Posted Feb 6, 2012, by Colin Walls
Some weeks ago, I published a posting from my colleague Richard Vlamynck, who was explaining the ideas behind System-C and modeling at different levels of abstraction. He promised to write more and I was very pleased to receive a new contribution …
It’s just me again, blogging about hardware models in general and System-C in particular.
Earlier, I’d mentioned the fact that System-C can be used … Read More
Tags:
Programming Languages,
VHDL,
System-C,
Precision,
Handel-C,
Verilog,
Embedded Software
Posted Jan 30, 2012, by Colin Walls
As I spend a lot of my time talking about embedded software via a variety of media – conferences, articles, Web seminars, this blog are examples – I frequently get emails requesting copies of materials or posing questions. All of this communication is very welcome and I do my best to respond promptly and, where I can, usefully.
If I think a question might be of wider interest, it seems … Read More
Tags:
Embedded Software,
Nucleus,
Android,
Nucleus OS,
Real Time
Posted Jan 25, 2012, by Colin Walls
I was recently interviewed by EEWeb about my career and interests and ideas about the world of electronics and embedded software. If you are curious, you can have a read here.
… Read More
Tags:
Embedded Software
Posted Jan 23, 2012, by Colin Walls
Often, when I talk to people about my line of work – once I have explained exactly what embedded systems are – they will comment that it must be a good line of business to be in. I would tend to agree. However, I would actually be agreeing that it is an interesting business, whereas my interlocutor is more likely to be thinking of the financial benefits.
Of course, as embedded devices are … Read More
Tags:
intel,
Microsoft,
Embedded Software
Posted Jan 16, 2012, by Colin Walls
Recent news has been a revelation to me. I had always assumed that politicians were stupid, out of touch or corrupt – often a combination of these traits. So, the ridiculous activities that they engage in, which they call “governing the country” can usually be understood. However, the news that caught my attention suggests that there is someone in the UK government who does not exhibit … Read More
Tags:
Embedded Software
Posted Jan 9, 2012, by Colin Walls
When I was a kid, we had an example of the very latest high technology electronics in our kitchen: a transistor radio. This amazing device was light and portable, ran for ages on a set of batteries and would come to life instantly when switched on, offering a choice of sources of entertainment from around the world. I seem to recall that it used an incredible seven transistors to achieve this feat. … Read More
Tags:
Embedded Software,
iPad,
Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi,
Zigbee
Posted Dec 19, 2011, by Colin Walls
Last week I wrote about a test harness for applications using an RTOS. The idea was to have a library of functions corresponding to the API calls of a particular RTOS. Specific tasks of an application, that are under test, would be linked to this library to enable the code to be executed on a desktop computer in a useful way.
I had some feedback on this posting from a couple of people, talking about … Read More
Tags:
Debugging,
Embedded Software,
API,
RTOS,
test harness,
Nucleus,
Nucleus OS
Posted Dec 12, 2011, by Colin Walls
I was talking about OS-aware debuggers and someone asked me whether I could suggest a technique for unit testing of code for a multi-threaded application. It took me a while before I could fully understand what they were after, but it did become clear eventually. They were considering an environment where a number of engineers were working on an embedded application [using Nucleus]. Each guy was developing … Read More
Tags:
Nucleus,
test harness,
Nucleus OS,
Embedded Software,
Debugging,
RTOS,
API
Posted Dec 5, 2011, by Colin Walls
I recently mentioned that this time of year is very busy for me, with numerous conferences and similar events to attend – normally to deliver presentations. The most hectic period is past and, as the Christmas and New Year holiday approaches, things are settling down. Except for this week, when I am attending two conferences:
On Tuesday, I am going to ESE Kongress in Stuttgart, Germany. I have … Read More
Tags:
IP-SoC,
USB,
Nucleus OS,
ESE Kongress,
Embedded Software,
Open Source,
Development Tools
Posted Nov 28, 2011, by Colin Walls
I recent wrote about the similarity in software and hardware design, as they are both performed by writing code in a high level programming language. My colleague Richard Vlamynck, wrote to me, suggesting that he might be able to usefully expand on this topic. He is an unusual guy, even within Mentor Graphics, as he is a modern day “Renaissance man” – he has a very good understanding … Read More
Tags:
Embedded Software,
Precision,
C,
VHDL,
Programming Languages,
System-C