What makes the Embedded Masterclass unique is the quality of the presentations. Rather than being typical sales presentations, we strive to make sure that they are informative, entertaining and a productive use of your time.

We ask 'real' engineers to present, and we ask them to address 'real' issues regarding the latest embedded technologies and the challenges faced by embedded engineers on a daily basis. This is your chance to meet with experts in the industry and explore how you can address future designs, develop better code, gain access to more powerful tools or simply find answers to current challenges.

Seating at these events are limited and attendance has grown year on year, so we would recommend early registration to avoid disappointment.

9.15 - 10.00

The Fast Development of Impressive Graphical User Interfaces

Whether it is a mobile phone, a cash point machine, a SatNav or a heart monitor, the quality of the 'graphical user interface' (GUI) contributes greatly to the overall look and feel of an embedded system and its percieved value. This presentation will take a look at the technology behind the Tilcon suite of GUI development tools for embedded systems. It will explore the technology behind the tools and the process of creating a modern GUI for an embedded system. In particular it will explain how these modern tools can now work with mainstream graphics tools such as Adobe PhotoShop, empowering the engineer to create evermore impressive and functional products.

Presenters Biography :
Martin Cote holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering and has years of experience in the field of embedded graphics design. Martin began his career as a graphics developer on the Tilcon Embedded Vector Engine, providing cutting edge graphics to embedded platforms. Since WindRiver's acquisition of Tilcon he has been working toward integrating and introducing the same high quality graphics within WindRiver's product lines.

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10.00 - 10.45

Using UML for the Fast Development of Embedded Systems

Leading innovative organisations have been using the combination of UML and code generation for many years for the development of embedded applications. The use of these approaches enables them to achieve higher quality products as well as reducing both the costs and timescales of development. However, a high proportion of product development activities are not green-field, but are either incremental to an existing product line or starting from an existing code base in some form. In the past this has made it more difficult for developers to introduce and benefit from this approach to software development.

New advances however have significantly lowered the barrier to coupling these techniques with major reuse of existing code bases. In addition they are enabling developers to gain new insights into their existing legacy code by allowing the benefits of model based testing to be applied to this code.

This presentation will show how developers can rapidly re-use existing code based IP as the starting point for developments which utilise the full power of UML, code generation and model based testing.

Presenters biography

Mark Richardson has over 25 years of experience in the development of real-time embedded software in C, C++ and Java and over 12 years of experience using UML on embedded projects. He has worked in England, France and the USA on a variety of projects and is currently based in the UK where he is a Technical Professional with IBM Rational, specializing in the UML modeling tool Rhapsody

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11.15 - 12.00

Using Code Analysis to Ensure a Positive User Experience

An important factor in having a reliable and responsive product is very often down to the performance of its internal software, the code embedded within the device. The quality of this code will in turn depend on the quality of the tools used for debugging and analysis. The fact that debugging can take 50% of the development time on a typical project also reflects the important role that debug tools have to play in the overall performance of a new embedded design.

This presentation will discuss the importance of using the correct approach to debugging and will explore the latest technology that is available to engineers working with a range of embedded systems; from simple systems to complex multi-core platforms. It will explore how one company reduced their debug time by 75% over 200 projects.
The presenter also promises to announce several new technologies, due to be released, that will have a major impact on the debug tool market.

Presented by Barry Lock, UK Manager of Lauterbach. Barry has spent 40 years in the high technology industry working mainly for silicon vendors including TI, ITT and ST. He joined Lauterbach Ltd in 2001 to set up a UK office and has grown it to be number one in sales of debug tools in the UK.

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12.00 - 12.45

Designing Low Power RF Communication Into Embedded Systems

The IEEE standard 802.15.4, is the basis for the ZigBee, WirelessHART, and MiWi specification. It intends to offer the fundamental lower network layers of a type of wireless personal area network (WPAN) which focuses on
low-cost, low-speed ubiquitous communication between devices. The basic framework of the system conceives a 10-meter communications area with a transfer rate of 250 kbit/s.

This presentation centres on the requirements for embedding 802.15.4 into a system. The first part of the presentation would focus on the 802.15.4 specifications and what questions need to be asked in order to make sure that 802.15.4 will work in the target application. Some treatment of protocols that are currently running on top of 802.15.4 will also be discussed. The latter half of the presentation will center on actual design and certification requirements including FCC/CE approvals, spacing of PCB components, and Antenna selection and placement.

Presented by John Schwartz, Technology Strategist, Digi International

John holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering and has over 10 years of embedded, RF design and project management experience. In this position, Mr. Schwartz evaluates new standards and technologies, resulting in proposed product direction, as well as providing product training both internally and externally.

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13.45 - 14.30

Database Management in Real-time and Embedded Systems

If you develop real-time and embedded systems, chances are youve never considered using a commercial DBMS in your applications. Many developers believe that database is synonymous with large Enterprise-wide relational databases or inefficient and slow personal databases. They believe that the only way to manage data within an embedded application is to code their own from scratch. This is a common misconception. This presentation explores the merits of using a commercial off the shelf embedded database solution. It presents a framework that developers can work through to determine their projects database requirements. From this exercise and the resulting requirements developers will be able to decide the best solution for their project.

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14.30 - 15.15

Developing Embedded Systems With a Commercial Linux

Presented by Aschwin Marsman : Aschwin has been working with Linux since 1993 and with UNIX since 1990. He worked as a software engineer in a number of technical embedded environments, including wafer steppers, air traffic control, self-checkout systems etc. He is also a writer and has published articles in magazines in the Netherlands such as Linux Magazine and Bits&Chips. He started his own company, aYniK Software Solutions in 2001 and is currently working for MontaVista as the Solution Architect for the UK and Benelux. In his spare time he likes going to museums with his kids and playing tennis.

Over the past 10 years, various commercial embedded Linux solutions have evolved. Several are now highly refined operating systems that not only exhibit robust realtime perfomance but can also address the needs of mobile wireless devices. Whether to 'roll your own' Linux OS or buy off the shelf remains a common question in todays embedded space. This presentation will lift the lid off of commercial Linux and show you what is inside the very latest offering and why a commercial solution might offer both engineering and commercial benefits to your next project.

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15.15 - 16.00

Practical Solutions to Concurrent Development (Version Control)

The hardware and embedded systems markets are highly evolved and the majority of firms within the market are SMEs (Small or Medium-size Enterprises). Development in these markets is continually squeezed by the huge time-to-market pressures and escalating development costs. To combat these, hardware and software development teams are increasingly looking for ways of working together.

By highlighting some real-world examples and case studies, this presentation will demonstrate it is possible to have true concurrent development of embedded systems and to look at how some companies have used Perforce to address issues such as Variant Management and Development Collaboration.

Presented by Paul Allen, Technical Support Consultant : Paul Allen joined Perforce in September 2008 as a Technical Support Consultant. He previously worked as a Senior Design Engineer for Renesas in the Automotive infotainment sector. Paul is an experienced embedded C developer and has worked with many Tier 1 manufacturers in product development. In his spare time you will find him hanging off a rock face or anything else that has climbing potential.

More info on presentations to follow shortly.