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The Nature of CompetitionI recently had the interesting experience of “starring” in my very first podcast. Our partner Jon Atwood of The LogicWorks – a rather sophisticated and experienced IP consultant – interviewed me for Episode #02 of his pioneering On Design Radio series. It was fun, and I think the result was worthwhile (judge for yourself!). Jon’s first podcast was posted April 4th. He must have really stirred up somebody somewhere, because a certain synthesis/IP company then seemed compelled to rush out their own IP podcast, announcing it April 25th. They promoted this as “the industry’s first IP podcast” despite its appearance two and a half weeks later than Jon's inaugural episode! (And today two months later I see that first episode is all they have, while Jon is up to #08.) This amusing incident got me thinking about the nature of competition. I can honestly say we’ve never engaged in this sort of outright competitive business behavior at CAST. We certainly monitor and respond to competitor actions, but our top priority is simply doing our best at whatever customers seem to need. We personally prefer straightforward products and honest answers over slick packaging and aggressive self-promotion, and we think the scrappy sort of designers for whom CAST cores are appealing feel pretty much the same way. If that sounds like you, then check us out. And do give a listen to my podcast with Jon, and let me know what you think. -- Hal Barbour, hal@cast-inc.com New APS 32-bit Processor CoresAt the In-Stat Spring Processor Forum in May we announced and demonstrated new Advanced Processing Solution (APS) 32-bit processor cores for deeply embedded systems.
You program APS processors in C or C++. Deliverables include a complete GNU-based tool set with customized GCC compiler and a graphical debugger with JTAG link, plus an integrated instruction set simulator (ISS) for easier testing and verification. New partners MicroCross are working on a complete APS integrated development environment, due out later this year. Our platform partners SoC Solutions have useful APS integration expertise available now, and are developing APS platforms similar to our ARM PiPs. As we met with editors at the In-Stat Forum, one frequent question was "How do you make it so small, fast, and frugal?" The brief answer: we designed the compiler and the processor together to execute C programs with grace and efficiency, and to do no more. If that sounds interesting to you, check out our datasheets (ASP2, APS3) then get in touch and we can explain more (like the patented co-processor interface, the specially optimized simple instruction sets, ...). Get in touchGive us a call (201/391-8300) or email if you'd like a private meeting at DAC next more, to comment on anything in this issue, or just to learn more about how our line of over 100 cores can work for you. |
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