In this issue:

• Interfacing QSpy™ to MATLAB®
• Development Kits for ARM®
• Open Source Software and the Law
• Latest Releases of QP

Interfacing QSpy™ to MATLAB®

Steve Maguire starts Chapter 3 of "Writing Solid Code" as follows: "You can have 50,000 fans attending a football game, but you need only a handful of people to check the tickets–provided, of course, that they stand at the gates..."

Well, every QP application has such gates; they are: QEP, QF, and QK. This tiny amount of code–all in all just 4KB of code–controls virtually all aspects of the application: all state machines (state entry/exit, transitions, internal transitions, etc.), all event exchanges (publish-subscribe and direct event posting), all time events, all context switches, and more. In fact, it is the framework that controls the application, not the other way around, as is the case of a traditional RTOS.

Quantum Spy™ (QS) is a software tracing system that takes advantage of this unique opportunity to give you unprecedented visibility into running QP applications even without instrumenting the application code. QS consists of the target component already built-into QEP, QF, and QK (the QS instrumentation can be enabled or disabled by a compile-time switch) and a host application called QSpy™.

Development Kits for ARM®

Three Quantum Development Kits (QDKs) for ARM7-based microcontrollers have been released in product version. The QDKs are for Atmel T91x40, AT91SAM7, and Philips LPC213x.

The QDKs provide production-quality code, which includes startup, flash-loading, interrupt handling, linker command files, makefiles, QSpy output (testing strategy) and more. The extensive manuals describe several implementation options and present ways to optimize performance of your applications. For example, the QDKs pay close attention to code placement in various memories, which can improve performance by factor 3 to 4 for the "hot-spot" code, such as the interrupt handlers or the scheduler.

Open Source Software and the Law

Wasabi Systems' website provides a good source of information about the legal aspects of GPL licensing. Among others, the webiste posts articles "Open Source Licensing 101", "Does the GPL Matter to your Business?", "Sarbanes-Oxley and Open Source Software", and many others. The bottom line: GPL is a restrictive license and non-compliance with its terms can have severe consequences.

Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley

April 3-7, 2006
McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, CA

Please stop by our booth TT1 (here is the floor plan). On display will be:

• The latest versions of QEP, QF, QK, and QS;
• Demonstration of QS trace analysis with MATLAB®
• QDKs for ARM running on development boards;
• Sneak preview of QP-nano running on the SiLabs Toolstick;
• PSiCC Book giveaway when you ask a good question;
• And more ...

The registration for visiting exhibitions is free before March 30.

"Practical Statecharts for Embedded Systems" Presentation

Miro Samek will present a two-part class: "Practical Statecharts for Embedded Systems". Participation in this event requires registration for ESC SV'06 classes.

Latest Releases of QP

	3.1.02 Product	3.1.05 Product	3.1.05 Product	3.1.05 Product
	3.1.03 Product	3.1.05 Product	3.1.05 Product	3.1.05 Product

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: You have received this emal because you have contacted Quantum Leaps or specifically elected to receive news from Quantum Leaps. To make sure you continue to receive this Newsletter in your e-mail inbox, and that it is not sent to bulk or junk folders, please add news@quantum-leaps.com to your address book.

If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from Quantum Leaps, please unsubscribe at: quantum-leaps.com/news or reply to this e-mail with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject or body of the message.