- the overall cost of the system.
ments. TBN engineers are currently implementing able and can be implemented as a district, city, or Typically, modules without amplifiers have an
a major wireless water consumption AMR system regional scale system. Currently 50 district systems outdoor range up to 300 m however experience
which uses ZigBee mesh networking software and have already been put into the service in Moscow showed in the installation of the Moscow wa-
silicon from Ember Corporation delivered in mod- as part of the local government program known as ter meters that the ETRX2 modules can reliably
ule form via the ETRX2 module produced by British “Water meter into every municipal house”. transmit messages from inside an apartment with
company Telegesis (UK) Ltd. Initially, TBN’s AMR subsystem used one me- a metal door to a stairwell platform. The more
In the Russian model water is pre-heated in ter per house. This was followed by a wired data powerful ETRX2-PA modules allow outdoor data
dedicated power plants and pumped underground acquisition system with multiple apartment water transmission typically, up to 800 metres, and can
directly to consumers apartments. Historically, the meters per building. TBN Energoservice are now transmit data over 3 to 5 floors inside an apartment
provision of all water services – including hot wa- moving to a wireless AMR based on ZigBee tech- block.
nology. Module configuration is performed by program-
In order to simplify ming internal non-volatile registers. All modems in
system implementation a network are the same and can be assigned as
ZigBee wireless com- a coordinator, router or end device. The Telegesis
munication based on AT-command set introduces an additional concept
Telegesis ETRX2 modules – a central acquisition data node known as a ‘sink
using Embers technology node’ which is assigned by programming a cor-
was selected. The ZigBee responding modem configuration register. The co-
mesh network topology ordinator or any router in a network can be as-
can support a coordinator, signed as a sink. Telegesis ETRX2 modules have
multiple routers and mul- a deep sleep mode giving current consumption of
tiple end devices (sleepy less than 1µA whilst the RTC continues to work
or mobile). thereby allowing end nodes to extend their battery
Telegesis ETRX2 life to several years.
modules were chosen as A unique 64-bit identifier pre-programmed
the base components for into each module at manufacture is used for
the TBN wireless AMR node addressing and the availability of embed-
subsystem. Telegesis ded firmware tested by the manufacturer reduces
specialises in manufac- system development time and eliminates the need
turing wireless mesh net- for expensive, complex development tools. The
working modules based Telegesis AT-command set supports comprehen-
on Ember’s chip set and sive functions including wireless network forming,
are used in a range of im- network monitoring, transmit/receive messages
plementations. Telegesis via radio channel, input/output of digital and ana-
engineers were among log information, and control of timers and serial in-
the first to develop an terface. Thus designers using ETRX2 Modules can
‘AT’ style command set concentrate on application tasks and simply treat
for their radio modules the wireless network as an easily implemented
Figure 1: TBN wireless automated water metering subsystem effectively offering them data transmission interface.
www.eetimes.eu
EE Times Europe.
The innovative integrated media concept,
for the creators of technology in Europe.
Go online now,
and register free of charge!
To become an EE Times Europe reader,
you can register at:
www.eetimes.eu.
TechInsights Europe
144 Avenue Eugène Plasky
B-1030 Bruxelles
Belgium
electricity meters are in the same electricity cabinet. distributed throughout the building with the rout-
Floor controllers KM-K-8Z have microcontrollers and ers working as central nodes of the stars.
an ETRX2-PA module which has additional power Routers only transmit all buffered data upon
amplification enabling data to be transmitted over 3 a request from a central sink node. At this stage a
to 5 floors. wireless mesh network mechanism with retrans-
The building controller TBN KM-DZ is based on missions and route discovering is applied.
an ETRX2-PA amplified module which is pre-pro- Installing routers on every floor provides sev-
grammed to work as a network sink node. All infor- eral possible routes for message transmission to
mation from network routers is sent to a TBN KM-DZ the central node. In this case a wireless network
which communicates to a dispatcher office via Ether- can automatically choose the optimal route and
net. In addition the building controller KM-DZ has an rediscover a new route in case of failure of the
additional USB port allowing collected information old one.
to be copied into a USB flash stick if needed. The The GIS TBN ENERGO system has distributed
building controller has no visual display, so in order intelligence. Each level is responsible for its own
to read the system state a removable operator panel data processing task. So end apartment loggers
KM, with a 4-line alphanumeric LCD and a small key- KM-K-3Z have buffers that permanently contain
board is used allowing TBN KM-DZ memory reading data reflecting the cumulative total of water con-
Figure 2: KM-K-3Z loogers are installed in apartments and monitoring of network node states. sumed since last meter calibration. End nodes
alongside the water meters There is also an independent metering system also calculate the value of consumed water,
inside the building based on existing water meters. control meter link quality, monitor meter cover
Software stacks such as EmberZNet PRO 3.1 and Information from this system is also transmitted to a state (open/closed), report on battery status and
later, delivers robust and reliable mesh networking, dispatching office via Ethernet. other possible problem states. Floor routers KM-
supporting all ZigBee device types in a single stack K-8Z add additional data from their local electric-
image for Ember’s IC platforms. EmberZnet PRO 3.1 System commissioning and ity meters to these messages before forwarding
includes the industry’s first proven stack based on operation algorithm them.
the ZigBee PRO feature set, enhanced with Ember The major advantage of this system is its commis- The central building controller KM-DZ ag-
innovations; it provides many features for the most sioning simplicity. KM-K-3Z loggers are installed in gregates data to a dispatching office. This office
challenging applications such AMI, home automa- apartments at the same time as water meters – see also receives information from independent,
tion, and building automation systems. figure 2 – and no additional power or signal cables existing building meters and comparing results
ZigBee PRO adds advantages including larger are needed. Installation engineers simply mark the from these two information sources, calculates a
networks scaling to potentially thousands of nodes locations of every node on a building plan and fit balance of water consumption in a building alert-
in a single network enabled by stochastic address- node identifiers. Floor routers are installed in built-in ing authorities to possible leaks and equipment
ing, many-to-one/source routing and asymmetric link cabinets on each landing where mains power is avail- failures. As end loggers permanently store cumu-
handling. Dense networks through intelligent table able and the building controller is placed either in a lative records of total consumed water there is
management assure network stability even when basement or an attic or roof space. no risk of information loss even if communication
many routing nodes are within close proximity. Immediately after installation, end nodes and between an end node and the whole system is
Configurable deep-sleep time-outs and special routers begin joining the network. They perform a lost.
router parent functions significantly extend battery ‘PAN SCAN’ and attempt to join the established If an end KM-K-3Z logger loses contact with
life of end devices by allowing networks capable of wireless network. When the central sink node is a parent router it will continue counting water
sleep and hibernation. Security is further enhanced switched on routers connect to it and end nodes link consumption and calculating the water consump-
by implementing many of the optional ZigBeePRO to the routers. During network building only nodes tion tariff while the information system informs
security extensions for advanced network encryp- with a pre-programmed encryption key are permitted the authorities that there is a loss of contact with
tion and device security. Resilient networks are also to join. that end node. After communication is re-estab-
assured by a frequency agility feature allowing the Child nodes choose their parents randomly. Par- lished the end node will transmit all the data
entire network to change channels when interference ent routers could be situated either on the same floor collected whilst it was out of contact. Thus TBN
is present as their children or on upper or lower floors. End node Energoservice has developed an easy to install,
The main block layout of the TBN Wireless au- messages contain specific identifiers which allow a reliable automated meter reading systems of up
tomated water meter reading subsystem is shown central node to correlate data received via intermedi- to 500 water meters.
in figure 1. In this scheme apartments are equipped ate routers with apartment numbers. Consumers in each apartment can now be
with TBN KM-K-3Z loggers, which have inputs for It’s calculated that end nodes can work for up to 4 sure that they are being accurately billed grant-
three meters – one each for cold and hot running wa- years on one set of batteries. In order to save battery ing them sight of their consumption levels and
ter and one for heated water used for central heating. power the KM-K-3Z end nodes transmit data to their enabling them to monitor and conserve water
These loggers include a microcontroller and an ETRX2 parent routers once per hour. The receiving routers usage. Utility companies benefit from accurate
module and are configured as sleepy end devices in then buffer this data. Whilst in communication with customer consumption figures improving billing
the wireless network. end nodes, routers synchronize the end node clocks and payment collection with a consequent reduc-
KM-K-8Z floor controllers are located on stair and transmit any relevant control information from tion in bad debts and unpaid bills. The technology
landings of every floor in built-in cabinets with elec- the central node if required. When routers perform also assists by detecting leaks and equipment
tricity equipment. They are mains powered and are data exchange with their child node loggers in each failure far more quickly than usual. ●
configured as routers in the ZigBee wireless network. apartment, data is not automatically retransmitted. Ollie Smith is business manager and
In addition, each KM-K-8Z has eight inputs for elec- These exchanges are simply data acquisitions in Dave Blissett is marketing manager at
tricity meters with impulse output. In most cases the multiple independent star configuration networks Telegesis – www.telegesis.com
www.kanecomputing.co.uk - sales@kanecomputing.com
Tel: +44(0)1606 351006 - Fax: +44(0)1606 351007
C
ompanies looking to source manufacturer direct to achieve any additional single plug-in processor module as standard.
single board computers (SBCs) to functionality required and to meet their volume The baseboard currently supports processor
meet new embedded electronics requirements. Customers in small companies modules featuring either the Infineon XC167
requirements not only need to often don’t want to spend precious development or ST Microeletronics STR912 processors.
know that they are selecting the right product time designing and testing their own bespoke Others will be added regularly. Various CPU and
for their situation, but that development times platform, so an SBC provides additional choice application module permutations are possible
and costs will be right for them, too. in helping them to develop a solution quickly. and even the minimum configuration allows the
Making these choices requires both expert Sourcing an SBC through a distributor engineer to operate a web-server easily, via the
product knowledge and a good understanding of such as RS offers some crucial benefits to standard onboard Ethernet connection.
what users are looking for. Electronic equipment customers. First, a distributor can often supply Various application modules are available,
distributors like RS Components are therefore SBCs from stock, the next day. A distributor can including an initial starter kit range consisting of
well-placed to work with their customers in cater specifically for the low-volume customer, basic digital and analogue I/O, a motor control
helping them make the right decisions and to enabling them to buy an off-the-shelf unit that module and a communications module. Each
access solutions quickly. will satisfy, say, 80% of their requirements module contains full schematics, Gerber files
However, a successful distributor does far before they need to talk direct to and a bill-of-materials supplied on an ‘Open-
more than simply sell products, they provide the manufacturer. Source’ basis. Further modules will be added
added value through services and support as the EDP becomes a standard designer’s
to their customers and they also invest in tool. The baseboard itself comes with a
continuously improving those services CD containing all necessary
to enhance the customer’s overall software drivers
experience. and, for processor
These days the range of m o d u l e s ,
applications for SBCs is huge, appropriate
including: vending machines; Windows-based
ATMs; some medical development tools.
equipment; dispensing Advanced users
machines; ticketing systems will also find the
and the information display systems linked baseboard can run
to them (such as in airport terminals); access more than one processor
control; bioscan and general security systems; module in a master and
transport and gaming systems; automation and slave configuration.
process systems; control of services in buildings, This development Fitted with rubber feet for
and factory automation equipment. Across all ‘stop-gap’ can therefore provide laying flat on the bench, the EDP
these fields, getting design solutions to market a crucial time and cost advantage. can also be used in a standard
quickly is a major challenge for embedded Of course, in the fast paced and dynamic r a c k system and, by adding a 64-way
electronics systems designers and selecting the world of the design engineer, where new DIN connector, such as RS’ 381-8696 (not part
right equipment is therefore vital. technologies and market demands emerge and of the EDP package), it can be plugged into a
There are many suppliers of SBCs available, evolve with astonishing rapidity, any additional backplane. It is also fitted with +3.3V and +5V
so it is important to apply the right criteria when functionality that can deliver time and cost regulators, a back-up battery, RJ45 Ethernet
selecting a manufacturer. RS looks at things very savings is a big plus. This is the unique edge and mini-USB connectors, +12VDC power-
much from the perspective of what customers that the Embedded Development Platform (EDP) supply jack, I/O breakout header and eight DIP
have expressed a need for. As a result, RS from RS can offer to hard-pressed designers. switches ported onto the system I_C bus.
favours the main protagonists, because they The EDP consists of a baseboard measuring The DIP switches allow the user software,
have a strong reputation in the global market, 220mm x 100mm that can hold a combination of running on a processor module, to read a
as well as the resources to offer a wide range up to four CPU or application modules – a ‘first’ configuration setting, enabling I/O ports to be
of products and functionality, which are crucial in this field of technology. It has been designed setup correctly. Depending on the capability
to meeting customers’ needs. robustly to have a significantly longer lifespan of the particular processor module, up to three
than the average development board and has I_C buses and two CAN networks are available.
Why SBCs? been subject to rigorous testing. And, during Many of the application modules use an I_C bus
Customers use SBCs for various reasons. Some the design stage, strenuous efforts have been for primary communication with the processor,
companies, who need a fast route through made to protect against the most common providing maximum flexibility. Some processor
the development cycle for their system, might human errors. chips will require +5VDC, others +3.3VDC. A
buy an SBC and use it to provide most of the The minimum configuration of the baseboard factory link on the module selects the correct
system functionality. They may then contact the comprises four identical stations, with a supply from the connector. This supply is linked
Integrated Print and online. Delivering the news the way you prefer:
EE Times Europe print EE Times Europe web site
Via the mailbox and daily newsletter.
Product and news coverage Via the Internet.
is delivered twice a month, Daily updates of information
with quick turnaround. for senior engineers and
technical managers who
EE Times Europe require timely
digital edition information on global
For those who want the technology trends and
news faster competitive issues from
and to avoid the use of around the world. Online
paper, the digital edition can daily.
be downloaded the same
day the magazine is printed. www.eetimes.eu
www.eetimes.eu
European Electronics without borders.
The core element of RS’ Embedded specific microcontrollers across different code and documentation. The baseboard
Development Platform is the reusable technologies and manufacturers. This stations can also accept any of the plug-in
baseboard, used to evaluate different reduces project costs by removing the need EDP Application Modules, acting as reference
microcontrollers and technologies, and to purchase specific development kits from designs to support microcontroller-based
develop applications. manufacturers. solutions. There are four modules currently
The platform adopts the extended There is currently two EDP CPU modules available, addressing analogue and digital
Eurocard format and consists of four identical available; one for the Infineon XC167, and one I/O, motor control and basic communications
development stations, with a host of breakout featuring the ST Microelectronics STR912. respectively.
peripherals and bus options. More CPU modules are promised. RS also supplies ‘ready made’ starter kits,
The unique design of the development Both modules are supplied with associated comprising a baseboard, processor module
stations accepts any plug-in EDP CPU Module, development environments (including the and application modules, to address specific
to allow the testing and development of Keil uVision and Hitex HiTOP IDEs), example market segments.
to a further connector pin on all the other module in control systems. The products include single so easily is how they will evolve or what they
stations providing a correct voltage reference or board computers (SBCs), box SBCs, PICMG might look like.
bus pull-up for the application modules. There SBCs, slot CPU cards, system on modules, flat The life span of an SBC depends on its
is also duplication of an analogue input unit, for panel PCs, industrial motherboards and graphic cost and capability and the purpose for which
larger inputs. controllers. it is required. For example, as long as people
It is important to note that the EDP is not Some may ask if there are too many or too need cash they will need an ATM and this
an SBC; it is a universal demonstration board few formats for SBCs available today. For SBC means some type of control will be needed to
available with different processor modules that technology, standardisation can be the key to dispense the money, and record the transaction
is designed to work seamlessly with different greater success overall. With the evolution of for the bank and the customer. Convergence of
application modules. On the other hand, an web-based technologies, SBC developments technology and size reduction mean that even
SBC is a ‘step down’ from a home PC that is need to be able to respond to future customer hand-held and moveable objects can now be
designed to operate a series of applications and requirements with greater flexibility while still defined as SBCs and these will benefit from
software to a customer’s specific requirements, retaining a recognised platform, such as PC104. PSoC products. Therefore, while the current
for example a pinball machine in a gaming hall, The number of formats at present is both format for SBCs may still be right for a range of
a vending machine at a station or a high street manageable and low. Kontron and Advantech applications, they could be overtaken by other
ATM. An EDP application would not be suitable have expansion boards for some products and types of technologies.
for this type of application because the modules stackable PC104 for multiple applications, so www.uk.rs-online.com
have not yet been developed. the real issue is what is on the board and what
will it do, rather than the format.
Fit for purpose These are mini computers configured with
An important issue – both for SBC suppliers and functionality to do a limited number of functions
customers – is to maximise complementarities well, so arguably the designer is going to be
and minimise cross-over. In this way conflict more concerned about how it interfaces with
between suppliers’ equipment is avoided and the rest of his system.
customers get solutions tailored to their specific With more sophisticated System-on-Chips
needs. To illustrate this, RS uses 3 suppliers; being developed every day, will SBCs be David Giles, Software Test Tools
Arcom, Advantech and Kontron, each of whom replaced with single-chip solutions in the near Manager, Hitex, (RS Components)
provides a complementary range of products future? There will, of course, always be demand – will present An Embedded
to suit slightly different needs. For example, for electronic equipment designed for specific Development Platform Explained on
Arcom is focused on the industrial market, embedded applications. This means that Single Thursday October 2 at ESS. See more
while Advantech supplies rugged applications, Board Computers in some format will be with us details at: www.embedded.co.uk
and Kontron offers SBCs for flexible solutions way into the future. What we can’t anticipate
● Industrial Instrumentation
RESOURCE ON EU-RELATED ● Process Control
● Networking
ISSUES ● Robotics
PRODUCTS LIBRARY
INFORMATION
Technical references,
Product reviews and
standards & certifications
announcements to inform
and industrial resources
your design choices
NEWS ELEARNING
The latest industrial aimed at helping
control industry news engineers solve their
and updates design challenges
SPONSORS
A Standard Individual:
Life is a cabaret oh chum, come to the cabaret!
I
t’s that time of year again: Show time! What follows are my ways you don’t get anywhere else. What’s more you can often sit
own views and have not been suggested by anyone connected and discuss it over a coffee and put it in perspective before looking
with ESS. Actually no one gets any editorial sway on this round again for more information and solutions at the same show,
column (apart from the ESE lawyer!). saving days of web searches and phone calls.
The problem is the average British Engineer (and their Some employers see it as a wasted day. They should see it as
management) doesn’t go to shows. Why not? Most don’t know a very cost effective day’s research. Many new things are shown
what they are missing. This is one of Donald Rumsfeld’s ‘unknown- at shows. The ESS gets many product launches and not just that,
unknowns’. distributors such as ourselves show new tools from news companies.
What are they missing? INFORMATION and PEOPLE! There are You can’t rely on email news letters; spam has caused much tighter
also ‘things’ at a show. The point is even with the internet – or filtering and many don’t get through. Besides there are many things
these days especially because of the internet – you can download you may have missed over the last year. A discussion at a show is
vast amounts of information and get swamped, easily missing far more effective than a web search; you can do those afterwards
the important stuff, especially as search engine armed with information from the show
results can be skewed and your details harvested by Also it is surprising how many people form ‘off
cookies. the wall’ solutions after going to a show, as their
You still can’t beat a face to face discussion, normal thought patterns have been altered and new
with the device, equipment or live demo in front ideas introduced. As the proverb goes ‘a change is
of you. Also, a picture on the web is not the same as good as a rest’. It jolts you out of familiar thought
as physically picking up the kit and examining the patterns and refreshes the brain. It is quite amazing
build quality and asking questions. At ESS you get how ideas will pop up, caused by unrelated things
to see all the main players in your area of interest you see.
who operate in the UK and you don’t have to give Also you end up with a bag of goodies, often
them your name or email address! Many of their the stress reliving ‘executive’ toys which can save
specialists will be there. They want to look around your sanity, a box full of pens, note pads and a few
too, so you can often meet the designers and experts toys for the kids. One year Cyan – which does an
who have been let out of the office for the day, the By Chris Hills IDE – had tins of mints marked with their name and
ones who don’t usually make sales calls. product. Think about it…. That year everyone had
Unusually ESS has, alongside the paid conference, a free track in CyanIDE pills.
the exhibition hall where there will be some useful presentations, I am not suggesting going to every event and show, but ESS is
apart from the one I am doing: Debugging is difficult: so why do the largest show of its type in the UK and should be on your list.
it? Yes, develop without debugging! Or rather develop without the There are other, more specialised events for specific areas, so by
bugs… not quite Bug Free Software, but getting there. all means look at some and pick carefully, but a day at the largest
Some years ago I gave a presentation on debugging methods generic UK event is a must just for the broad range of inputs and
starting from the ‘good old days’ and said no one should be doing ideas. You never know what will be useful or start a train of thought.
this now as for the last 5-10 years there have been far better One day a year is well worth it.
methods and tools. There were two rather glum looking engineers in Some employers used to be worried that staff would find other
the front row. After the presentation I asked them what the problem jobs at shows! With the on-line job web sites and everyone having
was. They said that they were still using methods that were 10 a mobile it is highly unlikely. In my experience engineers are looking
years old and did not realise how some of the tools and methods for solutions for their current or next project.
had advanced. Hopefully we will see you all at the Embedded Systems Show.
Their view of ICE was that they cost £20,000 and were unreliable. Stand 336, at the back by the exhibition theatre, but do glance
At the time, In Circuit Emulators were about £3-8k (and the £20k at the other stands on the way to see us. Apart from seeing my
was now £60k in real terms) extremely reliable and usable, with presentation it is a chance to see all that is new and innovative as
features that were a complete revelation to them. They were only well as the regular stuff in the embedded world. And, of course, the
at the event because it was free and on a Saturday it was the first coffee and doughnuts.
event they had been to in a decade. By not ‘wasting time’ on other Whilst on ‘highly unlikely’, as I write this, the team at CERN is
events over the previous decade they had cost their company a small going to start powering up and we could have disappeared into a
fortune in time using inefficient development and debug methods black hole, parallel universe (it will be nice to see David Icke again)
and tools, and developed products that were less reliable than they or just exploded before this article gets printed. As I am writing this
could have been. Not to mention being late to market. the panic merchants are on the TV, so if you are reading this all is
Apart from seeing new tools, new methods and components well. Well, at least the planet is still here, which is not quite the same
you get information; the sort of thing that does not get on to thing as ‘all is well’. You still have projects and products to finish.
corporate web sites. Specifically, several customers of mine picked These are my own personal views and not those of my company
up some information in the ESS exhibition in 2006 that saved their Phaedrus Systems see www.phaedsys.com which is where the full
companies many thousands of pounds and saved six months’ wasted version of this column, with links etc, resides under the Documents
development. Why? Because information flows at a trade show in tab. < Ends >
ADVERTISING SALES
EUROPE Israel CANADA ASIA
Leslie Rose
Belgium Tel: +972-54-5746990 West South Korea
Nadia Liefsoens info@elarco-intl.com Todd A. Bria Export Media Ltd.
Tel: +32-11-224 397 Italy Tel: +1-805-226 8298 Tel: (82 - 2) 3473 9200
n.liefsoens@fivemedia.be Ferruccio Silvera tbria@globalmediasales.com (Extension: 201)
Tel: +39-02-284 6716 rflanders@globalsources.com
France, Spain & Portugal info@silvera.it East & Central
Geert de Vuyst Steve Priessman Taiwan
Tel: +32 2 740 0050 The Netherlands Tel: +1-630-420 8744 Asia Pacific Media Co. Ltd.
geert.devuyst@eetimes.be Mary Zaaijer priessman@stevenpriessman.com Tel: (886 - 2) 2712 6877 (Ext: 370)
Tel: +31-30-2291 799 ktsai@globalsources.com
Germany PLZ 0-3, mzb@mzb-mr.demon.nl U.S.A.
60-65, 8-9, Austria Japan
Eastern Europe Scandinavia West, South West E2 Publishing Co.
Victoria & Norbert Hufmann Jeff Draycott Todd A. Bria Tel: +81-3-3556-3841
Tel +49 911 93 97 64 42 Mobile: +46-(0)702 067636 Tel: +1-805-226 8298 ishida@e2p.co.jp
sales@hufmann.info jeff.draycott@conhem.se tbria@globalmediasales.com
INTEGRITY®
The only secure operating system
d 600
at Stan
Visit us , Birmingham
NEC 008 r2
tobe
1-2 Oc
Copyright © 2008 Green Hills Software, Inc. Green Hills, the Green Hills logo and INTEGRITY are trademarks of Green Hills Software, Inc. in the U.S.and/or
internationally. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.