Microcontrollers, Processors & PLD's

By Michel Leger

"In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment." Charles Darwin 1809-1882

Applying Darwinian theories of natural selection and evolution to today's technological marvels of silicon integration and the business models surrounding them may look far fetched for some. When we see low end, yet highly integrated, 32-bit processors with built-in Flash memory available in the same price range of an 8-bit microcontroller; one has to wonder where this evolution will lead in the not so distant future.

In today's dynamic market place a manufacturer of equipment using embedded processors must meet or exceed their customer and market's requirements; ensure they surpass their competitors, while doing it all at half the cost and in a third of the time. Keeping up with the constant changes of a semiconductor industry governed by Moore's law can be very difficult for an organizations mostly governed by Ohm's law and the path of least resistance in their design methodology. Many still use familiar aging architectures and design environments, recycle code and adapt new building blocks to old designs to avoid the learning curve of new technologies.

Focusing on WHAT the successful product needs to do instead of HOW it should be done is probably a wise choice but the benefits of higher level feature integration like Ethernet, USB or wireless connectivity to name only a few is a double edged sword. Having more features only means higher overall system complexity. The added hardware functionality must often be supported by complex software.

 

 

This is where Future Electronics can help!
The team of Advanced Engineers at Future Electronics is at the forefront of this technological evolution. Working in symbiosis with industry leading suppliers, we provide differentiated solutions to our key customers exceeding expectations on a daily basis. Our system level expertise spans from IP to modules, wired to wireless, the conceptual to the visible, in whatever number of bits are required to complete the task.

Do not be intimidated by the following buzz words: Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Wi-Max, Architecture Shifts, Code Conversion… The Future Electronics Advanced Engineering Team can support all your design requirements from a simple 8-bit microcontroller design to a complex full circuit design of a high end processor, DSP or FPGA.

While no one can predict with certainty what lies beyond today's processor integration, Future Electronics Advanced Engineering Team can certainly ease your transition path.