Articles – Page 12

30 minutes with Altera CEO Sandra Rivera discussing the Past, Present, and Future of a major FPGA vendor

March 3, 2025

FPGA maker Altera declared independence from Intel on February 29, 2024 – Leap Day – and reclaimed its original, storied name in the process. The intended and explicit symbolism was that Altera was making a great leap forward by becoming independent. Intel purchased Altera at the end of 2015 for $16.7 billion and renamed the organization. It became the Intel Programmable Solutions Group (PSG). The acquisition did not turn out to be a marriage made in heaven due to the mismatch between Intel’s top priority, introducing and shipping CPUs, and Intel PSG’s mission: introducing and shipping FPGAs. I worked for Intel … Read More → "30 minutes with Altera CEO Sandra Rivera discussing the Past, Present, and Future of a major FPGA vendor"

We Haven’t Got a Plan, So Nothing Can Go Wrong!

by Max Maxfield

February 27, 2025

As one gets older, one becomes ever more set in one’s ways, and one increasingly uses words like one to refer to oneself. One manifestation of this is that I often find myself responding to things with “canned” replies, as if flying on conversational autopilot mode.

Take, for example, when someone says, “So, that’s the plan.” My default retort is, “Let’s call it ‘Plan A’ so no one gets confused.”

Alternatively, I might trot out the old chestnut, “If we … Read More → "We Haven’t Got a Plan, So Nothing Can Go Wrong!"

Doug Sparks Takes a Raw and Honest Look at the Chinese Semiconductor Industry

by Steven Leibson

February 24, 2025

After working in and around China’s semiconductor industry for a decade, Doug Sparks wrote a book about his experiences. The book’s title, “A Decade in the Chinese Semiconductor Industry: An American’s Story,” says it all, while only vaguely describing the 377-page book’s contents. That’s because only a small fraction of the book focuses on the state of China’s semiconductor industry. Instead, the book has a much broader theme that looks at the current and evolving political, economic, social, and cultural climates in China. The book then positions China’s semiconductor industry … Read More → "Doug Sparks Takes a Raw and Honest Look at the Chinese Semiconductor Industry"

Meet the SiPhOG, Its Creators, and Its Offspring

by Max Maxfield

February 20, 2025

I learn something new every day, which can be good news or bad news depending on what that thing happens to be. Thankfully, in the case of this column, I’m happy to report that I’ve learned something that’s both interesting and useful, which (sadly) isn’t always the case.

Before we start, just to make sure we’re all tap-dancing to the same skirl of the bagpipes, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a broad term that generically refers to all satellite navigation systems worldwide. It includes multiple satellite constellations … Read More → "Meet the SiPhOG, Its Creators, and Its Offspring"

“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 5 – Reasons for Heath’s Success in Amateur Radio

by Steven Leibson

February 19, 2025

This final installment in this 5-article series about the Heath Company takes a retrospective look at why the company succeeded in the amateur radio kit market. This article series is based on a presentation by Chas Gilmore, who worked at the Heath Company for more than two decades, eventually becoming EVP and General Manager.

Chas Gilmore: What made Heath such a success? Certainly, for the first couple of decades of its life, the savings realized through kit building were very important. There was a tremendous interest in electronics. Heath started its … Read More → "“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 5 – Reasons for Heath’s Success in Amateur Radio"

Multiplying the Power of Artificial Intelligence with Artificial Bodies

by Max Maxfield

February 18, 2025

So many things are currently going on in the artificial intelligence and artificial body spaces that my head is spinning like a top. For example, AIs are being used to design chips and systems for other AIs to run on, and an AI running on one of those systems can generate synthetic data that can be used to train another AI, and… then things start to get complicated.

Now, before we jump into the fray with gusto and abandon (and aplomb, of course), I have exciting news. This news … Read More → "Multiplying the Power of Artificial Intelligence with Artificial Bodies"

New Memory Architectures for SoCs and Multi-Die Systems

by Max Maxfield

February 13, 2025

Before we dive headfirst into the fray with gusto and abandon (and aplomb, of course), let’s briefly remind ourselves as to the current state-of-play on the chiplet and multi-die systems front. Let’s start with the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are becoming pervasive and ubiquitous. Let’s also remind ourselves that we create our systems using a variety of processing elements, including CPUs, GPUs, NPUs, TPUs, and other hardware accelerators.

The way we design devices like ASICs, ASSPs, and SoCs today is that we purchase intellectual property ( … Read More → "New Memory Architectures for SoCs and Multi-Die Systems"

“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 4 – The 1980s, 1990s, and the end

by Steven Leibson

February 12, 2025

The 1980s presented many significant challenges to the Heath Company’s kit business. Commercial electronic equipment had become abundant, and automated assembly, especially with the advent of surface-mount technology, drove down the labor costs in many consumer products including stereo receivers, televisions, and Ham gear. Microcomputers and PCs became the main focus of attention. While Heath continued to develop new, more advanced products for the amateur radio market, Heath’s radio kits faced significant economic challenges from Asian amateur radio equipment manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Heath had a new owner. Zenith bought the company from … Read More → "“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 4 – The 1980s, 1990s, and the end"

“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 3 – The 1970s

by Steven Leibson

February 10, 2025

Part 3 of this article series covers a period of sustained growth for the Heath Company. The company’s amateur radio equipment kits continued to sell well, but by the end of the 1970s, its most advanced radio kits were already becoming too difficult to build for less advanced kit builders. Meanwhile, the company’s early microcomputer kits quickly started to dominate Heath’s product portfolio.

This article series is based on a presentation by Chas Gilmore (W8IAI), a life-long Ham who joined the Heath Company in 1966 as a design engineer and worked … Read More → "“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 3 – The 1970s"

Next-Generation Power Technology for Data Center Accelerator Cards

by Max Maxfield

February 6, 2025

I want you to put your “imagining hat” on. If you don’t own an “imagining hat,” you’ll just have to imagine that you have one proudly perched on the top of your head. Let’s start by imagining an accelerator card whose core processing device demands 2,000 amps (my eyes are already watering).

Now imagine multiple accelerator cards on a motherboard in a cabinet or server tray, multiple cabinets or trays in a rack, and tens of thousands of these racks in a data center (a large data center can have 10,000 racks … Read More → "Next-Generation Power Technology for Data Center Accelerator Cards"