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Renesas Announces Fabulous ForgeFPGA Family

by Max Maxfield
December 2, 2021

It’s not often that I have the chance to introduce a new field-programmable gate array (FPGA) family, and even rarer that we get to greet a new FPGA vendor, so my cup runneth over because Renesas Electronics Corporation just leaped into the FPGA market with the announcement of a new line of very low-cost, very low-power, very interesting ForgeFPGA devices.

Before we focus on ForgeFPGAs, let’s first set the scene by considering their ancestry and contemplating how we came to find ourselves in this place at this time. … Read More → "Renesas Announces Fabulous ForgeFPGA Family"

Celebrating Eleven IEEE Milestones at the Computer History Museum

September 11, a Day to Remember, Was Also a Day to Celebrate Some Silicon Valley Milestones
by Steven Leibson
November 29, 2021

September 11 is a somber day of remembrance in the United States for the terrible events that took place 20 years ago, but, this year, it was also a happy day to quietly remember ten significant Silicon Valley Milestones. Brian Berg organized an outdoor event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California to commemorate eleven IEEE Milestones that he helped to create.

The IEEE approves Milestones for technical accomplishments that are at least 25 years old. These Milestones recognize accomplishments in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science, and they … Read More → "Celebrating Eleven IEEE Milestones at the Computer History Museum"

For Your Holiday Shopping Pleasure: Paco Rabanne’s New Fragrance for Men goes Electronic

For the Technology Nerd Who Already Has Everything, an Interactive Cologne
by Steven Leibson
November 26, 2021

Just in time for Black Friday, here’s a holiday gift idea for that hard-to-please nerd on your list: Phantom, Paco Rabanne’s new fragrance for men, has been electronified. Now you can have just what was missing in men’s colognes, oops, I mean Eau de Toilette. Interactivity. Not your usual, plain vanilla, QR code sort of interactivity, mind you. Full electronic interactivity between the fragrance bottle and your smartphone.</ … Read More → "For Your Holiday Shopping Pleasure: Paco Rabanne’s New Fragrance for Men goes Electronic"

Tortuously Topological Toroidal Transformations (Part Deux)

by Max Maxfield
November 23, 2021

In my previous column on this topic, I noted that — for reasons that will be revealed in the fullness of time — I’m currently wrestling with a passel of perplexing posers revolving around the math associated with revolving around a torus (plural tori), which is colloquially known as a donut.

We commenced our thought experiments with a simple strip of paper. Wrapping one end round and attaching it to … Read More → "Tortuously Topological Toroidal Transformations (Part Deux)"

The Metaverse is Coming and GridRaster Is Ready to Take Us There

by Max Maxfield
November 18, 2021

Before we plunge headfirst into the fray with gusto and abandon and — of course — aplomb, I’d like to make mention of the fact that I am a huge fan of virtual reality and augmented reality. We should also remind ourselves that, as I discussed in my What the FAQ are VR, MR, AR, DR, AV, and HR? column, virtual reality and augmented reality form only part of what I call the Reality-Virtuality Continuum.</ … Read More → "The Metaverse is Coming and GridRaster Is Ready to Take Us There"

Xilinx Unveils U55C Data Center Card

More Power for Less Power
by Kevin Morris
November 17, 2021

With Supercomputing 2021 underway this week, all eyes are focused on high-performance computing (HPC) and the incredible advances we are seeing in the world’s fastest computers. (OK, not really ALL eyes, some are still focused on Tik Tok and… well, you know).

The landscape in HPC is changing rapidly, with supercomputers playing a much larger role in solving the world’s most critical problems. With direct impact on crises such as climate change and the global pandemic, and the rise of new and challenging workloads such as AI, supercomputing is … Read More → "Xilinx Unveils U55C Data Center Card"

Say Happy 50th Birthday to the Microprocessor, Part 2

It Almost Didn’t Happen
by Steven Leibson
November 16, 2021

Part 1 of this article describes how Busicom chose Intel to develop and manufacture the world’s first commercial microprocessor. Part 2 describes how the Intel 4004 microprocessor was created and brought to market.

It was late March or early April in 1970, and Busicom’s Masatoshi Shima was very angry! He’d visited Intel with Busicom executives several times in 1969, and Busicom had agreed to pay Intel a development fee to design and manufacture a proprietary 4-chip set for Busicom’s modular 141-PF calculator. Shima had developed an initial design proposal … Read More → "Say Happy 50th Birthday to the Microprocessor, Part 2"

Using Machine Learning to Optimize FPGA Layout and Timing

by Max Maxfield
November 11, 2021

As usual, I’m amazed by how fast and how far things have changed in my own lifetime. When I started my career in electronics and computers in 1980, we thought simple programmable logic devices (PLDs) were pretty darned cool, not least that their creators managed to wring so many acronyms out of the same small collection of letters (engineers are nothing if not lovers of acronyms — especially of the TLA (three-letter acronym) variety).

The original PLDs were programmable read-only memories (PROMs), which appeared on the scene in 1970. Although these were … Read More → "Using Machine Learning to Optimize FPGA Layout and Timing"

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