Embedded Computing Design

Spectrum Instrumentation has created a software development kit for the Julia scientific and numerical computing programming language, which allows more than 200 of the company’s digital I/O products, digitizers, and generators to be programmed in the language. The new SDK is free of charge to all Spectrum customers.

Sigasi has launched Sigasi Studio, a tool suite that supports open-source hardware projects through syntax and coding assistance features such as refactoring, intelligent autocomplete, and automatic documentation for VHDL, Verilog, and/or SystemVerilog programmers. The tool suite can be used in isolation or in conjunction with other FPGA and ASIC tools.

Analog Devices and Audinate have introduced the Dante Embedded Platform (DEP) SDK for ADI's SHARC audio DSPs, which layers audio-over-IP network software on multicore SHARC ADSP-SC5xx applications processors. The single-chip solution has been validated by Audinate, allowing engineers to develop with confidence using the DEP for SHARC solution.

So, as you might have guessed, this is the second version of the Skywire Development Kit 2, which also goes by the acronym SWDK2. It features dual Taoglas antennas that connect via surface-mount antenna connectors, which enables the MIMO architecture required for mobile cellular networking. But what’s really cool about the SWDK2 is a flexible interface that enables it to pair with Arduino, NXP FRDM, ST Nucleo, and a host of other development platforms as long as they can support an Arduino shield.

In this episode of Embedded Toolbox, the first of five in our “Let’s Build a Robot” series, Rob Woolley, Principal Technologist in the Technology Office at Wind River, lays out the drivers behind next-generation autonomous robot platforms built on frameworks like the Robot Operating System and capabilities like enterprise-class AI. He then proceeds to demonstrate how these software solutions can be supported on safety-critical edge robots using the VxWorks real-time operating system and docker containers.

Lauterbach has announced that its TRACE32 family of tools now delivers full debug and trace support for the Armv9 architecture via the Armv9-A/-R Debugger. Available to new customers via a licensing agreement and existing Lauterbach Armv8 customers via a software update, TRACE32 Armv9 support includes on-chip and off-chip trace features via serial or parallel trace ports; flash programming; multicore debugging; hypervisor-aware debugging; MMU support; sample-based profiling; and so on.

In this episode of the Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich discuss Silicon Laboratories recent divestiture of its infrastructure and automotive business units to SkyWorks Solutions. The sale includes the company’s power, isolation, broadcast, timing, and other products and IP. Silicon Labs CEO Tyson Tuttle said several years ago that the company is “all-in” on IoT, and this move appears to be him keeping his word. But was it the best move?

This isn’t the first Maxim Integrated development kit we’ve reviewed on Dev Kit Weekly, nor the first one that focuses on the healthcare sector. Back in 2019, we took a look at the company’s MAX86150EVSYS kit that targets mobile heart rate monitoring using ECG and PPG sensors. The Health Sensor Platform 3.0 takes that concept into a wearable form factor that integrates those same sensors, as well as a skin temperature sensor, that make it an ideal starting point for those of you developing personal fitness devices, patient health monitors, and so on.

Part 1: Basics of Embedded Linux

How do we transition from our historical lack of understanding about what’s going on under the hood of complex neural networks, and into an era of AI explainability around how these models operate?

If you’re looking for an easy way to get your IoT devices and data connected for use cases like real-time alerting, reporting, and management, or a path forward from older 2G deployments, look no further. The MultiTech Dragonfly Developer Kit is an incredibly fast and easy way to evaluate and start wirelessly connecting machines over 3G or 4G wireless – seriously, to begin all you need to do is install a SIM card on the Dragonfly cellular module’s Micro SIM connector, screw it into the baseboard, then hook up a host PC via a Micro USB connection or J-Link and start programming, debugging, and controlling the modem using AT commands. Getting started is really that simple.

Cybersecurity firm Dragos recently released its annual Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Year in Review Report for 2020, which shows that threats targeting ICS and OT infrastructure tripled last year. The 703 identified vulnerabilities were underscored by the company’s findings that roughly 90 percent of its clients had little to no visibility into their ICS environments beyond the IT/OT network boundary.

During a recorded presentation from  embedded world 2021, Rich and Brandon are joined by Technology Editor Curt Schwaderer, who doubles as Vice President of Engineering at intelligence and security provider Yaana Technologies. The three discuss how the tech industry in particular and connected organizations in general have transitioned from protecting devices from attacks to accepting they will be hacked and mitigating losses to modern threat intelligence and modeling strategies. They then look at this evolution through the lens of employees, who are handling and working with sensitive information and IP, working from home.

Almost every industry is now connected, and, therefore, now susceptible to more digital risk than ever before. This risk can come in the form of malware, hackers, or even just bugs that result in the unexpected behavior of systems that are now more visible to the rest of the world.

Support for the IP is enabled via the aforementioned kernel driver and through a userspace component that can be accessed using frameworks like FFMPEG and GStreamer.

In theory, a heterogeneous multicore device can equip a compute block optimized for any type of operation a given use case can throw at it. A GPU for video processing, a neural network processor for object recognition, a CPU to run the OS, and so on. The different fit-for-purpose cores provide an SoC with more flexibility, and therefore greater performance and lower power consumption across a wider range of workloads, than a homogeneous processor of the same class. 

2021 Embedded Processor Report: With the dependable performance-per-watt gains of transistor scaling drawing to a close, how will future generations of processors access the compute necessary to efficiently execute demanding workloads? The answer my come via parallel processing on heterogeneous SoCs.

With time to market pressures constantly increasing, technology organizations are moving away from traditional waterfall development workflows and towards Agile/DevOps software development practices.

Static analysis tools are widely used in safety- and security-critical applications as a means of finding and remediating coding errors. In fact, they are the de facto software testing tool in these industries.

Nuremberg, Germany  – On Monday, March 1st, from 11-11:30 CET, Real-Time Innovation’s Pedro Lopez Estepa will be presenting “The Automotive Paradigm Shift: Connectivity at the Core” at the first all-digital embedded world exhibition and conference. Estepa’s session  will address unprecedented change in the automotive market as manufacturers race to develop connected and autonomous mobility platforms.