Posts tagged with 'Multicore'
I recently wrote about the importance of being able to visualize trace data to make sense of all the information that we can now capture with LTTng 2.0 We recently received the results of a customer survey where we got some good feedback on areas you’d like to see us increase our development efforts. Debug tools, multi-core design tools and profiling tools were near the top of the list. This is … Read More
On my quest to continue to learn more about embedded systems development I was able to attend LinuxCon 2012 One of the sessions I attended was an update by Mathieu Desnoyers (author and maintainer) on LTTng 2.0
The Sourcery Analyzer trace and analysis tool from Mentor Embedded makes use of LTTng and I’m in meetings where we discuss the benefits of LTTng 2.0 so I was happy to have gotten an overview … Read More
Mentor recently shared OpenMCAPI, our MCAPI implementation, with the world under an open source license (BSD). We’re proud of it because it was especially designed for portability, and while it’s sophisticated enough to offer advanced features like asynchronous communication, it’s simple enough that it can be easily understood and deployed on low-resource embedded systems.
So what … Read More
Multicore is a hot topic at the moment. The subject crops up in numerous articles and I have written about it before. Surveys suggest that, before long, more than half of embedded designs will be implemented using multiple CPUs.
There are broadly two hardware architectures: homogeneous multicore, where there are numerous identical cores, and heterogeneous multicore, where the cores differ in architecture. … Read More
I was recently asked to participate in a “panel” article in a UK electronics publication. The topic was the apparent decline importance of hardware design, over software design, in embedded systems. An interesting subject - I needed to be careful what I said, as I work for a company where 90% of my colleagues are hardware design specialists! The final piece can be seen here.
I was sent … Read More
I never cared for really long blog entries, so I’m splitting this up into a couple of posts. If you missed my last post you’ll want to go back and read it – or you’ll probably be hopelessly lost as we dive into my multi-core Sudoku solving dilemma.
As you’ll recall, last time I took my clever Sudoku solver and ran it on an 8 core PPC design, and found I got a 3 X speed up. When I looked into why, it … Read More
Yeah, it’s been a while since my last blog post. Of course, it’s all about the software, but in blogging it’s all about content – and keeping it fresh. So, here I am, with some fresh content.
I took a new job here at Mentor and now I’m working in our Embedded Software Division. Despite being employed by a hardware tools company I think that this software stuff is going to be around for a while. … Read More
Crystal ball gazing is a hazardous activity. However, this week I am going to take the risk. I have the honor of having been invited to present a keynote speech at a technical conference in Grenoble, France. Although I speak at conferences frequently, I normally have some constraints with the topic - normally I am presenting a paper, an abstract for which was submitted and accepted months before. On … Read More
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
I have pondered before the appropriateness of Linux for embedded applications. My initial stance was clear enough: I could see very little sense in it. Why use a desktop operating system in such a completely different context? Over the years, the popularity of embedded Linux has increased, the technology of embedded systems has moved on and I have reappraised my views accordingly. With Mentor Embedded … Read More
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
Multicore continues to be a hot topic. Recent Web seminars, that we have run, were well attended, with lots of searching questions. I have discussed the subject here before, looking at the differences between AMP [Asymmetric Multi-Processing] and SMP [Symmetric Multi-Processing], for example. In various recent discussions with colleagues and customers, I have realized that there is more clarification … Read More
Some weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry on MCAPI, which seemed to provoke some interest. Last week we ran a Web seminar on this topic, in conjunction with the Multicore Association. This was well attended and seemed well received. You can access the archive recording here. We will be running another session soon, with timing oriented towards European attendees.
I have done quite a few Web seminars now … Read More
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
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