Articles – Page 66

July 26, 2021

It’s computers all the way down. We know about recursion in software, but it’s surprising to find it occurring in hardware. How many computers are really inside your computer? One? A couple? Maybe a dozen? In reality, it’s probably hundreds.

Normal people count the average PC, Mac, or Linux box as one computer. But, as engineers, we know there’s really more than one processor inside. But how many, really? In the early days of the IBM Personal Computer Model 5150, the keyboard had its own 8048 microcontroller chip … Read More → "How Many Computers Are in Your Computer?"

If You Can’t Trust TrustInSoft, Who Can You Trust?

by Max Maxfield

July 22, 2021

If you are a hardware design engineer, you are doubtless familiar with the concept of formal verification as it applies to hardware design, but have you ever considered how formal verification might relate to software and the developers thereof (bless their little cotton socks)?

Life can be a rum old thing, and no mistake. When it comes to formal verification, for example, it’s interesting to discover that this little rascal was originally conceived in the 1960s with software in mind. Sad to relate, however, my understanding is that few ( … Read More → "If You Can’t Trust TrustInSoft, Who Can You Trust?"

Bluetooth AoA, AoD Find the Way Indoors

Extension of Bluetooth Spec is Like GPS For Your Car Keys

by Jim Turley

July 20, 2021

I’m sure Harald Gormsson (ca. 910–985) never saw this coming. The wireless specification that bears his nom de guerre has been extended, amended, and adapted to encompass all sorts of new applications. What began as an excuse to wear a wireless earpiece is now a way to connect to our cars, stream music to our speakers, and locate our missing pets.

Wait, what was that last bit? Yes, Bluetooth is more than just a short-range pipe for transferring data. It … Read More → "Bluetooth AoA, AoD Find the Way Indoors"

Turning Flat Images Into 3D Scenes

Eys3D Silicon Will “3D-ify” Stereo Video Streams

by Jim Turley

July 19, 2021

If Elon says it, it must be true. Autonomous vehicles don’t need no steenkin’ lidar sensors. We can do it all with cameras. A nice idea, but converting camera images into useful data in real time is tricky. Very tricky.

Cameras are stupid, mostly because they operate independent of one another. They have no spatial awareness, no concept of depth, and no idea of what’s important or what’s trivial. As mammals, we have two eyes pointed more or less in the same direction to give us stereoscopic … Read More → "Turning Flat Images Into 3D Scenes"

Got FPGA? Got Test!

by Max Maxfield

July 15, 2021

I was just chatting with the chaps and chapesses at Testonica. These little scamps offer a wide range of services, including test and measurement (T&M) and design for test (DFT) analysis, FPGA-based development, embedded software development, and electronics hardware design. The thing that really caught my attention, however, is their technology to use a board’s FPGA to self-test that board.

It turns out that half of the folks at … Read More → "Got FPGA? Got Test!"

Xilinx Brings AI to FPGA EDA

by Kevin Morris

July 14, 2021

For decades, FPGA companies have been bragging about how their devices can be used to accelerate all sorts of compute-intensive functions, and they have built a large market for themselves convincing design teams that they can handle the toughest problems with aplomb – speeding up execution and reducing power demands.

“Hey!” said this one guy in the back.”How come you don’t accelerate your own design tools, then?”

This always started a bout of hand wringing and doubletalk and then a marketing person would … Read More → "Xilinx Brings AI to FPGA EDA"

Boolean Logic Problem Finally Solved

Modeling a Circuit’s “Sensitivity” was Harder Than Everybody Thought

by Jim Turley

July 13, 2021

One of the first things we learn in Computer Science 101 is how to reduce and simplify logic truth tables. If you’ve got a bunch of input bits feeding an array of logical OR, AND, and XOR gates, the first thing you want to do is figure out which bits are significant and which are “don’t care.”

With a simple enough circuit and a bit of practice, you can just eyeball it. If a two-input OR has one input true, the other input doesn’t matter. Similarly, a two-input … Read More → "Boolean Logic Problem Finally Solved"

Internet for Everyone: a Parable

In Which Our Hero Tries Connecting to the 21st Century

by Jim Turley

July 12, 2021

Introduction: A friend of mine recently moved to the suburbs and found that distance from the city is inversely proportional to progress. Here is his firsthand dispatch, smuggled out of suburban Portland, Oregon, barely 15 miles from Intel. If a cell tower falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it…

This is a case study in internet (un)availability in places deemed inconvenient for service providers. Internet connectivity used to be something of a luxury, part of what you sacrificed if you wanted to … Read More → "Internet for Everyone: a Parable"

I See Zebus and Zebras Everywhere!

by Max Maxfield

July 8, 2021

It’s funny how, the older you get, things seem to increasingly circle around. You start off thinking you are heading in a new direction, and then you suddenly find yourself back where you started. I don’t know about you, but just re-reading the previous sentence reminds me of the lyrics to Time by Pink Floyd — the part that goes, “And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking, racing around to come up behind you again. The … Read More → "I See Zebus and Zebras Everywhere!"

Microchip TimePictra Masters Time

GPS Can Do a Lot More Than Navigate to The Store

by Jim Turley

July 7, 2021

What do GPS, cloud data centers, power substations, the Department of Homeland Security, and Microchip all have in common?

A very clear sense of time.

I’ve often thought that Microchip has the world’s best company name. It’s so descriptive. Tell any random stranger that you work at Microchip and it instantly answers all sorts of follow-up questions. It’s right there in the name, isn’t it? The company makes microchips.

Except when it doesn’ … Read More → "Microchip TimePictra Masters Time"