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May 2006
May 16, 2006
On Death and Embedded Systems
The queer thing about death is that you die only once. And by then its too late. You of all people cannot participate in your own death. Why am I talking about death and whats it got to do with Embedded Systems?
With nuclear families being the norm these days, the chances are that your death would go un-noticed. I for one would like my friends and family to know about my death, as and when it happens. So that they dont have to worry about me there after. Dont get me wrong. I am in no hurry for that to happen.
But what I see here, is a possible business opportunity. Most other things are already in place. Almost every one carries a mobile phone. Even if you dont, no worries. Just get a lil piece of sensor silicon, with a valid SIM card on it, implanted in your body. This sensor monitors your heart. Once your heart stops working, you are dead. The sensor detects that and triggers a series of events. Prior to your death, you must compose a letter and a access database of family and friends that you would want to be notified in the event of your death. The letter could read as follows:
Dear _(Name picked from the Access Database)_
With profound sorrow, I wish to inform you of my untimely death. The end was obviously unexpected. I died at (coordinates of the location when your heart stopped working as detected by the sensor chip) on (time and date, again as detected by the sensor chip).
Given your busy schedule, please do not bother to visit my home to offer your condolences. As you wont have to drive to my residence, It will also save the already fragile environment (less emissions etc.), unless ofocurse, you plan to walk to my home.
Yours Truely, although, not any more
XYZ
All the above would be managed through the network of an Event Organizer. The sensor chip either signals your death to your mobile phone, which in turn sends out a text message to the Event Organizer, with whom you have registered yourself with, or sends out a text message on its own (with its embedded SIM card) to the event organizer's network. The Event Organizer's network, in turns mails out the above mentioned letter to your friends and family.
This sensor chip has yet to be developed and there in lies the business opportunity and big bucks.
Dhananjay Gadre
PS: Please make it a point to die where there is cell phone coverage.
Posted by Dhananjay V. Gadre at 05:26 AM Permalink
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May 14, 2006
Write Only Memory
Although its way past all fools day, I recently discovered Bob Pease's article on the origins of the Write Only Memory.
Check out the data sheet of Write Only Memory for some real fun.
Dhananjay V. Gadre
Posted by Dhananjay V. Gadre at 08:49 AM Permalink
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May 13, 2006
The Ubiquitous Remote Control
I recently came across an article in the March 2006 issue IEEE Spectrum, by Rober W. Lucky, titled Remote Control. A remote control is one piece of ubiquitious, mundane hardware that you take for granted. One is likely to own a multiple of these devices, for a vaerity of consumr entertainment electronics.
Bob explains his encounter with a remote-less, bargain price HDTV Tuner and how he set about getting a "Universal Remote" to work with the tuner. I was curious to know more details of all the websites dedicated to remote controls and I contacted him. It turns out that many many brands of remote controls are available, but all of them are made by a single manufacturer! Hi-fi Remote is one of the most popular websites dedicated to remote controls, provides a wealth of inside information.
Dhananjay V. Gadre
Posted by Dhananjay V. Gadre at 02:50 PM Permalink
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May 05, 2006
Cortex ARM Controllers
ARM Microcontroller portfoloio from ARM, the leaders in 32-bit controllers for a variety of applications, has been diversified with a new range of optimized microcontrollers, called the Cortex Series.
The Cortex family currently comprises of three series, which implement the Thumb-2 instruction set: Cortex-A Series, the Cortex-R Series, and the Cortex-M Series.
Of these, the Cortex-M series only implements the Thumb Instruction set and is most suited for cost sensitive, deeply embedded applications.
Luminary Micro is one of the first companies to offer Cortex-M architecture, with their Stellaris series of MCUs.
Luninary Micro currently offers Stellaris in a really small 28-pin SOIC footprint. Two devices, LM3S101 and LM3S102 are available, with varying amount of peripherals and features, but both offer 8KB of Flash program memory and 2KB of SRAM.
Prospective customers can sample these chips, through the "Try Before you Buy" facility offered by Luminary Micro. This facility allows easy access to the Luminary Micro development systems hardware and software using a standard web browser for evaluation and is available through the Techonline website.
Dhananjay V. Gadre
Posted by Dhananjay V. Gadre at 04:19 AM Permalink
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