Amelia Dalton

Fancy walking around with urine in your socks?

December 11, 2015

According to a press release from the University of the West of England in Bristol, a team working under Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos has developed socks with inbuilt microbial fuel cells (MFCs). These generate electric current from bacteria, using the bio-chemical energy normally used for microbial growth. MFCs have previously been used to power a mobile phone, using an electric pump (which was used only for proof of concept. The socks include a urine reservoir and a manual pump, powered by the user walking, pushes the urine over the cells. The cells power a wireless transmission board, which can send … Read More → "Fancy walking around with urine in your socks?"

Through-The-Looking-Glass Security

by Amelia Dalton

November 16, 2015

Buckle up folks, because we’re about to take a ride through the looking glass, where computations can happen in an obscure way sure to confuse unauthorized snoops, until we arrive at an answer and can pop back through the glass into our normal world.

It’s become a truism that using hardware for security is best. But what if that’s not an option? Doing calculations and … Read More → "Through-The-Looking-Glass Security"

mCube’s New Low-Power Accel: What It Is and Isn’t

by Amelia Dalton

August 20, 2015

mCube made more noise recently with their announcement of a very small, low-power accelerometer. There were a number of aspects to the release; some intriguing, some… less so.

Let’s start with intrigue. The whole focus here is on a small device that can be used in space-constrained, power-stingy applications – like wearables. Obviously space is critical in any such device, but they point out that flexible circuit boards can enable more… well… flexible shape designs. And, while the accelerometer isn’t itself flexible, the closer you can come to an infinitesimal … Read More → "mCube’s New Low-Power Accel: What It Is and Isn’t"

QuickLogic Goes Full SoC for Sensors

by Amelia Dalton

July 30, 2015

QuickLogic has been focusing hard on sensor fusion for a while, and we have looked at their ArcticLink solution in the past. The first versions consisted of a combination of hard logic, dedicated microcode processor, and FPGA fabric. And the focus was on low power.

Apparently this has done well enough to make them double down on the investment. But their new SoC is different enough that they gave it a new name. While the old devices were called ArcticLink, they’ve now … Read More → "QuickLogic Goes Full SoC for Sensors"

Motion for User Interfaces

by Amelia Dalton

July 9, 2015

We’ve looked before at ways of controlling machines with just your hands in the air, like you just don’t care. No touchy-feely, no mouse. Just jazz hands.

So at first, when I saw a demo of what we’re going to talk about today, I thought, “OK… this looks kinda like what … Read More → "Motion for User Interfaces"

Rumors Intel Altera Deal is Close

by Amelia Dalton

May 28, 2015

The NY Post reported today that sources told them that an Intel/Altera deal was close, and could be done by the end of next week.

At the same time, we are hearing from multiple Altera customers who are opposed to the deal. The customers are concerned that Intel would shift Altera’s focus away from meeting their needs, and that Intel is poorly equipped to run an FPGA business – which is almost more of a software and service business than a “chip” business.

Key concerns surround Altera’s highly-capable AE resources who are viewed … Read More → "Rumors Intel Altera Deal is Close"

Is Exactly-Once Delivery Possible with MQTT?

by Amelia Dalton

May 28, 2015

We looked at MQTT, along with various other messaging protocols, not too long ago. Included in the discussion was a brief mention of MQTT having quality-of-service (QoS) features – and one of those is debatable.

MQTT’s optional QoS levels are to guarantee delivery no more than once (in which case you may miss a message), at least once (in which case you might get a duplicate), or exactly once. This latter one is the subject of debate: various threads in various … Read More → "Is Exactly-Once Delivery Possible with MQTT?"

Microsemi Moves GNSS Indoors

by Amelia Dalton

March 19, 2015

Much of the cellular build-out in areas that already have coverage is happening through small cells. It’s like we’ve gotten the broad brush strokes in place; now we’re fine-tuning coverage and capacity here and there as needed.

And much of this is happening in buildings – malls, office buildings, and other areas where large numbers of people concentrate.

Which creates a problem: these cells rely on accurate timing from GPS (or GNSS, generically). And, as we’ve seen in our discussions of Read More → "Microsemi Moves GNSS Indoors"

12-Way MEMS Switch

by Amelia Dalton

March 5, 2015

MEMS is entering yet another space traditionally done with electronics: RF switching. The switching comes as a result of the ridiculous number of bands (currently 26, by DelfMEMS’s count) that vie for love and attention. Transistors have typically been used for these switches.

That’s fine when the transistor is on, but when it’s off, well, it leaks and behaves non-linearly – especially at high frequencies.

So DelfMEMS (we looked at some cap arrays of theirs before) thought … Read More → "12-Way MEMS Switch"

Is Someone Tampering with Your IoT?

by Amelia Dalton

February 5, 2015

The stronger the hype, the likelier it will be accompanied by a “yesbut.”

A yesbut is that nagging question that needs to be asked in order to kick some critical thinking into gear. “Yes, but what about…?” Hype has a trajectory, however: in the beginning, only the hype sounds; it drowns out the few early-stage yesbuts. Yesbuts are killjoys, and no one wants them at a party. As the hype starts to wear out, however – as the party wanes, as the keg empties – the yesbuts grow in number and can actually be heard.