Articles – Page 84

Handling Radiation in SRAM-Based FPGAs (Part 2)

August 27, 2020

As we discussed in Part 1 of this two-part mega-mini-series, radiation in its various forms has long been the bane of designers of electronic systems, and the effects of radiation become more insidious and pervasive as integrated circuit fabrication processes employ smaller and smaller structures.

We also introduced the concepts of electromagnetic radiation (EM radiation or EMR), whose force carrier is a massless particle called a photon, along with radiation in the form of particles with mass — predominantly electrons, protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei … Read More → "Handling Radiation in SRAM-Based FPGAs (Part 2)"

Tachyum Demos Four-Way Software Translation

Universal “Prodigy” Processor Runs x86, ARM, RISC-V in Emulation

by Jim Turley

August 25, 2020

“There is no prodigy in our profession.” – Luciano Pavarotti

So far, so good. That’s the status report from Tachyum, the ambitious startup creating Prodigy, a chip design it calls “the world’s first universal processor.” Prodigy is billed as being faster, cheaper, smaller, and more … Read More → "Tachyum Demos Four-Way Software Translation"

Red Points Catches Online Counterfeiters

How Do You Spot a Fake Handbag From an Online Ad?

by Jim Turley

August 24, 2020

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (Who watches the watchers?) — Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Most of us are familiar with the RIAA, copyright infringement, and online piracy. Those are common, but new, problems. Much older is the problem of actual physical counterfeited goods. People have been selling knock-off Rolex watches and Gucci handbags for ages, since well before there was an Internet. But online commerce has made the problem worse – and different. How can you tell if the goods advertised online are genuine, or pirated, or counterfeit, or even real? </ … Read More → "Red Points Catches Online Counterfeiters"

Handling Radiation in SRAM-Based FPGAs (Part 1)

by Max Maxfield

August 20, 2020

Radiation in its various forms has long been the bane of the designers of electronic systems. Unfortunately, the effects of radiation become more insidious and pervasive as integrated circuit fabrication processes employ smaller and smaller structures. The problem is most acute in the case of FPGAs, which also have their configuration cells to contend with. Happily, a new fabrication process can dispel radiation-induced FPGA woes.

More (Processing) Power!

These days, many of the systems we need to keep our civilization running demand humongous amounts of computing power.

There are various computational … Read More → "Handling Radiation in SRAM-Based FPGAs (Part 1)"

Video Ergo Sum – Perceive’s AI Breakthrough in TOPS/Watt

by Kevin Morris

August 19, 2020

With literally dozens of chip startups working on edge AI inference these days, it’s easy to get caught up in a blur of marketing hype around the various “novel” and “revolutionary” architectures under development. The potential rewards are enormous, as AI has invaded just about every application space, and the intense demands AI inference puts on computing hardware have resulted in a mad dash to find new architectures that can outperform traditional CPUs on inference and break the reliance on cloud-based inference for devices at the edge.

The killer … Read More → "Video Ergo Sum – Perceive’s AI Breakthrough in TOPS/Watt"

An Epic Feat of Reverse Engineering

Could You Crack a CPU Design from One Single Program?

by Jim Turley

August 18, 2020

“It’s just 1s and 0s. How hard can it be?”

Here’s the ultimate debugging challenge. You’re presented with a string of 20,000 binary bits and told you have to identify it – what it does, how it works, and what machine it’s written for. Unfortunately, you don’t have a disassembler. Or any source code. In fact, you don’t know anything at all about the programming language, instruction set, whether it’s big- or little-endian, or even the word length of the machine. All you … Read More → "An Epic Feat of Reverse Engineering"

Two New Ways to Program Your AI

NXP and Eta Compute Roll Out ML-At-The-edge Programming Tools

by Jim Turley

August 17, 2020

“Some people have a way with words, and other people, uh, not have way.” – Steve Martin

The scariest part of moving to a new country is learning a new language. You step off the plane and into a new land with illegible signs, strange customs, and unfamiliar culture. Which way do I go? Whom do I ask for help? Where do I even start?

The strange world of AI/ML is terra incognitaRead More → "Two New Ways to Program Your AI"

I Just Created my First AI/ML App! (Part 2)

by Max Maxfield

August 13, 2020

In Part 1 of this two-part mini-series, we noted that there are trillions of dollars’ worth of equipment in factories around the globe. Also, that if any of these devices — pumps, motors, generators, fans, etc. — stop working unexpectedly, they can disrupt the operations of the factory. In some cases, a seemingly insignificant unit can bring an entire production line to a grinding halt.

We also considered various maintenance strategies, … Read More → "I Just Created my First AI/ML App! (Part 2)"

Winbond: The Biggest Little Memory Company

Billions and Billions Sold, Mostly Under the Radar

by Jim Turley

August 12, 2020

“The true art of memory is the art of attention.” – Samuel Johnson

There’s a sign over the main street of Reno, Nevada that proclaims it, “The Biggest Little City in the World.” It’s hard to judge the accuracy of that statement. Reno’s a decent-sized burg, with about a quarter-million souls inhabiting about 100 square miles of land.

In some parts of the world that qualifies as a big city. In Tokyo or Delhi or São Paulo, it’s barely … Read More → "Winbond: The Biggest Little Memory Company"

Wallowing in 68K Nostalgia

Want to Build a New, 40-year-old Computer?

by Jim Turley

August 10, 2020

“I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine.” – Lou Reed

If the phrase “DTACK grounded” means anything to you, welcome, friend. You are officially a member of the retro-techno computer engineers’ club. Hail fellow well met.

You’re probably already busy enough with your real job, but if you want a fun diversion, try your hand at building a real, live Motorola 68000-based computer. You build it. You program it. You figure out what to do with it afterwards.

< … Read More →