Using XML to describe embedded devices (and speak to them)
Make embedded devices tell you what they can do. Martin Strubel shows how to use XML and XSLT with the DClib/netpp framework to describe hardware, map registers into abstract properties, and auto-generate compact C, documentation, and VHDL. The netpp property protocol then lets you probe, query, and control those properties over TCP, UDP, or other transports, simplifying test benches and multi-device families.
Get your microcontroller and PC to talk
Projects often need a quick PC interface for an otherwise standalone microcontroller, but learning VB or Visual C++ can feel like overkill. Jayaraman Kiruthi Vasan shows how Processing, an open source, C like environment with serial and Arduino libraries, gives embedded engineers a fast, low friction way to build GUIs and COM links to chips like the 8051 and Renesas R8C. The post promises a hands on example connecting Processing to a 8051.
Real-time clocks: Does anybody really know what time it is?
Most RTC chips still expose calendar fields rather than seconds-since-epoch, forcing embedded engineers to write ugly conversion code. Jason Sachs makes the case for offset encoding, subseconds, and an explicit snapshot feature to simplify interval math, raise precision, and avoid rare timing bugs. Read this practical take on RTC trade-offs and a short wishlist for chip makers.
VHDL tutorial - A practical example - part 2 - VHDL coding
Gene Breniman walks through the VHDL coding for a CPLD-based data acquisition engine, turning the hardware spec into a working state machine and signal generators. The article explains SPI and I2S timing choices, an internal SPI peripheral latch, and counter-based timing (seqCount and CycleCnt) used to create LRCK, BCK, SPI SCK and nvSRAM write control. It’s a practical, implementation-focused guide for embedded designers.
VIGO is Cool
A simple trick makes your camera phone double as a PC webcam, Kunal Singh highlights WWIGO, a two-part app that streams camera video over Bluetooth from Nokia Series 60 phones to desktop or laptop. The phone-side app sends video, the PC-side client injects it into common meeting tools like Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. It’s a low-complexity, practical utility from startup Motvik.
Modulation Alternatives for the Software Engineer
Jason starts with a hardware curiosity, the 7497 synchronous rate multiplier, and turns it into a practical lesson for firmware engineers. He contrasts conventional PWM with a simple accumulator-based method called "synthetic division," showing how it implements first-order delta-sigma behavior in software. The post explains when to pick PWM or delta-sigma and why the accumulator trick can give higher effective resolution at low update rates.
Get your microcontroller and PC to talk
Projects often need a quick PC interface for an otherwise standalone microcontroller, but learning VB or Visual C++ can feel like overkill. Jayaraman Kiruthi Vasan shows how Processing, an open source, C like environment with serial and Arduino libraries, gives embedded engineers a fast, low friction way to build GUIs and COM links to chips like the 8051 and Renesas R8C. The post promises a hands on example connecting Processing to a 8051.
VIGO is Cool
A simple trick makes your camera phone double as a PC webcam, Kunal Singh highlights WWIGO, a two-part app that streams camera video over Bluetooth from Nokia Series 60 phones to desktop or laptop. The phone-side app sends video, the PC-side client injects it into common meeting tools like Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. It’s a low-complexity, practical utility from startup Motvik.
Android Vs Embedded system
Android@Home and the ADK open a fast path to add rich UIs, multimedia, networking, and databases to embedded projects by leveraging phones, tablets, or dedicated Android boards. This post outlines the main benefits of using Android as a front end or as a full embedded OS, explains two integration approaches, and points to BeagleBoard as an affordable single-board option for one-platform designs.
Off the shelf availability of Custom IoT Gateway
Choosing the right gateway can make or break an IoT deployment, yet industrial gateways are often expensive and generic. This post walks through practical criteria for off-the-shelf and custom gateways, covering edge computing trade-offs, mainframe versus embedded Linux, SoC and ADC choices, interfacing and debugging needs, and when to design your own hardware for real-time or protocol demands.
Beyond the Packet: Designing Reliable Serial Communication for Embedded Systems
Serial communication between microcontrollers sounds simple until the protocol quietly breaks your system. Prabo Semasinghe walks through the design steps for building a robust communication framework: packet structure, error detection, acknowledgment handling, state machine design, and the failure-mode testing that actually proves it works.
Project Log: Pixelblaze Christmas Lights
Festive fun and the hacker spirit combine in my janky attempt to adorn my house with addressable LEDs! In this post, I show you how I used a Pixelblaze and a cheap strip of WS2811 RGB LEDs (and not a little bit of hot glue and paper clips) to make a super cool set of Christmas lights.
Off the shelf availability of Custom IoT Gateway
Choosing the right gateway can make or break an IoT deployment, yet industrial gateways are often expensive and generic. This post walks through practical criteria for off-the-shelf and custom gateways, covering edge computing trade-offs, mainframe versus embedded Linux, SoC and ADC choices, interfacing and debugging needs, and when to design your own hardware for real-time or protocol demands.
VIGO is Cool
A simple trick makes your camera phone double as a PC webcam, Kunal Singh highlights WWIGO, a two-part app that streams camera video over Bluetooth from Nokia Series 60 phones to desktop or laptop. The phone-side app sends video, the PC-side client injects it into common meeting tools like Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. It’s a low-complexity, practical utility from startup Motvik.
Android Vs Embedded system
Android@Home and the ADK open a fast path to add rich UIs, multimedia, networking, and databases to embedded projects by leveraging phones, tablets, or dedicated Android boards. This post outlines the main benefits of using Android as a front end or as a full embedded OS, explains two integration approaches, and points to BeagleBoard as an affordable single-board option for one-platform designs.
