Embedded system engineering magazine 2005.09

PXI RF test systems

Aeroflex has two new PXI modules and a new software suite. They are the Aeroflex 3020A 2.7GHz digital RF signal generator, the 3030A 3GHz RF digitiser with 33MHz bandwidth and a cdma2000 reverse link software measurement library.

The cdma2000 Measurement Suite is an Active X control software measurement library, used in conjunction with the Aeroflex 3030 RF digitiser to provide measurement functions for power, spectrum and modulation analysis of cdmaOne and cdma2000 reverse link transmissions.

www.genuitec.com

XP Embedded for Pentium M

Arcom has introduced a Windows XP Embedded option for the APOLLO Pentium M based single board computer.

The APOLLO Development Kit for Windows XP Embedded includes a comprehensive build of XP Embedded (SP2) pre-installed on an industrial grade CompactFlash memory card and an APOLLO single board computer with a 1.6GHz Pentium M CPU, 512Mbytes of DDR memory, Gigabit Ethernet and the 1Gbyte CompactFlash card.

www.arcom.com

Open verification library standard

Accellera has approved the Open Verification Library (OVL) 1.0, as an Accellera verification standard.

Pre-defined checkers, written in either Verilog or SystemVerilog, allow designers to take advantage of assertion-based verification immediately. The library includes 31 assertion checkers for each language that cover many of the common properties that engineers check during the functional verification of register-transfer level (RTL) code.

OVL supports SystemVerilog assertion syntax using IEEE P1800 "SystemVerilog" and assertions written in IEEE Std 1364-1995 "Verilog".

www.accellera.org

Eclipse workbench

Genuitec’s new release 4.0 of the MyEclipse Enterprise Workbench is a platform and tool suite for developing software applications and systems for J2EE and other environments.

It extends the best practices and technology available from the latest Eclipse 3.1 SDK and includes the MyUML modelling suite, MyJSF (Java Server Faces) Developer for Java, Specialized Oracle Database Connector Hibernate

MONTAVISTA has added native, hard realtime developments to the Linux kernel, moving closer to achieving interrupt response characteristics -- the minimum time between the initiation of a command and the execution of an action -- previously attributed to specialized and proprietary commercial realtime operating systems.

MontaVista’s new hard real-time devel-

opments filter the roughly 6 million lines of Linux code down to around 100 critical inter- rupt-code segments. The condensed codebase allows users to easily migrate applications developed on proprietary, real-time operating systems to the Linux platform – giving them both choice and flexibility.

www.mvista.com

Quad PowerPC DSP VME64x engine

A new quad PowerPC-based 6U VME64x board is for high performance digital signal processing (DSP) and the deployment of switched fabric networks.

agement or packet processing applications and provide a 33/66 MHz PCI bus, power management, a VGA interface and 256 Mbytes of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM with optional ECC. There are four USB 2.0 ports, two serial ATA channels and two Fast Ethernet ports.

The PSL09 supports Monarch and nonMonarch modes. In Monarch mode it acts as the host on the PCI bus, controlling the carrier board to which it is attached, making it easier to upgrade the processor. In non-Monarch mode, the PSL09 acts as a slave processor module adding additional computing power for demanding applications.

www.sbs.com

The Manta QX3 from Curtiss-Wright has quad 1 GHz PowerPC 7457 processors tightlycoupled in a shared memory architecture. A symmetric multi-processing (SMP) capable operating system, such as Linux, distributes tasks across multiple processors for software-transparent performance scaling. It also provides a highspeed StarFabric interface for sustained data rates exceeding 400Mbytes/sec.

It is air-cooled and offered in a range of ruggedisation levels, from commercial to extended temperature versions qualified for elevated shock and vibration environments. A conductioncooled version of the Manta QX3, supporting cardedge temperatures of -40°C to +85°C, is planned.

www.cwcembedded.com

Embedded flat panel SBC

The SBC (single board computer) ePanelC3 is Kontron's newest piece of “flatware” from the uFLAT series for the construction of mobile panel PCs or other low-profile systems, such as door/gate stations or vehicle rear seat systems.

Low voltage Pentium PCI card

The PSL09 Processor PCI Mezzanine card (PrPMC), is a high performance processor module powered by the Pentium M processor Low Voltage at 1.4 GHz. For very low power application requirements it is available with a ULV Celeron-M.

SBS are aiming the module at embedded applications that need a Windows XP graphical user interface like I/O management, data man-

Available with scalable performance from 300 MHz to 1 GHz, it includes USB 2.0 support, DDR-RAM, ultra DMA support, maximum 64 MByte graphics memory, an integrated MPEG2 hardware decoder for DVD applications and an optional mini-PCI interface integrated on the rear. Resolutions up to UXGA are supported for the control of flat panel screens. Interfaces for TTL and LVDS flat panels are already integrated and a touch and matrix controller is provided.

www.kontron.com

THALES is introducing a line of 3U CompactPCI embedded computers. The first model, the rugged conduction-cooled PowerEngineC7, is designed for compact, real-time systems for defence, aerospace, industrial, transportation and communications applications.

It uses the PowerPC 750FX, a dual issue

superscalar control processor, operating at 700 MHz. Included is a PMC expansion slot and a dual Ethernet 10/100 port. FLASH memory is allocated 64 MB for the systems and 128 MB for the user.

www.thalescomputers.com.

PC/104 Tri-Band

GSM with GPS

The OrbiTrak GSM is a modular PC/104 computer board designed for intelligent vehicle and airborne computing systems requiring worldwide GSM/GPRS roaming combined with precise GPS positioning.

It is a compact (3.550 x 3.775”), hardened telematics solution built to resist high mechanical stress, thermal shock and extended temperature operation and has a 4-channel 16C550 UART with two RS-232 serial ports. Board configuration is through FlexiSet EEPROM board settings, which eliminates banks of interrupts and base address jumpers. A 16-bit wide programmable

digital I/O is provided to interface with other lowpower digital devices, along with two automotive level digital inputs to connect to any 12V or 24V digital signals.

www.parvus.com

Showing off

<Written by> Chris Hills </W>

THESE ARE my own personal views and those of my company PhaedruS SystemS. As with all my columns, printed one only contains the overview. The fullexpanded text, references, live URL’s to source material,

Will three Certifications for Programmers suffice, and what should be in each?

ers, said about doing a MISRA-C++. But people want it so it is going to happen. MISRA is starting work on the production of a set of “guidelines for the use of C++ in critical systems”, the output of which, we hope, will be a document similar to MISRA-C. Chris Tapp of Keylevel Consultants has taken up the challenge to act as chairman for the new MISRA-C++ panel. We need some additional people to participate in the development and review of MISRA C++. If you are interested in taking part, see details on the web version.

Chris Tapp will be lurking at ESS, so drop by the PhaedruS SystemS stand register an interest in MISRA C++. Yes, PhaedruS SystemS will have a stand at ESS, so drop by for a chat on any of the topics covered in these columns, or any you want to raise. I hope to have a coffee machine running. I will also have a range of embedded tools including some ARM9 kits, debuggers and compilers and industrial wireless networking etc and I also hope to be running some competitions for Dev kits.

ESS is larger than last year by quite a bit. Actually it has been so popular they have had to add another row of booths. So it is well worth a visit as most people will be there. In fact the show it is an ideal place to arrange meetings and catch up on the industry at the same time. A change is as good as a rest so let the engineers out to get some new ideas and see what is going on in the embedded world.

As for ideas the dammed good line up for the ESS conference is well worth seeing. From “Does UML Improve Software Quality?” to CAN & wireless networks. FPGA’s and system modelling also figure. The IEE has had a hand in organising it this year and they have pulled in speakers from around the world.

Incidentally if you are stopping in Birmingham for ESS you should try a Balti. I can recommend the best Balti House in the city – the Royal Al-Faisal (address & map on web site)

Whilst mentioning shows and conferences I shall be speaking on “MISRA-C what it can do for you and what it is not” at the IEE Safety Assurance conference 10/11 Nov at the IEE, London. PhaedruS SystemS will also have a stand there.

PhaedruS SystemS will also have a stand at the 2nd annual IEE Automotive Conference (on account of the fact I am organising the embedded systems and software track.) I am looking for speakers. If any one is interested, see web version for details. Last year’s conference was deemed a great success by the delegates.

One of the new books available in hard copy from the IEE is “Intellectual Property Rights for Engineers, 2nd Edition” which may be of use to many contractors. Anyone who employs a contractor might want to read it as well. Details on web.

On the subject of safeguarding IP – Data back up. Everywhere has fire alarms but most computer failures are caused by water from the fire-fighters or sprinklers. Now most safes I have seen people store floppy disks in are standard run of the mill safes. Not fire safes. The average safe will cook your contents and is not usually air or watertight. So even if the back ups haven’t been cooked they will probably have been soaked.

The normal fire safes keep things to a temperature where paper dries out nicely but CD’s, tapes etc will all melt. Data- Fire-Safes keep the contents a LOT cooler. Go and check that the company safe is the right sort now, rather than after the fire! The other important thing to do is check out the integrity of your backups.

Well, by the time you read this you should be booking the day to go to the embedded show. I will be please to see you

ESS 2005 exhibition is the biggest several years and the accompanying con ference programme is one of

strongest.

ESS 2005 Exhibitors

High & Super High Bright STN & TFT LCD Panels in Monochrome or Vibrant Colour, with 30 Month Warranty

See Us at the

Stand 401 · 19th-20th Oct

NEC B‘ham