Top Ten Embedded Design Articles of 2008

12/29/2008 3:18 PM EST

Your choice of design articles reflects an even balance between traditional programming and software development issues and hardware specific software topics.

#1: The art of FPGA construction
Working with FPGAs isn't intimidating when you know the basic techniques and options.

#2: Guidelines for using C++ as an alternative to C in embedded designs
In this two part tutorial, Colin Walls addresses the well-known barriers to use of C++ by C programmers, and provides some guidelines including cleaning up C and an in-between alternative he calls "C+." First up: Why is C++ not more widely used?

#3: Down to basics: Running Linux on a 32-/64-bit RISC architecture
In this series Dominic Sweetman, author of "See MIPS run Linux" gets down to the basics on how to implement Linux on the MIPS 32k/64k architecture. In Part 1: GNU/Linux from eight miles high.

#4: Building "instant-up" real-time operating systems
Here are three ways to build an instant "up and running" RTOS for use on any target system requiring only some compilation & minimal hardware resources.

#5: Back to the future - Manchester encoding
When commercial options fail, try using Manchester encoding and other time-tested protocols in low-cost, low bit-rate serial communications.

#6: Designing DSP-based motor control using fuzzy logic
The increased use of variable-speed drive motors to reduce energy consumption will require a shift from PID controllers to systems based on fuzzy logic algorithms to simplify design, reduce development time, and elminate complex math formulas.

#7: An architecture for designing reusable embedded systems software
Want to make your application software more reusable? Don't change the hardware, operating system, or your tools. Instead change the architectural framework within which you do your design.

#8: Why C++ is a viable alternative to C in embedded systems design
While C enjoys a good reputation as a strong and powerful language for embedded development, C++ does not have quite such a broad appeal. With today's capable and sophisticated C++ environments this is often an incorrect belief. 

#9: Using object-oriented MATLAB for DSP
This hands-on how-to demonstrates how to use object-oriented programming features of Matlab 2008a to model C++ digital signal processing solutions.

#10: Debugging multiprocessor code
Debugging code running on multiprocessor computing systems--and, in particular, parallel code on multicore devices--is an old problem that has achieved new prominence because of the profound transformation of hardware from single-processor to multiprocessor and multicore solutions. 

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