RTOS + hardware and tools that automatically integrate them!

UnifiedLogic automatically configures the UnifiedLogic RTOS and quickly integrates peripherals around an FPGA for both prototype and production. Software developers can immediately start coding while hardware engineers begin on the product in final form. Click to - Read the whitepaper / Download the evaluation!

What Zigbee does is make low power, reliable, secure networking possible at a low cost and with long battery life. So for applications as varied as HVAC control to inventory management to smart parking, you can take a non-networked application and make it networked, and you can take an application that was "dumb" and make it intelligent by exchanging data. For more food-for-thought, read an application note about intelligent parking from Zigbee-leader Meshnetics.

On the news front, Zigbee is one of the hottest topics these days. Meshnetics, for example, released a new amplified ZigBee / 802.15.4 2.4GHz RF module, designed to increase transmission distance without sacrificing power. Range tests showed the new ZigBit Amp module achieved a best-in-class outdoor line of sight range of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) while keeping power consumption at a remarkably low level: only 10 ìA in the sleep mode, 23 mA in receive mode, and 60 mA in transmit mode. (Release, here.) Another Zigbee leader, Ember, released their EmberZNet PRO 3.1 to support the new ZigBee PRO Feature Set (details on Zigbee Pro, here; Ember news release here). Ember also released a low-cost development kit, here, as did Meshnetics, here.

Accurate time makes better applications possible, especially in motor control and networked applications. 1588 is one of those "out-of-the-box" technologies that can make for some really cool innovations. A 2006 book, Measurement, Control, and Communication Using IEEE 1588 describes the technology in detail and gives idea examples. In addition, the just-completed 2007 International IEEE Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization has basic technology papers on their website. But, 1588 is new enough, that you really should start at the IEEE website and then contemplate how perfect timing could be used in your own networked application.

On the news front, Lattice Semiconductor has partnered with Oregano Systems. Under the brand name of SYN1588, Oregano Systems offers a range of IP cores compliant with the IEEE 1588 clock synchronization standard. Each core implements a local high speed, high resolution clock, which is attached to the MII -- the interface between the physical layer IC and the MAC -- via a so-called time stamping unit. (Release here). Imsys Technologies also launched its IM3220, which, according to the company, represents a new type of platform components. It combines the best features of traditional CISC architectures and efficient use of resources with FPGA flexibility for a predefined application – time synchronization. (Release, here; Development kit, here).