MTE article stirs up rtos row on Linkedin
Tom Barrett’s article in the April issue of Micro Technology Europe on commercial versus free real-time operating systems has stirred up a row on social networking site Linkedin. Barrett, who is president of Quadros Systems, came down heavily on the side of a commercial rtos for most applications.

Analogue ICs suffer worst year
Last year was one of the worst ever for the analogue IC segment, according to market watcher Databeans. Analogue was down 7% from 2011 with revenues just shy of US$40bn; the entire semiconductor market had an average decline of 3% in 2012.

Acal invests £2m in custom services centre
Acal BFI is investing £2m in changing the way it operates in the UK as it moves away from selling standard products. Most of this work has involved transforming its warehouse in Wokingham, Berkshire, to a custom services centre similar to the ones it already has in Frankfurt, Munich and Paris.

Rtos adds data distribution services support
Express Logic’s ThreadX rtos now supports the Core DX data distribution service (DSS) communications middleware from Twin Oaks Computing. The DDS simplifies communications processes among different system types, easing the communications problems between the embedded mobile device and the enterprise, IT-based network application.

Xilinx certifies cores for push into avionics

Workshop tells how to exploit smartphone technology

Compa project relies on Trace 32 for debugging

Equita buys majority stake in MEN Mikro

SMSC acquisition bears fruit for Microchip

PoS terminals empower staff
Industrial Computers: Call for unity
Claus Giebert looks at the importance of standardising M2M communications for industrial applications
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Industrial Computers: When the going gets tough…
A look at the way a Swedish manufacturer designs computers for rugged environments, including the choice of connectors and modules
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FPGAs: Making the connection
Gordon Hands shows how using low-cost FPGAs can intelligently expand microcontroller connectivity
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Displays & Panel PCs: Tough choice
Peter Marchant asks whether Arm or x86 architecture is best for panel PCs and displays
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Starter kit introduces Smarc
A ready-to-use Smarc starter kit from Kontron lets developers gain entry into embedded Arm processors. The kit comes in a sturdy transport case, has all the cables already connected and is equipped with the necessary components, including a display and power supply.
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Gigabit Ethernet switches with dedicated priority ports
Five and an eight port Gigabit Ethernet switches – the EKI-3725 and 3728 – have been introduced by Advantech. They have dedicated priority ports, smart diagnostics and gigabit data transmission, making them suitable for industrial automation functions including toll stations and CCTV systems.
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Module supports three displays
A type six Com Express Compact module – the PCom-B219 – has been introduced by Portwell. It uses the Intel QM77 chipset and a third generation quad or dual core embedded processor with turbo-boost, vPro, hyperthreading, tri-gate transistor and USB3.0.
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Analogue input boards provide isolation
United Electronic Industries has released four analogue input boards for use with its Cube and Racktangle chassis. Available from Sarsen, all four have eight analogue input channels, 24bit A-D resolution and 120kS/s maximum sampling rates. They provide complete, 350V rms channel-to-channel and channel-to-chassis isolation.
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