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
Tags: Networking, Multicore, Nucleus, Multi-OS
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
Tags: Multicore, EDA, RTOS, hardware design
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
Tags: Multicore, User Interface, Low Power, Android, Inflexion
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
Tags: Low Power, User Interface, MCAPI, ARM, Multicore, Android
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
Tags: Android, User Interface, Networking, Inflexion UI, Low Power, Linux, Multicore, Medical, Nucleus, 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