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Columns

4 \ February 2009 Embedded Computing Design

enviroink.indd 1 10/1/08 10:44:38 AM

20 The connected e-book and CPRM: Keeping content secure

By Raanan Tzemach, Discretix Technologies

Software: Digital Rights Management

24 A little Flash goes a long way in embedded devices

By Dave Wood, SOS Business Services

26 Solving embedded Flash challengesBy Matt Heinrichs, Ratchet

27 Adobe opens its runtime environmentBy Jerry Gipper

Software: Embedding Adobe Flash

12 PCIe Gen 2: Not just more bandwidth By Touseef Bhatti, PLX Technology

16 System in Package: Better performance, smaller footprint

By Jack Bogdanski, White Electronic Designs

8 Editor’s ForewordNotes from CES

By Jerry Gipper

9 Ingenuity @ workFace-storing database software

10 Consortia ConnectionWireless networking technology expansion

FeaturesHardware: Miniaturizing embedded

computing devices

Departments

Cover/Web Resources/Events

2009 OpenSystems Media® © 2009 Embedded Computing DesignAll registered brands and trademarks in Embedded Computing Design are property of their respective owners.

Volume 7 • Number 1 www.embedded-computing.com

On the cover Open access to Adobe Flash is allowing embedded developers to create rich multimedia for deployment across a variety of device platforms. Read more about Flash and Flash Lite starting on page 24. Photo courtesy of Adobe Systems Inc., www.adobe.com.

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Market crisis or opportunity?By Jerry Gipper, Editorial Director

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28 Editor’s Choice ProductsBy Jerry Gipper and Don Dingee

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Editor’sForeword

Jerry Gipper

Editor’s Foreword

I’m still decompressing from the heady atmosphere of the 2009 International Con-sumer Electronics Show (CES) and sorting through the USB sticks filled with press releases, brochures, and flyers I picked up during my trek through the 1.7 million net square feet of exhibit space (thank you, Santa, for those new walking shoes). This year’s show was all about social network-ing and being green, two areas of focus that correspond with the four key trends the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, www.ce.org) identified for 2009:

Green as a purchase factor:1. Materials and packaging, energy efficiency, and recycling programsEvolving command, control, 2. and display: Touch screens, voice activation, motion sensing, and 3D displays(No) strings attached:3. Cutting cords, attaching services, and shifting usage locationsThe embedded Internet:4. Localization, utilities and services, and communication and commerce

We’ll delve into these trends in upcoming issues of Embedded Computing Design.

The CEA also reported that the consumer electronics industry continued to grow 5.4 percent in 2008 despite the economic downturn. Although the trade organiza-tion forecasts domestic revenue to stay essentially flat in 2009, it expects global consumer electronics revenue to grow by 4.3 percent. The CEA predicts that unit shipments (2.5 billion consumer electron-ics products in 2009) will increase at an even higher rate, with consumers refusing to give up their gadgets but putting a tighter squeeze on prices. This year promises to be challenging as manufacturers reduce

costs to stay ahead of flat or diminished revenue streams. At the same time, if unit shipments increase as forecasted, manu-facturers will need to meet the demand for extreme cost efficiency.

Given these cost constraints, how will manufacturers turn a profit in 2009? Dur-ing his pre-event keynote address at CES, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer asserted that the companies and industries that con-tinue to pursue innovation in these tough economic times will achieve a significant competitive advantage, positioning them-selves for growth far more effectively than companies that pull back. He announced the beta availability of Windows 7 and pointed out the new features that enhance the social networking aspects offered in the newest release of the company’s operating system. Windows 7 reinforces Microsoft’s continued emphasis on communication and information technology.

Some of the technologies I track closely at CES made significant progress in 2008. For example, OLED technology, which enables paper-thin flexible displays, was still in the labs in 2007 but actually made it into production last year. Several sup-pliers, including Sony, showed off their OLED display lines.

LED lighting has also come a long way. There are now legitimate LED bulbs with life expectancies of 50,000-plus hours that can replace your 60 W incandescent bulbs for good. They are still very expensive at nearly $120 per bulb, but that will change by next year. Even at these prices and life cycles, you’ll still come out ahead in the cost game. The variety of LED light options has likewise increased substan-tially as developers have gotten their hands

on color temperatures that match the warm light we are familiar with in our homes. I’m still waiting for someone to develop home external lighting that lets me control the colors from my computer so I can leave my decorative lights up all year.

Considering that Blu-ray was declared the winner at the close of the 2008 show, it came as no surprise that this year’s exhibit was full of inexpensive Blu-ray players. The next question is when play-ers with recording capability will hit the market. Though digital rights manage-ment is still restricting this as a player option, I’m sure things will have changed by the time the next show rolls around.

Two consortia at CES generated news of interest to the embedded community. The SD Association (www.sdcard.org) announced SDXC, the next generation of removable memory with up to 2 TB of storage and 300 MBps read/write speeds. This makes it possible for your mobile devices to become your media center. Photo buffs and memory-intensive appli-cations will love SDXC. The roadmap shows these goals being achievable in the not-too-distant future.

Meanwhile, the USB Implementers Forum (www.usb.org) provided demonstrations of USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB, which was announced in November. The new stan-dard will make this ubiquitous technology even more vital in future devices.

Feel free to e-mail or visit our blog at www.embedded-computing.com to add your comments on all the CES buzz.

Jerry Gipper, Editorial [email protected]

Notes from CESBy Jerry Gipper

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solutio

npro

blem

Face-storing database software

Recognizing enterprise application needsSelecting the right combination of hardware and com-mercially available real-time database software is a decision that almost every embedded systems designer must make. Particularly when designing facial recogni-tion systems, engineers want database products that meet the varying needs of embedded systems used in real-time enterprise applications.

L-1 Identity Solutions’ Bioscrypt Division teamed up with McObject and Texas Instruments (TI) to address the challenges of creating a facial recognition system. Using the McObject eXtremeDB Fusion embedded database combined with a TI TMS320DM6446 digital media processor, Bioscrypt developed a small, high-performance face reader product.

The VisionAccess 3D face reader can store up to 60,000 facial templates and verify a person’s identity in less than a second. The system accomplishes key comput-ing tasks including image processing and facial match-ing on the device, eliminating its back-end industrial server. Leveraging the embedded platform saves on shipping costs, reduces installation complexity, and

minimizes space requirements, making the security technology unobtrusive in high-traffic workplaces such as the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in Asia, which uses the face readers to authenticate its 12,000 employees.

This project illustrates how benefits such as perfor-mance, ease of development, small form factor, and low production costs are often secured early in a product’s life at the stage of comparing and choosing technol-ogy building blocks. Although many devices are con-nected via the Internet, having a local database that is fast and flexible enough to meet the many configura-tion options found in embedded computing systems is a must. Maintaining a secure connection with emerg-ing enterprise solutions is critical for future success.

Facial recognition technology is inher-ently data intensive. To identify a per-son, a system must generate millions of precise measurements, compare them to a stored facial template sev-eral megabytes in size, and instantly grant or deny access.

McObject LLC

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Management: Steven Graves, cofounder and CEO

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URL: www.mcobject.com

A real-time database system with a small memory footprint can handle demanding facial recognition func-tions. Data storage options in main memory or flash give product design-ers the flexibility to configure storage based on the desired performance, cost, and form factor.

Jerry Gipper

Embedded Computing Design February 2009 / 9

Ingenuitywork

Quick

facts

Ingenuity @ work

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Wireless networking technology expansion

RF4CE Consortium www.rf4ce.orgThe common TV remote is about to make a big leap forward in capability. Although most remote controls use infrared technol-ogy to communicate commands to controlled devices, no Radio Frequency (RF) remote con-trol standard currently exists for audio/visual consumer electron-ics devices. However, increased demand for advanced functional-ity that cannot be supported by existing infrared technology has led to the formation of the RF for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE) Consortium.

With the goal of developing an RF platform that allows omni-directional and reliable two-way wireless communication, the RF4CE Consortium recently created a new protocol to facili-tate the development of RF remote controls that deliver richer communication, increased reliability, and more flexible use. RF remote controls enable non line-of-sight operation and provide more advanced features based on bidirectional communication such as display feedback, creating an enhanced entertainment experience. The new RF remote control standard will be based on IEEE 802.15.4 MAC/PHY radio technology in the 2.4 GHz unlicensed frequency band, which enables worldwide operation, low power consumption, and instantaneous response time.

WiMAX Forum www.wimaxforum.orgThe WiMAX Forum is an industry- led, nonprofit organization formed to certify and promote broadband wireless products’ compatibility and interoperability based on the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. Aiming to accelerate the introduction of these systems in the marketplace, the WiMAX Forum strives to guarantee that WiMAX Forum

Certified products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable, and mobile services. The organiza-tion also works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements.

In September, the WiMAX Forum launched its Interactive Deployment Database, a comprehensive resource featuring more than 300 WiMAX deployments throughout the world. Powered by Informa Telecoms & Media’s World Cellular Information Service (WCIS) database, the Interactive Deployment Database highlights WiMAX operators, including the most recent statistics on worldwide WiMAX deployments. Available for public use at www.wimaxmaps.org, this tool includes detailed information on each of the operators, stage and type of deployment, spectrum utilized, and more.

MOST Cooperation www.mostcooperation.comAs automobiles have become prime multimedia centers for consumers, getting multiple infotainment devices to work together in an automotive environment has become challenging for designers.

Media-Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) is the de facto stan-dard for multimedia and infotainment networking in the automo-tive industry. The technology was designed from the ground up to provide an efficient and cost-effective fabric that transmits audio, video, data, and control information among devices attached to the harsh environment of an automobile. Although its roots are in the automotive industry, MOST can be used in additional appli-cations such as other forms of transportation, audio/visual net-working, security, and industrial environments.

The MOST Cooperation consists of numerous international carmakers and component suppliers that standardize and refine the technology so that it continues to stay abreast of the latest requirements. The organization supported the first MOST Forum (www.mostforum.com) on September 30 in Stuttgart. More than 140 attendees gathered at the event to learn about recent applica-tions and future infotainment trends.

Consortia C nnection

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Miniaturizing embedded computing devices Hard

ware

PCIe Gen 2: Not just more bandwidth By Touseef Bhatti

It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) published the PCI Express Base Speci-fication Revision 2.0. More commonly referred to as PCIe Gen 2, the upgrade to the popular and widely used PCIe protocol dou-bled PCIe Gen 1’s supported bandwidth to 5.0 Gbps. But that’s not all the new specification makes possible.

While market adoption of Gen 2 is well under way, some design-ers still rely on Gen 1 in their products and aren’t yet ready to migrate to Gen 2. What these designers might not realize is that Gen 2 is bringing significantly more to the table than simply additional bandwidth.

Switch maturationPCIe switches are the standard building blocks of a PCIe system. Because chipsets offer a limited number of native PCIe ports, switches are typically used to create addi-tional PCIe ports. Using a switch allows the chipset to fan out to an expanded number of PCIe endpoints or I/O.

As the PCIe protocol has matured, so has its implementation. Chip-sets used to come with a single PCIe port but now typically support several PCIe ports. A few years ago, designers were hard-pressed to find an embed-ded processor supporting PCIe. Today, an embedded processor supporting two or even three PCIe ports is common.

Next-gen featuresPCIe switches likewise have matured. Whereas Gen 1 switches originally did little more than provide fan-out capabilities, Gen 2 switches provide support for application-specific performance-enhancing features such as read pacing and dual cast.

Migrating designs to PCI Express (PCIe) Gen 2 might be worth a closer look after seeing where

PCIe switch technology is heading. Besides having twice the bandwidth, the latest PCIe switch

silicon offers features that enhance system performance and aid in debugging.

Hardware


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Read pacingIt is not uncommon for today’s server and storage systems to use a mix of constant and bursty I/O implemented with adapt-ers connected to PCIe. A Fibre Chan-nel Host Bus Adapter (FC HBA) is an example of a constant, data-hungry end-point that spends most of its time send-ing large read requests to the host. On the other hand, a Gigabit Ethernet Network Interface Card (GE NIC) is an endpoint that is bursty in nature and sends small, infrequent read requests to the host on an as-needed basis.

In a standard PCIe system, if the GE NIC sends a small read request after the FC HBA has already issued perhaps eight read requests, the GE NIC has to wait for the CPU to service all eight of those FC

HBA read requests before servicing the one GE NIC read request. Hence, the GE NIC performance suffers as it spends sev-eral cycles waiting to receive its requested data. The fact that FC HBA read requests tend to be much larger and more frequent than those of the GE NIC only exacer-bates GE NIC performance degrada-tion. This problem is a byproduct of the PCIe protocol and the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) scheme the CPU utilizes in han-dling incoming read requests.

Read pacing resolves this conundrum by fairly allocating CPU bandwidth when servicing read requests. In Figure 1, read pacing allows the GE NIC to jump ahead of the pending FC HBA read requests, significantly reducing the GE NIC’s worst-case wait time. Instead of waiting for all the queued FC HBA read requests to be serviced, the PCIe switch allows the GE NIC read request to jump ahead in the queue.

While the bursty I/O performance can experience a performance increase of 5x or better, the constant I/O performance does not suffer. The algorithm used by read pacing takes into account the con-stant I/O performance and ensures that its performance is not degraded. Based on this algorithm, read pacing supports its own collection of default settings. How-ever, designers who want to customize the read pacing feature can program their own thresholds as needed.

Dual castThe dual cast feature allows an ingress packet to be copied to two egress ports simultaneously – one packet in, two packets out. The ingress port and the two egress ports are user-programmable. Any time a packet is written from the selected ingress port to a specified address range in the selected egress port, the switch auto-matically generates a copy of the egress packet and sends that copy to the second designated egress port.

In redundant and failover applications, it is common for the CPU to send copies of packets to a redundant endpoint or second-ary system to ensure that a backup copy of the data is available in case the system crashes. With dual cast (shown in Figure 2), Figure 2

Figure 1

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Hardware: Miniaturizing embedded computing devices

the PCIe switch relieves the CPU of the burden of managing redundant traffic, cutting the number of writes that the CPU needs to execute in half.

Debugging and diagnosing linksIn addition to these application-specific performance features, the latest PCIe Gen 2 switches offer a number of integrated debug and diagnostic features that can accelerate system bring-up.

PCIe packet generatorA built-in PCIe packet generator allows designers to exercise the PCIe switch’s external links at full wire speed (5.0 Gbps). This programmable generator, which enables designers to create their own traf-fic patterns, is robust enough to saturate a x16 Gen 2 link. The packet generator can be extremely useful during system debug and bring-up, allowing designers to test their systems against customizable, high-density traffic.

Performance monitoringAn integrated real-time performance mon-itor allows designers to see ingress and egress performance on each port as traffic passes through the switch by using GUI design tools for PCIe switches. Perfor-mance monitoring is completely passive and thus has no effect on overall system performance. Internal counters provide extensive granularity down to traffic and packet types. Furthermore, sample appli-cation code can be modified by designers to allow for even further customization, such as traffic filtering. This feature is use-ful for exposing performance bottlenecks, identifying underutilized links, and opti-mizing performance in a system.

SERDES eye captureDesigners can evaluate a system’s sig-nal integrity at the physical layer using a switch’s SERDES eye capture feature, as seen in Figure 3. Again using software tools for the switch, designers can view the receiver eye of any lane on the switch. This feature is useful for spotting gross signal integrity errors, which a designer can identify by modifying the SERDES settings and seeing the adjustment’s impact on the receiver eye.

Error injectionError injection allows designers to inject malformed packets and/or fatal errors into their systems, enabling them to eval-uate their systems’ abilities to detect and recover from such errors.

Bridging the gapBesides failing to apprehend the ben-efits of PCIe Gen 2 apart from the extra bandwidth, some designers do not realize that the transition from Gen 1 to Gen 2 is substantially simpler than it seems. As required by the PCI Express Base Specification Revision 2.0, PCIe Gen 2 is backward-compatible with Gen 1. There-fore, all PCIe Gen 2 devices, including switches, link up with all Gen 1 devices. As shown in Figure 4, a Gen 2 switch can be used as a Gen 1-to-Gen 2 bridge.

Designers using a legacy PCIe Gen 1 chipset, for example, can use a Gen 2 switch to connect to Gen 1 endpoints. Using the Gen 2 switch not only offers various performance and debug features,

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it also allows peer-to-peer traffic between the Gen 2 endpoints to run at 5 Gbps, doubling the peer-to-peer performance a Gen 1 switch offers.

Conversely, designers using a Gen 2 chipset can utilize a Gen 2 switch to fan out to Gen 1 endpoints. By using a Gen 2 switch, designers can take advan-tage of the aforementioned performance and debug features built into the Gen 2 switch, while at the same time gaining the flexibility to connect to a Gen 2 endpoint as the design evolves.

PCIe Gen 2 here and nowAs the PCIe market continues to expand, so does innovation in PCIe switches. Today’s Gen 2 switches offer high per-formance, integrated application-specific

performance-enhancement features, and built-in debug and diagnostic features. Plugging in a Gen 2 switch is the easiest way for designers to upgrade their legacy Gen 1 system to be Gen 2-capable, future-proofing their systems in this rapidly evolving market.

SERDES Eye Width

Picoseconds

Lane= 0, Eye width (picoseconds)= 3121.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

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-1.0

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Figure 3

Figure 4

Touseef Bhatti is senior product marketing engi-neer at PLX Technology, based in Sunnyvale, Cali-fornia. He holds a BSCE

from the University of Michigan.

PLX [email protected]

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Miniaturizing embedded computing devices


Hard

ware

Embedded electronics in applications such as missile, ordnance, and aircraft platforms continue to require additional processing and performance power with-out an increase in electronic component volume. Electronics technology creators can boost performance and capability in less space using a variety of techniques including relatively dense standard Plas-tic Quad Flat Pack (PQFP), ceramic and plastic Ball Grid Array (BGA), Chip Scale Packaging (CSP), Chip on Board (CoB), and System in Package (SiP) mul-tichip packaging.

Each of these methods has potential advantages and disadvantages. BGA and CSP present issues such as ball pitch reduction, nonlead balls that compromise second-level reliability, narrow tempera-ture capabilities, and obsolescence. CoB also poses drawbacks in the form of high-density interconnects, thermal coefficient of expansion mismatch, and yield loss of expensive complex boards.

Circuit board designers often must com-bine these techniques into an integrated approach to effectively meet the chal-lenges associated with size, weight, and power requirements. Add to this the need for extended product life cycles, preplanned product improvements, modernization, technology refresh, and operational system development, and the challenges can be overwhelming. Each new generation of platforms changes the dynamics in component selection, requir-ing greater capacity and performance in the same or smaller footprint.

SiP rises above the restSiP offers the most effective solution in terms of both performance and time-to-market requirements. As a functional system assembled in a single package, SiP typically contains two or more dis-similar die. For example, one package may combine a processor, programma-ble logic device, or FPGA with multiple memory types. These devices will be combined with other components includ-ing resistors, capacitors, filters, and volt-age regulators. All of these elements are then assembled on an interposer

System in Package: Better performance, smaller footprintBy Jack Bogdanski

Multichip packages can provide

important advantages in circuit

board layout. System in Package

(SiP) in particular can provide an

effective solution for board design

challenges related to size, weight,

and performance requirements.

Hardware

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to create an integrated product for the intended application.

The benefits of SiP technology include the ability to achieve greater functionality in a reduced time-to-market window that cannot be accomplished through silicon integration or ASIC development. Other advantages include:

Reduced board area, board layers, fand costsDecreased weight and routing fcomplexity at the PCB level The ability to incorporate different fdie geometries, silicon technologies, or chips from different fabs into the same packageThe ability to take high-speed designs foff the PCB and include them in the SiPProduct upgradeability using fdie shrinks in the same package, transparent to the OEM

Reducing the size of digital packages in systems is challenging, especially when processing performance and board space requirements are highly constrained by system architecture. Subsystems such as memory SiP or memory plus FPGA devices can help determine if a sys-tem must be redesigned or can adapt to changing requirements.

A well-designed SiP addresses both per-formance and life-cycle management concerns. Manufacturers work proac-tively with customers to supply specialty packaging when size and space restric-tions are critical. In addition, device, package, and speed grade derivatives are eliminated when die can be provided,

thus further reducing obsolescence challenges.

Overcoming space limitationsA recent case study that involved a design challenge for an application-specific board layout illustrates the effectiveness of SiP. The designer had a board area of about 160 cm2. With much of the board area populated by the necessary support circuitry such as passives, connectors, and power supply devices, the approximate space remaining for processor, support logic, and memory device components was less than half the total area.

For this application, each processor required 256 MB of DDR SDRAM. The designer initially considered using ten 512 MB DDR SDRAM in 60 Fine-pitch BGA (FBGA) packages to provide the necessary memory density, with each of the FBGAs measuring 10 mm x 12.5 mm on a 1 mm pitch. These ten devices would have included a total of 600 balls needing to be routed and taken up 1,250 mm2 of PCB real estate. Given the system archi-tecture requirements and limits, there simply was not enough space to fit this many components on the board.

To overcome this challenge, the designer selected two 256 MB 208 BGA DDR SDRAM organized as 32M x 72 mem-ory devices from White Electronic Designs. These two components mea-sured 13 mm x 22 mm each and required just 572 mm2 of board space (more than 50 percent savings over the CSP technique) and 416 balls to be routed (30 percent reduction in I/O routing). Figure 1 shows the board floor plan

Figure 1

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Hardware: Miniaturizing embedded computing devices

(the actual layout is modified to protect the security of the design and the actual application). This high-performance, high-reliability SiP memory device ful-filled the performance requirements in the limited area and provided additional benefits including:

100 percent burned-in components for fdevice reliability100 percent tested to temp range fStandard Sn63/37Pb metallurgy balls on fa 1.27 mm pitch array for second-level reliability Reduced layers in the PCB design, fwhich helped minimize board costThe ability to upgrade the 256 MB DDR fSiP to 512 MB as 64M x 72 or 1 GB as 128M x 72 in the same or smaller footprint, thus satisfying tech refresh or preplanned product improvement needs

This case study demonstrates how engi-neers facing high digital content and strin-gent space, weight, and height requirements can use SiP semiconductor packages to opti-mize board space and achieve performance and density breakthroughs.

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS, www.itrs.net) – a cooperative effort sponsored by electronics industry asso-ciations in Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States aiming to identify challenges and encourage innovation in the semiconductor market – defines SiP as:

“A combination of multiple active electronic components of different func-tionality assembled in a single unit that provides multiple functions asso-ciated with a system or subsystem. A SiP may optionally contain passives, MEMS, optical components, and other packages and devices.”

The ITRS Assembly and Packaging Technical Working Group developed a live document titled “The Next Step in Assembly and Packaging: System Level Integration in the Package (SiP).” This white paper, which is avail-able at www.embedded-computing.com/articles/id/?3719, discusses the challenges of implementing SiP and highlights emerging solutions that will continue to improve system cost and performance, as illustrated in the following excerpt:

Market demands will result in ever more components (e.g. passives, MEMS, or optical components) being integrated into a single package. A long-term vision for SiP is the optimized heterogeneous integration of wireless, optical, fluidic, and bio elements/interfaces as well as inte-grated shielding and heat sinks. This goal requires new materials and control of their interactions on the micro/nanometer scale….

The benefits of “more than Moore” can be realized through both SoC and SiP technology. Each approach has specific advantages, and both will be used in the future. The pros and cons for each architecture are outlined in Table 1.

A SiP solution has the potential to reduce cost. However, only a careful calculation of all cost issues including chip areas, mask costs, yield costs, test costs, assembly, and packaging costs can determine which solu-tion offers the lowest cost. The implications of module size, substrate noise coupling, and isolation issues must also be taken into account to determine which solution provides the form factor and performance required. This means a company must carefully consider their specific conditions in choosing between a SiP or SoC solution. Close interaction and alignment are necessary to understand the requirement.

Market TrendsSiP has rapidly penetrated most major market segments: consumer electronics, mobile, automotive, computing, networking, communi-cations, medical electronics, etc. The benefits of SiP are for differ-ent market segments but they share some common elements. Time to market, size, power requirements, and cost have resulted in the strongest initial penetration in mobile communications. The unit ship-ments are increasing at approximately 10 percent per year, and this is forecast to continue.

Jack Bogdanski is the director of strategic development at White Electronic Designs, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He has 30 years of experience in the

electronics packaging industry designing technologies including SiP multichip packaging, memory and microprocessor devices, flip-chip assembly, bump metallurgies, alternative alloys, and flexible circuits and laminates. Jack holds a BSEE and an MBA from Arizona State University.

White Electronic [email protected]/defense.html

The next step

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http://www.embedded-computing.com/articles/id/?3719


http://www.whiteedc.com/defense.html

Market and financial issues

Item SiP SoC

Relative NRE cost 1x 4-10x

Time to market 3-6 months 6-24 months

Relative unit cost 1x 0.2-0.8x

Technical features

SiP SoC

Pros

Different front-end technologies: GaAs, InP, Si, SiGe, etc.

Better yields at maturity (this depends upon complexity)

Different device generations Greater miniaturization

Reuse of common devices Improved performance

Reduced size vs. conventional packaging Lower cost in volume

Active and passive devices can be embedded

CAD systems automate interconnect design

Individual components can be upgraded Higher interconnect density

Better yields for smaller chipsetsHigher reliability

(not true for very large die)

Individual chips can be redesigned cheaper

Simple logistics

Noise and crosstalk can be isolated better

Faster time to market

Cons

More complex assembly Difficult to change

More complex procurement and logistics Single source

Power density for stacked die may be too high

Product capabilities limited by chip technology selected

Design tools may not be adequateYields limited in very complex,

large chips

High NRE cost

Table 1

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Digital Rights Management

The connected e-book and CPRM: Keeping content secure By Raanan Tzemach

Reading will never be the same again. E-books are finally making their presence felt as electronic mobile devices. The appeal of universal access to an unlimited supply of books, newspapers, maga-zines, and blogs is winning over more and more consumers. The popularity of Amazon’s Kindle wireless reading device is testament to this trend.

Beyond the convenience and cool user experience, the e-book raises fundamental business questions about the way books are distributed and consumed as well as how their content is protected. Publish-ers and Content Service Providers (CSPs) must address these key questions to sustain business viability.

E-book readers proliferatingAn e-book reader is a dedicated hardware device used for reading an e-book. These devices are cur-rently available on the market, sold for $300-$700. Lighter and thinner than typical paperbacks, e-book readers are designed to provide users with maximum ease of use.

With built-in high-speed wireless modems, e-book readers can be used to purchase, download, and read e-books, magazines, and newspapers anytime and anywhere. Revolutionary electronic paper displays provide sharp, high-resolution screens that look like real paper. E-book readers let users carry hundreds

E-books are a hot trend, but as with any digitally delivered content, they present a number

of unique challenges for content distributors. Keeping e-book consumers happy while

ensuring content isn’t distributed in an unauthorized manner requires innovative schemes

like Content Protection for

Recordable Media (CPRM).

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of books in a device weighing less than one pound.

Some examples of e-book readers on the market include:

Amazon’s Kindle f

Plastic Logic reader f

Bookeen’s Cybook Gen3 f

Jinke Electronics’ Hanlin eReader f

Sony Reader and LIBRIé f

iRex Technologies’ iLiad f

Portable, convenient storage As the content available for e-books grows daily, so does the need for increased stor-age. Secure Digital (SD) flash memory cards offer a cheap, reliable solution.

SD cards (shown in Figure 1) have become the de facto standard for mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 music players, car navigation systems, and other consumer electronic devices. Thousands of products spanning dozens of categories and more than 8,000 models already use SD cards. The widely deployed SD cards account for more than 70 percent of the flash memory card market.

With the increasing volume of dedi-cated e-book readers, the use of portable storage like SD cards for transferring

e-books between e-book readers is inevitable. In fact, most of the e-book readers on the market today include SD card expansion slots.

The use of SD card technology in e-book readers results in benefits for the user and the publisher. SD cards help maxi-mize portability and convenience; enable books to be offloaded to an SD card library to make room for new content on the reader or for backup purposes; and let users share e-books and other content with friends.

CSPs and Digital Rights Management (DRM)Sharing is great for consumers but can be a nightmare for CSPs, such as Amazon, Audible, and CyberRead, who serve as distributors for publishing houses.

CSPs walk a fine line, balancing the responsibility to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution with the demand for ease of access and convenience, to speak nothing of the need to turn a profit. iTunes’ complete domination of the digi-tal music market has not gone unnoticed by CSPs and publishers, with the former anxious to replicate Apple’s success and the latter looking to avoid a single domi-nant player at all costs.

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Software: Digital Rights Management

In the world of mobile communica-tions, downloadable content (ringtones, full-track MP3 music, and video) is pro-tected by DRM software. The emergence of always connected e-book readers that can be used to download proprietary content drives a similar need for content protection schemes. Publishers require DRM support from the CSP for down-loadable content. Preloaded content also requires DRM to prevent illegal copying. However, DRM is far more than a copy protection scheme; it enables a broad range of business model and distribu-tion strategies that can revolutionize the e-book industry.

With the goal of keeping readers’ e-book experience similar to reading a printed book, CSPs aim to provide additional value through the convenience gained from e-books. At the same time, CSPs want to protect content so that a sustainable distri-bution channel model is possible.

Cryptographic content protectionWhile e-book content protection is nec-essary, an industry-standard scheme is also desirable to promote interoperability

and help vendors offer compatible sys-tems. One such scheme is Content Pro-tection for Recordable Media (CPRM), which was developed by the 4C Entity (www.4centity.com), comprising IBM, Intel, Panasonic, and Toshiba. CPRM is standard on all SD cards, making it a logical choice for use in e-book readers. The content protection mechanism has two primary technical components: the Cryptomeria cipher (C2) algorithm and the Media Key Block (MKB).

C2 is a 10-round Feistel network block cipher with a 64-bit block size and a 56-bit key. The C2 cipher is used to both encrypt and decrypt content and act as the basis of one-way and hash func-tions. C2 was designed because no other prevalent cipher provided the necessary balance of hardware and software imple-mentation suitability, minimal licensing fees, and the ability to be licensed exclu-sively for use in 4C-compliant content protection schemes.

MKBs are tables of cryptographic values that implement a form of broadcast key distribution and provide for renewability

in 4C content protection schemes. Gener-ated by the 4C Entity, MKBs enable com-pliant, licensed products to calculate a common media key. Each licensed prod-uct (including hardware and software) is given a set of device keys used to process the MKB to calculate the media key.

If a set of device keys is compromised in a way that threatens the integrity of a system, updated MKBs can be released on the new generations of media, causing the compromised set of keys to calculate a different media key than is computed by the remaining compliant devices. In this way, the compromised device keys are revoked by new MKBs. In exist-ing 4C systems, MKBs are carried on compliant portable storage media, and devices use the corresponding medi-um’s key as the basis for encrypting and decrypting protected content stored on that medium.

A CPRM client packageOne implementation of CPRM and other DRM strategies for e-book readers is Discretix’s Multi-Scheme DRM Client, shown in Figure 2.

Discretix DRM API

User Applications

Content Browser Multimedia Player Java Virtual Machine

Hardware Cryptographic Engines Device Operating System

Discretix Multi-Scheme DRM Client

DRM Schemes

OtherWM DRM 10ECFMCPRMOMA DRM V2.0OMA DRM V1.0

Software Cryptographic Engines

Discretix Security Middleware

Figure 2

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http://www.4centity.com

http://www.4centity.com

In most cases, e-books, magazines, and newspapers are downloaded from the CSP’s online store to the e-book reader for viewing. The content can also be saved to an SD card inserted in the device. The Multi-Scheme DRM Client binds the content to a specific device ID, user ID, or SD card. This allows the CSP to set the consumption rules for each particular piece of content with respect to its use on other devices or by other users

in accordance with the relevant business model. The software allows content to be shared among multiple devices, enabling a broad range of business models.

Using software based on CPRM and other DRM features, e-book CSPs can offer a differentiated set of business options to meet consumers’ myriad reading habits and usage scenarios while still keeping distribution channel interests intact.

Raanan Tzemach is executive VP and content protection business unit manager for Discretix Technologies Ltd. (Kfar Netter, Israel), which he joined in 2007. He previously served as VP of advanced services and Internet at Cellcom and maintained several R&D and operation positions in the communication branch of the Israeli Defense Forces. Raanan holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Discretix Technologies Ltd.972-(0)[email protected] www.discretix.com

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Embedding Adobe FlashSoftw

are

Gone are the days when a user connected with an embedded device using simple static text menus and graphics built from alphanu-meric and block ASCII characters. It’s a waste of great embed-ded engineering if an interface is so arcane or bland that the user is either intimidated or bored. Using “old school” interfaces on today’s embedded applications would be like building all the won-drous functionality of a Macintosh computer and hiding it under an MS-DOS interface. The capability might be there somewhere, but the user may never find it or figure out how to exploit it.

To meet this demand for intuitive user interfaces, companies are expending a tre-mendous amount of marketing resources on developing websites that make it easy for customers to understand their mission and research, purchase, and obtain support for their products. A company with a quality website featuring meaningful and engaging content is likely to have far more success than a competitor with a weak website.

One way companies have improved their ability to effectively convey messages to their Web visitors is by implementing Adobe Flash technology, which is widely

Embedded Linux embraces Flash LiteIn developing products for secure applica-tions in sectors such as avionics and indus-trial automation, software provider SYSGO hooked Flash Lite to its ELinOS industrial-grade embedded Linux, creating a powerful alternative to GTK+ and Qt for clients seek-ing to build effective power user interfaces. As shown in Figure 1, ELinOS embedded Linux provides an industrial-grade operating system layer for designers to take full advan-tage of the Flash Lite rendering engine, event processing, and component stacks, supporting deeply interactive embedded applications. “Although Flash Lite has been used extensively in mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs, our market focus is on applications with rigorous requirements for the highest reliability, predictability, and integrity,” remarks SYSGO VP of marketing Jacques Brygier.

A little Flash goes a long way in embedded devicesBy Dave Wood

As embedded devices become increasingly

sophisticated in functionality and pervasive in society,

applications are crying out for a human interface that

aggressively engages users. With the availability of

Adobe’s Flash Lite technology, embedded developers

can create rich media content that allows users to take

advantage of all the capabilities built into their designs.

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used to provide compelling site content such as intro pages, navigation systems, and advertising content. The good news for embedded developers is that Adobe offers a subset of Flash technology in a derivative product called Flash Lite. Pre-viously targeted for the mobile device market, Flash Lite is now available to the broader embedded community.

Designed to address development constraints Flash is a platform for developing and rendering a variety of rich media content and delivering it to the end user in a highly portable fashion. Using Flash, developers can bring together vector and raster graph-ics, vivid animation, streaming video and audio, and even Web browsing.

Providing this kind of user experience in embedded applications used to be a chal-lenge for both technical and logistical reasons. Today, developers can use Flash Lite to easily reach their target audience with media types such as Shockwave Flash (SWF), Flash Video (FLV), H.264 and other MPEG-4 video formats, Musi-cal Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), Pulse Code Modulation/Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation (PCM/ADPCM), JPEG, GIF, and XML. Interfaces inte-grating these and other media types can be developed with off-the-shelf Flash tools and harnessed with ActionScript, the Adobe Flash Player runtime program-ming language already in use by media content developers worldwide.

Developing with Flash involves the usual embedded technical challenges such as dealing with limited memory, achieving responsiveness in constrained process-ing environments, and adapting to non-standard I/O devices. Overcoming these issues requires solutions specifically built to address them.

Flash Lite is designed to meet embedded development constraints head-on. As a stripped-down version of the full Flash environment, Flash Lite provides critical functionality for Flash interfaces while requiring a minimum footprint of only 380K and as little as 2 MB RAM to sup-port basic content. Capabilities, footprint, and performance are highly dependent on

target hardware and functional require-ments and may vary significantly from one application to another.

Using Flash also presents logistical complications in finding the right skill set to develop sophisticated user inter-faces. These challenges are more acute in the embedded world because embed-ded developers tend to be focused on the inner workings of their processors and support stacks, involved with manipulat-ing devices, minimizing resources, and often meeting real-time constraints. Fur-thermore, embedded developers typically aren’t practiced in designing sophisti-cated user interfaces such as those found in desktop applications.

Flash Lite resolves this problem because it is based on the popular Flash plat-form already used by thousands of Flash designers, so there is no shortage of experts to consult for help. Embedded application developers can easily tap into the vast pool of Flash content designers to build an engaging front end suitable for exploiting all the capabilities built into their embedded designs. Special-ized tools are not required; developers can build interfaces using popular COTS tools like Adobe Creative Suite and proto-type designs with conventional Windows or Macintosh desktop environments dur-ing or even before embedded device hard-ware and software development.

Leveraging functionality and expertiseWith more than one billion deployments on top of specialized mobile operating environments like Windows Mobile, Symbian, Brew, and Linux, Flash Lite has gained a significant foothold in the mobile market.

Many embedded applications can benefit from Flash technology. For example, inte-grated telematics systems meld diverse capabilities such as fleet interaction, GPS, mapping, sensor monitoring, vehicle con-trol, route planning, and entertainment functions into a single device. These capa-bilities can be tied together with an intui-tive user interface that allows a vehicle operator to use a variety of graphics, audio and video components, and a multitouch

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Software: Embedding Adobe Flash

display. Consumer product applications adopt Web browsing capabilities, location-sensitive content, or sponsored advertising messages and games. Factory floor applications tie together vari-ous factory equipment management functions, status monitoring, and controls. Medical systems combine equipment operation with imaging, diagnostics, and medical knowledge manipulation in devices like biopsy tools, which can scan a sample, compare an image and test results against a medical history database, and pull up relevant Web pages to assist in diagnosis.

While some of the devices in these applications can employ the full Flash Player 10 implementation, devices with limited resources such as memory can use Flash Lite to leverage Flash design exper-tise and much of the already developed Flash material. Combin-ing Flash Lite with an RTOS like SYSGO’s ELinOS makes the development environment even easier for software programmers to implement Flash in embedded devices.

Adobe opens its runtime

environmentDial-up lines and slow computers are fading into an invisible minority. Like PC developers before them, Flash developers on the Web are finding it unnecessary to devote attention to small, tight, performant code.

Mobile and embedded development is the next battle-front. It still exists at the start of a curve where there is never enough processing speed, memory, or power. Increase the speed or reduce the footprint of a desk-top application by 25 percent, and the average user will not notice the change. However, that same reduction on a mobile Flash application might be the difference between a usable or unusable solution.

Developing with Flash on a mobile or embedded plat-form involves several challenges. By design, proces-sors on these platforms are slow to keep heat and bat-tery life in check. In addition, limited memory storage capacity affects the working set as well as file (image) storage. Battery life also is a limited resource in mobile devices, as any processor-heavy application will drain the battery quickly.

These issues apply to all mobile or embedded devel-opment and are not unique to Flash use. The bigger challenge is finding Flash developers who understand these constraints and how to work within them. Anyone building a Flash development team knows this problem well; the average Flash developer comes from a cre-ative background, not a technical one. Flash developers targeting tight hardware budgets need to be equally

concerned about which algorithm to choose as they are with which texture to use.

One way to deal with this challenge is to institute a strong hiring process. An even more effective method is establishing a strong development process that will give development team members the guidelines and feed-back they need.

A company looking to launch a Flash development project should set a memory budget for its application. Determine how much memory the targeted device con-tains and allocate the appropriate memory space. Set a maximum response time for interactions and a minimum frame rate for playback. This will help ascertain minimum performance levels and other hardware resources that will be needed to run Flash on the device.

The ideal build environment allows a company to verify code on the target device (or at least on an emulator) with every code check-in. If the application is only veri-fied against the budget at the end of the development cycle, a great deal of costly rework may be required. Constant verification gives developers meaningful feed-back as well as accountability.

Over time, these constraints will become less important and eventually fade away, as demonstrated by the recent spate of companies focused on creating new processors with low-power requirements. Advances like these will change the space forever, bringing embedded develop-ment to a point where raw performance drops far down the list of concerns.

Solving embedded Flash challengesBy Matt Heinrichs, VP of operations, Ratchet

Dave Wood is an independent embedded sys-tems consultant and cofounder of SOS Busi-ness Services. He has more than 25 years of experience in developing and marketing real-time and embedded computing devices in the aerospace, military, consumer electronics,

and development tools markets. Prior to establishing SOS Business Services, Dave worked for Lear Siegler, General Electric, SofTech, the Software Engineering Institute, and Aonix in many capacities including software engineering, research, field engineering, and product management.

SOS Business Services760-512-0042dave@sosbizservices.comwww.sosbizservices.com

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Adobe is stepping up efforts to make Flash technology easier for embedded system designers to use. In May 2008, Adobe and several industry partners announced the Open Screen Project, an effort dedicated to driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, PCs, mobile devices, and consumer electronics.

“Our goal is enabling developers and designers to create content and applications and deploy those not only on PCs around the world, but also across a wide variety of devices in a consistent way,” states Kevin Lynch, Adobe CTO. “It’s very hard to deploy content and applications on these different devices, and we’d really like to help change that for users around the world.”

The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consis-tent runtime environment that will take advantage of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). The project will address potential technology fragmenta-tion by enabling the runtime technology to be updated seamlessly over the air on mobile devices. The consistent runtime environment is intended to offer optimal perfor-mance across a variety of operating systems and devices, ultimately enhancing the user experience.

To support this mission, Adobe will continue to open access to Adobe Flash technology, accelerating the deployment of content and powerful Internet applica-tions. This work will include:

Removing licensing restrictions on SWF and FLV/F4V f

specificationsPublishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe f

Flash PlayerPublishing the Adobe Flash Cast and Action f

Message Format protocols for robust data servicesMaking the next major releases of Adobe Flash f

Player and AIR available for free

Several processor suppliers are participating in the Open Screen Project by contributing unique knowledge and expertise on their respective processor architectures. As part of the Open Screen Project, ARM is partnering with Adobe to optimize Flash Player 10 for the ARMv6 and ARMv7 architectures used in the ARM11 family and the Cortex-A series of processors.

“The focus will be to optimize video codecs, graphics rendering, the virtual machine, and power manage-ment for System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures,” explains James Bruce, ARM’s North American mobile solutions manager.

ARM is providing Adobe with engineering resources to create these products, which are expected to be released in the second half of 2009. The effort aims to accelerate mobile graphics and video capabilities on ARM platforms to bring high-quality Internet applications and Web services to mobile devices and consumer electronics everywhere.

“Adobe Flash is the leading video format on the Web today, and this collaboration with ARM is another impor-tant step toward bringing the complete Web experience to mobile devices worldwide,” asserts Gary Kovacs, gen-eral manager and VP of Adobe’s Mobile and Devices Business Unit. “We are pleased to work with ARM and the other industry leaders in the Open Screen Project to make browsing and applications as rich and powerful in mobile as they are on the desktop.”

Marvell is also involved with the Open Screen Project as an embedded processor supplier, tying together the work done by Adobe and ARM. The company is provid-ing support for Flash in the recently announced PXA168, the first in a family of application processors targeted at new mass market opportunities in computing and digital consumer devices.

“Marvell is trying to be sure that we put all the hooks and performance into embedded devices to run Flash content at the PC-level experience,” comments Kishore Manghnani, VP of Application Processor Products at Marvell. “We are providing Adobe with inputs on how we should do hardware, graphics, and video acceleration in embedded devices, especially when they run Flash-based content.”

Intel is likewise teaming up with Adobe to optimize Flash Player 10 for the Intel Media Processor CE 3100 and future purpose-built Intel SoCs. Intel and Adobe are strategically positioned to support consistent Internet content across PCs, laptops, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, and now TVs, extending the shared business objectives of accelerating deep video and Internet con-tent across the full breadth of consumer devices.

“Our effort with Adobe is poised to accelerate a rich yet relevant Internet experience on the TV that will provide consumers with access to a growing number of Flash-based applications that will ultimately be enjoyed across a number of screens,” states William O. Leszinske Jr., general manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group.

For more information about the Open Screen Project, visit www.openscreenproject.org.

Adobe opens its runtime environmentBy Jerry Gipper

Embedded Computing Design February 2009 / 27

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http://www.openscreenproject.org

More flash for your buckEmbedded devices now contain more sophisticated operating systems for managing multimedia, photos, and other data-intensive content, which is driving the need for greater storage capacity. Because many of these devices are extremely cost-sensitive, they must use serial flash devices instead of commonly available high-capacity flash memory devices. Unfortunately, serial flash memory has taken a backseat to parallel flash, with devices having capacity well below 1 Gb.

Micron Technology, Inc. has fulfilled this need with a serial NAND flash memory technology that provides embedded applications the flexibility to easily upgrade their storage capacity. With chip density starting at 1 Gb, Micron’s serial NAND flash allows customers to easily and cost-effectively extend their storage capacity beyond what is currently available with serial NOR flash, providing a significant cost-per-bit advantage. Additionally, Micron’s serial NAND utilizes the same package type as parallel NAND, acting as a transitional gateway for manufacturers to move from a serial to a parallel NAND interface, if needed.

Micron Technology, Inc.www.micron.comRSC# 40791

Power-efficient COM ExpressThe whole idea behind COM Express is to continually improve the price/performance point of modules in the same size and power footprint, and the Intel Atom processor has accelerated this trend. One of the latest Atom-based modules is congatec’s conga-CA945, which features a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor N270 coupled with a 945GSE Express chipset and the I/O Controller Hub 7-M. The module typically consumes about 5 W and offers integrated I/O features including three PCI Express ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, two SATA ports, two ExpressCard interfaces, IDE, high-def audio, Embedded Panel Interface graphics, and more. The onboard embedded BIOS supports ACPI 3.0.

congatec AGwww.congatec.comRSC# 39400

Computer in a (Compact)FlashFPGAs have allowed computing to be squeezed into tight spots as tiny as a CompactFlash Type II package. The Pico Computing E-12 houses a Xilinx Virtex-4 LX25 FPGA. Core features include GbE, 64 MB of flash, 128 MB of DRAM, and the CompactFlash interface, with the FPGA gates ready and waiting to perform needed DSP functions. Pico offers utilities for FPGA image management including support for dynamic FPGA image swapping. Plug-ins for MATLAB and Simulink are also available to aid with programming.

Pico Computingwww.picocomputing.comRSC# 39401

Editor’s Choice


Editor’s Choice

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HDTV powered by a single chipI was duly impressed during a recent NXP product briefing announcing the company’s new TV550 HDTV platform, which features the PNX85500 processor and integrates NXP’s proprietary Motion Accurate Picture Processing (MAPP2) technology, allowing manufacturers to offer a range of advanced HDTV features previously available only in high-end sets.

What struck me most was the tremendous level of integration this platform offers. Television technology has changed greatly since the days of tubes. While screen sizes are getting larger every year, the electronics have been reduced to a single chip with all the features that even the most avid viewers would love to have in their entertainment centers. Short of power and memory, this is a true single-chip solution.

The new NXP platform will spur manufacturers and content providers to bring a broad range of Internet and digital video content to a significantly wider audience. The PNX85500 is the industry’s first digital TV processor to be manufactured using 45 nm technology, allowing tighter integration between the picture-quality processor and digital TV platform.

NXPwww.nxp.comRSC# 40789

Best of both MCU and RF worldsIt’s a given that wireless communication between embedded devices is here to stay. However, dealing with RF is pretty much black magic to most designers. Wouldn’t it be great if general-purpose Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) and microcontrollers had RF transceivers built into them? Texas Instruments’ new CC430 technology makes this concept a reality by offering the industry’s lowest-power, single-chip RF platform for microcontroller-based applications. Solutions like the CC430 platform that combine low power and high functionality help bridge the gap between MCU and RF technology.

By reducing system complexity, shrinking package and PCB size by up to 50 percent, and simplifying RF design, the CC430 platform advances applications including RF networking, energy harvesting, industrial monitoring and tamper detection, personal wireless networks, and automatic metering infrastructure.

The combination of TI’s MSP430F5xx MCU and low-power RF transceiver offers a blend of low-power/performance and high integration in addition to extensive RF knowledge and support. These features help break down barriers to RF implementation such as stringent power, performance, size, and cost requirements as well as design complexity and ease-of-development issues, bringing wireless connectivity to a variety of products.

Texas Instrumentswww.ti.comRSC# 40790

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DVB-T/Cchannel decoderDVB

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Editor’s Choice

Embedded Computing Design February 2009 / 29Editor’s Choice Products are drawn from OSM’s product database and press releases. Vendors may add their new products and submit press releases at submit.opensystemsmedia.com. OSM reserves the right to publish products based on editors’ discretion alone, and does not guarantee publication of any product entries.

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