Articles – Page 5

FPGA-Based Prototyping Like You Wouldn’t Believe

September 16, 2025

I’ve said this before, and I’ll doubtless say it again—after I’d graduated from Sheffield Polytechnic with my degree in Control Engineering, my first position was as a member of a team designing CPUs for mainframe computers.

As an aside (this one came sooner than any of us were expecting), Sheffield Polytechnic is now known as Sheffield Hallam University. Meanwhile, “Control Engineering” courses now go under various guises, including “Mechatronics and Control Engineering,” “Systems and Control Engineering,” “Automation and Control Engineering,” and others.

This was in 1980. … Read More → "FPGA-Based Prototyping Like You Wouldn’t Believe"

Migrating SWaP-C-Constrained Aerospace & Defense Apps to VNX+

by Max Maxfield

September 11, 2025

As usual, my poor old noggin is spinning like a top. I’ve just learned more than I ever wanted to know about the problems with the existing PC/104 and VITA 74 (VNX) standards, along with the advantages promised by the recent introduction of the VITA 90 (VNX+) offering.

Before we plunge into the fray with gusto and abandon (and aplomb, of course), let’s take a step back to make sure we’re all tap-dancing to the same skirl of the bagpipes. The term “SWaP-C” refers to an engineering evaluation framework primarily used to … Read More → "Migrating SWaP-C-Constrained Aerospace & Defense Apps to VNX+"

Meet the ManT1S: Computing, Comms, and Power Over Single Pair Ethernet

by Max Maxfield

September 9, 2025

I’m always impressed by engineers who possess the ability to identify a market need and then create a tailored solution that elegantly addresses the situation. I’m not that sort of engineer (it’s a wise man who knows his own limitations).

In my case, I have the almost uncanny ability to misidentify a market need (to identify a non-need if you will) and to then create an overengineered solution to address my nonexistent problem. Although I don’t like to boast, I think it’s fair to say that overengineering things … Read More → "Meet the ManT1S: Computing, Comms, and Power Over Single Pair Ethernet"

Hardware-Agnostic Sensitivity-Aware Fully-Automated AI Model Optimization is a Game-Changer

by Max Maxfield

September 4, 2025

Well, hello there! You just caught me cogitating and ruminating over the fact that so many things that seem conceptually simple when you are first exposed to them turn out to have hidden depths of complexity when you consider them more closely.

Take Newtonian gravity, for example. In his Law of Universal Gravitation (1687), Isaac Newton proposed that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

This appears to be easy-peasy … Read More → "Hardware-Agnostic Sensitivity-Aware Fully-Automated AI Model Optimization is a Game-Changer"

Wednesday Video Roundup (Sept 3, 2025)

by Larra Morris

September 3, 2025

Want to make sure you're keeping up with all of EE Journal's Chalk Talks and Libby and Demo's adventures in the latest episodes of Libby's Lab? Here are this week's newest videos from EE Journal: … Read More →

21st Century Real-Time Navigation for the Visually Impaired

by Max Maxfield

September 2, 2025

I must admit that I have a personal interest in this column. Hmm, that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. Obviously, I have a personal interest in all my columns, but this one more so than most.

I have a cousin named Graham, who is three years older than your humble narrator (I pride myself on my humility). Graham has always been a bit of a trickster. For example, one day when I was about four and a half years old, he came round to our house to play. … Read More → "21st Century Real-Time Navigation for the Visually Impaired"

High-Precision Positioning in the World’s Deepest Mines and on the Moon

by Max Maxfield

August 28, 2025

I’ve just been introduced to a new technological concept and capability I’d never even contemplated before, and now my poor old noggin is buzzing with ideas. Let me set the scene. Suppose you were to wake up in a huge cavern at the bottom of the world’s deepest mine (I hate it when that happens). Also, suppose there are multiple tunnels leading off in all directions, but there are no signs indicating which one you should take to escape.

Fortunately, a kindly soul has taken the time to leave a … Read More → "High-Precision Positioning in the World’s Deepest Mines and on the Moon"

Will New Ultra-High-Performance AI Inference Chips Make AI Data Centers Cost-Effective?

by Max Maxfield

August 26, 2025

My head is currently spinning like a top. I foolishly wondered how much power AI-heavy data centers are currently consuming, and how much they are expected to consume in the coming years, and now I’m sorry I asked.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that global electricity demand from data centers will more than double to approximately 945 TWh by 2030, primarily driven by AI-optimized facilities. That’s about the current annual electricity use of Japan. A Deloitte estimate predicts that worldwide AI data center consumption will reach ~90 TWh by 2026, which would account for … Read More → "Will New Ultra-High-Performance AI Inference Chips Make AI Data Centers Cost-Effective?"

Exceptional Multi-Mode Antennas for Your Inimitable Connected Devices

by Max Maxfield

August 21, 2025

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m a digital logic design engineer by trade. I bask in the certainty of the digital 0 and 1 domain, my mind lurches on its gimbals when faced with the wibbly-wobbly world of analog, and it cowers at the thought of radio frequency (RF) design, which—in my humble opinion—is best left to those who are already unhinged to start with.

For reasons that will be made apparent shortly, what I laughingly call “my mind” is currently filled with thoughts pertaining to … Read More → "Exceptional Multi-Mode Antennas for Your Inimitable Connected Devices"

Flash Memory with a Secure Twist

by Max Maxfield

August 19, 2025

In many ways, I wish we lived in a simpler world. I’m not talking about regressing to an Arcadian lifestyle, as tempting as that may be. What I’m contemplating is a world in which everyone is kind and honest, and the thought of taking anything that wasn’t theirs simply would not cross their minds. A world, in short, in which we didn’t need to worry about cybersecurity because there were no cybercriminals.

As an aside, just mentioning an Arcadian lifestyle reminded me of when Frodo Baggins first visits Read More → "Flash Memory with a Secure Twist"