Embedded Systems

Embedded software projects are running late, over-budget and with high failure rates, according to a survey by Verum Consultants. The firm’s conclusion come after analysing a number of European projects in consumer, automotive, medical, telecoms and industrial automation markets. “We decided to do a survey to find the major issues in the industry,” said Rob Howe, chief executive at Verum. ...

MontaVista Software has opened a sales office in Bracknell as it builds on what it sees as growing interest in embedded Linux software design in the UK. The Linux software specialist said the intention is to focus marketing and support effort for its full range of software, including all editions of MontaVista Linux, along with complementary technology products such as ...

HyperTransport, PCI Express and RapidIO chip-to-chip interface technologies are gaining ground in a number of markets as the PCI bus runs out of steam, according to a report from In-Stat/MDR (www.instat.com) . Chip speed increases and the growing system complexity are behind the change, said the market researcher. As a result all three combined will experience an average compound annual growth ...

A 50 per cent rise in revenue from telecoms products helped embedded board maker SBS Technologies grow sales by 16 per cent to $133.9m for its financial year, with net profits of $5.2m. “This has been a very successful year for SBS. We have completed the fourth quarter and fiscal year with strong revenue growth,” said Clarence Peckham, CEO of SBS. ...

A virus that targets ARM based devices running Windows CE has been identified. Anti-virus firms say it is the first malicious code aimed at WinCE, although it has not been designed to spread and is intended as a “proof of concept”. The virus, known as WinCE.Dust.A (although Sophos calls it WinCE Duts-A), opens a dialogue box asking for the user’s ...

Business is looking up in Europe, according to embedded computing firm SBS Technologies. The maker of Compact PCI and VME boards said design wins are up, due to its concentration on aerospace, defence and telecoms applications. “Communications is going very nicely right now,” a spokesman at the firm told Electronics Weekly. This is led by the rollout of 2.5G and ...

The European Commission has joined with 17 organisations from the electronics and engineering community to promote Europe’s efforts in ICs and software. The public/private partnership is called ARTEMIS: Advanced R&D on Embedded Intelligent Systems. It aims to promote technology in all products from automotive to mobile telecoms and banking smartcards. The focus is on embedded electronics, and the group will ...

Microchip has introduced a line of 6-pin flash-based microcontrollers in SOT-23 packages, claiming them to be the world’s smallest. Called the PIC10F family, “these devices provide a solution for many markets and uses that are not typically served by microcontrollers today, including for example electronic glue to fix bugs for Asic and PCB designs”, said Microchip. Other applications that are ...

Tao Group, maker of the Intent multimedia platform for mobile devices, has announced a further investment of more than $7m, taking total funding in the firm to over $45m. Cross Atlantic Capital Partners invested in Tao for the second time. The additional funding coincides with a number of recent licence deals, said the firm, which include OEMs, original design manufacturers ...

ARC is moving further into the software market, with a package of products for developers of real-time industrial control systems. The London-based firm has combined its MQX real-time operating system with software drivers for CAN-bus, TCP/IP and USB; a graphical user interface library; and Internet code such as a web server and email protocols. In February ARC made a decision ...