ESC exhibits emphasize markets and development ease
At the Embedded Systems Conference held last week, vendors highlighted an impressive range of technologies that address issues ranging from green applications to data and code security. To do that, companies presented asset management systems, code analysis tools, RTOSs, microcontrollers, data converters, and prototyping tools. Security products were on offer, both to prevent IP theft and to deter the insertion of malicious code. Craig Rawlings, director of product management at Certicom, highlighted his firm’s AMS asset management system, which uses ATE or device programmers to inject a secure key into devices to prevent counterfeiting and support inventory control—unlocking only the features a customer has paid for. And GrammaTech was on hand highlighting its CodeSonar static code analysis tool that identifies bugs and vulnerabilities at compile time. The company announced that it’s will support secure coding rules developed by US-CERT, the operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) at the Department of Homeland Security.
Among other highlights, Microsoft announced the release Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3, which supports Windows 7 connectivity. Complementing Microsoft’s move, Bsquare announced a Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 board support package for the Texas Instruments OMAP 3 evaluation module. And Enea announced its Enea OSE Multicore Edition, which focuses on the networking market
Like Enea, many vendors presented exhibits focused on specific markets and applications. NEC, for example, presented its lineup of what Bob Pinteric, general manager for multipurpose MCUs, called “smart energy solutions for smart grid and energy efficiency applications internal and external to the home.” NEC presented its microcontrollers in the context of the “smart house of the future.” That scaled-down structure had transparent walls that highlighted opportunities for deployment of NEC products in green applications. The structure accommodated smart solar panels, a smart meter, efficient appliances, and a ZigBee Pro network that enabled wireless control of thermostats and lights.
For its part, Samplify Systems announced a $1950 reference design for the ultrasound market. Based on the company’s SAM1600 compressing ADCs, the reference design includes an entire ultrasound receive chain, including front-end amplifiers and continuous-wave Doppler processing for 32 analog input channels. Although the Mathworks didn’t introduce any new products at the show, it did announce that Cleveland FES (functional electrical stimulation) Center at Case Western Reserve University has developed FES devices with the help of Mathworks tools for model-based design. The FES devices send electrical impulses to electrodes implanted in the body, worn on the skin, or operating through the skin to restore movement to paralyzed arms and legs.
While some exhibitors emphasized specific applications areas, others were focusing on development tools and speeding up the development process. ARM in conjunction with NXP announced the mbed.org and mbed microcontroller rapid prototyping tools. The tools include software support and a DIP implementation of the NXP LPC1768 ARM Cortex-M3 MCU. Simon Ford, the mbed technical lead at ARM, said that users can get up and running in 60 seconds by plugging the 40-pin-DIP into a solderless breadboard. Renesas is helping out developers by offering a free Micrium kernel with its SH7216 microcontrollers.
Other firms, too, were emphasizing specific applications and offering development boards and tools that help designers quickly prototype their ideas. Avnet, for instance, previewed a $225 Xilinx Spartan-6 LX16 evaluation kit with an on-board battery to emphasize low-power applications. Avnet also previewed the $995 Spartan-6 LX150T FPGA development kit, which targets video, industrial networking and control, wireless communications, PCIe expansion, and general FPGA prototyping applications. Both kits support the new FMC expansion standard, which enables the addition of add-on modules and customization.
But the NEC and combined ARM and NXP exhibits were notable for clarity and forcefulness with which they emphasized application opportunities and the ability to rapidly begin prototyping, respectively, although NXP’s talking trout booth was somewhat annoying, albeit effective in drawing a crowd—a key goal at any trade show. And kudos to NEC applications engineering manager Lance Zheng, who developed the smart-house demo.
See related article, “WinSystems highlights Atom board, CompactFlash.”
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