Embedded systems panel: HW and SW in embedded system design: loveboat, shipwreck, or ships passing in the night

The merging of hardware and software on a single integrated circuit is causing many to rethink their approach to embedded system design, and some are forecasting significant changes in the dynamics of the associated electronic-design automation (EDA) and embedded software industries as well. For some, the ocean of silicon ahead is sure to host a loveboat for fully integrated hardwarehoftware systems. Others see a shipwreck on the horizon, as hardheaded hardware designers and softheaded software developers clash. There's an old adage that the most boring scenario is the most likely. Following this adage some predict that the future holds more "no show" than "showdown." The holders of this view note that as severe power constraints cause hardware-designers to eschew software solutions, and as the world of ubiquitous computing significantly broadens the market for embedded system software, then the hardware and software communities will be simply ships passing in the night.