Mentor Blogs

Last week I attended the ARM Technical Conference in Santa Clara, California. I am not sure how many years this event has been running, but it seems to be going from strength to strength. There was a change to the management company this year, but the event format was basically the same: a 3 day multiple-stream technical conference, with a selection of keynotes and an associated exhibition area. Obviously, … Read More

Low Power, User Interface, MCAPI, ARM, Multicore, Android

Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, a division of Raytheon in Waltham, Mass., can lay claim to unveiling what is arguably the hottest news to come out of AUSA 2010, the annual meeting and exposition of the Association of the United States Army, held last week in Washington, DC. It’s RATS. I’m not kidding. The acronym is unfortunate, but the system may hold the key to greater mission effectiveness, … Read More

Operating System, network-centric, Mentor.com, Computer, COTS, Mil-Aero, Milaero, Military, Android, Hardware, electrical, Electronic, iPhone, Mentor, DoD, Electric, Mentor Graphics, Geek, Embedded Systems, Google, RATS, soldiers, Warfighters, Software, soldier, Raytheon, Raytheon Android Tactical System

Android addicts are everywhere. Even those who didn’t anticipate using a larger number of apps on their smart phones are finding themselves downloading a new app almost daily. Google’s Android mobile operating system (OS) is making waves throughout the commercial market; and now, thanks to Raytheon engineers in Waltham, Mass., it is likely to change the face of the digital battlefield. Soldiers are … Read More

Microsoft, Mentor.com, Hardware, Apple, apps, iPhone, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, Android, Embedded Systems, COTS, Engineer, battlefield, Geek, Computer, Google, DoD, Design Automation, Electronic, Xbox, network-centric, UAV, Warfighters, soldier, soldiers, Raytheon, Software, Operating System, PSP

I like simple things. Excessive complexity tends to annoy me. When I first started working with computers, I thought that mainframes were overly complicated, so I was pleased to discover minicomputers, where I could really understand exactly what was going on. Embedded software was a natural progression, as, again, I could grasp the entire functionality of the software. But that began to change, as … Read More

Linux, Android, Nucleus, RTOS

The GENIVI Alliance, which is working toward a scalable software architecture for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), recently released an IVI software architecture report based on interviews with automakers, tier one firms, semiconductor suppliers, and service providers, including Alliance member and non-member companies. Relevant IVI architecture suppliers, according to the report, include Microsoft, … Read More

Microltron, MeeGo, Microsoft, Genivi Alliance, Strategy Analytics, Wind River, in-vehicle infotainment, Android, Moblin, Linux, Maemo OS, QNX, Roger Lanctot, IVI

POSIX signals have a long history and at least a couple unpleasant limitations. For one thing, with some threading implementations (those with fewer processes than threads) you can’t reliably target a specific thread as a signal recipient. However, luckily for me, that is not my problem. My problem is both organizational and technical. Signal masks are for an entire process, and that means that masking … Read More

MCAPI, signals, Android, threads

I have always for medical electronics interesting and I have blogged about it from time to time [here and here, for example]. Part of the reason for my interest stems from an occasional feeling that so much of the electronics around me is ultimately pointless. Many Mentor Embedded customers are making consumer devices, cell phones and other gadgets. Do we really need all of these? Aren’t they really … Read More

Android, User Interface, Linux, Networking, Inflexion UI, Low Power, Nucleus, Multicore, Medical, RTOS

It is becoming common for embedded designs to incorporate more than one CPU - maybe multiple cores on a chip or multiple chips on a board or any combination of these. Indeed, it has been suggested that it will soon be the norm to build systems that way. The use of multiple cores has spawned various technologies and, of course, much terminology and jargon. When new technical terms and acronyms appear, … Read More

Multicore, Multi-OS, MCAPI, Nucleus, Android, Linux

Welcome to part two of my four-part (part one) ESC 2010 blog series. Today’s topic: shifts in the industry. One of the biggest trends I observed at the show was the start of a paradigm shift in the evolution of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software companies and their products. EDA software companies have traditionally provided the software tools and services to create modern day semiconductors, … Read More

OS, Operating System, middleware, Android, app, Mil-Aero, Milaero, Military, Aerospace, drivers, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, app-driven, Mentor.com, apps, Google, Engineer, Hardware, SoC, System on Chip, Software, soldier

As usual, I attended the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, CA last week. I guess it remains the foremost show in the embedded world in North America for sure - probably worldwide. My role was to make some presentations and look after the theater on the Mentor Embedded [our new branding for the Embedded Software Division of Mentor Graphics] booth. I did not have a chance to attend any conference … Read More

Multi-OS, Android, Multicore, Low Power, MCAPI

The Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) is less than one weeks away, to be held April 26 through 29 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. Despite economic woes, last year’s event was wrought with optimism; one attendee even remarked: “I’m not worried; embedded makes everything possible.” Met with raised eyebrows, he continued, “Nothing works without embedded technology.” I am not sure … Read More

Mentor Graphics, Mentor, Mentor.com, Android Day, Booth 1902, Android, San Jose, Hardware, McEnery Convention Center, Software, Embedded Systems

Last week, I wrote about a “multi-core” project that I was working on 30 years ago. To be fair, it was actually “multi-CPU” rather than “multi-core”, but many of the challenges were similar, as was the initial design decision to take the approach of distributing the processing capacity. It is interesting to draw a comparison between the system we were developing all those years ago and modern ideas … Read More

Nucleus, MCAPI, Linux, IPC, Multicore, Nucleus Kernel, Interprocessor Communication, Android

Last week I was presenting at RTS in Paris. I spend quite a lot of time at such events, as I have reported before. My boss will be pleased to hear this, as a significant part of my job is to ensure that Mentor is well represented at technical conferences where embedded software is featured. I think about these activities from a number of perspectives. I consider whether they are a good use of my time. … Read More

Android

In last week’s blog I talked about what was going on at Embedded World and made some observations about what seemed to be “hot”. I have been thinking about this and wondering which topics, technologies or products embedded software engineers actually think are important, interesting or exciting. Obviously trend surveys and the like give some indication, but I realized that I already had a tool at my … Read More

GUI, USB, Inflexion UI, Nucleus USB, Android, Google

Last week I went to Nuremberg [or Nürnberg if you prefer] to attend Embedded World 2010. I have been to this show most years over the last decade or so and it just seems to get bigger and busier each year. This year there were more than 700 exhibitors and in excess of 18,000 visitors. It is now definitely the biggest show/conference for embedded developers anywhere in the world. The electronic displays … Read More

Android, Linux, Inflexion UI, User Interface, Embedded World