In this issue, we’ve brought together a host of articles about embedded programming. We have great projects, a few useful overviews, and an assortment of tips from some hardworking designers.

Colin O’Flynn designed a bootloader that works as both a Xilinx FPGA loader and an Atmel AVR loader (p. 44). Colin’s LoonBoard Unified Bootloader, or LUB for short, is built around a NewAE LoonBoard video development system. This bootloader has brawn. If you’re in the market for a capable bootloader with more pizzazz than commercial devices, look no further.

Chris Cantrell provides a nice overview of object-oriented programming (p. 52). You’re not alone if you’ve ever struggled to figure out a system for coding your various projects. As Chris says, you need to arm yourself with the skills and tools to tackle different scenarios. Object-oriented programming includes a bunch of effective tools that can be used to write solid code, no matter what you’re working on. Chris gives you the full story on the pros and cons and explains how to apply these tools.

Calculating square roots can be a vexing process. You don’t want to waste time working with different algorithms when you’re trying to complete a project. So, what’s the best way to go? In “Rooting Around: Integer Square Roots on Small Processors,” Michael Dvorsky reviews various methods for calculating square roots, including the sum-of-odds and bisection methods (p. 60). Michael goes beyond the basics to help you figure out the right algorithm for your application.

In addition to Michael’s article, we also have a helpful feature about mathematics by Mariano Barron (p. 67). Mariano had been using scanf and printf functions to develop a talking calculator. When he ended up with excess code, Mariano wrote new I/O functions. However, he ran into trouble writing the output function using a keyboard. His Keil C51 compiler didn’t have the inverse float-to-ASCII function he needed to show real numbers. In this article, Mariano explains how he solved this problem.

I also wanted to point out an article we have this month by Aviad Bechori, Shlomo Engelberg, and Roi Rapoport (p. 76). This team of engineers had been tapped by their local police force to develop a system for easily detecting when someone is using a voice changer to disguise their own voice. Although they didn’t end up creating a simple detector, they did learn a lot about the technology behind changing voices. In this article, they explain the interesting details.

I hope these articles give you some good ideas and solutions for your next embedded programming application.

jennifer.huber@circuitcellar.com