NMI Event - “Managing FPGA Projects: A Cat-herders Guide” - November 25th 2015

Sarsen Technology is taking part in the “Managing FPGA Projects: A Cat-herders Guide” event next week, organised by NMI.

About NMI



Agenda items include:

“Leveraging ASIC and Software methodologies for FPGA design” – Leon Wildman – Aptcore

“Managing complexity: version control basics for FPGA projects” – Sven-Erik Knop – Perforce

“Teaching an old dog new tricks – The opportunities and resulting challenges of getting consumer silicon into safety critical systems” – Mike Allen, Jon Wright – GE Avionics

“Management sans frontiers: Removing the roadblocks in FPGA projects” – Chris Higgs – Potential Ventures

“Optimizing the HW/SW partition of complex embedded systems” – Simon George – Xilinx

“Inspiring the next generation of FPGA engineers: Skills management in the long term” – Jeremy Bennett – Embecosm

“Requirement driven development for safety-critical applications” – Alex Grove – FirstEDA/Aldec

“Applying Agile Techniques to FPGA Projects” – Nigel Elliott – Mentor Graphics

. . . plus an open discussion to share hints and best practices.

Sarsen will be showcasing Altera and Xilinx FPGA-based hardware from BittWare, Extreme Engineering and DAVE Embedded Systems, as well as C to FPGA software for Xilinx and Altera FPGAs from Impulse Accelerated.

REGISTER NOW

Registration is now open, so please join us to learn some new tips, tricks and “agile” methods that teams are using in order to keep on top of ever-more complex FPGA designs.

11 Reasons to Consider Trenton Systems for Your Next High Performance Computing Solution

Trenton Systems designs and manufactures rugged computers and long-life components. Their single board computers and PCI Express backplanes have been created specifically to satisfy customers' unique requirements for application-ready computing solutions that provide exceptional functionality, performance and reliability.

TRENTON SYSTEMS

Over thirty-five years of electronic design experience is applied to engineering long-life single board computers, backplanes and embedded motherboards. In addition to their broad selection of standard products, Trenton excels at board-level modifications and custom designs.

The new MBS1000 1U Rackmount Modular Blade Server

In addition to their in-house electronic design, mechanical design and custom design capability, there’s a long list of reasons to partner with Trenton Systems on your next high-performance computing solution.

1. Trenton PICMG 1.3 single board computers, backplanes and embedded motherboards carry a full 5-year factory warranty.
2. System configuration stability is achieved with Trenton's long-life board-level products featuring 7+ years of product availability.
3. Trenton board and system products are built tough to survive and thrive in demanding industrial computing environments, Trenton motherboards, SBCs and backplanes are designed and built within the U.S. and integrated into their system solutions.
4. Trenton offers “designed to meet” rugged system solutions as well as mil-certified products to standards such as MIL-STD-810.
5. Trenton satisfies tough application requirements by designing and building computing solutions that meet your exact specifications.
6. Trenton system solutions provide maximum system flexibility to meet both current and future application deployment needs.
7. Trenton’s 35-plus years of design engineering, manufacturing and tech support knowledge focuses on exceeding customer expectations.
8. Trenton maintains complete system BIOS control on board-level products and provides modifications in support of complex integrated systems.
9. Trenton builds standard and custom small form factor products to provide short chassis depths or small mounting footprints.
10. Trenton board-level and system products are designed and built within their ISO 9001:2008 registered facilities located in the U.S.
11. Select Trenton board and system products support the PCI Express Gen3 serial interconnect for enhanced throughput.

Trenton Systems Product Selection Guides

An easy to use series of product selection guides are available that explain the different types of products available from Trenton, their unique application attributes and technical specifications:

Sarsen Technology Pumpkin Challenge 2015

This year we decided to celebrate Hallowe'en with a little bit of pumpkin carving. It turns out we all have hidden artistic talents. Some are just more deeply hidden than others!

The use of the Jack O'Lantern originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.”

As the story goes, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. 

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.” 

The very nice people at the Food Gallery (a fabulous establishment in Marlborough for the most discerning of coffee drinkers) send two of their best and fairest to judge the competition. I think they picked a worthy winner. Well done Lynn!

Check out the rest of the pictures below, including some wonderful fancy dress!

Embedded Design Show 2015

We had a great time at the Embedded Design Show again this year, where we spent two days showcasing the latest technology from DAVE Embedded Systems.

The Embedded Design Show has been running alongside the Electronics Design Show and Engineering Design Show at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry for the last few years, with 2015 looking like the most successful year to date.

If you didn't get the chance to visit the show don't worry, just get in touch with the sales team to request a datapack, which will give you a great overview of the DAVE Embedded Systems' product line, covering FPGA technology, ARM Cortex-A architecture, Freescale and Texas Instruments processors and the new Xilinx 'Zynq' SoC.

If you'd like to know more about DAVE Embedded Systems, or the Embedded Design Show, please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166

The McHale Report Roundtable - Border Security, COTS tech and VPX systems

Each month the McHale Report hosts an online roundtable featuring experts from the defense electronics industry.

This month the report discusses the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) event and the European defense electronics market with exhibitors from the show.

Taking part this month are:
Joe Held - Director of International Sales, Omnetics Corp.
Nigel Norman - CEO - Sarsen Technology Ltd, and
Nigel Forrester - Technical Marketing Manager - Concurrent Technologies.


MCHALE REPORT: The Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) show was held this month in London. What trends regarding military designs and applications did you see emerging at the event?

HELD: We saw a continued movement towards threat detection (i.e. – advanced radar) and soldier worn electronics (communication, vision systems).

NORMAN: The biggest trend we are seeing this quarter is engineers at leading military and aerospace OEMs looking to make use of large FPGA devices in their new designs. The downside is that there is a shortage of competent VHDL & Verilog designers at many of these OEMs. This is an opportunity for specialist FPGA consulting design houses and for the implementation of initiatives such as OpenCL development for FPGA. The other continuing trend is the re-engineering of legacy CompactPC and VME systems to VPX and custom COM Express-based designs.

FORRESTER: DSEI is a wide-ranging show with military products from thermal underwear to complete battleships, but we didn’t pick up on a specific trend this time. There did appear to be more unmanned devices on display confirming a continued focus in this area. As an exhibitor we perhaps saw what we were looking for, the improved acceptance of COTS-based electronics products many of which used Intel processor technology.


See what the panelists think about the following questions by reading the full article on mil-embedded.com

McHALE REPORT: What are the hot application areas in the European military market such as unmanned systems, radar, avionics, etc.?
McHALE REPORT: How would you describe the defense electronics market in Europe -- growing, declining, or just flat? Why?
McHALE REPORT: How would you describe the demand for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products in Europe? What standards or products are hot?

Tech Source’s Tyton VS1 Rugged H.264 Video Encoder Delivers Dual HD-SDI Inputs and Bypass Video Outputs

Since their very first day back in 1987, Tech Source has been a pioneer in high performance computer graphics hardware solutions for niche markets. The product range has evolved and grown over the years, and now includes graphics, imaging and video capture boards, H.264 encoders and high compression video recorders.

The latest innovation from the team at Tech Source is the Tyton VS1 H.264 video encoder. Designed for military, aerospace and harsh environment C4ISR markets, it offers a rugged, small form factor box-level video encoding and streaming solution.

The product features a hardware implementation of CoT (Cursor on Target) and KLV (Key Length Value) metadata insertion supported via RS-232 or Ethernet. Control of encoding settings and retrieval of Tyton health information are all performed using an API built around SNMP for simple and secure communication.

Tyton VS1 is rugged enough to operate in extremely harsh environments (shock, vibration, humidity) and temperatures from -45°C to 85°C (MIL-STD-810 & IP67), and comes with dedicated mounting holes for mounting on to racks. In the default configuration, the product accepts two high definition video inputs in 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI format through BNC connectors. Audio, 1Gbps Ethernet & RS-232 are routed over a 22-pin rugged circular MIL spec connector.

DOWNLOAD DATASHEET

The low power, low latency Tyton VS1 is an operating system independent, hardware agnostic, stand-alone rugged video encoding system. A control API is available for Windows XP/7/8 and Linux users to permit feature customisation and IP address setting.

For more information on the Tyton VS1 or any other product from Tech Source, please email info@sarsen.net or call +44 1672 511166.

Also available - the Condor product line includes a range of XMC/VPX based COTS products that are targeted towards extended temperature and rugged applications such as avionics, defense and industrial applications.

DAVE Embedded Systems Wiki Update

Following their recent website overhaul, DAVE Embedded Systems has updated the look and feel of their brilliant wiki, designed to ensure easy navigation for users.

As well as a new graphic layout they have included a host of new products and content to the wiki, making it an even more useful tool in the design of embedded systems. Whether you're searching by manufacturer or board class the interface is easy to use and makes finding what you need a much quicker process.

VISIT DAVE WIKI

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DAVE Embedded Systems is a well-established Italian company, focussed on the design of highly complex, miniaturised embedded electronic systems. They offer a complete line of CPU modules, from entry level models right through to high end ruggedised boards.

If you'd like to find out more you can see the complete range of SoMs from DAVE Embedded Systems at the Embedded Design Show, October 21-22.

EMBEDDED DESIGN SHOW 2015

Find us on Stand G32, where DAVE will be showcasing a brand new demo - BORA Xilinx Zynq SoM with Lumineq Display, and introducing the SBC AXEL for the first time in the UK. You can also see a host of embedded boards based on FPGA technology, ARM Cortex-A architecture, Freescale and Texas Instruments processors and Xilinx SoC.