Freescale: Forum starts; ECG chip, radio control standard, MRAM

Orlando, FL – Freescale Technology Forum 2008– Americas starts today in Orlando. Embedded in and around the training, products, and technologies event, announcements include partnering to deliver the first electrocardiogram on a chip,(In other news, also underway this week is the

Honeywell Users Group

meeting.)The Freescale partnership with Monebo announced today is expected to speed electrocardiogram (ECG) technology development by delivering the industry’s first ECG-on-a-chip. On EverSpin Technologies , an independent company focused on MRAM. The Technology Forum 2008– Americas (there are others globally) includes technical sessions, general sessions and the Technology Lab, and entertainment targeting engineers with interest in the embedded semiconductor industry. Company says the event brings “the entire Freescale ecosystem together under one roof creates a unique, energizing environment of innovation and collaboration,” with hundreds of hours of technical training, an interactive technology lab, product and technology demonstration with Freescale and ecosystem partners, and various collaborative opportunities, June 16-19.On the announcements:• For the Freescale/Monebo partnership , Freescale will produce reference designs incorporating its hardware and Monebo’s software so that engineers designing medical devices canchnology industry second only to the pharmaceutical industry in research and development expenditures, investing, on average, 11% of sales in R&D. That, coupled with an aging population that is expensive to service via traditional channels and rising healthcare costs mean there will be greater demand for “doctor-in-a-box” type technologies. ECG-on-a-Chip will have hardware such as Freescale S08, DSC, ColdFire, PowerPC, and i.MX, intelligent, customer focused peripherals, superior quality from a commitment to six-sigma and zero defect manufacturing, world class ECG software and algorithms for interval measurements, beat classification and rhythm interpretation. Other attributes include efficient code for embedded applications, optimized battery life (no “warm-up” period), and FDA 510(k) cleared software allows customers to streamline their regulatory filing.  • RF control standard : Freescale Semiconductor became a member in the recently formed RF4CE Consortium . The Consortium’s goal is to help drive the adoption of an open RF entertainment control specification based on IEEE 802.15.4, to overcome the technology limitations of infrared (IR)-based remote control applications. As an early creator and adopter of the technology, Freescale is working closely with the consortium on the development of the specification. Freescale says it is a leading supplier of this technology through the Freescale Synkro protocol that launched last year. Based on this, the company provides the networking protocol software stack written on top of the IEEE 802.15.4 global standard used in the design of home entertainment products, such as digital televisions, DVD players, audio/video receivers, set top boxes, docking stations and remote controls. (If that sounds familiar, the industrial space has parallel designs, with various protocol layers atop IEEE 802.11.)• More MRAM : Freescale will transfer its MRAM technologies to a new company (with help from, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Epic Ventures.” Freescale says it leads in MRAM technology and is the only volume supplier in the marketplace. MRAM uses magnetic materials combined with conventional silicon circuitry to deliver the speed of SRAM with the non-volatility of flash memory in a single, unlimited-endurance device, Freescale says. MRAM devices are designed to combine the best features of non-volatile memory and RAM to enable “instant-on” capability and power loss protection in new classes of intelligent electronic devices. In 2006 Freescale introduced MR2A16A 4Mbit product, what it calls the world’s first high performance MRAM device, which since has won multiple awards. Other recent Freescale announcements: Finalists in first Freescale Green FTF Design Challenge Freescale enables smart grids to help address world’s energy challenges Freescale and Altera partner to deliver world’s first soft ColdFire cores on FPGAsFreescale Semiconductor, based in Austin, TX, designs and manufactures embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets, with 2007 sales of $5.7 billion.Also read:

Freescale IDE moves to Eclipse

8-core microprocessor drives news at FTF Americas

– Edited by Mark T. Hoske , editor in chief Control Engineering News Desk Register here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free .

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