Articles – Page 108

April 1, 2019

My, how times change! Back more than 10 years ago, I wrote about a control-oriented network called LonWorks from a company called Echelon. And I covered the basics of the protocol then. “LON” stands for “local operating network,” and, despite the question posed in the title of the previous piece, its focus has been industrial applications (with “industrial” here meaning, more or less, anything not consumer).

Echelon, one of the … Read More → "LonWorks Evolves"

This Apocalypse Brought to You by the IoT

Goodbye to Los Angeles, Chicago, and Ohio, said the Webcam

by Steven Leibson

March 28, 2019

Last January, the speaker in a Nest Cam indoor home security camera blared out a piercing alarm in Laura Lyons’ living room in Orinda, California. Alarming news followed the alert tone: North Korea had just launched ICBM’s at Los Angeles, Chicago, and Ohio. (Who knows what the North Korean regime has against Ohio?) The warning gave residents three hours to evacuate the targeted areas. Months later, it’s clear that no missiles were launched. Nothing happened. Nothing blew up. Los Angeles, Chicago, and the entire state of Ohio were all still there, last time I … Read More → "This Apocalypse Brought to You by the IoT"

I’d Like to Buy a Hint, Pat

How CPU Branch Hints Help Performance But Hurt Security

by Jim Turley

March 26, 2019

“When one has taken root, one puts out branches.” – Jules Verne

What do microprocessors, pine trees, and public libraries all have in common? They have lots of branches. Branch instructions are fundamental to all von Neumann machines, along with arithmetic and logic operations. Without branches – specifically, conditional branches – you can’t really write any software, and you don’t really have a computer.

Trouble is, branches are also the biggest thieves of performance, stealing clock cycles … Read More → "I’d Like to Buy a Hint, Pat"

Negative Capacitance

Ferroelectrics Slash Subthreshold Swing

by Bryon Moyer

March 25, 2019

Get ready to geek out.

I’m a big fan of math. I know… hardly a bold coming-out statement. But I’m also sometimes not a fan. In school, I found that there was sometimes too much blind adherence to math. When you asked why something happened, they’d say, “Because the equations say it happens.” Which isn’t really true: math is supposed to be a model of the truth; it’s not the truth itself. Something physical happening can be modeled by math, but when I ask why … Read More → "Negative Capacitance"

Message to CEOs: Stand Up for Your Company!

True Leadership versus Thought Leadership

by Steven Leibson

March 21, 2019

If you are in a position to influence someone, you are a leader. – Sheri L. Dew

Today, we’re going far afield from the electronics field, or so it will seem. Be patient, because there’s a big payoff if you hang tight.

This article’s about marketing. Now, let me tell you about real marketing, not that stuff you get in MBO school. The marketing stuff taught to fledgling MBOs is the right stuff for big, consumer companies like Apple, or Ford, or Kellogg’s. … Read More → "Message to CEOs: Stand Up for Your Company!"

The New Age of Flex-Flex-Flex-Flex-Flex

Flexible Electronics Serves a Niche Need… For Now

by Jim Turley

March 20, 2019

“You’ve gone too far this time / And I’m dancing on the valentine” – Duran Duran

One of the weirdest demonstrations I’ve seen was from the guy at e-Ink. He was showing off his company’s flat display technology attached to a mockup Amazon Kindle reader. The back was off and all the electronic guts were hanging out: processor, RAM, display driver ICs, battery, and of course his display, connected to the rest by a thin ribbon cable.

The screen was showing a full page … Read More → "The New Age of Flex-Flex-Flex-Flex-Flex"

Fear the Economic Singularity

Will Machines Own Us?

by Kevin Morris

March 19, 2019

In dystopian science fiction, we are taught to fear the technological singularity – the time when artificial super intelligence advances to a point far beyond human intelligence, with a result that profoundly alters human existence. Vivid imagery of automated weapons of doom working to wipe out human civilization and take over the world – or the galaxy – have terrorized generations of sci-fi fans. Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates have warned of its approach. Ray Kurzweil says it will be upon us by 2045, and, as far back as 1942, Isaac Asimov was contriving rules for robots, essentially relegating … Read More → "Fear the Economic Singularity"

Finding Your Way with Bluetooth

New AoA and AoD Capabilities

by Bryon Moyer

March 18, 2019

Do you know where you are?

OK, dumb question; of course you do. You have a smartphone with GPS that tells you (and probably way more people than you might be comfortable with) where you are. But, if you turn GPS off or were inside a building that blocked the GPS signal, then would you know?

We’re talking about location services here, and there are two essential questions, each with a different answer:

Given … Read More → "Finding Your Way with Bluetooth"

Lunch With McDonald’s McKiosk: I’m Hatin’ It

Here’s a Robot That Will Never Replace a Human

by Steven Leibson

March 14, 2019

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. – Asimov’s First Law of Robotics (pure fiction)

During a recent trip to Saint George, Utah, my wife and I stopped at McDonald’s for a fast lunch. We’d just driven a grand scenic loop through the picturesque mountains of southwestern Utah, passing through Veyo, Enterprise, and Cedar City. In one morning, we’d seen snow, sun, rain, and then back to sun. We returned to Saint George in time for lunch. … Read More → "Lunch With McDonald’s McKiosk: I’m Hatin’ It"

EEMBC Benchmarks Correlate Power with Performance

by Jim Turley

March 13, 2019

“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.” — Edward R. Murrow

To twist an old cliché, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and benchmarks. EEMBC aims to improve all three.

For more than 20 years, EEMBC has been in the unenviable business of creating, testing, and distributing … Read More → "EEMBC Benchmarks Correlate Power with Performance"