mbed is a next-generation 32-bit microcontroller platform. It’s a prototyping and teaching tool somewhat along the lines of Arduino. On steroids. With claws and fangs. Other contenders in this class include the MAKE Controller, STM32 Primer and Primer 2, Freescale Tower, and Microchip’s PIC32 Starter Kit. The mbed hardware has a number of advantages (and a few disadvantages) compared to these other platforms, but what really sets it apart is the development environment: the entire system — editor, compiler, libraries and reference materials — are completely web-based. There is no software to install or maintain on the host system.

The Hardware

The mbed board is sensibly priced at $60; about middle of the road among its peers. mbed’s size (or lack thereof) is among its greatest assets, measuring only about 1″ by 2″ (26 x 52mm) in a stout 40-pin DIP package that just barely manages to fit in a breadboard…a major win.

The top of the board is dominated by the microcontroller itself: a 60MHz NXP LPC1768 based on the eminently capable 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core, sporting 64K of RAM and 512K flash, and rounded out with an embarrassment of peripheral riches: Ethernet, USB (host, device, and to-go), CAN bus, multiple serial, I2C and SPI buses, 12-bit A/D and even a 10-bit D/A converter and realtime clock/calendar. Also on top is the USB connector (mini-B), some power regulation circuitry (operating on 4.5 to 9 volts DC, or USB power), several indicator LEDs, and the reset button (a plain vanilla tactile switch on our purchased unit, not the candy-like blue button seen in product shots).

The underside conceals an Ethernet transceiver chip (requiring only the addition of an RJ45 jack to get the board on a network) and a DiskOnChip-style component that provides a small (about 2MB) FAT filesystem when attached to a host system through USB, much like a thumb drive.

This latter feature — the FAT filesystem — is half of the key to mbed’s software-free, cross-platform magic. Getting new code onto the device is simply a matter of copying the compiled program (as a .bin file) to this drive. Press the reset button, and the new code is copied to the MCU’s internal flash and run. No special programming hardware dongle, no special bootloader software, just drag and drop. This has some serious implications. Pretty much any system these days can mount a FAT filesystem. We’re not just talking about getting Mac and Linux users into the fold alongside Windows…there’s also the impending wave of featherweight netbooks with ARM and VIA chips running peculiar, instant-on operating systems. Or the OLPC XO-1. Or older PowerPC Macs. The computers in the school’s lab that you’re not allowed to install any software on. Game consoles.

The Software

“Cloud computing” is still the hot buzzword this week, and the mbed project has adopted the concept wholeheartedly, comprising the other half of their softwareless strategy. Everything with mbed — everything, even your own source code — resides on their servers and is accessed through a web browser. This carries with it all of the good and bad points of any other network-based service such as Google Docs. There’s the potential for this to be a fantastic tool for teaching and collaboration, and in fact they’ve created such an online community for mbed, with forums and publicly-shareable code libraries. One can move between home and office, or travel around the world, and resume editing code on any system with a solid ’net connection. No need to check for software updates; the server will always be current.

mbed programs are written in C++ (yes, thankfully it’s “programs” and “C++,” not “sketches” or “the mbed language”) using their JavaScript-based online editor. When ready, click the Compile button. The compiler and linker run on the back end, on the server at the other end of the network connection. Provided your code is all syntactically valid, a compiled .bin file will then be downloaded to your computer…save this to the mbed USB disk, press the reset button, and you’re good to go. In Arduino-like fashion, the mbed device also appears as a virtual COM port, so you can monitor a program’s serial output using any terminal program.

The Good

We were taught that you should always say something kind before criticizing, so we’ll point out that the above process does, in fact, work exceedingly well, and has proved to be both quick and reliable. Once you get into the groove, the sequence of operations is no more onerous than with Arduino or any other microcontroller-specific programmer dongle.

To their credit, unlike some microcontroller evaluation kits, there are no artificial limitations to the mbed compiler; the full code and memory space of the processor is available to your code. The editor has realtime syntax coloring and multiple undo levels. And double-clicking on an error message in the compiler output will take you directly to the offending line, as in any decent IDE. You can import existing code from your local system to the mbed “cloud,” or likewise export individual files or an entire project. All good stuff.

The real saving grace of this setup is the libraries, both the official functions in what they call the “Handbook,” and community-contributed code in the “Cookbook.” A tremendous amount of functionality has been implemented in a concise and usually object-oriented manner. It’s almost comical sometimes, after having worked with other microcontrollers and girding for some expected coding nightmare, only to find that the corresponding library handles a task in a couple of lines (browse through the Handbook and Cookbook for examples). There’s a tendency also to follow stdlib or “UNIX-like” conventions for file access, character I/O, realtime clock access, etc., so existing systems programmers new to microcontrollers will feel right at home, no weird function names or syntaxes.

The mbed’s FAT filesystem is also accessible to the microcontroller, making it useful for more than just program storage. Web pages can be served from this space, or a data logging program can store results here. If the two megabyte capacity is too limiting for your needs, have a look at the SDCard library in the Cookbook — it’s almost trivial to wire up and use. Pretty much all of the libraries are like that!

The Bad and the Ugly

Hardware-wise, there are just a few minor nitpicks:

First is with the local FAT filesystem. Even though this is one of the device’s most unique features, and the very thing that enables its platform neutrality, the implementation just seems a bit anachronistic. The aforementioned SDCard library demonstrates how readily that format can be used. It’s faster, with the potential for far greater capacity, and cards could be easily swapped out for different code or data files. Not a major disappointment, just seems like an opportunity was missed to make this product even better.

Second is with the indicator LEDs on the board. Four of them, scant millimeters apart, all blue…making them pretty much worthless as status indicators from across the room, where they all blur into a singular blob. Ten years ago, blue LEDs were novel. Five years ago, they were mainstream, festooning every last USB hub, mouse, flash drive and imported piece of crap. Today they’re just tired, let’s get over it. Different colors would indicate status at a distant glance.

Finally, not a problem with the mbed board itself, but it would be nice to see one of the Cookbook projects, the “BoB2” breakout board, made into an available product. The blank board can be ordered through BatchPCB, but after postage and handling the price for just the empty board — no components — is $33. Have this populated and mass-produced, bundle it with the mbed in a $100 package, and it sounds like a winning setup, ready to go head-to-head with the MAKE Controller.

But really, those are just nitpicks. Our real beef is with the software…the code editor specifically. If you find the Arduino editor aggravating, the mbed editor will have you seeing red (or maybe purple if you factor in all those blue LEDs). Like Arduino, there’s no true tab formatting; everything’s expanded to spaces, like it or not. Auto-indent cannot be disabled, and there’s seemingly no command to increase or decrease the indentation of a block of code. If you’re accustomed to anything more than arrow keys to move and click-and-drag to highlight text, the editor disregards a lot of system-native editing behaviors that may be deeply ingrained in your muscle memory (such as shift-clicking to select a range of text, or triple-click-and-drag for multiple contiguous lines). What’s more, the quirky behaviors are a little different across each browser and operating system. Don’t even try that triple-click-and-drag in Firefox for Mac…you won’t get your text cursor back without a complete reboot (seriously, just restarting the browser isn’t sufficient). And at present, only the most common browsers are supported; all others are currently shut out.

The closed-source nature of the tools may also be off-putting to some. If one finds the Arduino editor distasteful, there are options: get in there and change the code, or simply use a different editor and link with the Arduino libraries manually…it’s all legal and encouraged. With mbed, there are no alternatives. Access to the compiler and libraries is “free as in beer,” but not “free as in speech.” There’s little recourse should the service ever be taken down, or if they should suddenly start charging a subscription fee (there’s no indication this is planned, just a hypothetical scenario).

The good news, at least with regard to the former, is that software is of course infinitely more malleable than hardware, and it’s almost certain the tools will improve with time. The site is under active development…new “Home” and “Notebook” features were added for registered users just yesterday. Perhaps, given time, they’ll get the Command key working properly on the Mac. The selection of user-submitted code will expand regardless, making it progressively easier to do more and different things with this board.

In Summary

The mbed Tour page is frank about what the platform is good for, and what it’s not. mbed was intended as a quick prototyping and educational tool, and at that it excels. A lack of features such as a debugger or offline compiler keep this from being a professional-strength development platform, which is okay. Think of it as Arduino: The Next Generation. Although the mbed board costs more up front than Arduino, there are capabilities here that would otherwise require costly “shields” and strain every last byte and CPU cycle of the 8-bit ATmega328 processor: Ethernet, USB, SD cards…mbed handles these tasks with aplomb.

mbed is not without its flaws, and the “cloud” development approach may never sit right with some. For a product that’s just weeks out of beta testing, the results thus far are extremely encouraging. There’s immense potential here: a seriously powerful chip, easy to interface and to program. If the online tools can be improved, or if open source alternatives become available, mbed could be a major player. We expect to be seeing a lot more of this device in future hacks.

De aap komt uit de mouw… langzaam aan wordt het duidelijk wat voor status het kastje, dat straks in uw auto wordt geïnstalleerd, krijgt. Maakt u het stuk, expres of per ongeluk maak niet uit, u gaat direct naar gevangenis en ontvangt geen 20.000 euro’s als u langs Start gaat. De fabrikant van het kastje is er heilig van overtuigd dat er niets mis kan gaan met zijn apparatuur, wat impliceert dat als er iets verkeerds gaat, het bij de gebruiker moet liggen. Die overtuiging is kennelijk overtuigend genoeg geweest voor minister Eurlings zodat hij een gevangenisstraf of een flinke geldboete oplegt als dat apparaatje defect raakt en u dit niet binnen 8 uur meldt.

U bent dan gewoon een ordinaire crimineel en verdwijnt de gevangenis in omdat het kastje niet meer doet wat ie moet doen. En u is er verantwoordelijk voor!

U ziet het fiscaal-economische delicten worden zwaar gestraft! Sla je een sigarenman dood om de dagopbrengst van 200 euro te jatten, dan kom je er misschien nog redelijk vanaf als je maar aangeeft dat je een slechte jeugd hebt gehad, nog steeds in je bed pist en zwarte stippen ziet verschijnen als het rood wordt door d’ ogen!

Met deze wet moet u wel beseffen dat u gedwongen wordt door de overheid om zo’n apparaat te installeren in uw auto, dat het gebruik daarvan wordt geregistreerd, dat defecten op voorhand aan u te wijten zijn en dat u, als u deze dwangmaatregel niet naleeft op de een of andere manier, u in de kerker wordt gedumpt en daar een half jaar een staatsdieet van water en brood kunt volgen.

Zoals de waard is, vertrouwd hij zijn gasten… In Den Haag weten de Christendemocraten (CDA) intussen wel op welke wijze ze het Volk moeten knechten met dit soort fratsen, die er alleen maar zijn gekomen omdat het aanhoudend falend regeringsbeleid nimmer heeft kunnen verhelpen dat de wegen in Nederland dichtslibben De auto mag dan wel van u zijn, maar in zekere zin is de overheid degene die het vruchtgebruik heeft van de auto… U moet ermee naar uw werk, en in Den Haag leunen ze achterover en zien de schatkist in een razendsnel tempo gevuld worden… het is niet meer bij te houden!

Krijgt een crimineel bij huisarrest een enkelband om, zodat ze bij Justitie weten waar hij uithangt, uw autootje wordt ook voorzien van een enkelband, en zolang die werkt bent u geen crimineel, maar o wee, als dat ding het niet doet (wat volgens de fabrikant overigens niet kan) dan bent u de pineut!

En nog een zinnetje aan het adres van de fabrikant NXP: Mijn vader zei wel eens: “Alles wat een mens maakt, kan ook vanzelf kapot gaan…” Laat ik nu eerder mijn vader willen geloven dan wat u beweert over uw km-kastjes dat ze nooit vanzelf kapot kunnen gaan vanwege die goddelijke chip erin van u?!

Ook nog een dankwoord aan Paul Nouwen van de ANWB, die dit ‘eerlijke’ systeem heeft uitgedacht! ANWB zelf ook hartelijk dank voor het meehelpen dit systeem in te voeren! Het was eerlijker geweest de brandstofprijzen aan te passen en alle andere belastingen op de auto af te schaffen… maar waarom makkelijk maken als het moeilijker kan?!!!

Gevangenis dreigt bij kapot km-kastje

AMSTERDAM -  Wie straks een defect kilometerheffingskastje in de auto heeft, wordt door de overheid gezien als een crimineel. De automobilist riskeert een gevangenisstraf of een geldboete die maximaal in de tienduizenden euro’s kan lopen.

Minister Eurlings van het CDA.

Dat blijkt uit het wetsvoorstel van minister Eurlings. Op het rijden met een gps-kastje dat opeens geen signalen over afgelegde kilometers uitzendt, staat een half jaar cel of een boete tot 18.500 euro. Wie in die geldboetecategorie wordt veroordeeld, zit tien jaar lang aan een strafblad vast. Wordt de boete niet betaald, dan kan de officier van justitie het rijbewijs innemen en de auto ‘buiten gebruik stellen’. Is er met het kastje geknoeid om het signaal te verstoren of te beïnvloeden, dan is er sprake van een misdrijf en hangt de weggebruiker tot vier jaar gevangenis of een boete van 74.000 euro boven het hoofd.

Volgens het wetsvoorstel is iedere automobilist zelf verantwoordelijk voor de werking van het spionagekastje. Defecten moeten binnen acht uur worden gemeld aan de Dienst Wegverkeer. Binnen drie weken moet het kastje zijn gerepareerd.

De kandidaat-leveranciers van de apparatuur geloven niet dat de kastjes kuren zullen vertonen. “De kwaliteit is niet vergelijkbaar met bijvoorbeeld een mobiele telefoon. Die wil nog wel eens uitvallen”, zegt Maurice Geraets namens NXP, een van de fabrikanten die in de race zijn om de chip te leveren. “Onze chip moet het altijd doen. Vergelijk het met de kwaliteit van een remsysteem, waarin ook onze chips zitten. Remmen mogen ook niet falen en doen dat ook niet. De overheid komt met een uitgebreide praktijktest om alle kinderziektes eruit te filteren.”

Bij de ANWB is ‘een alarmbelletje afgegaan’ door de hoge boetecategorie waarin automobilisten terechtkomen als het systeem faalt. “Die hoge geldboetes zijn ons team ook opgevallen. We gaan nu met de stofkam door de wet en komen later met een oordeel”, zegt woordvoerder Ad Vonk. De bond ontving de afgelopen dagen 500 e-mails van verontruste weggebruikers.

Today’s post will help you to better understand the effect of operating temperature on consumer electronic products which are widely used at homes. The effect of operating temperature is also related to derating curve of electronic components. Look for example at the derating curve of 2N3055 transistor:

Earlier this year I  decided to buy a new digital camera and some NiMH batteries with a charger. I simply went to a consumer electronics shop in Riyadh and bought them. Actually, before I joined electronics industry field I didn’t bother myself about reading devices specifications or datasheets. However,  after being deeply involved in designing some electronic devices I got to know what is called a Derating Curve. Derating is defined as the operation of a product at less than its specified power at higher temperatures. In other words, what would be the effect of high temperatures on a running product. Since that time I was checking any product I buy to make sure of its operating temperature that it should match my requirements.

Back to my camera example,  the maximum operating temperature was 40 C!  Keeping in mind that in Riyadh, it’s normal to measure 40C at night during August! and around 50C during day hours. So this means my digital camera won’t work well “as it should be” during an off-road safari trip in Thumama area! This also means that my camera will have a faster again rate,   or  the life time  will be decreased by at least 20-30%. This also applies to my NiMH batteries where the manual mentioned that you should charge at room temperature, but which room! is it in Riyadh? or Tokyo? What manufactures usually mean by room temperature is 25C which is basically not the case in Riyadh or any  other hot area.  On average, the charging of NiMH batteries might take up to 7 Hours, but in hot conditions  this number might fold to 9 hours! Add to this that life cycle or number of charging/recharging cycles will also decrease by at least 20%. This is what the effect of operating temperature on a device could be. It’s the derating! This phenomena applies to many other products around us, like mobile phones, iPods, headphones, mobile phone chargers, etc.

So what should I do? Fortunately, manufacturers have some of their products rated at  Industrial Operating Temp which has a wider temperature span like +85C or +125C that should be fine  for Saudi environment. So before buying a new product, don’t  forget to check its operating temperature because this will determine the derating profile. Always make sure to buy and operate a device at its specified operating temperature. Famous electronic manufacturers like: Texas Instruments, NXP, Microchip, etc. always mention different operating temperature options for the customer. Look at the next fig. to see how TI states the operating temp:

Also, operating temperature plays a big role in other fields like medicine and that’s why many people in hot areas like Saudi Arabia used to keep medications  in a refrigerator.

Finally, if you’re interested in designing a circuit that switches on an alarm signal using a temperature sensor at a specified temperature then you can use one of the following two circuits:

1.  Stand alone Temperature sensor TMP302a  by Texas Instruments: pretty easy to interface. It trips at threshold temperatures. TMP3201 datasheet.

2. Comparator circuit based on NTC thermistor. A comparator circuit will generate a DC output = Vcc if input voltage at non-inverting pin is grater than input voltage at inverting pin. If you look at the circuit you can see if we placed an NTC in place of R5 then as temp increases the comparator will generate a signal that can be used to switch on an alarm signal. The beauty of this circuit is that you can design it the way you like. You can also improve it to have a hysteresis effect.NTC datasheet

Sravan Kundojjala of the market analysis and research firm StrategyAnalytics has a report out today on ST-Ericsson. The report brief says

ST-Ericsson has a very strong position in all the technology pieces required to compete in the cellular chip market including basebands, RF transceivers, connectivity and multimedia. The company has a strategic IP portfolio, well established customer relationships, and also spends close to 20 percent of its revenues on R&D. However, ST-Ericsson has some execution challenges in the near-term to successfully integrate the assets and cultures of NXP, ST Microelectronics and EMP.

As I wrote earlier, I agree with him.

Turner, AccuWeather and Sky Angel in Attendance

Last week’s STB 2009 in San Jose was a well received, quality event in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Greg Fawson and his X Media Research staff put on this 3^rd annual conference which attracts a select, albeit, small crowd for 2 days of presentations.  The 300 or so attendees were exposed to a wide cross section of the Digital TV and entertainment eco-system with trends and predictions explained by key insiders.

Notable Attendees: Aside from the speakers, key players from the entertainment and technology sectors were there to hear from their competitors and collaborators about the state of the industry and the predictions for near term changes.  Magnum Semi and NXP Semi were rubbing shoulders with their SoC customers and prospects while AccuWeather and Turner Network were looking for clues to which areas of distribution represent the best bet for content licensing.

Hybrid TV Is Here To Stay:  Several speakers including Cisco’s Ken Morse, CTO for Video, and TDG’s Colin Dixon, Practice Manager for Broadband Media, extolled the virtues and increased adoption rates of hybrid TV.  Set Top Boxes which connect to the net for OTT (Over The Top) video content along with Free to Air ( in EU) and ATSC in the US, give consumers an opportunity to cut their cable or satellite bill and subscribe to only the premium OTT channels they really want.  Though no one is predicting a complete cutting of the cable or satellite cord just yet, these MSOs may see a significant number of their subs going to a lower tier of service.  Why purchase a premium package with HBO and Showtime in a large bundle with 200 channels you never watch when you can purchase basic service and buy a Roku box for Netflix movies at less than $10/month extra?

Sky Angel Soars: The darling of the OTT business model in the US seems to be the “Family Friendly” content provided by Sky Angel.  Using the IPTV distribution services of NeuLion, Sky Angle was cited by speakers as  a prime example of the OTT threat to cable, satellite and telco subscription services.  And sitting in the audience at the conference to hear the accolades first hand was Sky Angle’s Sr. VP of Engineering, Sherrod Munday.  Sherrod enlightened me with some of the details of their very serious investment in infrastructure and content licensing that is not just a ‘flash in the pan.”  With their headquarters located in Florida,  the satellite downlink site, encoding and distribution center is in Cleveland, Tennessee.  Sherrod explained that their family subscribers are also looking for mainstream entertainment, though nothing approaching an R rating.  Sports, weather, and news channels are already included in their lineup.  And there may be plans to add other channels of general interest to the home improvement, travel and cooking audiences.  (See my previous postings on “Godcasts” to get more information on the religious OTT services.)

Widgets, Widgets and More Widgets: “This Will Be A Blu-ray Christmas” -  TDGs Colin Dixon delivered that quote to drive home the fact that net connected Blu-ray players will introduce even more consumers to the growing OTT market.  He also noted the significance of Intel’s newly announced Atom CE4100 processor enabling Flash 10 playback of widget launched, videos on non-PC devices.  Netflix, Amazon and CinemaNow are increasing their stable of widgets supplied to CE device manufactures to be used as part of their on-screen UI.  These simple buttons showing up on the screen of a net connected TV can instantly transport a viewer to more entertainment purchasing portals than they ever dreamed were available.

More Blu-ray Features to Come:  Glenn Algie, Video Solutions Architect for Nortel (no they are not dead), filled me in on some forward progress being made on the Blu-ray coding front.  According to Glenn, a significant number of out of work Java programmers have been busy at the major movie studios writing BD-J code for Blu-ray DVDs.  BD-J allows bonus content on Blu-ray Disc titles including network access, picture-in-picture and access to expanded local storage.  These “Bonus View” and “BD Live” programs allow DVDs to take over the runtime of the box and present a unique set of menus, widgets, and net links once the DVD is loaded.   Glenn also mentioned the work being done by RCDb to deploy networked applications on Internet connected Blu-ray players.  A player can now dynamically load and unload applications and connect to third party services and content offerings controlled by the player manufacturers and their retail partners.

“The Integrated TV May Be The Next Trojan Horse”:  Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist for Rovi presented their market findings on how consumers interact with their various devices for entertainment.  [He also explained that “Rovi”, the new name for Macrovision, was created by taking the 4 middle letters of the old company name.]  Again, the network connected TV with an array of widgets may be a powerful device to lead viewers into the ever expanding video marketplace.   It may lead to cable and satellite disconnects – that is if there is another outlet for time sensitive programs such as Idol, awards shows and sports.

Verimatrix “Multi-Rights” and Watermarking:  With this move toward non-traditional distribution of content, license holders have employed a variety of competing, and non-compatible, security solutions.   Steve Christian, VP of Marketing at Verimatrix, explained their recently introduced “Multi-Rights” system during his presentation.  By combining several DRM licenses into one bundled package, Verimatrix can detect, decode and transmit secure video files from a variety purchasing sources to either PC, TV or Mobile output devices for the consumer.  This technology is absolutely required to give consumers the choice of purchasing methods and playback devices.

For lower value paid content protection, the Verimatrix hidden video watermark provides a degree of deterrence.   Steve explained that the main value of the watermark is to make the casual illegal copier think twice about their actions if they know the content they downloaded and posted for others to copy can be traced back to them.  It also gives license holders a tool to track down serious pirates once they locate illegal copies of their product on the net.  Verimatrix will decode the watermark and provide customer information to the license holder for potential legal action.

Odds & Ends – Ads and Search: There were actually too many topics covered at this show to report in one post.  However it is worth noting that Targeted Advertising and Simple Content Search remain hot topics of conversation.  Monetizing the viewer experience may more and more depend on specific ads which, hopefully,  keep viewers tuned into the message.  And the need for a viewer friendly search and recommendation engine for the growing amount of content has never been more evident.

One Last Thought on Cisco’s Home Video Conferencing:  With their recent purchase of Tandberg, Cisco’s Ken Morse did say they were definitely expanding their video conferencing offerings to include the average consumer.  This blogger is still not convinced that there is a business there.  As stated in previous posts regarding the Verizon / Cisco collaboration on this product offering, everyone who has tried to crack this nut has failed.  From the “Picture Phone” to the most recent offering by Telmex, network video conferencing has not been made appealing to the everyday consumer.  For business, yes; the expense can be justified by a reduction in travel and carbon footprint associated with trips to clients and remote offices.   Instead of attaching a camera to the living room TV, why not use the video camera in almost every cell phone?  Or, maybe a “cell phone dock” for the TV would do the trick?  Perhaps it will be unveiled at STB 2010.  I can’t wait.

Keep pushing forward

Jeff Vinson

jeff_vinson@sbcglobal.net

[You may contact Jeff directly for consulting or full time employment opportunities.]

Kudelski Group Jumps on the Intel Bandwagon Selling DRM Licenses

Intel’s New IPTV SoC for the Digital Home: In announcing their new IPTV SoC, Eric Kim, Senior VP and GM, Intel Digital Home Group said, “At the center of the TV evolution is the CE4100 media processor, a new architecture that meets the critical requirements for connected CE devices.” then followed up by saying:   “This is the tip of the iceberg. With widgets and Flash on the TV you’ll see a similar effect to that which we saw with smartphones.”

Adobe Flash Player 10 Port: According to their latest press release, Intel is working with Adobe to port Adobe Flash Player 10 to the family of Intel CE media processors to optimize the playback of graphics and H.264 video to enable for the first time a wide array of Flash-based content on the television.  “As TVs become more interactive, Adobe Flash is an important enabling technology to help content developers blend together video, 3-D animation and rich graphics.”

Widgets = The Next Killer App? The combination of a capable processor and interactive Flash widgets could spark a growing subset of TV-specific apps for accessing premium content, games, music, and the web. Intel wants developers to target the new chip and use it in conjunction with Flash, which Adobe is making easier to use on such devices.

CBS Extols the Virtue of TV Widgets and Interactive TV Applications: Broadcast networks such as CBS are exploring TV widgets to help their viewers find and connect to premium content.  “Navigation is the No. 1 challenge for today’s television viewers,” said George Schweitzer, president, CBS Marketing. “Intel’s CE technology and our new TV Widget platform are designed to help people find the shows they want and discover new programs that are relevant to their interests. What’s more, the TV Widget gives us another platform to connect and interact with our audience while delivering an exciting new television experience.”

Kudelski Licenses DRM to Intel: Nagravision, a Kudelski Group company, announced they have signed a technology licensing agreement with Intel on Sept. 25.  According to the release, the agreement will see compatibility between Nagravision’s NOCS technology and Intel’s CE media processors, allowing Intel’s CE industrial customers to design hybrid IPTV set-top boxes and secure digital video home products for service operators.

Devices licenses sold through Intel is a very smart move for Kudelski.  There are lots of choices for DRM and chips.  Having your DRM already coded into a SoC is a sure way of reaching a much larger audience with a better known brand name.

Intel Still Needs to Make the Sales:  Even with this stellar lineup of partners and features, Intel still must make the case that they can beat Broadcom, Motorola, NXP, ST, Sigma, TI and a host of fabless semiconductor houses in an IPTV market which is getting very crowded.

Time to Market is the Name of the Game:  If all SoC offerings are perceived as having a similar suite of features, then it comes down to service, price, and availability.  As most of us know, press releases and marketing hype fall flat if working production units with debugged software are not available for building your CE prototypes and conducting your lab trials.

Keep pushing forward

Jeff Vinson

jeff_vinson@sbcglobal.net

[Jeff is available for consulting and full time employment opportunities.]

What BSkyB Started:  It seems all of Europe is buzzing with the hopes of seeing actual 3D content on their telly next year based on the BSkyB announcement in July that it will launch Europe’s first 3D TV channel programming in 2010.  The frenzy was further stoked by the Guardian Newspaper’s “Question of the Week” asking readers “Will 3D TV be a Hit?” So the new buzz word in the television industry must be “3D”.

Mob Mentality: Yes, 3D TV has been anointed in the press as the next killer app. Guaranteed to wipe out all other types of programming. Driving hoards of customers to their local struggling retailer, waiving fists full of cash (or debit cards) screaming for new 3D TV sets to see all of their favorite shows in 3D.

How Can STB Manufactures Take Advantage of the 3D TV Hysteria? Easy, just market a 3D Set Top Box! Never mind that format, encoding and transmission standards are still being debated by standards bodies.  What codec will be used for transmission?  What bandwidth will it require?  What QoS is acceptable?  Will they require glasses?  Shutter, Polarized or Dual Color?

Battle of the EU Trade Show Press Releases: Just in time for IFA and IBC we have company after company jumping on the 3D bandwagon.  A few examples:

Pace To Unveil New 3D Set Top Box Thursday, September 10 2009,“Pace has announced that it will showcase a new set top box with a 3D-enabled user interface (UI) at IBC 2009, which gets under way tomorrow in Amsterdam.”

SoftAtHome: World’s First End-to-End TV Solution with 3D User Interface Ready for Deployment on IP-Hybrid Networks “…It enables service providers to accelerate time to market to deliver a new TV offering with a 3D HD user interface on broadcast, IPTV or hybrid networks (DVB-S/C/T+IP)”

Bluestreak Technology Unveils New 3D Flash® User Experiences for Set-top Boxes and Mobile Devices at IBC 2009 “…today unveiled support for new 3D Flash user experiences that offer consumers visually dynamic ways to search for and discover multimedia content and web services on their television set-top boxes…”

NXP Brings Unrivalled Performance to Mainstream HD DVRs and Set-top Boxes “The NXP PNX847x/8x/9x also features an advanced Imagination Technologies POWERVR 3D graphics processing unit (GPU) to render advanced programming navigation user interfaces, games and other 3D content.”

ADB to Focus on New Technologies and Exciting 3D Applications at IPTV World Forum: “Our solution consists of a suite of applications using our open standard middleware, based on GEM technology, several hundreds of applications based on our patent pending EGG™-3D user interface.”

Broadcom BCM93740 – Advanced 3D Set-Top Box Development Platform: The Broadcom BCM93740 is an advanced set-top box development platform supporting high definition television (HDTV), dual standard definition decoding and broadband cable modem internet access. It is a highly integrated, cost-effective design built on the latest generation of Broadcom silicon and software offering low risk and quick time to market for the next generation of interactive set-top boxes.”

Just use 3D in your marketing and everyone will assume you mean decoding and playback of actual 3D TV content.

SENSIO and Sagem Win The Best 3D Marketing Hype Award at IBC: I really had to read and re-read this one to make sure I understood what was being offered.  These providers have claimed, in writing, to actually convert “any type of broadcast” into 3D playback on “any 2D or 3D TV” — and if you keep it in your barn you can spin straw into gold!

SENSIO and Sagem Communications Showcase a 3D Digital Terminal at IBC “Thanks to this integrated solution, service providers will soon be able to reach all subscribers, equipped with 3DTVs or not, via one and unique signal, regardless of the type of broadcast network. Since the set-top box is agnostic to any type of 3D display technology implemented within TVs, it can support any type of 2D or 3D TVs thus allowing service providers to easily migrate from 2D to 3D services.”

Back To Reality:  I have no doubt that 3D TV will be available in most markets within the next 5 years (the minimum sales cycle for replacement TVs).  In a time when MSOs are struggling with bandwidth usage and downgrading HDTV, it seems like there are still a few challenges standing in the way.  Marketing a new dimension in television before it is really available seems like a fool’s errand.  Is everyone too young to remember the Sony BetaMax vs. VHS battles?  Surely we have not forgotten the recent ceasefire in the Blu-ray and HD-DVD video CD format war.

These recent forays into the world of hype remind me of a quote from my former boss at OpenTV and the current Head of TV Technology at Google, Vincent Dureau:  “The killer app for television is watching TV!”

Keep pushing forward

Jeff Vinson

jeff_vinson@sbcglobal.net

[Jeff is currently seeking a full time position in the IPTV and Connected Home ecosystem.]

Following yesterday’s introduction to ST-Ericsson as a company to be watched, today we take a look at its portfolio and consider some growth prospects.

Portfolio

Building on the strengths of EMP, the JV offers platforms for entry level, feature and smart phones. In addition the JV offers individual components to be used in other platforms. The strategy is evident in their claim, “A total solution or its individual parts”.

The product portfolio needs to be streamlined. Consolidating operations from such diverse, overlapping portfolios efficiently was a daunting task from the get-go. The savings and synergies, where they exist, have to be found while continuing to support all products at various customers in the short term, as was done prior to the JV. The challenge will be to choose the best solution where there are overlaps. After electing what should thrive, the company needs to convince existing customers to move to such offerings.

Just Wireless Handsets

While forming this JV, the parents retained access to some technologies that were not exclusive to mobile handsets. For example, STM continues to have access to Nomadik application processor, and recently announced Cartesio+, a single-chip solution that combines GPS and an application processor for media processing; NXP continues to be a big player in NFC and AM/FM tuners; and Ericsson recently launched a mobile broadband module specifically designed for netbooks. Thanks to such plays as STM, NXP held on to the top two positions in automotive infotainment IC space. STM continues to be a major force in accelerometers and gyroscopes, and it reminds us of its value-add for mobile phones with the recent announcement of a battery monitoring IC.

Baseband

Owing to their shared lineage, ST-Ericsson will become the dominant supplier to Sony-Ericsson. In addition to design steals at Sony-Ericsson, ST-Ericsson stands to gain market share and revenue from TI due to the latter’s winding down of merchant baseband business. ST-Ericsson is one of just four companies with more than 5% baseband market share. Earlier, Nokia added ST-Ericsson as another 3G baseband supplier.

ST-Ericsson has a portfolio that covers 2G, 2.5G, and 3G technologies and a road map that includes LTE. While the JV has good momentum in high-end phones and feature phones, at the low end it has to compete with the likes of a very aggressive MediaTek.

Major handset makers are ramping up their smartphone offerings. As an example, LG recently announced plans to release a total of 13 Windows Mobile-based smartphones by the end of 2010. Courtesy of the strong relationship between EMP and LG, ST-Ericsson should have a big part of this business.

Owing to these factors, ST-Ericsson will likely continue to gain baseband market share.

Application Processor

ST-Ericsson stood at a distant fourth position, taking 9.4% of the standalone application processor (AP) revenue in 2008. The JV chose STM’s Nomadik application processor over NXP’s Nexperia and EMP’s tradition of sourcing from TI. ST-Ericsson entered into a pact with Nokia to provide APs using ARM’s latest offering, Cortex-A9, for 3G handsets and smartphones based on the Symbian S60 platform.

Many of the JV’s platform offerings are built around a Nomadik + baseband communication processor. Given this increased opportunity for Nomadik, ST-Ericsson’s standing in the AP market should improve, partly at the expense of TI’s OMAP processors.

Tomorrow’s post continues with the portfolio analysis.

[Originally for Sramana Mitra on Strategy. Please comment here]

[Originally for Sramana Mitra on Strategy. Please comment here]

ST-Ericsson plans to be a major force in the wireless semiconductor IC space, and I believe that it has the wherewithal to become one. Over the next few posts, we will take a look at some recent developments at the company.

Genesis

ST-NXP Wireless came into being on August 2, 2008. Earlier coverage of ST-NXP Wireless in this space can be found in Vijay Nagarajan’s STMicroelectonics (STM) series. On August 20, 2008, ST-NXP Wireless entered into a joint venture (JV) with Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP), L.M. Ericsson’s wireless handset operations. Prior to completion of the new JV, STM took complete control of ST-NXP Wireless by exercising its option to buy NXP’s 20% interest in ST-NXP Wireless. As it turned out, STM bought NXP assets and it was not a merger, as it was showcased.

ST-Ericsson is a 50/50 JV between STM and L.M. Ericsson. It encompasses former wireless handset business units of STM, L.M. Ericsson, NXP, Silicon Labs. ST-Ericsson, which was created in February 2009, is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Its proforma sales of $3.6 billion in 2008 trailed only market leader Qualcomm’s. In 2009, ST-Ericsson is expected to edge past Texas Instruments for the second spot in the cellphone semiconductor market.

The JV supplies four out of the top five handset makers (although most of them have multiple-sourcing strategies). It started with a workforce of about 8,000 of whom more than 85% were engaged in R&D. The JV is Europe’s answer to the likes of Qualcomm, TI, and Broadcom. The extensive IP portfolio, with more than 3,500 patents, is one of the most comprehensive offerings of wireless technologies for use in handsets. Of the major wireless semiconductor vendors, only ST-Ericsson has a play in Near Field Communication (NFC). According to the Geneva, Switzerland-based company, its technologies are present in some form in over 50% of the phones on the market.

Organization

Given the tough market conditions and the company’s ongoing efforts to exploit synergies and cost savings, it did not shock many that ST-Ericsson reported losses in the first two months of operations as well as in 2Q 2009. It hopes to make a better showing in Q3, which has traditionally been a strong quarter.

Even before creating the the JV with EMP, ST-NXP made progress in cost savings, including closing a plant in Nuremberg and reducing its workforce by 500. ST-NXP expected the parent companies to save $250 million annually by 2011 by exploiting synergies. In addition to this, ST-Ericsson announced a major program that amounts to $230 million in annualized savings that it expects to complete by the second quarter of 2010. ST-Ericsson expects to cut its workforce by 1,200 to save on costs.

Earlier this month, Gilles Delfassy was brought in to replace Alain Dutheil as CEO of ST-Ericsson. Dutheil returned to STM, where he worked prior to heading ST-Ericsson for the past seven months. Delfassy was a senior VP in TI’s Wireless Terminal Business Unit before retiring two years ago. When Delfassy was still at TI, Nokia was one of the US giant’s big customers. It would be interesting to see if Delfassy could help ST-Ericsson grow closer to Nokia.

A plan announced on July 28 reorganizes ST-Ericsson around three divisions: LTE and HSPA-connected devices; 3G-multimedia platforms; 2G, EDGE, TD-SCDMA; and connectivity. R&D will be shared across these groups. While the restructuring along product lines should pay off in the long run, the ongoing churning of executives probably means that the management is still trying to get a sense of this elephant of an organization.

In the next post, we will take a look at the company’s portfolio and growth prospects.

[qi:gigaom_icon_chip] ARM, (s ARMH) the company that licenses its designs to chipmakers eager for a low-power processor for cell phones and embedded devices, has taken the lead when it comes to consumer electronics in the home, according to research published today from Semicast. The analyst firm says ARM-based semiconductors have surpassed MIPS-based chips and the Power PC architecture inside embedded devices such as set-top boxes and home networking gear. But even as ARM tries to move upmarket into the netbook territory owned by Intel (s intc), the world’s largest chipmaker is moving down into the embedded market. Meanwhile, the Power PC architecture that used to be the brains inside Apple (s aapl) computers is on the wane.

Semicast said that cell phones accounted for around 60 percent of ARM-based processor revenues in 2008 and over the next five years, the firm expects that number to fall to 50 percent as ARM looks to expand its architecture outside of phones. For example, ARM recently signed a licensing deal with LG Electronics that puts one of its applications processors and one of its graphics cores inside LG digital televisions. Semicast expects ARM will continue to beat out the MIPS and Power architectures in the medium term. As for Intel and its x86 architecture, that isn’t a threat for ARM so much as it is to Power PC, which currently dominates in video game consoles. Chips using the Power PC architecture are in the Xbox, the Wii and the PlayStation 3, but if an x86 chip makes it inside the next generation of one of those consoles, then revenue from Power PC chips inside the home could fall behind those of x86 chipmakers AMD (s amd) and Intel.

As for the companies making the most money selling chips inside the home, Broadcom (s brcm) was estimated as the market leader, with IBM (s ibm), NXP, Samsung and Toshiba rounding out the rest of the top five, according to Semicast. Those vendors accounted for over 50 percent of processor revenues in the home market. Given that the number of connected devices inside the home that will require more and more processing power is in the billions, the opportunity here is much greater than the two-way battle between ARM and Intel’s low-power x86 Atom chips that’s occurring in netbooks.

Updated (2009-10-13): How to enable PC/SC support for this reader.

I recently bought a Dell Precision M6400 Covet. One of it’s cool standard features is the embedded contactless smartcard reader. This reader is located under the right palm rest, and is also available on select Latitude E-series. All this is cool, but, where is the documentation? What cards does it support? Can I access the reader from my own programs? Unfortunately Dell seems to have very little information available on their web pages, so I had to start digging myself. (I’m the type of guy who can’t have a gadget in my house without knowing what’s inside, who made it, and how can I use it in strange ways to do cool things.)

The chipset is Broadcom BCM5880, and is listed under Device Manager as “Broadcom Unified Security Hub CV w/fingerprint sensor”. There is no separate entry in “Device Manager” for “Contactless Smartcard reader”. This chipset also contains a secuity processor, contacted smartcard support, fingerprint reader support, TPM v1.2, and a so-called “credentials vault” (CV).

From BCM5880 Product Information:

“The Broadcom BCM5880 secure applications processor combines platform identification, personal identification and data protection in a single chip and includes an integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 device, as well as the credential “vault” capability. It also integrates many of the authentication applications available today, such as one-time-password (OTP), fingerprint readers, smart cards, and contactless readers, into silicon, where they all can be centrally managed and utilized as part of multi-factor authentication policies”.

On a side note: Many of the same features available in the TPM is also available in the Credentials Vault. The biggest differences seems to be that CV is enabled by default, but TPM must be manually activated in BIOS (according to the requirements by the Trusted Computing Group). The TPM interface is standardized, while CV is not? Also, when authenticating to the chip (updates/modifications etc), the TPM only supports passwords, while CV supports smartcards and fingerprints as well.

Anyway, through HID Global I found a document called “Dell E-Family PBA Enrollment Application Notes AN0124” which lists the compatible card technologies for this reader:

From this table we can see that the embedded contactless reader “natively” supports HID iClass cards (in software/hardware), it does NOT support 125kHz proximity cards, and the rest of the cards (MIFARE and generic ISO14443A/B or ISO15693) are supported by means of reading the CSN/UID only. Since the CSN should be unique, this means all ISO14443A/B or ISO15693 cards, eventhough not directly supported by the Dell software, will still work with the embedded reader through the use of the Card Serial Number. But be aware, the CSN can be read by anyone, and the communication between the card and reader is unencrypted, unlike the iClass cards, where the reader and card first goes through a mutual authentication process, before the identification number is read from secure memory, and then finally transmitted in encrypted form to the reader. The encryption and mutual authentication process uses HID iClass’ Standard Master Key. This key is then diversified using the CSN, to create a unique key that is stored in each iClass card. The Standard Master Key is stored in secure memory in all authorized iClass readers. (When it comes to the Dell laptops, my guess is that this Standard Master Key is stored securely in the reader itself or the Credentials Vault).

I have tested several different HID iClass cards, 2k2, 16k2, programmed and unprogrammed, and NXP Mifare 4K, Mifare Ultralight. They all seem to work fine with the embedded contactless reader. (Although the ultralight card is not read as easily as the other cards. I had to move the card over the reader for a few seconds before it was detected). On the unprogrammed iClass cards, I suspect that it reads the CSN only, as the length of the “Access Control ID” bytes are set to 0×00, which means there is no number stored on the card. Unfortunately, the enrollment software on the Dell Laptops does not inform you weither the card you enrolled was an iClass card, or just a generic card with CSN/UID, so there is no way to know what number was actually used. I also tried with a iso14443b java card, but it was not detected by the reader, even though the table above says the reader supports the 14443 ‘B’ protocol.

I bought most of the cards from http://www.smartcardfocus.com.  They sell individual cards, unlike most other stores who only sell batches of 100/200 etc.
Any of the iClass cards they have will work, but they are all supplied unprogrammed by default. Eventhough unprogrammed cards will work with your Dell contactless reader, you might want to ask them to program the cards for you using their free programming service, as I’m not sure if it actually reads some default ID from secure memory, or just uses the CSN because the card is not “activated”.

Using the card on your Dell laptop:
Enroll the card through “Dell Security Manger” or “Wave Embassy Security Center”. Be aware when logging in: Do NOT use the numpad when entering PIN on pre boot. The numpad keys do not work correctly, and will result in “Auth Failed”.

Here are scans of some of the cards I have tested:
(I have removed the external serial numbers where they appear)

HID Dell PBA testcard (front)

HID Dell PBA testcard (back)
From the markings on the card (“iCLASS Px G6L”) we can see that this is a dual technology card (HID iClass 13.56MHz + HID Prox 125kHz).

iClass 2K 2 app (ISO 15693 only) Markings: “iClass DL + [external serial #]“

iClass 2k2 + Prox
Markings: “iCLASS Px D6L”

iClass 16k2
Markings: “iCLASS EG”

iClass 16k16 + Prox
Markings: “iCLASS Px E6L”

This is the card I use to access the building where I work, a HID DuoProx 125kHz + magnetic strip combo:
The markings say (“HID 0004k”). The front is all white.
This card will not work with the Dell contactless reader, but you can get dual technology cards that have both iClass and Prox, so you can use the same card to access buildings and your computer.

All iClass cards supports both ISO14443/B2 and ISO15693, except the 2k2 versions which only support ISO15693. However, unfortunately, iClass cards only supports up to ISO layer 2, and this makes iClass reader support pretty slim, since they can only be read by readers that are specially prepared for iClass cards (usually only HIDs own readers, like HID or OmniKey, and some other licenced readers).

PC/SC support
I have previously experimented with reading EMV cards (see saush’s excellent example here) with the embedded contacted reader, so it would be nice if I could use the contactless reader in the same way. However the reader is not listed when I enumerate the available PC/SC terminals on my system.
In the last section of this document:
http://www.hidglobal.com/documents/dell_latitude_security_broch_en.pdf
it is stated that the contactless reader supports PC/SC… I have contacted Dell ProSupport, but they could not give me an answer. I will try to contact them again soon.
It seems for now, the reader can only be used by supported Dell software.

Update (2009-10-13): I finally found the solution to enable PC/SC support for this reader.

——

Many of the contactless cards use so called number “formats” (or “encoded numbers”). All HID iClass and Prox cards use this.
This number is different from the CSN/UID (which is unique to the chip), and is stored in the card EEPROM. On iClass cards, this number is stored in the HID Application Area, and is protected by the HID Standard Key (or a custom key in some cases).

A “Format” is simply the way you interpret a number.
For example given the number: 56128902

One “Format” can be:
Facility Code = 56
Card ID = 128902

Another one can be
Facility Code = 5
Card ID = 6128902

A format also specifies how long a number can be, for example 26, 34 or 36 bits etc.

H10301 – standard 26-bit format (original wiegand format) This format is supported by almost all contactless smartcard/proximity systems.
facility code 1-255
card id number 1-65535
= total 16,711,425 ( 24bit)  (facility code ‘0′ and card id ‘0′ not allowed)

When using the Dell reader with iClass cards, what formats does it support?
I would guess the reader is format agnostic. It doesn’t care about the format, it just reads the complete number, weither 26/34/36/37 or 84 bits, the reader just sees a large number.

Understanding card data formats (the id numbers stored on cards):
http://www.hidglobal.com/documents/understandCardDataFormats_wp_en.pdf

Format Guidelines:
http://www.hidglobal.com/page.php?page_id=10

Format and Facility (Site) Code explained:
http://www.identisource.net/format_and_facility_codes_expl.cfm

Custom Wiegand formats:
http://paxton.co.uk/docs/Application%20notes/AN1010.pdf

FIPS approval for the BCM5880:
http://www.fips201.com/product/view/418

The chip manufacturer for HID cards:
http://www.insidecontactless.com/products/picopass_suite.php

—–

Other links:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=354498
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19277980.aspx
http://www.hidglobal.com/iclass

Glossary:

CSN = Card Serial Number. A unique number burnt into the chip at production. Same as UID.
UID = Unique ID. Same as CSN.
Access Control ID = The “encoded number” stored in the HID Application Area on iClass cards.
Encoded number = another name for the Access Control ID

HF ISO15694 RFID Tag Test with Desktop Reader #1
(Metal Tag Read Performance Test)

Test on the readability and sensitivity of EcoSensa Metal Tag with ISO15693 Desktop Reader.

HF ISO15694 RFID Tag Test with Desktop Reader #2
(Metal Tag Read Range)

ISO15693 Desktop Reader and Metal Tag Read Range Test. Approx 15 to 25mm Read Range when tag is place on metal surface of laptop.

HF ISO15694 RFID Tag Test with Desktop Reader #3
(ISO Card Size Label)

Read Distance Test for ISO Card Size Icode SLI Label vs Desktop Reader. Approx 75mm read Range.

Interview Audio(Props Necole) Even though all of our artists and employees are asked by us to be honest and open about their past history at no time did.[More..]


As DJ Drama promised, T.I. has just released a statement about Alfamega, essentially disassociating himself and his company from the rapper in light of reports that he was a former informant for the DEA. …[More..]

One Response to “T.I. Speaks On AlfaMega”. mymannemcee Says: May 7th, 2009 at 10:41 pm. not surprised. definitely not a good look for T.I… Leave a Reply. Name (required). Mail (will not be published) (required). Website. Wire Tap …[More..]

Screen shot said to come from iPhone 3.0 software

DigiTimes is reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and two of its subsidiaries have been picked been picked for roles in making Apple’s next generation iPhone.

The scheduled launched of the new product? Mid 2009, the Taiwanese publication says.

TSMC will manufacture a power amplifer, a Bluetooth chip and an image senor. It’s Xintec subsidiary will take on packaging and testing chores, and VisEra will manufacture color filters.

The companies did not comment.

Here is a list of companies making parts for the phone: Samsung, Toshiba, Numonyx, Silicon Storage, TriQuint, Skyworks, Infineon, NXP and OmniVision.

Here we are going to Represent the NxP’s Controller Programmer…

8051 Programmer

What is ISP Magic?

ISPMagicV1.0 is an ISP programmer for NXP P89LPC51Rx2 series. It uses Flash Magic; a Windows based user friendly PC application for In-System Programming.

Key Features

• Low cost Serial port programmer.
• Easy and User Friendly Windows based software.
• Programmer for entire NXP P89LPC51Rx2 series.

Kit Contents:

• 9V DC Power Adapter
• ISPMagicV1.0 Programmer
• Data and Software CD
• DB-9 Serial Cable
• Programming Connector

Device List:

This is the very useful programmer for the Students and Industry.

Its Cost is Just Rs 1500/- Only (Special Offer for Students!!)

They say nesessity is the mother of innovation. Then it’s times likes these that act as a maternity ward. In a restructuring deal that could be replicated across Europe, a private-equity consortium led by U.S. buyout shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has slashed the debt of Dutch semiconductor company NXP by nearly 10% after having $465 million of loans written off at no cost to the buyout firms’ equity.

Bought for €6.4 billion ($8.5 billion) in 2006, NXP sought to reduce its debt ($3.8 billion of US-denominated debt and €1.5 billion of euro-denominated debt prior to the restructuring) after revenue fell 25% last year to $979 million. 

The twist: In a restructuring, a buyout firm is typically expected to inject additional equity to reduce the level of debt in a company. Instead, the NXP restructure involved lenders writing off some of the nominal value of their junior debt in exchange for a higher place in the capital structure. This appeases lenders because, although they cut the nominal value of the debt they own, they acquire debt that is less likely to default. The higher priority debt can be higher in value on a mark to market basis than the distressed junior debt they previously owned. The restructuring reduces NXP’s interest payments by €30 million ($40 million). Pretty crafty!

This transaction is one of the first significant debt reductions involving no additional cash injections by a sponsor in Europe. It’s certain to not be the last.

Meanwhile, the Deal Professor takes a longer look at a situation back Stateside that got a bit contentious.