A new software defined radio development platform facilitates the design and development of two-way communication radios.
This week at the Software Defined Radio (SDR) Technical Conference and Product Exposition, Sundance announced the availability of its new SDR development platform to facilitate the design and development of two-way communication radios. Based on TI’s TMS320C6416T digital signal processor (DSP), Sundance’s SMT8096 platform offers developers the flexibility to produce a broad range of radio and waveform applications including wireless basestations, military and public safety radios and high-speed data acquisition systems. Capitalising on TI’s DSP performance, low power and compatibility with industry standard hardware and software, Sundance’s SMT8096 serves as a rapid-prototyping solution package that empowers software developers to produce a broader range of wireless communication applications at reduced time to market and development costs.

‘The demand for software defined radio continues to rapidly grow as operators become aware of its great advantages over traditional hardware radios’, said Ram Sathappan, DSP Solutions Marketing Manager for TI.

‘Sundance’s new development platform will enable more rapid development of software defined radio systems, enabling the manufacture of radio products that are easily upgradeable and reconfigurable to adjust to varying protocols’.

Sundance greatly improves the possibilities of software defined radio by leveraging the programmable nature of the DSP and its ability to handle multiple software standards on a single hardware platform, providing greater flexibility, speed and accuracy.

‘By leveraging TI’s high-performance DSP and analogue chips, we were able to produce a flexible, powerful and fast hardware architecture that complements several software environments, making a development platform that is attractive to developers with or without traditional coding experience’, said Dr Nory Nakhaee CEO of Sundance DSP.

Sundance’s development platform uses TI’s TMS320C6416T fixed-point DSP to enable high-performance data preprocessing.

Beyond the sheer performance of its 1GHz clock speed and 64bit external bus, TI’s C6416T is tailored for wireless infrastructure applications, making it an ideal component in Sundance’s SMT8096 platform.

The SMT350 module in the platform uses two TI ADS5500 14bit, 25Msample/s analogue-to-digital convertors, designed for applications demanding low power consumption, the highest speed and highest dynamic performance in a very small space.

The TI analogue-to-digital convertors are then complemented by a Xilinx FPGA and a TI DAC5686 dual 16bit, 500Msample/s digital-to-analogue convertor, which provides three modes of operation: dual-channel, single-sideband and quadrature modulation.

At the software level, developers can custom code their systems to reconfigure the flexible hardware.

The system’s SMT310Q PCI carrier was specifically developed to provide access to a TI module over the PCIbus running at 33MHz with a 32bit databus.

Because of the onboard XDS510 compatible JTAG controller, developers can use TI’s Code Composer Studio integrated development environment and 3L Diamond software development environments to easily complete code generation, debugging and uploading.

For more demanding SDR applications, the SMT145 carrier with 64bit data and 66MHz PCI interface could be used, whereas a carrier like the SMT148 can be chosen in support of an embedded system.

With the modular approach adopted by Sundance, multi-DSP power could be easily harnessed to provide greater number crunching capability when needed, and Sundance provides software to demonstrate these potential capabilities.

Traditional system software development ‘coding’ can be circumvented through the use of MathWorks Simulink, which is fully compatible with the SMT8096.

The kit supports Windows, QNX and Linux environments.

‘This sophisticated SDR development platform, based on MathWorks Matlab and Simulink for model-based design and a powerful TI-based DSP chip by Sundance, is an exciting development that MathWorks encourages in the market place’, said Amnon Gai, Partner Marketing Manager at the MathWorks.

The SMT8096 is available now at the single unit price of US $8395.

Delivery time is between two and four weeks from the purchase order.

Hitachi Communication Technologies, a worldwide leader of information and communication system-related products, has adopted Cadence Palladium II for emulation and acceleration.
Hitachi Communication Technologies, a worldwide leader of information and communication system-related products, has adopted Cadence Palladium II for emulation and acceleration. The company chose Palladium II over competing offerings because it directly addressed Hitachi Communication Technologies’ specific needs. Palladium II enables Hitachi’s verification engineers to meet schedule demands while verifying their most complex designs.

A key component of the Cadence Incisive Enterprise family of verification solutions, the Palladium II system offers the capacity, flexibility, turnaround time, and performance levels needed to verify Hitachi Communication Technologies’ chipsets for next-generation network products.

‘We looked at several solutions on the market to address the exponential growth in our designs and the underlying verification needs’, said Hideya Sato, CAD Department Manager in the Carrier Network Systems Division at Hitachi Communication Technologies.

‘Palladium II provides better run-time performance and much faster compile time compared with our previous FPGA-based emulation system’.

‘It also allows multiple software programmers and design and verification engineers to access the system simultaneously’.

‘It was simply the best solution on the market’.

‘We have seen much more than our return on investment’.

The Palladium II accelerator/emulator supports full system verification by incorporating peripherals, embedded processors, multiple ASICs, embedded software and real-world data.

The Palladium II system delivers up to 10,000 times above the average simulation performance in emulation mode or when regression testing with an embedded testbench.

This level of performance with the ability to service up to 32 users at once was exactly the type of world-class solution Hitachi Communication Technologies required.

‘We are honoured to be so closely partnered with Hitachi Communication Technologies’, said Moshe Gavrielov, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Cadence Verification Division.

‘Hitachi Communication Technologies is consistently innovating and introducing new products to the communication market that require tight scrutiny of the overall design process including verification’.

‘We are glad they have chosen Palladium II to help them address their overall product delivery goals’.

The Ethos MB87M2181 evaluation platform is a highly integrated system that allows ODMs and OEMs to rapidly prototype a compact micro multi-service provisioning platform.
Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) has announced the availability of the Ethos MB87M2181 evaluation platform - a highly integrated system that allows ODMs and OEMs to rapidly prototype a compact micro multi-service provisioning platform (micro MSPP) using the highly integrated Fujitsu Ethos device. The evaluation platform collapses a multi-shelf system to a single card in a ‘pizza box’ form factor; supports both legacy PDH and 10/100/1000 Ethernet services at OC-3/STM-1 and OC-12/STM-4 capacity; supports an interactive online scripting environment to simplify configuration and prototyping for fast time to market; and offers an onboard CPU running Linux real-time OS for convenient software development. Developed in co-operation with Fujitsu’s partner AimCom, a leading-edge design and development company specialising in next generation carrier class optical networking, the Ethos evaluation platform is a complete, stand-alone system solution for customer premises equipment or complete network elements.

The platform features two-per-port programmable OC-3/12 Sonet or STM-1/4 SDH optical interfaces and two OC-3 Sonet or STM-1 SDH optical interfaces that seamlessly connect to SFP modules.

An additional four E1/DS1 and four 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports are provided.

Mark Ellins, Director of the Communications Business Unit at FME commented: ‘This new device underlines Fujitsu’s commitment to rolling-out a growing product portfolio of ASSPs for telecom access applications’.

‘With more announcements in the pipeline we believe the Ethos MB87M2181 will confirm our position as pace-setter in this market’.

The evaluation platform is based on the Ethos MB87M2181 device - a highly integrated single-chip MSPP optimised for OC-3/STM-1 and OC-12/STM-4 applications.

The device’s advanced data features and high integration are ideal for compact networking equipment deployed in remote terminals or customer premises equipment where service density does not justify the use of larger, more expensive MSPPs.

The Ethos integrates SDH/Sonet framers and pointer processors, PDH mappers, expansion interfaces, a cross-connect and G.813 SEC/GR-1244 Stratum-3 network element timing function.

The integrated, glue-less interfaces to hot pluggable SFP modules reduce the overall system cost and power consumption.

Supporting VCAT and LCAS as well as GFP, LAPS and PPP mapping, the device is perfectly suited for the fast growing market of compact and cost-effective customer premises access equipment for next-generation carrier-class optical networking.

A strong endorsement of the Ethos MB87M2181 came from David Drew, CEO of Haliplex, a leading manufacturer of edge access and multiplexing solutions, based in Melbourne, Australia: ‘The Fujitsu Ethos development system enabled us to run parallel engineering efforts in software and hardware’.

‘This allowed us to meet the aggressive time-to-market requirements demanded by our customers’.

‘The open nature of the software has been a delight’.

Schmartboard, which makes tools to help engineers, students and hobbyists create electronic circuits, has signed Indian distributor Display Electronics Concept Shapers and Electronics Pvt.
Schmartboard has just begun to add international distributors. According to Neal Greenberg, Schmartboard’s VP Sales and Marketing: ‘Schmartboard is targeted at hobbyists and students as well as engineers’. ‘The product is a major advancement for teaching and prototyping surface mount components’.

‘We know that India is a high-tech leader’.

‘We are confident in Concept Shapers’ capabilities to make Schmartboard a tool used by these companies for product development’.

According MD Raghunarayan, Managing Director of Concept Shapers and Electronics Pvt: ‘Concept Shapers and Electronics, India, is proud to associate with another innovative, quality-centric company, Schmartboard, CA, USA’.

‘Commitment to quality, cost-effectiveness and out-of-the-box solutions of both organisations makes this an extremely exciting and dynamic collaboration’.

The Schmartboard solution allows one, in a matter of hours, to put together a board and instantly make modifications as one needs to.

With SchmartBoard’s new product line it is now possible for virtually anyone to hand solder integrated circuits (ICs), even a Ball Grid Array.

Based on surveys of companies and universities, SchmartBoard believes that this product will have a huge impact for both industry and academia.

Over a period of 17 years, Concept Shapers has migrated from manufacturing of enclosures, to a full-fledged system designer/integrator.

The company has facilities that include mechanical and electronic designs, manufacturing, integration and testing for developmental and production activities.

However, the in-house environmental and EMI pre-compliance test facilities help the organisation ensure quality outputs.

A new development platform delivers high quality audio and enhanced tuning capabilities to manufacturers of hands-free cellular phone kits for automotive applications.
Delivering high quality audio and enhanced tuning capabilities to manufacturers of hands-free cellular phone kits for automobiles, Texas Instruments and Acoustic Technologies have unveiled the Hands-Free Kit (HFK) Development Platform. The new audio solution, which offers a complete, out-of-the-box experience for designers, features a DSP-based platform that provides flexible real-time voice and audio-enhancing algorithms - including Acoustic’s patented SoundClear audio software and Rapid-HFK tuning and diagnostic tool - that enable developers to get to market quickly with higher quality audio products while reducing cost. The importance of hands-free kit technology is reflected by pending legislation in more than 40 US states that will make it illegal for drivers to hold cellphones while driving.

This ban already exists in more than 90% of European countries and many others worldwide.

As demand for hands-free technology continues to be spurred by this legislation as well as forward-looking manufacturers in the automotive and wireless industries, designers need to have access to easy-to-use hardware and software that allows them to quickly address the demand and provide the sound quality in hands-free audio products to which consumers have become accustomed in handsets.

To that end, the HFK Development Platform, based on TI’s TMS320C5407 DSP, enables improved sound and natural sounding speech with an optimised audio processing environment.

Acoustic’s SoundClear software delivers a combination of patented algorithms for acoustic echo cancellation, noise cancellation, sound enhancement and full-duplex control that work together to provide dramatic improvements in sound quality and speech intelligibility.

Additionally, Acoustic’s Rapid-HFK tuning tool allows manufacturers to tune their designs quickly and efficiently to achieve the optimal sounding end products.

By enabling software testing right out of the box, the HFK Development Platform can get those products to market quickly and at a lower system cost.

‘VDO Dayton is committed to providing consumers with high-quality products’.

‘We are excited to offer SoundClear full-duplex software running on TI TMS320C5000 DSP in our CIX 3000 Blue terminal to enable very natural sounding voice quality’, said Ralf Oberlander, Director of Product Management, Navigation and Multimedia at Siemens VDO.

‘SoundClear software enables state-of-the-art algorithms to cancel echo, reduce noise, and enhance speech, which allow us to provide best-in-class Bluetooth hands-free devices with a pleasant user experience’.

The inherent programmability of the DSP-based technology in the HFK Development Platform gives customers a scalable solution that fits a wide range of end-product needs.

By using the HFK demo platform, developers can move easily to any of the code-compatible DSPs from the TMS320C5000 DSP platform to suit their specific needs and create the optimal audio processing environment.

The C5000 platform includes a broad portfolio of more than 20 devices that offer leading-edge combinations of power-efficient performance, peripheral options, and small packaging.

In addition to sound quality, the new HFK Development Platform with SoundClear software also offers unmatched quality from a functional perspective.

Using less processing power and memory, the platform gives designers access to an abundance of performance headroom, allowing them to add features like audio streaming (MP3, AAC, WMA), Bluetooth functionality, speech recognition, phone book download and more, thus allowing them to differentiate their products.

These functions can be easily integrated by utilising TI’s extensive network of third-party developers.

‘Integrating SoundClear into TI’s HFK Development Platform allows customers to easily tune audio for the best sounding end product using our Rapid tool’, said Greg Eslinger, Vice President of Engineering, Acoustic Technologies.

‘SoundClear software raises the quality standard for hands-free operation in today’s hands-free devices by providing full-duplex speakerphone capabilities that enhance the overall user experience’.

The HFK Development Platform includes: the TMS320C5407 DSP motherboard; SoundClear acoustic echo cancellation and noise reduction software from Acoustic Technologies; Rapid-HFK tuning tool from Acoustic Technologies; Code Composer Studio integrated development environment (IDE) library examples and a 120-day trial version of Code Composer Studio development tools; a line out, onboard microphone; a 0.5mm microphone jack; a JTAG connector; a user programmable interface (three LEDs, three pushbuttons); and an expansion peripheral connector.

Available at the end of the fourth quarter in 2005, through TI authorised distributors and the TI E-store, the HFK Development Platform (TDMSHFK5407) is priced at US $495.

The Hitex B2B Power Tools Webshop provides speedy access to products such as complete starter kits for the ARM, TriCore or XC microcontroller architectures.
Hitex Development Tools has set up an online shop. The Hitex B2B Power Tools Webshop provides speedy access to products such as complete starter kits for the ARM, TriCore or XC microcontroller architectures. Evaluation boards, analysers, accessories and documentation are also available as part of an expanding range of products, all ready for shipment within a few days.

A low cost wireless sensor network starter kit helps designers developing IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee products based on Jennic’s single chip wireless microcontroller device.
Jennic has released a low cost wireless sensor network starter kit for developing IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee products based on its single chip wireless microcontroller device. The kit includes sample demonstrations that highlight the potential for remote monitoring and control applications based on the wireless standard, and enables new product development based on this new technology. One of the demonstrations is a remote sensor monitoring network, which reads environmental data from each of the nodes and displays the results on a PC terminal.

A second demonstrates how a wireless light switch network can be developed.

The starter kit contains three battery-powered nodes each with Jennic’s JN5121 single chip IEEE802.15.4-compliant system-on-chip wireless microcontroller mounted on an RF module, and incorporating LEDs, pushbutton switches, temperature, humidity and light sensors and an IO expansion port.

Two nodes have subminiature ceramic antennas; the other node has a removable external antenna enabling connection to test equipment.

The kit also includes a suite of library functions that provide all the elements required to build network products based on the IEEE802.15.4 standard, including device drivers, typical sensor and control drivers.

These are backed up with example applications showing a star network with central co-ordinator node and endpoints.

The development environment features a complete, unrestricted toolchain and is based upon the Gnu C-compiler, assembler, debugger, device programmer and download tools.

The starter kit costs US $550 and can now be purchased from Jennic’s worldwide distribution network.

New development kits save months of engineering time and BSP integration effort by offering Windows CE 5.0 on a ready-to-run platform.
Arcom has released updated development kits for two embedded single board computers - the ultra-low-power 400MHz PXA255 XScale-based Viper and the AMD Geode-based SBC-GX1. These development kits save months of engineering time and BSP integration effort by offering Windows CE 5.0 on a ready-to-run platform. The kits include the Viper or SBC-GX1 pre-installed with Windows CE 5.0 on the resident Flash drive as well as the Microsoft Embedded Visual tools to allow designers to start building an application from day one.

Windows CE is the most popular embedded operating system for engineers creating a user interface for new OEM instrumentation displays, machine controllers and information terminals.

The combination of rich communications and GUI features along with an aggressive licence cost policy make it a compelling choice for equipment manufacturers.

The Viper development kit includes the Viper PC/104 board fitted with 64Mbyte DRAM and 32Mbyte of Flash memory, an industrial compact enclosure (ICE) with a Q-VGA colour touchscreen display.

The development kit is also shipped with a free CompactFlash Wi-Fi card allowing complete wireless operation.

The 300MHz SBC-GX1 EBX board is fitted with 256Mbyte DRAM and 16Mbyte of onboard Flash, along with a 6.5in VGA TFT touchscreen display.

Each kit is priced at just $1597.

Arcom is a Gold level Windows Embedded Partner.

SchmartBoard has signed a Japanese distribution agreement with Tokyo-based Microbot Education.
SchmartBoard has signed an agreement with Tokyo-based distributor Microbot Education of Japan. SchmartBoard’s technology is a major advancement for teaching electronics and prototyping circuits that have surface mount components. ‘SchmartBoard has just begun to add international distributors’, said Neal Greenberg, SchmartBoard Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

‘We are targeting hobbyists and students as well as engineers’.

‘With Japan’s technology leadership and Microbot’s distribution capabilities, we are confident that SchmartBoard will the preferred tool used by companies for prototype development and by universities for electronics education’.

SchmartBoard’s latest product makes it possible for virtually anyone to hand solder surface mount integrated circuits, including BGAs.

Historically, only a very small percentage of skilled engineers and technicians could hand solder small components.

With SchmartBoard-ez, a ten year old can pick up a soldering iron and hand solder the smallest IC on the market.

‘Microbot Education of Japan is very excited to introduce this new technology to the people of Japan’, said Kiyoshi Sekimoto, President of Microbot Education of Japan.

‘The ability to easily hand solder surface mount components has been a need for our customers for a long time’.

‘The SchmartBoard-ez line will resolve this need and bring new customers to Microbot Education’.

Prototyping boards have long been the standard for manually verifying circuits, but as surface mount components have become smaller and smaller, these boards have not kept up with the technology and have become impractical for most applications.

Therefore, engineers are forced to spend large amounts of time and money making revisions on expensive, custom PCBs.

By making prototyping boards viable again, SchmartBoard-ez will save companies and universities a tremendous amount of time and money.

LSI Logic has developed a novel RapidChip system-on-a-chip (SoC) prototyping platform based on the ARM926EJ-S processor.
LSI Logic Corp has developed a RapidChip system-on-a-chip (SoC) prototyping platform based on the ARM926EJ-S processor. The new prototyping platform enables designers to emulate their cell-based ASIC or RapidChip Platform ASIC design before tape out, provides FPGA-based system verification and enables software development to begin earlier, further reducing risk and time to market. This cost-effective RapidChip SoC prototyping platform also allows platform ASIC developers to quickly respond to the accelerating trend of integrating processors into designs supporting all segments of the industry.

Codeveloped with Memec Design Europe, the new RapidChip SoC prototyping platform provides a complete development system that lowers barriers for designing an SoC with a leading 32bit embedded processor.

The platform provides a 200MHz ARM926EJ-S processor and a complete set of peripherals with a 200MHz, 400Mbit/s DDR1 controller on a RapidChip integrator slice.

‘This new RapidChip prototyping platform bolsters LSI Logic’s leadership position in offering high-performance ARM processors for structured or platform ASIC’, said Mike Inglis, Vice President, Marketing at ARM.

‘In addition to having a broad portfolio of ARM processors to choose from, RapidChip platform ASIC customers can now start prototyping their ARM processor-based design at full speed prior to seeing silicon, enabling their product to be completed much earlier’.

‘The new RapidChip SoC prototyping platform quickly gives us a stable hardware/software codesign system, integrating an ARM926 subsystem and our own system design with minimal effort’, said Helmut Hegny, Senior Manager ASIC Design, Marconi Communications.

‘Early hardware of the final platform ASIC in the form of an ARM926EJ-S prototyping chip, companion FPGA and peripheral interfaces allows very fast software integration and system debug, giving us a high degree of confidence of getting our design right and shipping early’.

‘Partnering with LSI on this system prototyping platform allowed us to advance the tools available to SoC and verification system designers’, said Matthias Isler, Director, Memec Design Europe.

‘The RapidChip SoC prototyping platform enables designers to prototype their own application-specific logic attached to the AHB infrastructure, using an external FPGA.

This is a convenient method which ensures cycle accuracy for software engineers who are integrating their firmware with hardware’.

RapidChip technology developers that use Synplicity’s Amplify RapidChip synthesis tool can also take advantage of a common tool flow with FPGA design when building and testing their application logic during the prototyping phase.

This simplifies creation of a final RapidChip design database, ensuring better performance and reducing time to market.

The board will be available from Memec Design in Europe and from LSI in other areas beginning in January 2006 with a list price starting at $3999, depending on the configuration.