FROM
THE EDITOR
This week, we delve into Xilinx’s recent announcement of an upgraded environment for embedded design in FPGAs. In addition to upgrading their MicroBlaze soft-core processor, they’ve added a new, more powerful interconnect system, improved their embedded design tools, and added memory management for complex operating systems like Linux. Our latest feature has the details.
Also new this week, we have a contributed article from Kerry Howell of Lattice Semiconductor telling us about applying FPGAs to control graphics and video in embedded systems.
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Kevin Morris – Editor
FPGA and Structured ASIC Journal
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MicroBlazing Away
Xilinx Boosts Embedded Ecosystem
“No, but this one is really important.”
We editors are endlessly bombarded by battalions of bulldozing PR professionals trying to cleverly coax us into crafting a sentence or two on each and every sniffle of product evolution that emanates from their esteemed engineering organizations. “This one is important,” they will say. “Our new 2.4.3.5.21b driver version is vastly improved over 2.4.3.5.21a. You’ll probably want to do a three-article series just on the switch from absolute to relative memory addressing…”
Right.
So, when Xilinx calls up to say they’ll be “enhancing” their embedded processing capabilities, our technically-advanced editorial auto-skeptic system, complete with press-release spam bucket, shifts seamlessly into high gear. (That’s why we got the new 5.3.4.12 version.) This time, however, after reviewing the new announcement’s curriculum-vitae, we have to call a false alarm on our anti-article defense system.
Embedded processors on FPGAs got off to a dubious start. “Hey!” astute FPGA designers said. “We’ve got enough logic here to put down a whole processor, and then we could just write software for some of this complicated functionality.” There was a communication breakdown, however, because their idea of “complicated functionality” was a state machine with more than 10 states that could be soft-programmed. Marketing, however, heard “processor” and had visions of advanced operating systems running full-blown applications while the rest of the FPGA fabric handled the peripheral duties. [more]
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FPGAs Control Graphics and Video in Embedded Systems
by Kerry Howell, Lattice Semiconductor Corporation
As I sit at my desk, there are six LCD displays within one meter of my chair: cell phone, desk phone, thermometer, calculator, laptop and external monitor. Not all devices with LCD displays need much intelligence to display information, such as my desk phone, but the number of systems that display complex graphics and video continues to increase.
Declining display prices and rising user expectations for additional product features and functionality fuel this growth. Companies in the transportation, automotive, information, automation, medical, industrial and consumer markets use displays in a vast array of products.
[more]
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EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Altium Designer takes the pain out of pin swapping – Whitepaper download available now
Pin and part swapping is an established technique used to significantly reduce PCB routing complexity, but the increasing adoption of FPGAs in designs has placed new pressures on traditional PCB design flows. Learn how board-level designers can harness the benefits of FPGAs without being overwhelmed by complex PCB to FPGA synchronization issues.
 Download FPGA/PCB Pin synchronization whitepaper now
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Did you miss the ARM Developers' Conference?
Join Amelia Dalton, host of Journal Webcasts for Journal Webcasts' coverage of the ARM Developers' Conference. Journal Webcasts brings you interviews with key participants, booth visits, and quite a few other surprises from from the ARM Developers' Conference & Design Pavilion.
 Click here to register
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COTS VXS board utilizes Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs
VMETRO’s Phoenix VPF2 high-performance hybrid processing engine combines the power of dual Virtex-5 FPGAs and Power Architecture MPC8641D processors to provide the ideal solution for demanding EW & ISR applications.
 Learn more.
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Display System Embedded Design with FPGA Webcast
This webcast examines the embedded market challenges motivating development teams to use programmable devices. Application examples show the use of Instant-On FPGA devices and IP in embedded display designs.
 Sign up.
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Free Job Postings on Journaljobs.com
JournalJobs.com – the job board for FPGA Journal and Embedded Technology Journal is now re-launching with a host of new features and capabilities. In celebration of JournalJobs.com grand re-opening, we’re offering free job postings through December 31, 2007. Go online, post a job, pay nothing, and watch for those qualified resumes to come knocking on your inbox.
 Click here to post your job listing on Journal Jobs!
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