Embedded Systems

Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) has acquired an Infineon Technologies-owned software development centre in Linz, Austria. Operating under the name of Comneon, the centre’s team of 48 engineers develops and supplies embedded software for markets including automotive. FME said it will use the centre in European automotive and industrial projects supporting its own hardware and software design teams in its Automotive ...

Renesas has introduced a 90nm 120MHz 32-bit automotive microcontroller. “It achieves a processing performance of 240 million instructions per second when operating at 120MHz,” said Renesas. “This enables fine-grained and sophisticated real-time control of engine or transmission systems. It supports 120MHz operation at temperatures up to 125 deg C, something that is difficult to achieve in a flash MCU while ...

Qualcomm has demonstrated Google’s Android mobile operating system running on its Snapdragon mobile chipsets at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The demonstration runs at WVGA resolution which can support larger displays for mobile computing devices. Wind River is providing software support for open source Android mobile software running on larger screen-sized mobile phones using the Snapdragon chipsets. According to Jason ...

The current market situation demands a different kind of distribution service from that offered traditionally: especially when the market is down, the distributor’s value to the customer will come as much from enabling rapid, high-value application development as it does from supporting custom hardware design. The environment changed for customers, meaning the pressure of competition is now felt from around ...

Today’s electricity meters have to be designed to offer greater accuracy while using less power and including more features, as well as providing the flexibility to allow the developer to react quickly to changing market conditions. These factors make the microcontroller at the heart of any power meter ever more important. To address these issues during the development of the ...

Xlinkers unite! You have nothing to lose but your RTL. Xlinkers are the new breed of developers which are using the software designed silicon (SDS) multi-core chips of XMOS Semiconductor. XMOS has launched a community website www.xlinkers.org to provide a platform for users to discuss their experiences and share knowledge about XMOS technology and products. “One of our main goals is ...

Multiprocessor systems based on combinations of FPGAs and DSPs can be optimised with a design flow to address the creation, debug, verification and implementation of complex applications running multiprocessor systems. The design flow combines multiprocessor software from 3L with C-to-FPGA design tools from Impulse Accelerated Technologies. The target is the multiprocessor systems from signal processing specialist Lyrtech. Sundance is another ...

NXP has worked with Swiss hearing-aid specialist Phonak on the development of a low power radio for use in hearing systems. The chip supports a data rate of up to 298kbit/s and bi-directional communication, which will enable it to provide stereo audio streaming and binaural processing. The device uses magnetic induction radio technology and NXP’s CoolFlux DSP. “Within this particular ...

This case study describes Thales UK’s state-of-the-art non-hull-penetrating optronic mast for the Royal Navy’s new Astute-class submarines, which provides greater flexibility in boat design and improved surface visibility while reducing the probability of detection, writes Eur Ing Paul Parkinson. The Astute nuclear-powered submarine is designed to patrol the world’s oceans without being detected by surface ships and other submarines. The Astute ...

Micrel and Zilog are collaborating on teh development module products targeted at motion sensor, TV remote and RF point-to-point cable replacement markets. The partnership combines Micrel’s RF chips with Zilog’s microcontrollers and system software. According to Mike Speckman, v-p worldwide sales at Zilog: “The IC technologies that Micrel has developed, coupled with Zilog’s application-specific solutions, such as our Z8 Encore! ...