Articles – Page 183

February 18, 2015

Few challenges in the world of high-technology startups are as daunting as that of putting a new FPGA company on the map. Sure, there’s the obvious hurdle of coming up with a better mousetrap – against two extremely innovative and experienced mousetrap makers who most certainly have deeper pockets than you. And deep pockets matter. If you don’t have the resources to deal with the nine-digit-dollar entry fee for new device development at competitive process nodes, you’re better off not leaving the starting line.

Then, there’s the matter of timing … Read More → "Achronix Beats the Odds"

It’s Not Me, It’s You

When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions

by Jim Turley

February 17, 2015

“The fault… is not in our stars, but in ourselves…” – Cassius, Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

Paperwork – you gotta love it. There’s some evidence that nowadays, in the age of the “paperless office,” we create (and fill out) more paperwork than at any other time in history. This dreary fact demonstrated itself to me just the other day.

A nice man with whom I was doing business handed me a three-page form to fill out. … Read More → "It’s Not Me, It’s You"

Build Your Own EDA Tool

Without Competing With the Big Guys

by Bryon Moyer

February 16, 2015

So your company needs to design a system-on-chip (SoC). On the one hand, there’s a lot of that going around. On the other hand, the cost of doing an SoC – especially on an aggressive silicon node – is so expensive that the number of companies that have the cash to do that is decreasing.

Which limits the number of competitors to a certain degree. But you’re still going to have competitors. How are you going to make sure that, when system builders are looking for an SoC, they choose yours?

That’s how a … Read More → "Build Your Own EDA Tool"

Programming Below Decks

REST and the Furtherance of the Two-Class System

by Jim Turley

February 11, 2015

Do you remember that scene in Titanic where the lower-class passengers are trapped behind locked gates and left to drown? (To be fair, it’s more than one scene; it’s about half of the movie.) Their cabins are small, the viewing portholes are nonexistent (they’re probably below the waterline anyway), and there are no linen tablecloths, or polished silverware, or string quartets to be seen. It’s an us-versus-them world of transatlantic travel.

The same thing is happening with programmers. We’ve got the dinner jacket programmers who deal with abstract, high-level concepts. … Read More → "Programming Below Decks"

Engineering Childhood’s End

Radio Shack Goes From 50-in-1 to None

by Kevin Morris

February 10, 2015

My fingers trembled and my heart pounded. I carefully bent spring terminal #35 and inserted the tinned end of the final wire. I was confident that I had double-checked every connection, but I still felt unsure.

Nothing happened.

As I slowly turned the knob labeled “variable condenser,” I thought I heard a hiss or some static. Then, suddenly, Merle Haggard singing “Branded Man” boomed through my tiny earphone. I jumped! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hated country music, and it was the most beautiful sound my … Read More → "Engineering Childhood’s End"

More IoT Standards

Some Are New, Some Are Not

by Bryon Moyer

February 9, 2015

It started with mentions of two new (at least to me) standards in conference presentations: I3C and LoRa. I made a note to learn more about them.

But as I dug in, I kept finding other protocols – some open, some proprietary – being leveraged in an IoT way. Granted, some predate the IoT and were conceived simply as machine-to-machine (M2M) or smart-home protocols before the cloud and the IoT buzzwords were such a big deal. But they are part of the picture, so giving them some daylight seems useful. For the moment, then, I decided to … Read More → "More IoT Standards"

A Look ‘Pack’ at CES 2015

Intel Goes for Notoriety, IoT Goes for a Catchy Tune

by Bryon Moyer

February 5, 2015

I’ve had a month to mull over CES 2015 and read much of the breathless coverage. I’ll get my own ball rolling with Intel, the company that had a VERY large footprint at CES with one of the largest, flashiest and most expensive booths in the entire show. Before you jump to the “well OF COURSE a company of Intel’s size would have a gigantic booth” conclusion, do keep in mind that a modest little company called Microsoft has not had ANY booth at CES for the last few years. And last time I checked, Microsoft had … Read More → "A Look ‘Pack’ at CES 2015"

Tabula Nada

Innovative FPGA Company Calls it Quits After 12 Years

by Jim Turley

February 4, 2015

Call it aggressive; call it innovative; call it bat-poop crazy. Whatever your views, Tabula certainly had interesting ideas about how to design an FPGA. But now it’s gone.

The Santa Clara–based startup will close its doors at the end of next month. The staff have all been given their walking papers. The furniture and fittings will presumably go up for auction, a common-enough sight here in Silicon Valley. And the technology? Tabula’s secret sauce may wind up in the hands of an investor, or a new startup, or some big established semiconductor vendor, or … Read More → "Tabula Nada"

When Smaller is Better

Lattice Introduces iCE40 UltraLite

by Kevin Morris

February 3, 2015

There has been a lot of chest-beating over the years about who had the biggest, fastest FPGA in all the land. Countless press releases, PowerPoints, and posters have touted 30% better this and 4x more that. Each time a competitor leapfrogged the other, we lapped up the LUTs with renewed glee.

Lately, however, Lattice has been pushing the other end of the envelope, proudly proclaiming that they make the very smallest FPGAs. These FPGAs are so small, power-efficient, and cheap that they completely rewrite our notion of FPGAs. Literally everything you probably thought you … Read More → "When Smaller is Better"

A Flat-Earth Memory

Another Way to Make the Brittle Flexible

by Bryon Moyer

February 2, 2015

At present, we have two distinct electronic worlds.

On one side, we have the tried-and-true world of semiconductors. Characteristics: small, high-performing, more expensive, solid and inflexible. Incorporates inorganic materials.

On the other side, we have the burgeoning world of printed plastic electronics. Characteristics: relatively larger, poorer performance, less expensive, and flexible. More typically uses organic materials.

There have been attempts to make silicon more flexible</ … Read More → "A Flat-Earth Memory"