Articles – Page 3

A book that covers Heathkit test equipment? Yes, please

May 19, 2025

Recently, I’ve written several articles about the Heath Company and its legendary Heathkits. I based these articles on discussions with and materials from Chas Gilmore, who joined Heath in 1966, worked there on and off for more than two decades, and eventually became its VP of product development, marketing, and sales. The articles were also based on discussions with, and a book by Chuck Penson titled “Heathkit: A Guide to the Amateur Radio Products.” (See the references below for links to these articles.) Imagine my surprise when I discovered a book titled “Read More → "A book that covers Heathkit test equipment? Yes, please"

Smart AI-Enabled Verification Will Increase First Silicon Success

by Max Maxfield

May 15, 2025

Following my wife, family, and friends (just in case any of them happen to read this by mistake), my first love is digital logic design, and my second is digital logic verification (static analysis, simulation, formal verification… you name it, and I’ll love it). … Read More →

Event-based image sensor cuts processing power requirements by one or two orders of magnitude

by Steven Leibson

May 14, 2025

I last wrote about Prophesee’s event-based vision sensor at the end of 2023. (See “Prophesee’s 5th Generation Sensors Detect Motion Instead of Images for Industrial, Robotic, and Consumer Applications.”) Back then, I wrote about the company’s fifth generation 320×320-pixel GenX320 sensor, which captures changes in light on a per-pixel basis rather than generating video frames like conventional imaging sensors. The technology has progressed since then. Prophesee has worked with Sony to produce the IMX636HD, a 1280×720-pixel, event-based sensor for industrial … Read More → "Event-based image sensor cuts processing power requirements by one or two orders of magnitude"

Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design

by Max Maxfield

May 13, 2025

I was just thinking about the 1871 book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, writer, and photographer, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll).

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass continue to influence us today, not just as beloved children’s stories but as enduring works that challenge the boundaries of logic, language, and imagination.

At their heart, both books are filled with logical conundrums, puzzling paradoxes, and … Read More → "Wow! AI-Powered “Sketch-on-Napkin” to Embedded Design"

Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint

by Steven Leibson

May 12, 2025

Efinix has just done designers a solid. The company’s new Ti180J484D1 FPGA incorporates a 2Gbit LPDDR4X SDRAM die co-packaged with the FPGA die, which creates a System in Package (SiP) device that results in a smaller footprint on your circuit board. In addition, you won’t need to worry about the precise pcb trace-length matching that’s required to properly connect the DDR SDRAM to the FPGA. Efinix has handled that for you already. The idea’s similar to those high-end FPGAs from other vendors that package HBM (high-bandwidth memory) DRAM stacks with … Read More → "Efinix co-packages FPGA with SDRAM to shrink board-level real estate footprint"

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Meets Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) in More Ways Than One

by Max Maxfield

May 8, 2025

Way back in the mists of time that we used to call 2023, I wrote (well, waffled) a column about Network-on-Chip (NoC) technology (see Who Needs a Network-on-Chip (NoC)? Everyone!). Suffice it to say that this was in the days before the punctuation police forbade me from using exclamation marks in my titles (thankfully, I’m not bitter).

Well, even though this was but two short years ago, all I can say is that NoC technology has progressed in leaps and … Read More → "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Meets Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) in More Ways Than One"

Is the world ready for Platypus, Zero ASIC’s open eFPGA IP? CEO Andreas Olofsson is betting that the answer is “Yes”

by Steven Leibson

May 7, 2025

Embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP is not new. Several companies including Achronix, Efinix, Flex Logix, Menta, and QuickLogic have been offering FPGA cores for integration into ASICs and SoCs for a while. ASIC designers use eFPGA cores to help future-proof their designs. The eFPGA can be used to patch bugs or add features as needed. These abilities help to avoid a costly and time-consuming re-spin of the ASIC. It’s a difficult bit of IP business with a limited market, chiefly used by semiconductor developers in the defense and aerospace segments. Analog Devices (ADI) bought all of … Read More → "Is the world ready for Platypus, Zero ASIC’s open eFPGA IP? CEO Andreas Olofsson is betting that the answer is “Yes”"

Microchip launches sub-$1, dual-core AVR microcontroller for functional safety applications

by Steven Leibson

May 5, 2025

Several microcontroller vendors used the time around Embedded World 2025 to introduce some truly interesting devices. I’ve already written about the TI MSPM0 microcontroller family and the WCH CH570 microcontroller (see “TI says its MSPM0 is the world’s most teeny, tiny 32-bit microcontroller. It’s smaller than a grain of white rice and costs 16 cents.” and “A 10-cent RISC-V microcontroller from China? Why not?”), and now it’s Microchip’s turn with a new family of 8-bit AVR microcontrollers designed to help comply with advanced safety requirements including ASIL C and SIL 2.

AI-Based PCBA Machine Vision Solution Ensures Supply Chain Integrity

by Max Maxfield

May 1, 2025

I wish you could visit me in Max’s World, where everything is bigger, brighter, and more colorful. The birds sing sweeter (and in harmony), the flowers are more fragrant, the butterflies are more brillacious—a neologism of brilliant and bodacious that I just invented—and the beer flows plentifully and cold. Most importantly, everyone is nice, kind, honorable, and trustworthy. No one would even dream of doing anything naughty.

Unfortunately, like you, I am forced to spend my waking hours in the real world where naughtiness is the order … Read More → "AI-Based PCBA Machine Vision Solution Ensures Supply Chain Integrity"

Everything You Wanted to Know About LFSRs (But Were Too Afraid to Ask)

by Max Maxfield

April 29, 2025

I don’t really recall when I first ran across the concept of the binary. I think I must have been around six years old. I remember getting a lined pad and pencil and starting to capture the sequence: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000… until I’d filled the entire pad. I also remember being surprised that I hadn’t “reached the end” of the binary count sequence (it was some time before I wrapped my brain around the fact that the integers [in any base] went on forever).

Similarly, I’ve been enthused by … Read More → "Everything You Wanted to Know About LFSRs (But Were Too Afraid to Ask)"