http://www.embeddedrelated.com en-us Copyright 2007, CMP Media LLC. http://cdn.embeddedrelated.com/images/ logo.jpg http://www.embeddedrelated.com 436 57 The economy hit my start-up plans pretty toughly.  My step-daughter and I were working out of a common pool of money (our savings account), and in the end, she won out.  She is in her third year at San Jose State and with rising tuition and student housing costs, etc., money was beginning to get a little tight in our savings account.  So, I did the right thing, I got a paying ... read more]]> Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:44:27 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 40-year anniversary celebration of the formation of my high school's radio station (KVHS).  The current students and staff of KVHS hosted a birthday party for the radio station and invited former alumni and teachers and the public to share in the celebration.  On hand was a pretty good showing of the current and former students a... read more]]> Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:48:09 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries In my recent blog entry on the product development process (way down, near the end of the entry), I wrote the following:"I continue these sorts of tests, building more and more complexity, until I am satisfied that my circuit is basically functional. Then, using the test code that I have created as a model, I begin to write the real software for my product. As my software grows, to complete t... read more]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:54:02 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries Things have just started to get exciting. After months of defining, specifying and designing my latest product, I finally have semi-functional prototypes. After a few side steps during the building and bring-up process, power is applied and most of the low level functions have been verified. Soon, software will meet hardware and debugging can begin in earnest.Before jumping in and really enjoyin... read more]]> Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:47:56 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries In earlier blog entries I introduced some of the basic VHDL concepts. First, developing a function ('VHDL tutorial') and later verifying and refining it ('VHDL tutorial - part 2 - Testbench' and 'VHDL tutorial - combining clocked and sequential logic'). In this entry I will describe how to build a VHDL design made up of a collection of smaller pieces (similar to using subroutines in software deve... read more]]> Thu, 22 May 2008 13:28:01 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries In an earlier article on VHDL programming ("VHDL tutorial" and "VHDL tutorial - part 2 - Testbench", I described a design for providing a programmable clock divider for a ADC sequencer. In this example, I showed how to generate a clock signal (ADCClk), that was to be programmable over a series of fixed rates (20MHz, 10MHz, 4MHz, 2MHz, 1MHz and 400KHz), given a master clock rate of 40MHz. A reader... read more]]> Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:33:22 -0500 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries Greetings and a Happy New Year to all!I have been extremely busy the last few months tackling a small job that turned into a big job. A few months ago, while working on starting my own company and product line, I answered a job posting for a 'part-time engineer'. The posting specified approximately 10 hours a week assisting another engineer in the completion of a new product development cycle. ... read more]]> Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:13:44 -0500 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries In my first post on this site (Will work for Tools!), I mentioned how my Grandfather had inspired me to become an Engineer. Today, I write in sadness about the loss of three men, all this year, and the profound effects each of them had on my life and my engineering career. Please allow me to honor each of these men in the order in which I came to know them.Ron Borrelli, December 1, 1933 to Nove... read more]]> Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:52:36 -0500 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries In an earlier article I walked through the VHDL coding of a simple design. In this article I will continue the process and create a test bench module to test the earlier design. The Xilinx ISE environment makes it pretty easy to start the testing process. To start the process, select "New Source" from the menu items under "Project". This launches the "New Source Wizard". From within the Wizard ... read more]]> Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:14:14 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries When I was first introduced to "Programmable Logic" several years ago, it was an answer to many of the challenges that I was struggling with. Though the parts were primitive by today's standards (simple PALs verses FPGA), they were an extremely cost effective tool addressing the need for specialized logic blocks.I have continued to incorporate these powerful blocks into many of my lates... read more]]> Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:44:26 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries For many years now, I have been looking for the right opportunity to strike out on my own. At first I had a few ideas that looked promising, but I was not in a position to leave my full-time employment. Being the sole bread winner in the family, or later, being a single parent, the prospect of trading in a guaranteed paycheck for a long shot at future wealth, just didn't seem like a good plan.Th... read more]]> Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:07:42 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries I have always believed that tools are necessary to the creative process. This is something I learned early in life and it's a lesson that has stuck with me to this day. When I was 7 years old, I made my first trip to see my Grandparents on my father's side of the family. What I remember most about the trip, besides the great food and the company of my Grandparents, was my Grandfather's shop. My... read more]]> Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:28:24 -0400 EmbeddedRelated.com last blog entries