IQ Magazine

The Smart Approach to Designing with the ARM Architecture

Volume 8, Number 2, Summer 2009

Introduction:
Calling all Cars, Calling all Cars.

By Erik Ploof, ARM

Silicon Valley, in Northern California, is noted for the highest concentration
of high-tech industries in one area, and, it is equally noted for the neverending
mass of commuting engineers that this notoriety creates. Twice a
day, engineers wind their way through the corridors of Highway 880, 680
and 101 in a 2-hour grind into positions at Silicon Valley companies.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers, while mindful of the news helicopters
overhead reporting their lack of forward momentum, don’t realize that the
solution is at hand, or rather, within their grasp. The old police broadcast,
“Calling all Cars” might apply to the rest of us today as we begin to realize
the potential of personal GPS-equipped mobile phones to operate as traffic
data collection devices.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

Project Millineum

 

(Pages 8-21)

 

The potential of ARM-Powered GPS Mobile phones as traffic collection devices has now been successfully tested and employed on Silicon Valley highways in a brilliant series of experiments.

The articles in this section include:

Using GPS Mobile Phones as Traffic Sensors: A Field Experiment

By Daniel B. Work and Alexandre M. Bayen
This article presents the Mobile Century field experiment, performed on February 8, 2008, to demonstrate the feasibility of a prototype location-based service: real-time traffic estimation using GPS data from cellular phones only. Mobile Century consisted of 100 vehicles carrying a GPS-equipped Nokia N95 cell phone driving loops on a 10-mile stretch of I-880 between Hayward and Fremont, California.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

Traffic Monitoring Using Smartphones

By Daniel B. Work and Alexandre M. Bayen
The mobile internet is changing the face of the transportation cyber physical system at a rapid pace. In the last five years, cellular phone technology has leapfrogged several attempts to construct dedicated infrastructure systems to monitor traffic.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

Automotive Cyber Physical Systems in the Context of Human Mobility

By Daniel B. Work, Alexandre M. Bayen and Quinn Jacobson
For the past century, the primary function of the automobile has been to move people efficiently. The main challenge has been to build vehicles which are safe and dependable, and meet the intrinsic societal need for mobility.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

 

  


Developing ARM Cortex-M Class Processor-based Systems

By Puru Mishra, Spencer Saunders, and Mark Onions, ARM
(Pages 22-27)

 

Hardware and Software development using Cortex-M class processor requires considering a range of IP and tools options very carefully. Prototyping of a Cortex-M based system typically requires a) putting together required hardware component IP of the design in an emulation environment, b) validating the system, c) running relevant benchmark applications using application development, debug and trace tools, and d) fine-tuning or even extending the design until the product requirements are met.

Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

 

  

Reducing Household Energy Use through Innovative ARM Powered Smart Meters

By Loren Yee, ARM

(Pages 28-31)

Smart meters are new, all-digital metering devices that precisely track energy usage and transmits the data directly to the utility company. Since these new meters help manage usage more efficiently and reduce costs, governments and utility companies around the world are moving quickly to install them in households everywhere.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

  

Optimizing H.264 Decoder for the Cortex-A8 with ARM NEON OpenMax DL Implementation

By Tero Rintaluoma, On2 Technologies

(Pages 32-37)

 

This article illustrates performance improvements and optimizations of the softwarebased H.264 video decoder using ARM® NEON™ technology. Several measurements are made both on the ARM Profiler part of RealView® and on the real hardware and corresponding figures are presented for H.264 and MPEG-4 decoders and MPEG-4 encoder. Overall performance improvement of the H.264 decoder on the Profiler was 54% compared to original ARM optimized C code compiled to Cortex™-A8 processor architecture.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

 

  

Leverage the AMBA 3 AXI Protocol Performance While Slashing Area, Power, and Routing Congestion

By Mick Posner and Fred Roberts, Synopsys, Inc.
(Page 38-45)

 

By using a combination of dedicated and shared channels, the hybrid architecture for the AMBA 3 AXI bus fabric implementation can take advantage of this bus’s maximum speed while minimizing interconnect, area and power consumption. This hybrid approach makes available full, dedicated AMBA 3 AXI bandwidth to the highest-performance master/slave links. For other connections, designers can tradeoff link and channel performance for a smaller implementation — often with dramatic reductions in the number of wires.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

 

 

  

Designers Notebook--CAN Primer: Creating Your Own Network

By Bob Boys, ARM

(Pages 46-59)

 

CAN is extensively used in automobiles and trucks but has found applications everywhere. There are many “application” layers available for CAN such as ISO 15765 (cars), J1939 (trucks) and CANopen (factory automation) but it is very easy to develop your own protocol that will fit and simplify your needs. Modern CAN transceivers provide a stable and reliable CAN physical environment without the need for expensive coaxial cables. Most of the mystery of CAN has dissipated over the years. There is plenty of example CAN software available to help you quickly develop your own network.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

  
Handheld Explorer

By Glenn ImObersteg, Convergence Promotions LLC

(Pages 60-61)

 

The full-featured PDA comes with an impressive 806 Mhz processor and an array of advanced features such as integrated 3 mega-pixel camera with autofocus capabilities, integrated barcode scanner, WLAN, Bluetooth, 3G cellular capabilities, and GPS with InstantFix II. The Nautiz X5 weighs only 14.5 ounces, is IP65 rated and can also handle extreme temperatures and multiple drops from 6 feet.
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

  

Rock the World!

By Jan Howells, ARM
(Page 62-64)

 

Come on – own up. Who hasn’t grabbed a hairbrush in the bedroom and pretended to be Bono or Pat Benetar, strummed air guitar along to Bon Jovi or banged the desk along to Deep Purple’s Ian Paice. Rock Band Unplugged is for all those frustrated musicians and rocks stars out there, bringing the hits and misses of the music business direct to your ARM Powered Sony Play Station Portable (PSP). You may never get to kick over a drum kit on stage – but this game will give you a virtual experience that just might have you blowing the dust off that electric guitar!
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files

 

Only a Touch Away Solutions
By Jan Howells, ARM
Download PDF Document
Download Source Files