Articles – Page 89

May 19, 2020

Let’s face it. Just about anybody can throw a few billion transistors onto a custom 7nm chip, crank up the coulombs, apply data center cooling, put together an engineering team with a few hundred folks including world expert data scientists, digital architecture experts, software savants, and networking gurus, and come up with a pretty decent AI inference engine. There’s nothing to it, really.

But there are a lot of applications that really do need AI inference at the edge – when there just isn’t time to ship the … Read More → "Endpoint AI FPGA Acceleration for the Masses"

Even the Batteries Get Smarter

Silicon Labs EFP01 Squeezes Battery Life So You Don’t Have To

by Jim Turley

May 18, 2020

“Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.” – Erma Bombeck

Back in my day, we connected power supplies to circuits using wires. But wires are so last century. Now we have intelligent, programmable, adaptable controllers that fit between the power source and the load.

Case in point: Read More → "Even the Batteries Get Smarter"

Why, Hello FPGA and AI — How Nice to See You Together!

by Max Maxfield

May 14, 2020

I love science and technology. I also love beer and bacon sandwiches, but that’s nothing to do with this column, so don’t try to distract me. Generally speaking, I like to think I have a ringside seat at the forefront of technology. Recently, however, I must admit to starting to fear I was no longer riding the crest of the technology wave with regard to things like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

In fact, I was preparing to start wearing my sad face when three things … Read More → "Why, Hello FPGA and AI — How Nice to See You Together!"

Bluetooth 5 for $4

Renesas RA4W1 MCU Joins The BLE Crowd

by Jim Turley

May 12, 2020

“You need to be careful with a Bluetooth headset. Because some guys look crazy with them.” – Neil Strauss

It’s still early days for Bluetooth 5, but Renesas already has a couple of MCUs that support it. Newest among them is the RA4W1 microcontroller, which includes a BLE transceiver and link layer, along with the usual MCU features, all … Read More → "Bluetooth 5 for $4"

Taking the Pain Out of Field Upgrades

FoundriesFactory is Your Constant Companion

by Jim Turley

May 11, 2020

“Aging is mostly the failure to repair.” – Gregory Benford

Constant feature updates aren’t just a nuisance for consumers. They’re a pain for developers, too. Who wants to be stuck with the job of updating every device in the field? Nobody, that’s who. Let’s make the new guy do it.

The programmers at Foundries.io have been there and done … Read More → "Taking the Pain Out of Field Upgrades"

Ultimate Guide to Switch Debounce (Part 9)

by Max Maxfield

May 7, 2020

Yes! This is it! At long last we’ve reached the final part of this epic saga into all things related as to why switches bounce and how to mitigate against this phenomenon; that is, how to debounce the little rascals.

On the off-chance you’ve only just run across this modest magnum opus, we should perhaps commence by noting that in Part 1 we introduced the fundamental concepts … Read More → "Ultimate Guide to Switch Debounce (Part 9)"

Cloud Services Screw Us Over, Example #8534

Again and Again We Fall Victim to The Cloud

by Jim Turley

May 5, 2020

“Wealth, like happiness… comes as a byproduct of providing a useful service.” – Henry Ford

Internet connectivity is like stack overflow. Each new one pushes down the previous ones, and before long all that data is a forgotten memory.

I’ve railed here before about IoT devices with gratuitous Internet connections and the helpless position that puts us in as consumers. Your shiny new device doesn’t have to break to be broken. Instead, the company you bought it from can decide to… … Read More → "Cloud Services Screw Us Over, Example #8534"

Creating the Universal Processor

Startup has Big Goals and Bold Claims

by Jim Turley

May 4, 2020

“If I had to calculate 100% certainty on every deal I did, I would do zero deals.” – Chip Gaines

“Prodigy” is an appropriate name for the new microprocessor under development at Tachyum, a startup endeavoring to create “the world’s first universal processor.”

Their goals are nothing if not audacious. Prodigy will be faster than Intel’s Xeon but consume one-tenth the power. … Read More → "Creating the Universal Processor"

IOTech: Bridging the OT-IT Divide

by Max Maxfield

April 30, 2020

I’ve just been talking to the folks from a jolly interesting company called IOTech. One of the things they told me that really struck a chord was that their technology bridges the OT-IT divide. “But what is the OT-IT divide, and why does it need to be bridged?” I hear you cry. Well, I’m glad you asked, because I feel the urge to expound, explicate, and elucidate (don’t worry; I’m a professional).</ … Read More → "IOTech: Bridging the OT-IT Divide"

To the Graduating Class of 2020

Thoughts on Starting a Career in Engineering

by Jim Turley

April 28, 2020

Note: I was inexplicably invited to address a graduating class of Electrical Engineers, which included my nephew, Daniel. That gathering got canceled, of course, so in the spirit of design reuse I’m summarizing my address here.

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the clergy, heads of state, madames et monsieurs, our forces overseas, members of the press, nursing mothers, and small children:

Thank you for coming, and thank you, class, for becoming … Read More → "To the Graduating Class of 2020"