Articles – Page 262

Keeping it All in Memory

by Bryon Moyer

July 6, 2011

When you think “database,” a number of images might come to mind.

Giant servers with multiple IT experts required to make even the most minute of changes without breaking the entire thing and shutting the company down for weeks while it’s all rebuilt from scratch.
The outsized egos of self-styled demi-gods braving Tasmanian cyclones, breaking nary a bead of sweat.
Monster teams of consultants required to implement what you want in an app overlaid on a monster database on a monster schedule. (Which will slip.)

Head in the Clouds

Some Concepts Never Die

by Jim Turley

July 5, 2011

Is it just me, or is “cloud computing” the dumbest idea ever?

Oh, sure, I know IT managers and journalists and armchair pundits are getting all breathless over the cloud. The cloud is going to change everything. The cloud is going to spell the demise of Microsoft and the rise of Google, or Zynga, or something else. The cloud will rescue us all from… I’m not sure what. But it’ll be great. You just see.

To which I reply with a hearty, WTF?

Did you people … Read More → "Head in the Clouds"

Happy Independence Day

by Dick Selwood

July 4, 2011

Happy Birthday, the United States of America. How does it feel to be 235? You really have done well since you took the training wheels off and started riding your bicycle by yourself.

Many societies have what historians call “Foundation Myths” – stories that explain how a community was established. Some myths explain societies through the acts of gods, others through the actions of people, either imaginary or real people. For example, the founding myth of the City of Rome was that twins, Romulus and Remus, who were brought up by a she-wolf, founded the city … Read More → "Happy Independence Day"

A 3-in-1 Gyroscope

by Bryon Moyer

June 30, 2011

[Editor’s note: this is the seventh and final in a series of articles derived from a session at this year’s ISSCC that focused on sensors and energy harvesting. The prior article dealt with a self-sufficient energy harvester. For more details, you are referred to the ISSCC proceedings.]

Our final look at sensors brings us to perhaps one of the most ubiquitous and evident sensors in phones these days: the inertial measurement unit (IMU), or, the thing that makes your … Read More → "A 3-in-1 Gyroscope"

ARM Servers “Cloud” the Issue

From Little Acorns Do Mighty Oak Trees Grow

by Jim Turley

June 29, 2011

Gather ’round, children, for the conclusion of our story on how ARM and x86 battled it out for global supremacy. Wielding PCs and servers as their weapons, these two titans—one large and mighty, the other small and nimble—thrust and parried as the populace quaked in fear. Who would emerge triumphant? Who would retreat in shame? And who will program these damn things?

Two weeks ago, we looked at how ARM chips probably won’t replace the venerable x86 in PCs, mostly because doing so would upend the very definition of a … Read More → "ARM Servers “Cloud” the Issue"

From Little Cells Do Mighty Networks Grow?

by Dick Selwood

June 28, 2011

Technology has had, for many years, a habit of giving with one hand and then biting you from behind. Take telephones: long ago you picked up a hand set and asked for a person, and someone at the local office plugged you in, and possibly listened in. Then came dialling – you had faster connectivity but had to maintain a list of numbers. The list and the numbers both increased as dialling spread from local community to wider areas and finally around the world. The upgrading of exchanges (or switches) brought in keypad dialling. Pressing buttons and software routing … Read More → "From Little Cells Do Mighty Networks Grow?"

Light Show

Synopsys’ OSG Group Helps Designers Put Photons in the Right Place

by Bryon Moyer

June 27, 2011

Way back in the 80s, I remember talking to someone about the delicacy of putting together the lens stack used to project the light that exposes circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Those machines must seem hopelessly primitive today (pellicles were just being introduced), and yet, even then, the optics were a delicate matter.

As described to me, the lenses were carefully ground and assembled with thin sheets of paper between them – like the wax paper that keeps slices of deli cheese from sticking together. To assemble, you carefully positioned one lens over its adjoining one, and, … Read More → "Light Show"

Streamline Your Video Processing Apps with Design Examples

by Bryon Moyer

June 27, 2011

Wouldn’t it be great if you could develop your video processing applications faster? You can with a complete suite of ready-to-use video processing functions.

These functions are ready to be dropped into your design and connected through open Avalon® Streaming interfaces.

Watch this 5-minute video for a demo that shows you a low-cost touch screen-based development kit … Read More → "Streamline Your Video Processing Apps with Design Examples"

Thinking Local

Is Globalization in Electronics Inevitable?

by Bryon Moyer

June 23, 2011

In those moments when we’re not frantically trying to keep up with all that keeps us awake at night, it’s easy to pine for a time when your world was limited in scope and you knew your friends by name rather than by avatar and you knew where your food and your shoes and your tractor came from. Of course, it’s all too easy to romanticize the past, and certainly not everyone has that yearning. But enough of it exists to stoke things like the Slow Food movement and a specific neologism, the < … Read More → "Thinking Local"

How To Succeed in the MCU Business Without Really Trying

Success Factors Aren’t Always Obvious

by Jim Turley

June 22, 2011

What does it take to be a successful microcontroller vendor? It’s a fair question—after all, big chip companies have billions of dollars riding on the outcome. Freescale, Microchip, Renesas, and a dozen other firms work very hard to make their MCUs more attractive than the other guy’s.

As an MCU user, what does it take to get your attention? Why do you choose one MCU over another, and why do you stay with that MCU (or abandon it for a competing chip) on the next project?

I recently had … Read More → "How To Succeed in the MCU Business Without Really Trying"