Articles – Page 145

April 11, 2017

Autonomous vehicles are coming. Countless teams around the globe are engaging engineering challenges that stand in the path of commoditized, robust, self-driving vehicles. While companies like Google, Tesla, and Uber have captured many of the early headlines, vertically developed solutions such as theirs are clearly not the shape of the industry to come. Rather, the ADAS and autonomous ecosystem are likely to be populated with multiple layers of systems suppliers working with standardized backbones.

Nearest the point where the automation meets the road are the ever-changing arrays of sensors that allow autonomous vehicles … Read More → "Driving Miss Data"

A Mentor Announcement Duo

System Design and Emulation Get Some Love

by Bryon Moyer

April 10, 2017

Over the last couple of months, there have been two interesting news items emanating from Mentor Graphics (now officially part of Siemens). They’re largely unrelated to each other, one dealing with system design and the other with IC emulation. We’ll take them in order of announcement.

A System Vision
The first story comes from their SystemVision side of things (one aspect of which we looked at a few years ago). Once a desktop application, it has … Read More → "A Mentor Announcement Duo"

Mighty Gecko Saves the Day

Silicon Labs’ New EFR32 MCU Juggles Radio Interfaces

by Jim Turley

April 5, 2017

“I have a soft spot for Batman, because he doesn’t have any super powers… and he’s pretty dark.” – Peter Dinklage

Mighty Mouse. Underdog. Rocket J. Squirrel. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And now… Mighty Gecko!

Followers of Silicon Labs will already be familiar with the company’s amphibious avenger, the radioactive byproduct of Norway’s Energy Micro and Texas-based Silicon Labs. It’s not the first acquisition SiLabs has made, nor does it appear to be their last adventure. But my stars, Grandma, that gecko is kicking some detachable tail.

Intel’s Semiconductor Secrets

Intel Opens the Information Vault

by Kevin Morris

April 4, 2017

I cannot describe this as anything but amazing. One of the largest and most secretive technology companies on the planet just spent an entire day giving the press and analyst community an unprecedented look inside what has historically been the most important and well-guarded operation in their company – their multi-billion dollar semiconductor manufacturing operation. Simply put, the level of information sharing in the recent “Intel Technology and Manufacturing Day” was unlike anything I’ve witnessed in an entire career of following the world’s largest chip company.

It was not a secret that … Read More → "Intel’s Semiconductor Secrets"

Device Security After Deployment

Intrinsic ID Offers Software Retrofit

by Bryon Moyer

April 3, 2017

So you just shipped that new fancy-dancy Internet of Things (IoT) thingamajiggy with the kung-fu grip and the volume that goes to 11. Congratulations. That is, until you start tossing and turning nights knowing that, for profit’s sake, you omitted security. I mean, really, who is going to be interested in hacking a thingamajiggy, right? Nothing of interest there, so why waste money on unnecessary security?

Except that what’s of interest may not be the thingamajiggy, but rather what it’s connected to. No one cares about the front door; they’re interested in the safe … Read More → "Device Security After Deployment"

Industry 4.0: The Future of Manufacturing?

Chip Making Joins the 21st Century

by Dick Selwood

March 30, 2017

If you live in Germany, the term Industry 4.0 (or rather Industrie 4.0) will be familiar to you. The term comes from an initiative backed by the German Government, to the tune of Euros 1 billion, to improve manufacturing through the use of modern technology. There is direct interest from Chancellor Angela Merkel and involvement by two senior ministers, and many of the big German manufacturing companies are playing a part in setting objectives and managing progress.

Elsewhere in the world, Industry 4.0 is likely to be something that you vaguely recognise. Its exact definition is open to debate; many writers … Read More → "Industry 4.0: The Future of Manufacturing?"

DynamIQ Tension

ARM’s DynamIQ Interface is Nice, Not Spectacular

by Jim Turley

March 29, 2017

“As a rule, a beautiful woman is a terrible disappointment.” – Carl Jung

You want the short version? Some future ARM processors will support 8-CPU clusters.

You want the longer version? “This redefines multicore. Designed from the ground up. Massive system performance uplift. 10x faster. 50x faster. Architecture for total computing. An industry inflection point. Accelerates AI adoption. Safer autonomous systems. For all markets and all devices. Nearly ‘unlimited’ design spectrum. Redefining the future of computing.” And more.

Is it just me, or is the hyperbole getting a bit thick in here?</ … Read More → "DynamIQ Tension"

Data Center Duel Deux

Intel and Xilinx Take More Turf

by Kevin Morris

March 28, 2017

It’s clear that programmable logic and FPGA technology will capture an increasing share of the value in conventional and cloud data-center deployments. While FPGAs have always been used in connectivity and storage, there is an ever-building push to have high-end FPGAs take over a crucial role in computation as well. FPGAs pack a potent combination of massive computational throughput, low latency, and power efficiency that is unmatched by any rival technology. With the huge growth of data-center demand fueled by IoT, continuing to power the cloud exclusively with conventional processors is just not feasible. Heterogeneous deployments … Read More → "Data Center Duel Deux"

EUV as Pizza

Perfecting the Recipe

by Bryon Moyer

March 27, 2017

What’s the most important thing for the perfect pizza? This isn’t a fair question, of course, because there’s no definition of “perfect” when it comes to pizza. OK, maybe there is, but each person has their own. But stay with me for a sec here: for a certain style of pizza, you need an oven that’s over 500 °F – higher than home ovens can go, for sure. And the right old-school wood-fired ovens can do that.

So if you’re in search of that perfect pizza, the first thing you might have to do … Read More → "EUV as Pizza"

Ongoing Sensor Work

Reports from ISSCC

by Bryon Moyer

March 23, 2017

Wow. It’s been six years. Where has the time gone?

Six years ago, I attended a session on sensors at the ISSCC conference. I decided to do a series of articles on the various sensors that were presented. This was my intro to the world of sensors, and, since then, we have embraced sensors and MEMS as they have evolved into the bigger-picture internet-of-things (IoT) theme.

The sensors were newish and somewhat obscure at the time. MEMS then blew up huge, … Read More → "Ongoing Sensor Work"