ARM® TechCon Technical Program Explores Innovation in SoC Design, Open Source Software, Smart Systems and More

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Electronics, a UBM company and the daily source of essential business and technical information for the electronics industry's decision makers, today announced the complete schedule of high-value technical education courses addressing critical trends in software and hardware design at the ARM Technology Conference, the premier event for electronic and computer designers to connect, learn and engage on next-generation mobile and embedded technologies. ARM TechCon will be held Oct. 25-27, 2011, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif. Registration is live at: http://e.ubmelectronics.com/armtechcon/registration/

"Whether they're focused on software or hardware, engineers and other technically savvy TechCon attendees will derive great benefit from our lineup of educational sessions on how best to leverage ARM IP," said Colin Holland, content director, UBM Electronics. "From relative novices to those who have been using ARM technology for more than 20 years, there will be something for everyone. This event is a wonderful forum for sharing ideas and perspective, and for gleaning as much knowledge as possible from experts and contemporaries in the field."

The conference program comprises approximately 70 technical sessions across 14 different tracks, beginning with a concentration on Chip Design on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Day one program highlights includes:

• Abha Mheshwari of Cadence Design Systems and Krishna Kumar Gundavarapu of Cisco will discuss how Cadence tools can be used to perform early implementation feasibility analysis using a wide range of chip architecture options, IP selection and integration of IP at different technology and manufacturing nodes.
• Sessions from Barry Pangrle of Mentor Graphics and Satish Sathe of AppliedMicro will explore a number of issues related to designing for power and performance as implementing systems increasingly involves a delicate balancing act between the conflicting demands of maximizing frequencies and maintaining low power levels.
• David Flynn of ARM will describe techniques – appropriate for Cortex-A-class to M-class SOC designs – aimed at enhancing power gating and addressing state retention with minimal area and performance impact.
• Sumit Sahai of ARM will highlight some of the key technologies and techniques utilized in ARM Hard Macro implementations of Cortex-A processors, and how these offer major benefits for those looking to reduce the high costs, efforts and risks involved, and how this enables SoC designers to focus efforts on adding value and differentiation into their devices.

Sessions on the remaining days of the conference, Oct. 26-27, are dedicated to Software and System Design. System designers face many challenges during the architecture, optimization and bring-up of system power management. Solutions to these challenges include using Virtual Prototyping technology coupled with IP power models to enable the energy-efficient design of mobile platforms. Program highlights include:

• Alan Gibbons and Achim Nohl of Synopsys Inc. will describe how Virtual Prototyping can enable early development and validation of power management software from drivers up to the application level. They'll also discuss solutions for real world scenario-driven analysis and optimization using Virtual Prototypes.
• Carlos Lucasius of Oracle will discuss how Java SE is being optimized and how developers can take advantage of these enhanced Java-ARM platforms including tips on development and troubleshooting. Oracle's Java SE for Embedded is a hot technology – having offered the power and ease of Java on ARM for traditional embedded markets for some time, it's now being optimized for new low-power, multi-core processors.
• Christopher Shore of ARM will look at simple techniques for making C code better – quickly, cheaply and easily – yielding surprising improvements in system performance, code size and power consumption. This session will look at how software applications can make the most efficient use of the instruction set, memory systems, hardware accelerators and power-saving hardware features in order to deliver significantly lower power consumption.
• Phillip Burr of Mentor Graphics' Embedded Software Division will look beyond the ARM-powered touchscreen devices that are everywhere – from consumer and automotive to industrial and medical. As customers demand even more from the human interface design on these devices, Burr will take a look at the future of the human interface, including a combination of input methods such as voice, non-touch gesture and motion control, as well as more advanced user interfaces such as stereoscopic 3D.
• Andrew Frame of ARM will highlight how the corresponding software can be modified, giving various hints and tips on optimization, while also explaining how the CMSIS (Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard) can help software be more reusable and portable. For designers developing products based on the ARM Cortex-M processor family facing issues in migrating from 8-bit and 16-bit architecture, this session is a must.
• Curt Terwilliger of Design/6 will describe the winning project of the 2010 NXP mbed Design Challenge. The project uses virtually all the Cortex M3-based mbed's I/O interfaces to implement a laboratory instrument that can test solar, chemical and line-powered energy delivery devices. Terwilliger's presentation will show the test algorithms, test stimuli, data capture and Web presentation functions that were implemented using mbed. These practical examples will demonstrate how to integrate functionality from the library "cookbook" to speed development and how to extend the functionality of on-chip hardware by developing custom libraries.
• Asaf Shen of Discretix Inc., will explain the requirements for building a secure digital rights management (DRM) solution for the new age of connected devices, including TVs and hybrid set-top boxes. This session will address the robust, studio-approved content protection schemes that will provide manufacturers and service providers the flexibility to support multiple business models and new use cases.

For a full schedule of ARM TechCon 2011 technical sessions visit: http://schedule.ubmelectronics.com/

About UBM Electronics  

UBM Electronics is the global leader in media and marketing solutions for the electronics industry.   UBM Electronics delivers results for the key influencers and decision makers involved in the design, development and commercialization of technology through its market leading brands, peer communities and professional education services.   More than 2.2 million engineering professionals engage with UBM Electronics brands which include EE Times, EDN, EDN China, EDN Asia, EDN Japan, Design News and Test & Measurement World, TechOnline, Designlines and Embedded.com across the globe to accelerate technology sales. The international electronics community gathers at UBM Electronics market leading events such as the Embedded Systems Conferences, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference to share, learn, discuss, and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry. Additionally, UBM Electronics provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation marketing, integrated media, custom solutions and research.  UBM Electronics is part of UBM (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

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