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FEATURE ARTICLES
Patently
Unobvious
How the patent system works for and against technology
Embedded
Dilemma
Platforms, soft-cores, RTOS, oh my!
Bringing
the Processor into the FPGA
by Rob Irwin, Altium Limited
Language
Barrier
How will the next generation of FPGAs be designed?
What's
the Right Language for DSP System-Level Design?
by Tom Feist, VP of Marketing, AccelChip, Inc.
Board
with FPGAs
Challenges getting your FPGA to work - on your board
Getting Physical
New physical design tools target FPGA
Corralling
the Complexity of FPGAs
by Jackson Kreiter, of Hier Design, Inc.
Glue
to Glory
How three innovations are changing the face of FPGA design
Article
I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says: “The Congress
shall have power… To promote the progress of science and useful
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the
exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;”
The U.S. Congress exercised that power on April 10, 1790 when the
U.S. patent statute became law. Under that law, the Attorney General,
the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of State were to review
each case to determine whether a patent should be granted. Three
months later, in July 1790, Samuel Hopkins was awarded the first
US patent for a method of making potash and pearl ash. The reviewers,
as prescribed by law, were Edmund Randolph, Henry Knox, and Thomas
Jefferson. Forty-six years later, on July 13, 1836, (the same year
as the infamous battle of the “Alamo”), John Ruggles
was awarded US patent number 1 by the US Patent and Trademark Office,
for his cog-traction locomotive wheel design.
Two hundred thirteen years and more than six-and-a-half million
patents later, the process steams ahead with traction that would
make Mr. Ruggles proud. The patent process has gained weight, however,
and even though Thomas Jefferson no longer personally reviews each
patent, the relative cost and complexity of obtaining protection
for one’s inventions has swelled out of control. [more]
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