The EE Times Group has announced keynotes and tracks for its ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Boston, set for Sept. 20 to 23. ESC Boston includes a Linux/Android track, with half-day tutorials on each plus sessions on MeeGo, and once again offers its “Build Your Own Embedded System” track, this time using a BeagleBoard-xM.

Keynotes for the annual ESC Boston event includes a Tuesday morning address by Hugh Herr, head of the Biomechatronics Research Group at MIT, who will discuss a new class of biohybrid, "smart" prostheses. Actel CEO John East will offer the Wednesday keynote, say the ESC organizers.

This year's conference will host a track called "Designing with Open-Source Software, including Linux and Android." The track features half-day "Jumpstart" tutorials by embedded trainer and consultant William Gatliff on embedded Linux and Android, respectively.

In addition to the Linux and Android tutorials, the Linux/Android track also offers a series of 60- to 75-minute sessions including:

• Building rich user interfaces with Qt and MeeGo — Nokia's Alistair Adams
• Profiling System Performance in Linux — PTR Group's Michael Anderson
• Governance of open source in large companies, a case study — Ericsson AB's Gunnar Nilsson
• Controlling multicore race conditions in Linux — Michael Anderson
• Driving an open ecosystem for smart devices — Numerex' Jeff Smith

Conference tracks for ESC Boston are said to include:

• Aerospace and military
• Designing with open-source software, including Linux and Android
• Developing for Windows Embedded
• Graphics, displays, and lighting
• Industrial, automation, and robotics
• Medical
• Multicore and virtualization
• Multimedia and signal processing
• Networking, connectivity, and embedded Internet
• Programmable logic
• Project management
• Real-time system development
• Safety and security
• Software debugging techniques
• System integration and test

BYOES continues …

According to the EETimes Group, ESC Boston continues the show's popular "Build Your Own Embedded System" (BYOES) track. This year, attendees will be able to select the recently announced BeagleBoard xM, pictured at right, along with a Linux BSP.

The BeagleBoard-xM features an onboard four-port USB hub, 512MB of RAM, and a 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, which was initially the TI AM3730 but will be replaced by the DM3730 during the third quarter, according to BeagleBoard.org.

Alternatively, attendees can choose the Freescale Tower System pictured below, which is said to employ the company's MCF5225X V2 ColdFire microcontroller and run the MQX real-time operating system. The Tower System supports a variety of interchangeable peripheral modules via four card-edge connectors, the EETimes Group adds.

Freescale's Tower System
(Click to enlarge)

Although we haven't seen details, it's likely ESC Boston will also continue the show's long-standing tradition of device tear-downs. At ESC Silicon Valley, the devices disassembled and analyzed were the Zircon ElectriScanner, touted as being the first electrical scanner that can find AC wires in almost any environment, and the FitBit, a pocket-sized device that's said to accurately track the calories you burn, the number of steps you take, and "even how good a night's sleep you had."

Further information

ESC Boston 2010 will be located, as in the past, at the Hynes Convention Center. More information may be found on the show website, here.

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