Articles – Page 52

RISC-V Takes Embedded World 2022 by Storm

June 30, 2022

I love computers (but only in a manly-man way, you understand). I’m not talking about the end-products that sit on our desks, hang out in our pockets, or lurk around us as we meander our way through the world, although I’m certainly fond of these little rascals—I’m much more interested in their “brains” in the form of their processing units where all the decision-making and number-crunching takes place.

As an aside, speaking of brains (which, of course, makes me think of Read More → "RISC-V Takes Embedded World 2022 by Storm"

CogniFiber: Computing @ The Speed of Light

by Max Maxfield

June 28, 2022

I must admit that I’m starting to feel quite enthused and excited. Of course, these are my usual states of being, so it might be tricky for a casual observer to tell if there’s any difference. The reason for my current invigoration and vivification is that I spent much of the weekend past starting to sketch out the presentations I will be giving in Trondheim, Norway, around the beginning of September.

Did you know that Norway’s national bird is the white-throated dipper? The reason I drop this … Read More → "CogniFiber: Computing @ The Speed of Light"

I Was Mr. Spock’s Science Officer, For a Day

by Steven Leibson

June 27, 2022

I’ve been reading science fiction (SF) since the second grade. The first SF book that I read was “The Space Witch” by Don Freeman, which I promptly plagiarized. That book was published in 1959 and I read it a couple of years later. By fourth grade, I’d graduated to the Heinlein juveniles starting with “Have Space Suit Will Travel,” which psychically transported me out of my fourth-grade classroom for at least two hours while other classroom activities took place around me. I was oblivious. Fortunately, my fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Fraas refused to disturb a student so deeply enmeshed … Read More → "I Was Mr. Spock’s Science Officer, For a Day"

OMG! Where Are My Assets?

by Max Maxfield

June 23, 2022

I am an outrageously lucky man. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many countries and see many things. For example, I’ve given training courses in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Japan; I’ve presented guest lectures at universities in America, England, and Norway; and I’ve been invited to speak at conferences in Hawaii, Brazil, India, China, Taiwan, and South Korea (to name but a few). Even better – the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the chocolate cake, if you will – is that other people have paid all the bills, … Read More → "OMG! Where Are My Assets?"

New GUIs for Old Cars: Development Platforms for Manual and Autonomous Driving

by Steven Leibson

June 20, 2022

If you love old cars, you know there’s an allure to their look but their sparse instrumentation leaves much to be desired and, of course, these old machines have no connection to today’s wired world. Earlier this year, Berlin-based Incari announced that it had partnered with the Strate School of Design Bangalore and Design 1880 in France. The three partners plan to retrofit advanced human-machine interfaces (HMIs) in classic cars. For some auto aficionados, this will be sacrilege. For others, it’s a welcome update. Which camp are you in?

Read More → "New GUIs for Old Cars: Development Platforms for Manual and Autonomous Driving"

Using ML to Mine Design Data to Speed and Improve SoC Designs

by Max Maxfield

June 16, 2022

On the one hand, I’m tremendously excited and enthused by all of the amazing things I’m currently hearing regarding deployments of enterprise-level artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL). But (and there’s always a “but”)…

Actually, before we hurl ourselves headfirst into the fray with gusto and abandon, someone asked me earlier today to explain the differences between AI, ML, and DL. Well, in a crunchy nutshell, AI refers to any technology that enables machines to simulate (some say “mimic”) human behaviors and decision-making … Read More → "Using ML to Mine Design Data to Speed and Improve SoC Designs"

Building a Computer, Should You Inadvertently Travel Back in Time (Part 2)

by Max Maxfield

June 14, 2022

In my previous column, I commenced the task of cogitating and ruminating on what I might do to put food on the table if I inadvertently wandered into a timeslip and found myself transported back to the late 1930s or early 1940s. Just to increase the fun and frivolity, I pondered the possibility that this slippery timeslip also transported me into a parallel dimension in which computer science remained rooted in the analog domain.</ … Read More → "Building a Computer, Should You Inadvertently Travel Back in Time (Part 2)"

Ray Holt and the CADC – The World’s First Military Digital Flight Computer

by Steven Leibson

June 13, 2022

Ray Holt was a most unlikely candidate to develop a microprocessor chip set for the US Navy’s new F-14 variable-wing fighter jet. From an early age, Holt was a lackluster student, fully committed to a planned career as a professional baseball player. In 1962, as a senior at Dominguez High School in Compton, California, career counselors advised him not to go into engineering because he exhibited low mechanical aptitude. As a result, Holt ended up majoring in forestry at the University of Idaho. That move followed a year of working at a garbage dump after an … Read More → "Ray Holt and the CADC – The World’s First Military Digital Flight Computer"

Building a Computer, Should You Inadvertently Travel Back in Time (Part 1)

by Max Maxfield

June 9, 2022

I sometimes wonder if I spend too much time reading science fiction books. Similarly for watching science fiction films and TV series in general and Doctor Who in particular. The reason I say this is that I do tend to spend more time than is good for me thinking about what I would do if I inadvertently wandered into a timeslip and found myself transported back to the late 1930s or early 1940s, for example. The problems would only be exacerbated if this slip also transported me into a parallel dimension – such as one that never … Read More → "Building a Computer, Should You Inadvertently Travel Back in Time (Part 1)"

Is the Chip Shortage Getting Better? When and How Will it End?

by Steven Leibson

June 8, 2022

Once upon a time, cigarette manufacturer Benson and Hedges introduced a 100mm tobacco cigarette. Not to be outdone, the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company created the Chesterfield 101, marketing it as a “silly millimeter longer.” You can still find the TV ad from the late 1960s on YouTube. Both tobacco products were nothing but marketing stunts, of course. It was the same old chopped tobacco, laced with additives and wrapped in paper, but the cigarette makers chose to give their products a story that was somehow connected with millimeters of length. In semiconductor manufacturing, millimeters mean something … Read More → "Is the Chip Shortage Getting Better? When and How Will it End?"