Articles – Page 166

February 9, 2016

Where will next decade’s innovation come from? Will it spring from secret labs buried deep in the bowels of multi-billion-dollar corporations? Will it bootstrap itself into existence from venture-funded startups built on foundations of perfectly executed PowerPoint presentations? Will it Kickstart to life in the garages and workshops of over-achieving makers? Will it be the result of carefully and professionally engineered solutions to well-defined problems, or will it stumble into the light on the wobbly legs of a blind flash of pure creative inspiration?

Microchip and Atmel would seem to have a … Read More → "Oil and Vinegar"

PNI Turns Navigation, Kalman Upside Down

SENtrace Cuts GPS Reading Power

by Bryon Moyer

February 8, 2016

We’ve talked a lot about navigation in the past, especially as it relates to the indoor version, where you can’t rely on GPS. Well, PNI Sensor has made an announcement that turns the conventional MEMS-and-GPS navigational paradigm on its head. Let’s review how things have been in order to see better what PNI is doing differently.

We’ve been navigating with GPS for a long time, and it’s generally considered … Read More → "PNI Turns Navigation, Kalman Upside Down"

Magnets Help the Harvest

Two Totally Different Techniques

by Bryon Moyer

February 4, 2016

Today we talk magnets. In particular, a couple of different ways magnets were shown to participate in energy harvesting schemes at last November’s IDTechEx show in Santa Clara.

We all know that passing a magnet by a wire creates a current in the wire, right? Well the first of the ideas leverages this simple fact. It’s from a company called Jennova, and it’s so simple it’s almost obvious. (“Almost” for any lurking patent attorneys…)

Here’s the deal: put magnets on a fan and run a wire nearby. Now you’re … Read More → "Magnets Help the Harvest"

Xilinx 1, Intel 0

Big X Scores First in the New Rivalry

by Kevin Morris

February 3, 2016

I’ll just say right up front that this is really mostly about bragging rights. No corporate destinies are shaped, no fortunes won or lost, no pivotal temporal butterflies crushed by the fact of who ships a new FPGA generation first. But, with the same fuzzy logic that drives reality shows, football matches, and political polls, those in the FPGA business put a lot of energy into the unofficial biennial Moore’s Law derby to see who can ship the first FPGAs on a new process node.

This time, the stakes were higher … Read More → "Xilinx 1, Intel 0"

When Things Get Weird

When is the Right Time to Ditch the Standard and Go Your Own Way?

by Jim Turley

February 2, 2016

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” – Hunter S. Thompson

Speaking of standards – what, you didn’t memorize last week’s column? – there comes a time when you have to leave them behind and blaze your own trail. Maybe. Sometimes. I think.

By now, you’re probably surrounded with USB cables. You use them for charging your phone, for downloading images from your camera, for linking to your game controllers – and for a dozen other uses. USB cables are ubiquitous and, … Read More → "When Things Get Weird"

How It’s Built: Micron/Intel 3D NAND

Micron Opens the Veil a Little

by Bryon Moyer

February 1, 2016

3D NAND embodies the new vertical scaling direction for flash memory. We’ve heard about it for a while, at least in terms of what the concept is. But we’re just now getting “proofs of existence” and lower-level details on how you actually build such a beast.

At last month’s IEDM, I had a conversation with Micron’s Chuck Dennison. He was coauthor of a paper describing the joint Micron/Intel 3D NAND project. This gave a more detailed picture of how they managed their process.

As a general quick review, the whole … Read More → "How It’s Built: Micron/Intel 3D NAND"

All Hail the Dev Kit

Unsung Heroes of Winning Engineering

by Kevin Morris

January 27, 2016

We like to pretend that engineers choose their parts by detailed analysis of data sheets and careful study of critical specifications. But the truth is, we’d have a pretty hard time these days getting anything designed into our circuits at all without access to some high-quality development kits. If we order basic bare chips, the time it takes from breaking open the bubble wrap until we have something reasonable running on our lab bench is weeks at best. At a minimum, we have to develop some kind of prototype PCB with the FPGA, processor, and other … Read More → "All Hail the Dev Kit"

Getting Creative with Standards

How Much Does Standardization Straitjacket Your Work?

by Jim Turley

January 26, 2016

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” — Anonymous

I saw a click-bait headline the other day that suggested that engineering standards were reducing developers’ creativity. It didn’t have its desired effect – I didn’t click through to the article – but it did make me stop and think. Do standards limit creativity?

Yes, and that’s a good thing. Frankly, I don’t want network developers getting creative with packet protocols; TCP/IP works just fine, thank you. I’m glad that QWERTY keyboards all have the same … Read More → "Getting Creative with Standards"

Emerging MEMS and Sensor Technology

Elaborating on a MEC Presentation

by Bryon Moyer

January 25, 2016

A couple of years ago, our pages were full of MEMS and sensor innovations, each touting an improvement over something in the past. Then… things quieted down. What happened? Well, it seems like everyone went from “I’ve got an awesome new idea” mode to “Now I need to produce this and make some money” mode. That latter involves a lot of basic blocking and tackling and doesn’t garner near the headlines.

But does that mean that new ideas and innovation are on hold for a while? Not according to a presentation that Alissa Fitzgerald made … Read More → "Emerging MEMS and Sensor Technology"

My Ruler Must Be Broken

Measuring Power Consumption Can Drive You Crazy

by Jim Turley

January 20, 2016

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’” – Isaac Asimov

According to Adam Savage, the difference between science and just screwing around is writing it down. It’s the measurement – the annotation, the calibration, the methodical note-taking – that separates good science (and engineering) from mere hacking and tinkering. Without good measurements there can be no good science.

So raise a caliper and spare a thought for the measurers in … Read More → "My Ruler Must Be Broken"