Articles – Page 7

Remarkable Rotary Dial Delights

July 15, 2025

I’m a weak-willed man. I was fully intending to write this column on the topic of simulating radio frequency (RF) designs and devices, including communications and radar systems, when… SQUIRREL!!!

To set the scene and ensure we’re all tap-dancing to the same skirl of the bagpipes—as I previously mentioned in my Retro Gadgets, Gizmos, Tools, and Technologies column—I’m currently having a lot of fun blathering, jabbering, and prattling about the technologies of yesteryear … Read More → "Remarkable Rotary Dial Delights"

Teaching AI to Semiconductor Students, Engineers, and Fabs

by Max Maxfield

July 10, 2025

My mission today is to inform you about a university course that is no longer offered and a master’s degree program that is not yet available. Intrigued? Read on…

To set the scene, first let me remind you that I originally hail from England. I started at Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University) in the summer of 1975. You can read more about how this all came to be in my column, There’s More Than One Way to … Read More → "Teaching AI to Semiconductor Students, Engineers, and Fabs"

You May Scoff, But AI-Powered PCB Layout Is Really Real

by Max Maxfield

July 8, 2025

Recently, I re-watched the epic science fiction movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although this film was released in 1968, I don’t think I saw it on the big screen until 1969, when I was 12 years old. I know that by the time I watched the film, I’d already read the book, for which I was very grateful, because that’s pretty much key to understanding what’s going on in the first part of the film. … Read More →

Next-Generation Motion Sensing Facilitates Immersive Spatial Audio

by Max Maxfield

July 3, 2025

I was sitting here thinking (don’t worry, I’ll try not to make a habit of it). I was contemplating how, even when we think things have evolved to be rather good (technologically speaking), someone invariably leaps onto the center of the stage with a fanfare of flugelhorns, brandishing a “new and improved” solution.

This just happened to me twice in one day (I’m too young for all this excitement). The person to blame is Chad Lucien, Vice President and General Manager of the Sensor and Audio Business … Read More → "Next-Generation Motion Sensing Facilitates Immersive Spatial Audio"

Retro Gadgets, Gizmos, Tools, and Technologies

by Max Maxfield

July 1, 2025

It’s funny how you think you know what a word means until someone asks you for a definition, at which point you run into problems trying to articulate that word’s meaning. Take the word “retro,” for example. What does this mean to you?

Take a few minutes to jot your thoughts down, and then we’ll continue. There’s no rush. I’m happy to wait. What? You’ve finished? That was fast!

In fact, the term “retro”—as it’s commonly … Read More → "Retro Gadgets, Gizmos, Tools, and Technologies"

Wow! That’s Some AI SOM!

by Max Maxfield

June 26, 2025

Sometimes people say things that are both obvious and unexpectedly insightful. “Unexpected,” in the sense that I hadn’t thought of it myself—yet once I heard it, I was surprised it hadn’t already occurred to me. I’ll explain what kicked off my current cogitations in a moment. First, however, I’d like to waffle a bit, as is my wont.

I hail from the city of Sheffield, in the county of Yorkshire, in merry old England. My grandfather (on my mother’s side) was born in the 1890s. At that … Read More → "Wow! That’s Some AI SOM!"

Are Mixed Reality Theme Parks Headed Our Way?

by Max Maxfield

June 24, 2025

I’m not sure when I first ran across the concepts of things like virtual reality and augmented reality. I think it may have been around the tail end of the 1960s when I read Way Station by Clifford D. Simak.

Simak’s science fiction stories have a style of their own. His tales often take place in rural America, particularly the Midwest, and reflect an abiding affection for nature and simple … Read More → "Are Mixed Reality Theme Parks Headed Our Way?"

Eeek Alors! AI-Powered PCB Layout Is Here and It’s Awesome

by Max Maxfield

June 19, 2025

For reasons we need not go into here, I was just perusing a column on French phrases that people in France do not, in fact, use (I’m sure knowing this will come in handy one day).

The column in question was 9 French Phrases Native Speakers Never Use on the Babble language learning app website. For example, in this article we read: “Sacré bleu</ … Read More → "Eeek Alors! AI-Powered PCB Layout Is Here and It’s Awesome"

Making Machine Vision Accessible and Affordable for Engineers, Educators, and Makers

by Max Maxfield

June 17, 2025

I’m sure I’ve asked you this before, but have you ever read Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by the late, great Douglas Adams? If so, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s hard to beat the author’s own description of this tale as a “thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-timetravel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic.”

This was followed by Read More → "Making Machine Vision Accessible and Affordable for Engineers, Educators, and Makers"

Celebrating the FPGA’s 40th Birthday

by Max Maxfield

June 12, 2025

The phrase “wake up and smell the coffee” is an idiom that means: “Pay attention to what’s really going on.” It’s not that this is in any way relevant to the following discussions: I was just wondering where and how this expression originated.

Now I come to think about it, this query was sparked by my hearing the news that the folks at Xilinx (now part of AMD) are celebrating June 2025 as the 40th anniversary of the first time a physical field-programmable gate array (FPGA) bid a cheery “Howdy” to the … Read More → "Celebrating the FPGA’s 40th Birthday"