Articles – Page 56

The Day the “NanoDrip” Moniker Became Sexy!

March 24, 2022

As always, I am amazed by the astounding ingenuity of the human race, of which I am proud to be a card-carrying member. The reason I say this is that my eyes were just opened to a profusion of production possibilities provided by a revolutionary new ultra-high resolution 3D printing technology that could transfigure and transform a wide range of industries, including semiconductor and display manufacturing.

In a recent column — Welcome to a … Read More → "The Day the “NanoDrip” Moniker Became Sexy!"

You Too Can Rule the AoT with Audio Weaver

by Max Maxfield

March 22, 2022

I am aghast, alarmed, astounded, shocked, and horrified. If pushed, I might admit to being flabbergasted (rarely has my flabber been so gasted). If I were feeling uncouth, I might even go so far as to say I was gobsmacked. How could something as awesome as what I am about to discuss have existed for so long without my knowing anything about it?

These days, audio experiences have grown to be a major part of our daily lives — not just listening to high-fidelity music coming out of incredibly small speakers … Read More → "You Too Can Rule the AoT with Audio Weaver"

Founding Stories of Famous Electronic Distributors, Part 2

ECIA Celebrates 100 Years of Electronics Distribution

by Steven Leibson

March 21, 2022

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed the founding stories of two early pioneers in electronic component distribution: Sager and Allied. These stories came from a new book published by the ECIA (Electronic Components Industry Association) titled “Electronic Component Industry Evolution: 100 Years of the Authorized Channel.” This book contains many stories of distributors who are very familiar to me, as well as telling electronic component distribution’ … Read More → "Founding Stories of Famous Electronic Distributors, Part 2"

Shhh! Aspinity’s AML100 Analog AI Voice & Vibration IC is Listening!

by Max Maxfield

March 17, 2022

Although the vast majority of people in the embedded and IoT industries are bouncing back and forth and jumping up and down singing the praises of digital systems and digital signal processing (DSP), it’s the topics of analog systems and analog signal processing (ASP) that have been much on (what I laughingly call) my mind of late.

As I’ve mentioned on occasion, I’m a digital hardware design engineer by trade. My first job after staggering out of the university doors into the light of day was as … Read More → "Shhh! Aspinity’s AML100 Analog AI Voice & Vibration IC is Listening!"

Founding Stories of Famous Electronic Distributors, Part 1

ECIA Celebrates 100 Years of Electronics Distribution

by Steven Leibson

March 16, 2022

Electronic distributors are the Rodney Dangerfields of the electronics industry. CEOs heading component vendors view them mostly as a necessary evil. Worst case, they’re viewed as middlemen that erode profit. Best case, they’re a partner that requires a lot of support. Engineers have, in the past, also viewed distributors as a necessary evil. You turn to them when the component vendor won’t give you the time of day because your company’s too small to be dealt with directly. These are mean-spirited attitudes.

In reality, most of … Read More → "Founding Stories of Famous Electronic Distributors, Part 1"

Intel Announces World’s Fastest FPGAs with in-package HBM: The Intel Agilex M-Series FPGAs

Just one word. Chiplets.

by Steven Leibson

March 14, 2022

Intel has just introduced the Agilex M-Series FPGAs with support for PCIe Gen5, Optane persistent memory, CXL, and high-speed Ethernet. Some of the FPGAs in the Agilex M-Series also incorporate integrated High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) DRAM stacks. FPGAs with integrated HBM DRAM stacks are not new. Both Intel and AMD-Xilinx have offered such devices for a few years. Xilinx announced its first FPGAs with integrated HBM, the Virtex UltraScale+ HBM FPGAs, in late 2016, although parts didn’t appear until early 2018. Intel’s first-generation FPGA family with integrated HBM2 DRAM stacks were the Intel Stratix 10 MX FPGAs, … Read More → "Intel Announces World’s Fastest FPGAs with in-package HBM: The Intel Agilex M-Series FPGAs"

Is This the Future of Embedded Systems and IoT Things?

by Max Maxfield

March 10, 2022

I think I’ve just seen the future of embedded systems and the “things” that form the Internet of Things (IoT). From what I can tell, it’s going to be a virtualized future that contains a cornucopia of containers. If only I knew more about virtualization in general, and containers in particular, I could rule the world.

Just speaking of the future caused the Days of Future Passed album, which was released by The Moody Blues in 1967, to pop … Read More → "Is This the Future of Embedded Systems and IoT Things?"

Getting Ever Closer to Fully Autonomous Vehicles

by Max Maxfield

March 8, 2022

When I was but a young whippersnapper, the idea of self-driving vehicles was the stuff of science fiction. Even though many Poohsticks have passed under the bridge since those far off days of yore, and even though we still don’t have fully autonomous vehicles (AVs), I’m delighted to report that we are slowly getting there.

I know many people who hold no truck (no pun intended) with AVs. Some worry that they will be more hazardous than human-controlled vehicles. To these naysayers I would respond, “Have you driven … Read More → "Getting Ever Closer to Fully Autonomous Vehicles"

Happy 50th Birthday to the 8-bit Intel 8008 Microprocessor

How a Spurned Custom IC design Spawned a Dynasty

by Steven Leibson

March 7, 2022

Early microprocessors straddled two major computing epochs. During the first epoch, stretching from the late 1960s through the 1970s, computer system engineers designed and implemented minicomputer processor architectures and processor boards using TTL parts, bipolar PROMs, stone knives, and bearskins. Each minicomputer maker – including Digital Equipment Corp (DEC), Data General (DG), Prime, Computer Automation, IBM, Burroughs, HP, Four-Phase, NCR, and Univac – had their own, proprietary minicomputer architectures, ISAs, and dedicated peripherals. It was the wild, wild West. During the second epoch, which partially overlapped the first epoch, some computer manufacturers and some semiconductor vendors started designing … Read More → "Happy 50th Birthday to the 8-bit Intel 8008 Microprocessor"

Brain Chips are Here!

by Max Maxfield

March 3, 2022

I remember the heady thrill of the early 1980s when the unwashed masses (in the form of myself and my friends) first started to hear people talking about “expert systems.” These little rascals (the systems, not the people) were an early form of artificial intelligence (AI) that employed a knowledge base of facts and rules and an inference engine that could use the knowledge base to deduce new information.

It’s not unfair to say that expert systems were pretty darned clever for their time. Unfortunately, their capabilities were over-hyped, … Read More → "Brain Chips are Here!"