Here' are the answers to such 'adoption' questions as design, hardware, software, hype, reality, catalysts, and more that continually come up with RFID. This segment looks at advances in tag designs.

Unlocking the promise of graphics processors

Graphics processors (GPUs) have incredible promise as high-performance compute engines, but the programming model is a problem. RapidMind and PGI have come up with two different solutions. Here's what you need to know about them.

Going 100G Gone?

The telecommunications sector is gearing up for 100Gbit Ethernet, but where are the chips?

Can you hear me now?

MEMS technology is finding its ‘killer application’ area.

Lean coding

What's the cheapest way to get rid of bugs? Inspect code early and often.

15 billion devices, one embedded network

Near the beginning of this millennium, Intel's CEO Andy Grove predicted a future in which one billion computers would be connected to the Internet. At the time, the number seemed astounding. But here we are, having far surpassed that prediction, just as if it's always been that way and connectivity was never not there.

DSCs provide real-time control options

A growing number of real-time control applications present designers with a dilemma. These apps demand the convenience and interrupt response of a microcontroller yet require the substantial computational abilities of a digital signal processor (DSP).

Multibit interfaces boost serial flash

Demand for serial flash memory continues to soar as designers of digital TVs, DVDs, PCs, modems, printers and mobile consumer electronics devices view the memory as an increasingly attractive code execution alternative to parallel NOR flash.

Multicore partitioning is a threads and comms problem

As more processor architectures turn to multicore designs, embedded developers are left with significant software development challenges. Tool providers and industry organizations have been making incremental progress toward addressing those challenges with their latest step simplifying software partitioning among cores. Vendors warn, however, that software developers must learn how to think outside the linear execution box.

Under the Hood: Robot Guitar embeds autotuning

Gibson Guitar has been an aggressive technology adopter. On the heels of its Ethernet Out (digital) guitar, the company has released the Robot Guitar, which automatically tunes to a range of standard and alternative tunings at the touch of a button.

Sports technology might not be getting under your skin just yet, but it can certainly be part of your sports clothing by the Olympics in 2012.

Driving up the efficiency of motor based applications through improved control

The falling cost of brushless DC and permanent magnet synchronous motor drive controllers is helping the industry to clean up its act.

Taking the delay out of interchip interconnect using custom instructions

On-chip interconnect - the next big System-on-Chip design challenge.

Overcoming the problems associated with bidirectional digital isolation

Low cost, high speed I2C isolation using digital isolators.

Software processes for embedded systems

Software development is doomed to failure, without good processes.

Intuitive user interfaces rely on complex operating systems for standard features

Embedded GUI design requires more than just hardware support.

The project now running on Platform 1 is using off-the-shelf technology

Implementing a passenger information system for the new Eurostar terminals in just six months.

Top five selection criteria for industrial wireless technologies

Selecting the right technology for a particular application requires engineers to consider a number of key factors, including reliability, simplicity, power efficiency, range, and cost.

LEDs deliver backlight in rugged applications

Automotive applications range from navigation systems to headlights.

How to exploit the uniqueness of FPGA silicon for security applications

By exploiting the silicon uniqueness of each FPGA device and extracting these "silicon biometrics", FPGAs can be used for new security-oriented applications not previously possible.