Articles – Page 53

Building Robots? Need a Place to Start? Try This FPGA-based SOM with Apps from AMD/Xilinx

June 6, 2022

Robots have captured our imagination ever since Czech writer Karel Čapek coined the word in his play titled “R.U.R” (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti or Rossum's Universal Robots), which he wrote in 1920. The play premiered the following year, and even in that first appearance, things didn’t go well for people. Eventually, Rossum’s robots revolted and wiped out the human race, which set an oft-repeated precedent for the next century’s worth of robot stories. … Read More →

The Latest and Greatest in Secure Control FPGAs and FPGA-Based ORAN Solutions

by Max Maxfield

June 2, 2022

I just turned 65 years old this past weekend. I find this fact hard to believe. Where did the time go? I don’t remember the 1980s at all (I must have had a bad beer). One of the cool things about growing older (there aren’t many, so you have to make the most out of what you can get) is that you’ve had the chance to perceive, peruse, and ponder a few things along the way.

For example, I got to see the very first episode of Doctor … Read More → "The Latest and Greatest in Secure Control FPGAs and FPGA-Based ORAN Solutions"

I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 3

by Steven Leibson

June 1, 2022

The first two parts of this article dealt with getting new Internet service from TDS Telecom at my new home near St. George, Utah. It took a few days for a technician to come out and install 50 feet of coaxial cable from the utility pedestal located at the corner of my property to the house and then to install and provision the cable modem. In about an hour and a half, I had Internet. However, the technician was not able to use the pre-buried conduit for the outside cable run, so he had to run the coax along the … Read More → "I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 3"

Whom Do You Trust?

by Max Maxfield

May 31, 2022

I love all of the cool things that today’s incredible technologies make available to us. Take the internet, for example. I think it’s fair to say that I avail myself of the awesome access it provides to information from dawn to dusk. Even when I’m relaxing in the evening watching a program on the television, I’ll be using my trusty iPad Pro to look up information on actors, locations, unfamiliar words… all sorts of things.

I remember when I commenced my career in the early 1980s. … Read More → "Whom Do You Trust?"

I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 2

by Steven Leibson

May 30, 2022

Six days after getting my new Internet service in Ivins, Utah, I managed to kill my Internet connection. I did it by unplugging the cable modem’s power brick and plugging it into a surge protected power strip. The cable modem refused to boot after that. So, instead of writing about my adventures with a powerline modem as promised in the first part of this article, I’m now writing about the events surrounding the restoration of my Internet service after my cable modem died.

How do I know the … Read More → "I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 2"

BeBop RoboSkin Provides Tactile Awareness for Robots

by Max Maxfield

May 26, 2022

I often think of a future that involves truly intelligent robots working alongside humans to make the world a better place for all of us. My wife (Gina the Gorgeous) is constantly asking me how long it will be until we have our own robot to help with household tasks. I have no idea how to answer this question. Looking back over the last 40 years, some of the things we — engineers, scientists, and technologists — thought were going to be hard turned out to be much easier than we expected. Contra wise, some of the things we … Read More → "BeBop RoboSkin Provides Tactile Awareness for Robots"

I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 1

by Steven Leibson

May 23, 2022

I recently moved to Ivins, Utah. Go ahead. Try to find it on a map. It’s a suburb of a suburb of St. George, which itself isn’t very large. One of many concerns during the move was getting Internet service in the subdivision where I moved. We’re a bit out of town, even for Ivins, and there are not that many choices. I’ve gotten 10 Mbps DSL Internet services from AT&T for about 30 years, first in Massachusetts and then in San Jose, California. However, AT&T no esta aqui – they’ … Read More → "I Come to Bury the Internet, and to Praise It, Part 1"

Are You Ready to Lay Your Hands on the World’s First Universal Processor?

by Max Maxfield

May 19, 2022

One of the things I really enjoy is bacon sandwiches, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about here. Another thing I enjoy is watching a startup company evolve from being a twinkle in its founder’s eye to purveying its first product.

Way back in the mists of time we used to call May 2020 (which is two long years ago as I pen these words), Jim Turley wrote a column on the topic of < … Read More → "Are You Ready to Lay Your Hands on the World’s First Universal Processor?"

What? MORE 8-Bit Microcontrollers?

by Max Maxfield

May 17, 2022

With all the talk about 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit processors that is constantly swirling around us, I’m not sure how many of today’s younger engineers are aware that the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was a 4-bit machine (although, in hindsight — which is the one true science — the part number is a bit (no pun intended) of a giveaway).

As an aside, if you ever want to learn more about how the 4004 — and hence our modern world — came to be, I heartily recommend the columns that were … Read More → "What? MORE 8-Bit Microcontrollers?"

Powering FPGAs is a Giant Hassle. Here’s Some Help.

AnDAPT Targets a Small Power IC Niche for its Programmable PMICs

by Steven Leibson

May 16, 2022

When I first started working for an FPGA company a decade ago, I was stunned to find out how many power supply rails these parts required. I’d never encountered chips that needed five to ten (or more) power supply rails. Even back in the old, old PMOS days, chips needed only three supply voltages and, for a few fortunate decades, 5 volts was all you ever needed for a power supply. Somehow, someone gave permission to FPGA designers to go hog wild with their over-the-top power supply requirements. This unhappy characteristic isn’t unique to one … Read More → "Powering FPGAs is a Giant Hassle. Here’s Some Help."