Free Webinar: Embedded C++ vs. C++

Are you working in Embedded C++ and can't find a familiar C++ feature? Can you use object-oriented programming in Embedded C++? Join us for a FREE Webinar and learn what features were removed from standard C++, why they were removed and what impact that may have. We'll show you areas where users often make mistakes, areas that have runtime overhead and areas that cause code size to explode. This is a technical look at why Embedded C++ is a better choice for some applications. Space is limited - register today!

"Graphical system design" - the ability to model your application in software and easily export it to the target hardware system - is the "holy grail" of embedded systems. Traditional software / RTOS vendors have been trying to accomplish this for years, but National Instruments is targetting this approach with a new emphasis and a new slogan, "Design, prototype, and deploy." At the August (!) Austin, Texas, NI Week, CEO Dr. James Truchard proclaimed that the company's goal is to do for embedded what the PC did for the desktop. (See video highlights and technical presentations from NI Week, here)

What Dr. T wants is to make embedded systems design "easy" for developers. How? By employing the company's flagship LabView 8.20 product (just released, here) to "design" and "prototype" and then deploy to other NI products such as CompactRIO or LabView PDA Module. More and more, NI sees itself as a software development tool vendor hoping to woo customers from traditional RTOS / Software Development vendors as well as from the "do-it-yourself" method favored by many embedded masochists.

Even more competitive to the traditional embedded systems process is NI's strategy of allowing LabView to act as the software development environment for third-party hardware. This part of "Graphical System Design" is headquartered under NI's LabView for Embedded. One exciting target is the module entitled, LabView for BlackFin but there is support for other 32-bit architectures as well. Critics complain of NI's high relative cost, but NI proponents counter that this approach yields faster time-to-market plus less design software headaches.

PXI Express promises to bring PCI Express bandwidth to test and measurement as well as data acquisition. The standard defines a fast, cost effective instrumentation platform developed specifically for electronics test, measurement and automation applications. It increases backplane bandwidth from 132 MB/s to 6 GB/s, a 45 times improvement, as well as enhances PXI timing and synchronization features by incorporating a 100 MHz differential reference clock and differential triggers. (See the PXI Express FAQ.)

Accordingly, NI just announced data acquisition (DAQ) modules for PXI Express, the NI PXIe-6259 and NI PXIe-6251 M Series modules, which deliver fast analog and digital I/O with up to 250 MB/s dedicated per-slot bandwidth. In addition to the new PXI Express DAQ modules, NI announced four PXI Express controllers. Release here.

The goal is to open up new applications - especially video processing - to data acquisition. One application area is "real-time" medical imaging, another application is automobile crash-testing which requires multiple cameras coordinated in real-time - both involve massive amounts of data and data processing. Check out the PXI Express webcast for more examples and don't miss the presentations at the PXI Technology and Applications Conference (PXI TAC) online now.

(conference, 4 stars) - 9/11/2006, Boston

VON Conference & Expo
VON brings together all the players in the converging communications landscape, to map out the future. With 350+ speakers across 4 days, and breakout sessions brimming with insights and answers to your strategic and technical questions - Spring VON is where you can position yourself to profit from the next wave of the communications revolution.

(conference, 4 stars) - 9/18/2006, New York

NetWorld+Interop
NetWorld+Interop provides networking, Internet and telecommunications professionals with a uniquely comprehensive forum for education and hands-on evaluation of products and services in order to make critical purchasing decisions. NetWorld+Interop affords buyers from enterprises, carrier/service providers, and resellers/integrators the opportunity to experience live technology demonstrations first-hand.

(conference, 4 stars) - 9/24/2006, Austin

IEEE International SOC Conference
Driven by the rapid growth of the Internet, communication technologies, pervasive computing, and wireless and portable consumer electronics, Systems-On-Chip (SOC) has become a dominant issue in today's ASIC industry. SOCs have created new challenges in Design Methods, Design Tools, Design Automation, Manufacturing, Technology, and Test.

(conference, 5 stars) - 9/25/2006, Boston

Embedded Systems Conferences
The PREMIER real-world event for embedded systems developers. Held in the Spring on the West Coast (San Jose), and Fall on the East Coast (Boston). If you are an embedded designers, this is the MECCA you must visit at least once!

(conference, 5 stars) - 9/25/2006, Durham

PCB Design Conference
PCB Design Conferences is devoted exclusively to PCB design issues. Topics include: High Speed * EMC * PCB Design Techniques * Design For Manufacture * Design Engineering * Data Transfer * PCB Materials * Manufacturing Technology * Packaging Technology * Career Development * PCB Routers * 2D Field Solvers * New PCB Materials High Speed Design For Manufacture.

(conference, 4 stars) - 9/26/2006, San Francisco

Intel Developer Forum
Intel Developer Forum is THE event for Intel-based design, both embedded and non-embedded. Meet with vendors, attend technical sessions, and network with other ee's focused on the Intel Architectures.