Articles – Page 2

April 25, 2022

A working engineer posted this question, which appeared in my LinkedIn status stream earlier this year:

“I want to set up a home electronics test bench for maker projects. I would like a scope (perhaps with logic analyzer), waveform gen, power supply, volt/amp meter. My interests are high fidelity audio, and Arduino/RPi type projects. I am seeking recommendations on setups that won’t break the bank. This is for my own personal use, not work work.”

Now I style myself as someone … Read More → "Equipment Recommendations for a Home Electronics Lab"

Meet Mythic AI’s Soon-to-be-Legendary Analog AI

by Max Maxfield

April 21, 2022

A couple of weeks ago, I was waffling on (as is my wont) about something or other, and I mentioned that my chum Jay Dowling had introduced me to an interesting analog computer called The Analog Thing (THAT). As I said at that time, it took me ages to realize that “THAT” was an abbreviation of “The Analog Thing” and not some esoteric part of its name.

As part of this, Jay … Read More → "Meet Mythic AI’s Soon-to-be-Legendary Analog AI"

Is Ambiq’s Apollo4 Plus the World’s Most Energy Efficient MCU?

by Max Maxfield

April 19, 2022

The market for low-power microcontrollers (MCUs) used in IoT endpoint devices is fiercely competitive and not for the weak of heart. If you are a purveyor of such a low-power MCU, you have to have something really special to differentiate yourself and stand proud in the crowd. All of which leads us to…

…those clever chaps and chapesses at Ambiq. If you are already familiar with Ambiq, you’ll be interested to … Read More → "Is Ambiq’s Apollo4 Plus the World’s Most Energy Efficient MCU?"

I’m Pickin’ Up Bad Vibrations: How to Predict Motor Failure Before it Happens

Early Detection Helps to Prevent Factory Downtime

by Steven Leibson

April 18, 2022

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations
She’s giving me the excitations – Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys

I live in a condo. When I drive into my condo, I pass through two gates to get to my parking spaces. Each gate employs a motor to open and close it. When we installed these gates several years ago, they worked great. However, as the years have progressed, the gate mechanisms have started to break down. Sometimes a mechanical linkage fails. Sometimes a … Read More → "I’m Pickin’ Up Bad Vibrations: How to Predict Motor Failure Before it Happens"

Bodaciously Big Brass Balls (or The Royal Order of Adjectives)

by Max Maxfield

April 14, 2022

As I’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions, one of my back-burner hobby projects is writing a book called Wroting Inglish: The Essential Guide to Writing English for Anyone Who Doesn’t Want to be Thought a Dingbat.

For example, in my Its vs. It’s column, I noted that “I have engineer friends around the … Read More → "Bodaciously Big Brass Balls (or The Royal Order of Adjectives)"

Can You Insert Hardware Trojan Spyware IP into an IC at the Fab? Yes, You Can

Who is Minding Your Store? Have You Asked the Right Questions?

by Steven Leibson

April 13, 2022

Let me sail, let me sail
Let the Orinoco flow
Let me reach, let me beach
On the shores of Tripoli
Let me sail, let me sail
Let me crash upon your shore
Let me reach, let me beach
Far beyond the Yellow Sea – Enya, Orinoco … Read More → "Can You Insert Hardware Trojan Spyware IP into an IC at the Fab? Yes, You Can"

New Semiconductor Technologies Are Rarely What They Seem at First Glance

Microprocessors, Microcontrollers, and FPGAs Were All Once Sleepers, Much Like the “Ted Lasso” TV Series

by Steven Leibson

April 11, 2022

I watched the first season of “Ted Lasso” with my family over the Thanksgiving holiday in late November. If you’re one of the few people, like me, who aren’t familiar with the series, it’s based on a 2013 concept ad series by NBC Sports touting the channel’s coverage of the UK’s top-level Premier League football (“soccer” in the US) matches. Jason Sudeikis starred in the ads and later developed the ads’ concept of an American football coach transplanted to the UK to coach a UK football team into a television series that … Read More → "New Semiconductor Technologies Are Rarely What They Seem at First Glance"

Meet the Flex6502 — A Flexible 6502 CPU

by Max Maxfield

April 7, 2022

I don’t like to boast, but I was around to see the dawn of the microprocessor (cue Richard Strauss’s tone poem (orchestral music) Also Sprach Zarathustra (“Thus Spake Zarathustra”).

As an aside, and as I made mention in my blog — We’re One Step Closer to Judgment DayRead More → "Meet the Flex6502 — A Flexible 6502 CPU"

PCI-SIG’s PCIe 6.0 Spec Continues the Long, Happy Evolution of PCI Express

It’s Been Around Since 2003 and Will Continue To Be With Us for Years To Come

by Steven Leibson

April 6, 2022

Well, PCI-SIG has done it once again. They’ve doubled the peak maximum bandwidth of the PCI Express (PCIe) bus by releasing the PCIe 6.0 specifications on January 11. A 16-lane PCIe 6.0 connection has a peak bidirectional bandwidth of 256 Gbytes/sec. That’s pretty darn fast. How’d they do it? The simple answer is that they ripped a page from the high-speed Ethernet spec and adopted PAM4 modulation. PAM4 modulation encodes two bits with each signal excursion by using 4-level voltage signaling instead of the familiar, digital, 2-level signaling. Presto! You’ve doubled the bandwidth. PAM4 Serdes … Read More → "PCI-SIG’s PCIe 6.0 Spec Continues the Long, Happy Evolution of PCI Express"

Want to Make Your Data Impossibly Secure?

by Max Maxfield

April 5, 2022

I’m currently ensconced in the command chair in the Pleasure Dome (my office) drooling with desire, as opposed to my usual modus operandi which involves me simply sitting here drooling. I now know that I want an SSD drive that is “impossibly secure” — so secure, in fact, that it renders my precious data invisible on the basis that attackers cannot compromise what they cannot see.

The reason for my newfound desire for this incredible level of security — the term “Impossibly Secure” has been trademarked by the bodaciously brainy boffins … Read More → "Want to Make Your Data Impossibly Secure?"