Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design

I was just thinking about the 1871 book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, writer, and photographer, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll).

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass continue to influence us today, not just as beloved children’s stories … Read More → "Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design"

Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint

Efinix has just done designers a solid. The company’s new Ti180J484D1 FPGA incorporates a 2Gbit LPDDR4X SDRAM die co-packaged with the FPGA die, which creates a System in Package (SiP) device that results in a smaller footprint on your circuit board. In addition, you won’t need to worry about the precise pcb trace-length matching that’s required to properly connect the DDR … Read More → "Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint"

Headed to the Skies! High Speed Data Transmission for Aerospace Designs

This week’s podcast is all about high speed data transmission in aerospace applications! My podcast guests this week are Christian Hobmaier and Thomas Mittermeier from ODU connectors. Christian, Thomas and I explore the biggest challenges in this arena, the innovative new connector solutions ODU offers to support these kinds of designs, and the details of ODU’s rigorous testing that includes a technique called the “Arizona Dust Test”. … Read More → "Headed to the Skies! High Speed Data Transmission for Aerospace Designs"

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Meets Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) in More Ways Than One

Way back in the mists of time that we used to call 2023, I wrote (well, waffled) a column about Network-on-Chip (NoC) technology (see Who Needs a Network-on-Chip (NoC)? Everyone!). Suffice it to say that this was in the days before the punctuation police forbade me from using exclamation marks in my titles (thankfully, I’ … Read More → "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Meets Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) in More Ways Than One"

Is the world ready for Platypus, Zero ASIC’s open eFPGA IP? CEO Andreas Olofsson is betting that the answer is “Yes”

Embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP is not new. Several companies including Achronix, Efinix, Flex Logix, Menta, and QuickLogic have been offering FPGA cores for integration into ASICs and SoCs for a while. ASIC designers use eFPGA cores to help future-proof their designs. The eFPGA can be used to patch bugs or add features as needed. These abilities help to avoid a costly and time-consuming re-spin of the … Read More → "Is the world ready for Platypus, Zero ASIC’s open eFPGA IP? CEO Andreas Olofsson is betting that the answer is “Yes”"

Microchip launches sub-$1, dual-core AVR microcontroller for functional safety applications

Several microcontroller vendors used the time around Embedded World 2025 to introduce some truly interesting devices. I’ve already written about the TI MSPM0 microcontroller family and the WCH CH570 microcontroller (see “TI says its MSPM0 is the world’s most teeny, tiny 32-bit microcontroller. It’s smaller than a grain of white rice and costs 16 cents.” and “A 10-cent RISC-V microcontroller from China? Why not?”), and now … Read More → "Microchip launches sub-$1, dual-core AVR microcontroller for functional safety applications"

May 13, 2025
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featured chalk talk

Motor Control Innovation with PSOC™ Control C3
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
PSOC™ Control is Infineon’s newest family of MCUs developed for motor control applications. This family of high-performance Arm® Cortex®- M33 MCUs enables designers to innovate and solve complex design problems for applications like HVAC, home appliances, robotics, telecom and server power supplies, light electric vehicle chargers, solar inverters, and industrial drives. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Perfecto Martinez from Infineon and Amelia Dalton explore how Infineon’s PSOC™ Control C3 is ??enabling developers to create highly efficient and secured motor control and power systems.
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14,170 views

featured paper

How Google and Intel use Calibre DesignEnhancer to reduce IR drop and improve reliability

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Through real-world examples from Intel and Google, we highlight how Calibre’s DesignEnhancer maximizes layout modifications while ensuring DRC compliance.

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discussion
Posted on May 13 at 12:56pm by Karl Stevens
1) Basically cache fetches the block of memory containing the data and hopes there will be more requests to that block. Usually a 95% hit ratio is assumed, not verified. Then DDR is used to reduce the time to transfer the line/block. Then cache coherency is a required if other accesses ...
Posted on May 12 at 6:15pm by Steven Leibson
Max, chips always taste better with salsa and sour cream.
Posted on May 12 at 8:02am by Max Maxfield
Ah -- so it didn't solve the problem from first principles -- so we still have hope that there are some things we can do better than AI...
Posted on May 12 at 7:59am by Max Maxfield
Oooh! Tasty!
Posted on May 10 at 1:49am by Hakkı Göçeoğlu
In fact this paper has the direct answer. Akers, S. B. (1968). "On Maximum Inversion with Minimum Inverters". IEEE Transactions on Computers, EC-17(2), 134-135. Hakki
Posted on May 9 at 8:29am by Hakkı Göçeoğlu
Hi, Gemini 2.5 got the correct answer, I think it cheated and found the solution somewhere (that is what I want believe in). The answer starts with NOT(M)=NOT((A AND B) OR (B AND C) OR (C AND A)) NOT(P)=NOT(((A OR B OR C) AND NOT(...
Posted on May 8 at 7:28am by Steven Leibson
That is indeed where the magic resides, Kent.
Posted on May 8 at 7:27am by Steven Leibson
Honestly, I wish Andreas well Max. His excellent track record notwithstanding, FPGA IP companies have a poor track record for the reasons Kent lists below. I've worked at two FPGA companies, Xilinx and Intel/Altera and neither was inclined to enter the eFPGA arena, where support costs could not easily ...
Posted on May 7 at 10:03am by Kent
The problem with every new FPGA startup (and why they have failed) is that FPGA vendors are: 1) The tools 2) The IP ecosystem FPGA's, from a hardware standpoint, very simple devices. The magic is in the software.
Posted on May 7 at 8:11am by Max Maxfield
Hi Steve -- if this came from anyone else, I'd be saying "hmmm," but I know Andreas of old, and he has a history of succeeding at anything he sets his mind to. I first met him back in 2010 when he'd just single-handedly designed and developed his own 40-million transistor ...
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featured blogs
May 2, 2025
I can safely say that I've never seen a wheeled-legged robot that can handle rugged terrains, muddy wetlands, and debris-strewn ruins like this...
Power Inductor Considerations for AI Computing and High-Powered Processors
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In this episode of Chalk Talk, Mariyah Sachak from Vishay and Amelia Dalton explore how various inductor solutions can supply near-instant power to demanding loads at low, core-level voltages for high power computing applications. They also investigate the benefits of Trans-Inductor voltage regulators and what you will need to consider when choosing the right inductor solution for your next design.
May 5, 2025
9,847 views
Intelligent Factory Automation Power Solutions
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14,204 views
Speakers in Audio Design
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Same Sky
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Nick Grillone from Same Sky and Amelia Dalton explore the characteristics of speakers in audio design and the parameters you should consider when choosing a speaker. They also investigate the roles that sound pressure levels and frequency response play in the selection of a speaker and how Same Sky can help you find the best speaker for your next design.
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16,408 views
How to Choose the Right Battery Charger
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and MEAN WELL
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Thrax Cui from MEAN WELL and Amelia Dalton explore how you can choose the right battery charger for your next design. They investigate the battery charging principles of lithium ion and lead acid batteries, the steps involved in choosing a battery charger, and how MEAN WELL battery charging solutions support the charging needs of a wide variety of applications.
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20,409 views
AC-DC Introduction
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Mitch Van Ochten from ROHM Semiconductor and Amelia explore the what, where and how of AC/DC controllers and converter ICs. They investigate the benefits of ROHM’s non-isolated AC/DC buck converters, AC/DC control ICs and AC/DC flyback converters and how you can utilize these solutions in your next design.
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Solutions for General Precision Location Tracking
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Arnaud Le Lannic from u-blox, Greg Makar from the YAGEO Group and Amelia Dalton explore the benefits of GNSS for general precision location tracking. They investigate the biggest challenges associated with these kinds of designs, the solutions best suited for vehicular asset tracking and the mounting options available for these solutions.
Apr 21, 2025
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