Articles – Page 222

January 29, 2013

We knew this was coming all along.

From Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot”, to James Cameron’s “The Terminator” – our science fiction writers have been warning us for two centuries that our engineering masterpieces would one day rise up to defeat us. With no emotional capacity for remorse or regret, no human souls to temper their relentless pursuit of their goals, and no fear to give them pause, these perfect villains would multi-mindedly put an end to our nice little party where humans were the top of Earth’ … Read More → "Technocalypse!"

In Search of MEMS Standards

by Bryon Moyer

January 28, 2013

“MEMS is in need of standards.”

I’ve heard that declaration many times over the last few months. But just try to search the Internet for evidence of standards or even standardization efforts, and you’ll find… stuff, but you have to look hard and follow many fruitless threads to get there, and it’s anything but conclusive. Discussions with the actual people involved paint a very different picture from that which emerges from the Internet.

This article is an attempt to capture the major activities underway, at least to the extent that I’ve … Read More → "In Search of MEMS Standards"

Happy Birthday, Opportunity

by Dick Selwood

January 23, 2013

It is now nine years since Opportunity bounced onto the surface of Mars, with a projected mission life of 90 Mars days. (A Mars day, or Sol in NASA jargon, is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day.) Already on Mars was Spirit, Opportunity’s twin sister. (The Mars Exploration Rovers – MER – team seems to refer to their Rovers as “she” rather as sailors do their ships.)

It may be incorrect to call January 24^th “Opportunity’s Birthday.” I regard it as such, as this was the day that its computer switched from controlling the descent … Read More → "Happy Birthday, Opportunity"

Occupy FPGA

EDA Tools for the 99%

by Kevin Morris

January 22, 2013

It’s freezing outside, but we are determined. We’ve got our sleeping bags, our unshaven faces, and our steely determination. We are occupying FPGA and demanding better tools. Is anyone listening? We represent the 99%!

Most people in the industry would tell you that there are three big electronic design automation (EDA) companies in the world. And there’s plenty of evidence to support them. Every industry analyst for the past 20 years has tracked the same old “big-3” EDA companies doing the same old “big 3” things. If you could look into the revenues … Read More → "Occupy FPGA"

The Shoe Finally Drops

Synopsys Nets EVE

by Bryon Moyer

January 21, 2013

This was no mystery match-up. People have been asking the question for a long time and only recently got their answer: When is Synopsys going to buy EVE?

For those of you not in the thick of the emulation world, EVE makes emulators – well, actually, that depends on whom you talk to – more on that shortly – but most agree on this basic point. And Synopsys was the only one of the big three EDA guys without an emulator position. And there are only … Read More → "The Shoe Finally Drops"

Emulation Urge?

Don’t Give Up on Simulation Yet!

by Bryon Moyer

January 17, 2013

It has been widely documented that the complexity of system-on-chip (SoC) designs is increasing exponentially, with most SoCs now including multi-threaded processors and many memories with multiple clock domains.

The ITRS report of 2010 shows that the number of processors for portable consumer devices is expected to increase ten-fold between 2009 and 2016, with the performance of each processor leaping 50x over the same time period. ITRS prognosticates that consumer SoC devices could embed 75 processors 10 years from now. Of course, this will be achieved under the constraint of a constant power budget. And, to top it all, design and verification … Read More → "Emulation Urge?"

U.S. Attacks Java

Homeland Security says it’s Zero Dark Thirty for the software

by Jim Turley

January 16, 2013

“Unless it is absolutely necessary to run Java in web browsers, disable it.” That’s the word from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team, as posted two days ago on its website.

Ouch. It’s rough when your own government tells you that software is bad for you.

This isn’t the first time DHS has launched a drone strike on Java, either. Oh, no. This is just an update of an earlier post that warned citizens away from Java, saying that bugs in the program were being exploited … Read More → "U.S. Attacks Java"

A Crossroads of Vision

Altium Alters Course

by Kevin Morris

January 15, 2013

Altium has long been a standout in the EDA industry. The company got its start as Protel – a supplier of affordable desktop PCB layout solutions. When the big EDA suppliers were exclusively selling expensive, workstation-based, enterprise-level board design systems, Altium (Protel) provided a strong, usable desktop solution for everybody else – the people who didn’t have a huge design tool budget.

As Protel evolved into Altium, their differences from the pack became more pronounced. Altium became the company of vision, with the goal of supplying the masses with a comprehensive tool suite including … Read More → "A Crossroads of Vision"

A Synthetic Gyroscope

Kionix Offers a Gyroscope Without the Burdens of a Gyroscope

by Bryon Moyer

January 14, 2013

I have a theory about people. They can be over-simplistically divided into two groups that I refer to as “differentiators” and “integrators.”

This comes from basic calculus. You may recall that derivatives are very sensitive: small changes in a function can create wild changes in the derivative, and each successive derivative can freak out even faster. Integrals, on the other hand, react very slowly to change.

We all know those people with short attention spans. They’re quick to notice change and react – or overreact. They have little patience for letting a plan work before … Read More → "A Synthetic Gyroscope"

Unconventional Touch

by Bryon Moyer

January 10, 2013

Funny how we have dual expectations when it comes to our hands. Give us a workshop and some tools, and we’ll craft a finely-honed wooden object using pressure to sand, gingerly holding nails in place so as not to end up with blackened thumbnails, and convolving fine finger movements with the delicate response of tiny brush bristles to paint intricate detail. Give us paper and a pen or brush, and we’ll create nuanced calligraphy that pleases and informs. Give a skilled dentist some scary-looking steel tools, and he or she will place them – hopefully – exactly where needed … Read More → "Unconventional Touch"