2013年2月25日 星期一

How to manage the IP selection process can help engineers effectively meet objectives and reduce risk

Single board computer, Console server, Panel PC
 

As digital design has proliferated the electronics world, making designs faster, easier to test, and more robust, the analog portion of embedded designs is becoming a bottleneck. To meet requirements and timetables in the analog portion, engineers generally have three weapons at their disposal: utilize peripheral analog IC, build the functionality internally (make), or purchase the IP block from an external vendor (buy). Each option has its own merits and drawbacks, but none can launch a competitive advantage better or cause more frustrating confusion than analog IP.

Traditionally, these options only apply to ASIC builds, as FPGAs are not compatible with analog IP. However, this is changing quickly. Some IP companies now provide all Register Transfer Language (RTL)-based Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), DC-DC converter controller, and clocking functions with robust performance.
To meet design objectives, engineers must understand the IP vendor’s strategy and incentives and match their offerings to what is required.

Refer:
http://embedded-computing.com/articles/understanding-analog-cores-embedded-computing-needs/v

2013年2月19日 星期二

Acrosser Technology Mini-ITX industrial mainboard

embedded systems, gaming platform, single board computer
 
The AMB-QM77T1 is the newest Mini-ITX industrial mainboard from Acrosser Technology that supports both of the 3rd and 2nd generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 mobile processor by Intel QM77 chipset and FCPGA 988 socket.
AMB-QM77T1 brings enhanced graphics performance by supporting 3 independent displays in any combination of VGA, HDMI, LVDS and DVI output.
The Intel 3rd generation mobile processors supported by the AMB-QM77T1 features an integrated GPU, which is capable of supporting such graphical libraries as DirectX11, OpenGL4.0 and OpenCL1.1.
AMB-QM77T1 is the perfect solution to deliver high computing power for a wide range of applications such as medical, industrial automation, kiosk, digital signage, and ATM machines.


 The key features of the AMB-QM77T1 include:
‧  Intel QM77 chipset
‧  FCPGA socket supports 3rd Generation Intel® Core(TM) i7/i5/i3 processors and Celeron
‧  2* DDR3-1600/1333/1066 SO-DIMM up to 16GB
‧  Supports VGA/DVI-D/HDMI/LVDS displays
‧  Support 3 independent display
‧  Dual Intel PCI-E Gigabit LAN
‧  8* USB 2.0, 4* USB 3.0, 3* COM, 3* SATA II, 2* SATA III
‧  1* PCI-E x16, 1* Mini PCI-E, 1* CFast socket
‧  iAMT 8.0, TPM 1.2, Watchdog timer, Digital I/O Support VGA and DVI output