Articles – Page 233

July 4, 2012

We learn about bell curves (or Gaussian distribution, if you’re a nerd) in school. It’s the time-honored observation that the midrange of any large set is usually the most popular. Most people are of average intelligence, with some outliers at the high end and the low end; most cars are mid-priced; most accidents happen midweek.

To a marketing person, the middle of the bell curve is the fat part of the market: the point where the volumes are reasonably high and the prices are reasonably low. That’s where most of the money is to … Read More → "Freescale Beefs Up the Bell Curve"

Rabbit Ears and 400G

Why the Bandwidth Glut May End Someday

by Kevin Morris

July 3, 2012

Recently, I saw an ad by a major US carrier talking about the amazing capabilities of their 4GB/month data plan. According to the commercial, this amazing plan for $30 USD/month will allow you to get up to 400,000 emails per month, download up to 1,100 songs, or do up to 34 days of continuous GPS operation. All from your smartphone.

Bear with me here, while we break that down a bit.

400,000 emails in one month is over 13,000 per day. Or over 9 per minute. An email about every six seconds, all 24 hours of every day of the month. … Read More → "Rabbit Ears and 400G"

Sensing Mother Nature’s Pending Fury

AMS Releases a Single-Chip Lightning Detector

by Bryon Moyer

July 2, 2012

It affects each of us differently: that low-frequency, distant rumble in the sky.

If you’re out exposed on a hill, it makes you look around to see whether you’re the highest thing in sight; time to move off the top.

If you’re in a pool or a lake, it means get out.

If you’re in a safe place and you love the fury of nature, your blood races and you rush to the window to see what’s coming. Perhaps after saving that file you’ve been working on … Read More → "Sensing Mother Nature’s Pending Fury"

Jubilee Technologies

by Dick Selwood

June 27, 2012

You may have heard – in Britain we had a major Royal event a few weeks ago. It was celebrating 60 years of Elizabeth’s reign but, as many commentators probably told you, although she became Queen in February 1952, when her father died, she was not crowned until June 1953. And, like many other people, watching the Coronation in 1953 was my first experience of television. Along with about 15 adults and six other children we were crammed into the kitchen of neighbours of my grandparents. (The front room was kept for “best”.)

We watched a black and white picture, on a … Read More → "Jubilee Technologies"

Chasing Rainbows

The Myth of ASIC Replacement

by Kevin Morris

June 26, 2012

With the predictability of a sunrise, the Moore’s Law heartbeat has throbbed its way into the collective consciousness of electronic designers. Every two years or so, the industry visits upon itself a new semiconductor process node, and the implications of that change ripple across the surface of the already-turbulent waters of the industry. Each time, we are amazed anew. Each time, we have to re-write our understanding. Each time, we are emboldened to go out into the world and announce, “Now, we have finally arrived! FPGAs can replace ASICs once and for all!” Then, we see our shadow … Read More → "Chasing Rainbows"

Taking Your Lumps At Optical Frequencies

Nano-components and Nano-circuits from Meta-materials

by Bryon Moyer

June 25, 2012

There’s an interesting twist on nano-scale electronics that’s being worked on at the University of Pennsylvania, and it has an optical element. Skimming over some of the coverage, you might think of optical circuits as something akin to photonics, where light is being shuttled around and manipulated. That is, in fact, not the case. To find out what this new field, with the proposed name of “metatronics,” is about, we need to go back to some basics. These aren’t all things we might be recalling from long-forgotten classes: some of these “basics” were discovered long after … Read More → "Taking Your Lumps At Optical Frequencies"

“I Made That”

The Importance of Fun Projects in Engineering

by Jim Turley

June 20, 2012

Most little kids want to grow up to be cowboys, ballerinas, astronauts, or firemen. Not you. You wanted to be an engineer, didn’t you? You wanted to make stuff.

I’m willing bet you didn’t become an engineer or a programmer by accident. You chose that career. You weren’t born into it. You probably didn’t inherit your father’s engineering practice. Your family doesn’t come from a long line of engineers that expected you to uphold the family tradition. You weren’t assigned to Job Classification 35.984.001 by an immense and bureaucratic government … Read More → "“I Made That”"

It Might Get Complicated

Synopsys Solves Sonic Stress with Audio IP

by Kevin Morris

June 19, 2012

Jack White’s manic bawl floats like frenetic frosting over a raucous clipped riff from the Parsons Triple Jet. The live recording is a mess, mixed by a near-deaf sound engineer whose thirty years at the same venue has seen his perception of sound gradually distort into a grotesque caricature of the once legendary acoustics of the house like an audio homage to Tammy Faye’s makeup artist.

Luckily, the engineers mastering the CD were on their game, and the right noises ended up in the right places – banishing the bad memory of the concert acoustics to … Read More → "It Might Get Complicated"

Swarmed by Sensors

by Bryon Moyer

June 18, 2012

There are a lot of things about San Francisco that cause debate, but there’s one item everyone can agree on: Parking SUCKS.

Many a time I’ve driven from Silicon Valley to San Francisco (a 45-minute drive, if unimpeded), only to spend yet another 45 minutes looking for parking.

So imagine how incredible it would be if your GPS were able to point out where an available parking spot was and how to navigate to it? (And, better yet, reserve it so some other schlub doesn’t slide in right as you approach?)

… Read More → "Swarmed by Sensors"

Memories With Heat Sinks

MoSys “Bandwidth Engine” Accelerates Da Net

by Jim Turley

June 13, 2012

It’s not often you see memory chips with heat sinks. But these are no ordinary memory chips.

No, indeed. These are “bandwidth engines,” a new class of chips from MoSys. Don’t know MoSys? Then you’re probably not an SoC designer. The company has been around for more than 20 years, but it made its name in the IP-licensing business, not the chip business. MoSys created the single-transistor (1T) SRAM cell, which you could license for inclusion in your own chip. 1T SRAMs are a lot smaller than traditional six-transistor SRAM cells, so the MoSys technology … Read More → "Memories With Heat Sinks"