Articles – Page 105

April 22, 2019

For IoT devices, it matters that the system be able to power itself down when not doing anything. So it matters that critical data remain in place when power is off – meaning that it needs non-volatile memory. Which, today, would be flash. And serial flash can be a good way to add such a memory with a modest footprint.

But, let’s face it: serial flash devices are entirely submissive: they do only what they’re told, and they do it only when they’re told to. Want to store … Read More → "A Self-Sufficient Serial Flash Memory"

Disruption in the 1920s

Hollywood Took a Big Hit Because of New Technology

by Jim Turley

April 17, 2019

“When I’m assembling a scene, I assemble it as a silent movie.” – Walter Murch

Hardly a week goes by that some “disruptive” new technology makes the news (you’re welcome) with promises to upend everything we know about computers, software, consumer electronics, security, healthcare, etc. Many of those promises peter out, never to be heard from again. But enough of them pan out that we become accustomed to living in an ever-changing world, where our assumptions about life and business continually evolve.

We tend to … Read More → "Disruption in the 1920s"

FlexLogix Accelerates Edge Inference

New InferX X1 Chips Show Promise

by Kevin Morris

April 16, 2019

Let’s start with one hard fact. There are a lot of companies developing new AI inference processors right now, and most of them won’t survive. We have heard reports that as many as 80 startups are currently funded to some level, and all of them are working hard on building better mousetraps, or at least building better specialized processors that could execute neural network models for identifying mice with minimal latency and power. Conventional processors are not very efficient at AI inference, which requires convolution operations with billions, or even trillions, of multiplications to occur … Read More → "FlexLogix Accelerates Edge Inference"

More Efficient Time-Sensitive Ethernet

Excelfore Provides a Traffic Shaper

by Bryon Moyer

April 15, 2019

Ah, Ethernet… our good, reliable, trusty friend from way back. So trusty, in fact, that our cars may soon be running a version of Ethernet for all of the electrification stuff. Leveraging something tried and true should certainly go without a hitch, right?

Well, certainly as compared to coming up with something entirely new, perhaps. But what’s this Ethernet going to do in our cars?

Well, for one, it will help with the infotainment stuff. Lots of data coming in through a wireless … Read More → "More Efficient Time-Sensitive Ethernet"

When Tubes were Better than Transistors

“Every Once in a While, a New Technology, an Old Problem, and a Big Idea Turn into an Innovation.” – Dean Kamen

by Steven Leibson

April 11, 2019

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” – William Shakespeare

Way back in 1960, just after ICs were invented but before they became much of a force in the electronics market, the Electron Tube Information Council published a book titled “Tubes and Transistors: A Comparative Study.” This 66-page book was a nifty piece of competitive marketing that contrasted tube characteristics and transistor characteristics under the guise of objectivity … Read More → "When Tubes were Better than Transistors"

The Debug Time Machine

Undo Software Offers Take-No-Prisoners Approach to Squashing Bugs

by Jim Turley

April 10, 2019

“Is this going to be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug hunt?” – PFC Hudson, Aliens

If you’re debugging code, which tool would you rather have: your favorite debugger or a time machine? A good debugger is vital, sure, but a time machine… You could rewind the clock to before the point you inserted the bug and then… just… not do that.

We may be a few years (millennia?) away from working time machines, but Undo … Read More → "The Debug Time Machine"

Inside Intel Agilex FPGAs

A New Day in the FPGA Race

by Kevin Morris

April 9, 2019

One of the most interesting announcements in Intel’s tidal wave of “Data-Centric” product and technology rollouts this month was the introduction of the company’s new “Agilex” FPGA families – formerly code-named “Falcon Mesa.” Agilex is the first new FPGA line developed by the former Altera group (now Intel PSG) since the Intel acquisition. Agilex is a milestone in the evolution of FPGA technology, and it brings substantial new capabilities to the party. It also represents a clearly divergent path from long-time archrival Xilinx, setting the stage for some interesting times ahead.

Read More → "Inside Intel Agilex FPGAs"

LoRa Ups Security

Brought to You by Version 1.1, plus a Microchip/TTI Arrangement

by Bryon Moyer

April 8, 2019

But even with the technology, we can apparently do better. We’re going to focus today on the LoRaWAN collection of wireless networks dedicated to low-throughput remote device communication. Now… you may be aware that the LoRaWAN network writ large uses LoRa technology, which originates out of Semtech. So you might expect this new discussion to involve Semtech. Nope. It originates both out of the latest 1.1 version of LoRa and out of a program put together by Microchip in … Read More → "LoRa Ups Security"

The Internet of Beer and Diapers

One Trillion New IoT Devices Will be Produced by 2035, Predicts Arm

by Steven Leibson

April 4, 2019

Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it. – Marshall McLuhan

Arm, the processor purveyor, predicts that the world’s tech manufacturers will mint one trillion new IoT devices over the next decade and a half. Here’s a quote from the Arm White Paper titled “The route to a trillion devices,” written by Philip Sparks and published all the way back in 2017:

Chirp Does Data Over Sound

Quirky Network Technology can be Retrofitted to Almost Anything

by Jim Turley

April 3, 2019

“Lovers of audio books learn to live with compromise.” – David Sedaris

“Oops! I forgot to add the Wi-Fi!”

How many times has this happened to you? You design and deliver a great product, ship millions of units into the market, and then realize too late that you forgot to add the wireless networking? Boy, is your face red.

Cheer up, friend. There’s a solution to your problem. And it doesn’t involve product recalls, PCB rework, new components, or … Read More → "Chirp Does Data Over Sound"